Add-ons, Toolbars, & Videos, Oh My

Academic Library Internet Information Provision Model: Using Toolbars And Web 2.0 Applications To Augment Subject Reference
E. Michael Wilson, Ohio University, proposed a new library internet provision model which is very complex and has many pathways for users to find information. He compares this model of information retrieval to a proposed Google Research Model: Google > Search > Results.

Staff at OU administered a University Technology Survey in 2008 which 17% of their students participated in to gather information from students. Results indicated that students almost 80% of students were interested in using a toolbar to access research tools. So, since Wilson is a programmer he created a browser toolbar add-in which allows users to get to library chat and wiki easily as well as to simplify their research process. The toolbar includes the ability to perform searches in many engineering research databases, the calalog, etc. Some databases “are bootstrapped through metalib” their multi-search tool in order to make it work students see results within the metalib interface. Wilson also created an engineering wiki which is where users can download the toolbar. They have had 210 installations of the toolbar since 2008, or a little more than 1/3 of the engineering population at OU. Wilson has built in a proxy check to determine whether or not users are on or off campus. This toolbar does require some maintenance of links, etc. but overall Wilson feels it’s a good use of time to develop a subject specific toolbar for researchers. His toolbar can be adapted for use by other libraries.

His model of the subject toolbar information provision model demonstrates a much more simpler method of information retrieval than the typical library web site:Search Toolbar > Search > ResultsWilson used to spend 35% of his instruction time teaching students how to locate resources, he’s been able to trim down this time by referring students and faculty to the toolbar.

Check out their EngrWIKI .

Pimp My Browser: Next-Generation Information Literacy Demands Control of the Browser
Andrew Wohrley from Auburn University Libraries discussed browser add-ins, which extend browser capabilities and may be open source so could be customizable. LibX, Zotero, and Google Translate have been adopted at AU Libraries. See their installation page for LibX which they've dubbed "Auburn Anywhere."

Wohrley also recommends Google Translate which is a free translation plug-in which supports most languages. Upon browsing the AU Libraries web site during the session, I found the folks at AU have linked from various flags on their home page Google translations of their portal. It’s not perfect he warns, but very useful nevertheless.

Finally, he suggests use of Zotero for open source citation management. Zotero supports various output styles, instant footnotes and bibliographies, instant downloading of citations and documents/articles.

FYI: It came up in Q&A that Zotero and EndNote may not play well together. You may need to turn off Zotero in order to use EndNote on a computer. People were interested in the variations and benefits of EndNote Web, EndNote, Zotero, and RefWorks, among other citation management tools. A new version of Zotero coming out may allow users to collaborate and store references remotely vs. on the computer they are using. For anyone actually paying attention, this would be a great paper topic for next year!

Online Tutorials in Engineering Libraries: Analysis And Discussion
Yue Xu from Mississippi State University Libraries described her research analyzing libraries using online tutorials. Benefits of tutorials include providing opportunity for self-paced learning, 24/7 access, releasing the challenges of staffing shortages, and they can also supplement classroom instruction. Xu’s research focuses on web-based instruction in engineering libraries in order to help librarians develop tutorials.

Characteristics of good tutorials, according to Nancy Dewald ‘s paper Transporting good library instruction practices into the web environment: An analysis of online tutorials include use of active learning, media, navigational aids. In addition, those that are course-related, collaborative, and offer instruction on concepts vs. mechanics are good practice. Xu compared ELD libraries to find out if they had online tutorials and the types of tutorials that were created for the engineering libraries. She found that 69% of engineering libraries provide online tutorials, she looked only at library’s web sites so some may not have been discovered due to inclusion within course management systems. Tutorial content included six categories ranging from information literacy, to advanced research skills or course related.Engineering subject categories covered included: specific engineering databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, etc. and topics included patents, standards & specifications, engineering web sources, and one was found on engineering staff training.

Active Learning Components: 15 libraries included features such as interactive quizzes and exercises within. Xu suggests librarians modify existing tutorials, increasing active learning, and adding games for instance to add engagement for tutorial users. She suggests checking out U of Louisville Libraries tutorial which incorporates a game.

BTW, I found while surfing during the session the interesting and kinda fun Library Squares Game on the U of L libraries site. Some librarians mention that they include their tutorials into YouTube and other university video streaming sites which gives you the benefit of grabbing embedded code to post these tutorials easily in various sites.

See also: Dewald, et al article on Information Literacy at a Distance and Hrycaj’s 2005 article Elements of active learning in the online tutorials of ARL members. Also, check out ANTS, Animated Tutorials Service and include your tutorials if you wish to share them for reuse.

