People Make Research Guides: Transforming the Boundaries of Librarianship

ByJade G. Winn, University of Southern California

Jacqui Grallo, California State University, Monterey BayKathlene Hanson, California State University, Monterey Bay

Introduction • Presenters•Topic Introduction

• Growth• User centered• Librarian as part of information

package

Software Introduction•Springshare•Library a la Carte

• Customizable/specific• Web 2.0 integrated• Statistics• Photo

Institutional Differences &Potential Impact

•Age•Size•Graduate & International Students

Subject Specialist Librarians•Personalized library•Collection development•Traditional resources & web-based resources•Instruction/Pedagogy•Collaborations

Librarian as Piece of the Information Resource Package

•Knowing your librarian•Departmental acceptance•Student interactions•Reference •You become a resource!

Intellectual Property and Academic Freedom

•Open the conversation•Who owns research guides?•Content restrictions?

Best Practices at USC•http://libguides.usc.edu/•Resource selection•Outreach•Instructional practices•Using statistics

Library a la Carte• Open-source• Free but not free• Modular design• 2.0 ready• Dynamically-created

Subject Specialist Librarians• Collection development• Instruction• Collaboration• Workload

Learner-centeredDesign

"Kuhlthau's work shows us that there is a critical need, at a unique time in the search process, for a specific level of mediation that the research guide can provide, and it brings us much closer to an understanding of the user's needs." Hemmig, 2005

“…students fail to find available guides or, if found, fail to use the guides effectively.” Reeb & Gibbons, 2004

“The concept of disciplines is not usually part of a student's mental model; therefore, the collocation of resources by discipline is not recognized.” Reeb & Gibbons, 2004

http://alacarte.csumb.edu/subject-guides

Appropriate, LogicalAccess Points

• Course prefix tags• Subjects/disciplines• Articles & Databases page• Other guides

Web users seek ‘trigger words’ in Web links. “When the trigger words match the user's goals, they find those words right away and the links make them more confident that they are going to find their content.” Reeb & Gibbons, 2004

http://library.csumb.edu/

Design Principles• No jargon!• Limited text• Selectivity• Recognizability• Transparency

Applying The Seven Principles for

Good Practicein Undergraduate Education

Chickering & Gamson, 1991

Good practice… • Encourages student/faculty contact• Encourages cooperation among students• Encourages active learning• Gives prompt feedback• Emphasizes time on task• Communicates high expectations• Respects diverse talents and ways of learning

Guides asLearning Objects

“Learning objects are a new way of thinking about learning content. Traditionally, content comes in a several hour chunk. Learning objects are much smaller units of learning, typically ranging from 2 minutes to 15 minutes.” Beck, 2007

• Self-contained• Reusable• Can be aggregated• Tagged with metadata

Guides as Learning Objects

Selective BibliographyBeck, R. J. (2007). What are learning objects? Retrieved April 7, 2010, from http://www4.uwm.edu/cie/learning_objects.cfm?gid=56

Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (Eds.). (1991). Applying the seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Hemmig, W. (2005). Online pathfinders: Toward an experience-centered model. Reference Services Review 33(1) 66-87.Nichols, J. (2009). Library à la Carte: Research and course guides made to order. C&RL News 70(5). Retrieved March 31, 2010, from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/crlnews/2009/may/libraryalacarte.cfmReeb, B., & Gibbons, S. (2004). Students, librarians, and subject guides: Improving a poor rate of return. portal: Libraries and the Academy 4(1), 123-130. Retrieved March 31, 2010, from http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/portal_libraries_and_the_academy/v004/4.1reeb.html

Activity30 minutes