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Why develop our online presence? Increase student access to library resources Increase the profile of librarians Strengthen connections b/w librarians and teaching staff Contribute to student success
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Developing an Online Presence
Liaison/Subject Librarians’ Workshop 2009
Why develop our online presence?
•Increase student access to library resources
•Increase the profile of librarians
•Strengthen connections b/w librarians and teaching staff
•Contribute to student success
Students as researchers
• Students are comfortable in online environment
• Feel proficient in exploring confidently across a range of resources
• Finding scholarly, authoritative information is still a challenge
• Have favourite, but limited sources of information
Implications – or the rise…and fall and rise of the library website
• Librarians see the library website as pivotal
•But the Library website is often not used as a starting point for research
•Tide is changing as libraries improve their websites, and some research is now indicating that students and staff place great value on the library website
3 ways to Increase our online Profile
• Improve our websites
• Become embedded librarians
• Take Subject Guides to a higher plane
Improve our WebsitesUsability principles
Interactivity
Connect users to content - and to do it with minimum barriers and maximum speed and ease
Web 2.0 applications – some examples:
• is where the students are
• becomes an integral part of the class
• experiences the needs of students and observes
expectations of faculty (Dewey as cited in Bozeman, 2008, p. 57).
• is in the right place to guide students to the best
resources
The Embedded Librarian
How to become ‘embedded’
• Become a ‘participant’ in online classes that use courseware such as Moodle
• Establish a hyper link to the library website from the course page
• Set up a Library discussion forum on the course page
• Access class emails and respond promptly to library and information related
requests
• Provide a link to existing Information Literacy modules
• Provide full contact details
How to get embedded contd?
• Use courseware tools, such as Web templates to create a new subject guide or
link an existing guide to the appropriate course.
• Think strategically!
• Link to library and/or institutional plans
• Ensure sufficient ongoing resources
• Buy in from the top
• Library rep on courseware committee
• Familiarity with course management software
• Accept responsibility
• Sell it to faculty –it will make their lives easier and save them
time
Success Factors
Subject Guides• Aka Research guides, research tools, pathfinders, e-
guides, resource lists…etc.
• Provide a starting point for researcher
• But do we really need them?
• Time consuming to create and maintain
• Duplication across the Internet
Subject Guides
• Potentially offer a unique tool to students• Bring content closer• The creator becomes more familiar with
subject area
Subject Guides
• Wikis – collaborative, easy to use, need to get people to participate, high levels of maintenance
• http://www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/bizwiki/index.php/Main_Page
Successful Subject Guides
• Student prefer customised course and assessment guides over broad subject guides
• Link from course pages or integrate into course
•
Fraction of a Whole
• Still reaching only a limited number of students
• Level and style of engagement with online environment differs
• Need a variety of other methods to provide access to information and help with research skills.
•
Planning, planning, planning
Web 2.0 tools—such as Meebo chat widgets, delicious.com, subject guides, and Facebook pages—are tools like any other, requiring planning and dedicated staff time as much as anything else in a library's service arsenal.
Reference List
Bell, S. (2009 , February 17). The library web site of the future. Inside Higher Ed, Retrieved 8 April 2009, from http://www.insidehighered.com/layout/set/print/views/2009/02/17/bell
Bozeman, D. (2008). Providing services to online students: Embedded librarians and access to resources. Mississippi Libraries 72 (3), 57-9.
Corrado, E. M. & Frededrick, K. A. (2008). Free and open source options for creating database-driven subject guides. The Code4Lib Journal (2), Retrieved 8 April 2009, from http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/47
Kroski, E. (2007). A Librarian’s Guide to Creating 2.0 Subject Guides. Retrieved 14 April 2009, from http://oedb.org/blogs/ilibrarian/2007/a-librarians-guide-to-creating-20-subject-guides/
Shank, J. & Bell, S. (2009). A-FLIP to Courseware: A strategic alliance for improving student learning outcomes. nnovate 2 (4). Retrieved 8 May 2009, from
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=areticle&id=46&action=article
Tchangalova, N., & Feigley, A. (2008). Subject guides: Putting a new spin on an old concept. Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship 9 (3).Retrieved 8 April 2009, from
http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org/content/v09n03/tchangalova_n01.html
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