Michael Wilson suggested that using “video help” and other terms instead of using the term "tutorial" on the library’s web site makes more sense to students, as they analyzed how users got to their video tutorials at OU.

All points are good ones: let's share and collaborate if possible to reuse tutorials and toolbars that will benefit our engineering library users.

From the New Engineering Librarians Perspective: Collaborations & Online Tutorials

Collaboration with faculty: What they don’t teach you in library school

Sarah Jane Dooley presented various strategies for connecting with faculty, from the perspective of a new librarian. Dooley suggests getting to know department faculty, familiarize yourself with subject area and specialties of faculty, as well as discipline specific resources and publishers. It’s important to consider varying interpersonal and communication strategies of the faculty you are working with. Don’t pass on any opportunity to attend social events on campus. This is great way to network with other faculty and meet future collaborators. Librarians must create their own opportunities to network by being visible on campus, taking every opportunity as it presents itself using both online and offline approaches.

Dooley recommends that the workplace should develop documentation for new librarians and be good role models. A mentoring program for new staff could help. Library School’s could include more education on best practices for networking outside the profession. In working with faculty, she suggests that technology presents interesting opportunities to collaborate, even allowing faculty to use libguides themselves and use of facebook for promotion. Contact Sara Jane Dooley at sdooley@dal.ca and for a copy of her handout which including the above strategies and more as well as a bibliography.

Continuing Library Instruction via Online Tutorials
Megan Tomeo, Arthur Lakes Library, Colorado School of Mines
Challenge: Librarians don’t get enough contact with students in order to help them develop their research skills.

Solution: Mini-grant from university to build online tutorials which are delivered through partnerships with a sophomore-level course (a continuation of their existing first year level instruction modules which CSM talked about at last year’s ASEE Annual Conference). Also, they collaborated with the senior level capstone sections.

Benefits: No space or face-time needed for virtual learning. Can be designed while at reference desk where they have installed Captivate to create the tutorials. CSM librarians created many modules with similar look and each incorporated at least one competency from CSM and integrated quizzes. In the future, they hope to enhance the tutorials with more interactivity.

Assessment: Tomeo administered a three-part survey, one portion was a self-assessment of student learning. The pre-survey was administered to help staff understand student recall from the first year research instruction. A post-survey later assessed learning within the sophomore/junior year. They used a control group and these students took the surveys but were not directed to use the online tutorials. Survey return rate was 52% but less than 30 pre- and post-pairs were ultimately useful for analyzing the pre- and post survey results.

Results: Test group improved scores by 13% but control group had a slight negative change. Tomeo feels the tutorials are impacting learning in a positive way. In 2007, at University of Washington, Whang, et al. study on evaluating student bibliographies could be another approach, but in the future she hopes to consider if given consent by students involved.
To view the tutorials connect to http://library.mines.edu/reference/epics251/
After August 1, 2009: Library.mines.edu > Services > Library Instruction > Online Tutorials
Another point to ponder: students commented that they preferred the 50 minute session in-person with the librarians vs. the online tutorials.

Teaming with Possibilities: Working Together to Engage with Engineering Faculty and Students
Janet Fransen and Jon Jeffryes, Engineering Libraries, University of Minnesota
Fransen and Jeffryes both support hundreds of faculty in the school of engineering and more than 3000 students.

Overview of three engagement strategies:
1. Marketing
a. Have a web presence: they create a page for each librarian, news for each area (mechanical, biomedical) and uses flickr to find interesting photos/images to include.
b. Use social media: they created a twitter account (umsciref), they also suggest you search twitter for your library’s name to get the pulse, if any. They created a facebook page and import their twitter feed into fb, they have also used fb ads to promote their page.
c. Measure results: they use bit.ly (cool and seemingly useful URL shortener) when they post URLs do they can collect data on number of clicks on the links you create (they created a spreadsheet using bit.ly API to grab click stats)
d. Be present: visiting seminars on campus, etc.

2. Instruction
a. Course-based live: They work with senior level engineering courses and since there are more than 100 students they are looking into team teaching
b. Library workshop series: EndNote, Zotero, Engineering: find better information faster, etc. check their web site for more. They have also started recording and posting screen captures as a supplement. They are often team-taught and can create a dynamic atmosphere. They use Moodle pages for workshops and this can be a time saver for staff. Users can refer back to these pages for instruction and future self-help.
c. Course-based online: Jon built 90 unique course pages for each class (without asking first!) and this worked well for him.
d. Tutorials: they created one on patents

3. Scholarly Communication & Institutional Repository (UDC)
a. Posted professor’s papers and they provide the faculty member with statistics on downloads
b. IR gives librarians an opportunity to get out and talk with faculty and by viewing their publication listed they can determine whether or not they are a good candidate for including papers within their digital repository.

