7/30/2019 LibGuides and Savvy Shorts for Distance Learners

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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University LibraryBen Murphy MS Candidate bpmurph2@illinois.edu

Cate Kompare MS Candidate ckompar2@illinois.edu

LibGuides and Savvy Shorts for Distance Learners:

An Assessment of ImpactLOEX 2013 - Nashville, TN

Thank you to Merinda Kaye Hensley, Rae-Anne Montague, Dan Tracy, and Sasha Kinney

Introduction

The University Library offers a popular SavvyResearcher workshop series, and distance

learners and university staff have frequently

requested an online equivalent. In an effort to

accommodate this population, we created

Savvy Short videos and a series of hands-on

activities which were added to existing

LibGuides for several workshops. This poster

attempts to address the following problem:

Does this format meet the demand for an

online equivalent to in-person, hands-onworkshops?

Evaluation Method

W e d e s i g n e d a n i n c e n t i v i z e d ,

anonymous, 15-20 minute survey to be

taken by GSLIS distance learners. Wewanted to asses their:

Awareness of LibGuides Desire for online library workshops Perceptions of the effectiveness of the

guide and video. Did they gain new

skills or knowledge?

Sense of overall impact: do they viewthis as a valuable, useful service?

Further Questions Low response rate and mixed results suggest that

this video had low impact for distance learners: What would a more successful video for

distance learners look like? Some users wanted more detail while others

thought it was too long. [it should be] two videos,one about finding books and one about findingarticles.

Skill Level: all of the respondents had one or moresemester of LEEP education. Were they tooadvanced for this content?

Does the library need to offer its workshops in asynchronous format via Blackboard, a process that is

more familiar to LEEP students? What video services have you offered or attempted

at your library?

Survey OutcomesWhile the response rate was low and the content wasnt

new to the community, there was valuable feedback:

"I found that the fact that it was a video, and not just

text, let to improved understanding of its contents --probably because it was able to show a series of

actions, rather that still pictures of single pages

"The guide is helpful because it breaks down the

information into a smaller size and is easier to look atthan some parts of the library OPAC.

"I don't think this LibGuide needs a video. I'm usuallypressed for time, and watching a video can be a pain. I

would also make all LibGuides - and specifically the

distance learner ones - easier to locate on the library'spage. They are buried pretty deep, and it can befrustrating when you really do need help.

http://

Instruction Materials

We asked students to explore aLibGuide called Improve YourResearch Strategies and then watch

an embedded Savvy Short video.

The content covered finding booksand articles on campus and through

Interlibrary Loan.

Workshop Learning Outcomes Participants apply a repertoire of

information seeking strategies ino r d e r t o n a v i g a t e a n d

differentiate between the online

library catalog and the onlineresearch resources database.

Participants will demonstrateusing the online library catalogs

advanced search features in

order to locate previouslyunidentified research materials.

Participants will identify andutilize an interdisciplinary

database in order to find

introductory articles in theirdiscipline.

http://uiuc.libguides.com/researchstrategies

For more visit: http://savvyshorts.wordpress.com/

http://www.screencast.com/t/5Kraq1kn6

For all videos, see:http://screencast.com/users/learnlib

Content

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Strongly Disagree Disagree No Opinion Agree Strongly Agree

I would like to see this content offeredas an online workshop.

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Strongly Disagree Disagree No Opinion Agree Strongly Agree

The LibGuide and Savvy Short Videoimproved my ability to search for a book

in the University of Illinois Library local

catalog.