New Tools and Techniques for Information Literacy

"Using Videos to Teach the Ethical Use of Engineering Information"

• William Baer, Wichita State University
  
• Cornered by faculty, who were worried about plagiarism


• NSF was also considering mandate requiring copyright education


• Expanded the original topic to NSPE Code of Ethics, copyright, and citations


• Classroom time is limited, faculty don't want to fit something else in; "WU-torials" were a good fit (WU is the university mascot)


• Focused on educational objective, rather than entertainment


• Wanted instructors to be able to insert into Blackboard course management system


• 4 shorter videos = faster download, faculty choice


• Got permission to use an existing worksheet about plagiarism available online


• Created a test in Blackboard, could be imported into faculty grading if wanted


• U.S. citizens scored higher than non-U.S. on both pre/post; but both improved by same # of points, so bigger impact for non-U.S. citizens


• Students with ethics class did worse on pre-test (?) but better than other students on post-test

"Smart Searching: an online information fluency tutorial tailored specifically to introductory engineering students"

• Eric Resnis, Miami University


• Existing tutorials: TILT (Texas Information Literacy Tutorial), Georgetown University's, ACRL's PRIMO (peer-reviewed instructional materials online)


• Wanted an engineering-specific tutorial = "Smart Searching: Finding, Citing & Evaluating Information"


• "Smart searching" is brand, includes variety of instructional modalities


• Each module has: Introduction (learning outcomes), Tools, Techniques, Practice


• Printable handout links from within tutorial


• "A la carte" content: link to WordPress blog = timely information for students


• Tutorial "ads" - worked with technologist librarian to create content management system, output would be clickable image for website that rotate every 10 seconds


• 2007: Quiz required; created question bank, randomly generated set of 10 questions


• http://elearn.lib.muohio.edu/science/eas, /eas102

"Exploring, Reading and Writing Scientific Literature in English: The Non-Native English Speakers' Perspective"

• Adriana Popescu, Princeton U.


• Heart and soul tools, not technology tools


• How librarians can help international students integrating into American educational system


• Dictionary of American Idioms - "hit the hay," "hit the ceiling," "horse around," "smell a rat," "pay through the nose," "stick your neck out" - frustrating to communicate


• Library terminology - many don't know what "reference" or "interlibrary loan" or "stacks" mean


• Princeton: over half of engineering grad students are international; many international students in electrical engineering, economics, and chemistry


• Bottom line: solid basic knowledge of resources and services available to them


• Faculty want grad students to be able to write; seeing copy/paste problem; may not have had to write as undergrads in their countries


• Combine Writing Program, Libraries, engineering college - but students not just in engineering


• Goals: experience, understanding of technical communications, collaboration, critical thinking about research articles


• Informal: online discussion board for reactions to readings


• Formal: 1500 literature review


• Met with Writing Center to help them learn about engineering literature - taught how to search databases, helped choose classic papers, talked about scholarly communication and publishing trends, plagiarism


• Readings: 2 articles about international students (why less likely to take advantage of resources/services, interact mostly with people of same language/culture)


• Asked them how they keep up with their field, how do you get from a citation to finding the paper? (Google)


• Assignment: find out where your field conducts its business


• Caught their attention: RSS feeds - you can get news from your country every da; Interviews - what were the latest papers published by your interviewers?

"Flexible Info Lit Strategies for Engineering Design in EPICS"

• Lisa Dunn, Colorado School of Mines


• Our EPICS (Engineering Practices Introductory Course Sequence) doesn't relate to other campuses


• Library has formal teaching session for freshman EPICS course; informal support for rest


• Information overload: how process and retain?


• Projects with real clients; change every semester; information requirements vary


• Variety of adjunct faculty - don't know what library can do


• Smaller lecture over time, larger team activity component


• Set up space with students facing each other, using laptops


• Modeled after real world: each person gets a different piece of the project, then communicates with the others


• Marketing - awareness (capturing information from your user - not a dialogue) + change + response (demonstrating the benefit) - Pat Wagner, Pattern Research, "Marketing As If Your Library Depended on It"


• Generally, instructors noticed enhanced team environment, time on task, finding relevant information


• Instructors asked us to do things that we were already doing - communication problem


• Different instructors wanted different things