If You Don’t Build It, They Won’t Come:Customized Library Resources for Online Learning
Angie Gerrard, MLIS & Dirk Morrison, Ed.D.
TLT Conference
University of Saskatchewan
April 30-May 2, 2006
Introduction
Current undergrad and IT trends
Role of the Library
Introduction
“Students arrive at the library Web site with expectations
raised by these numerous personalized and customized
systems. When they do not find resources that appear to be
tailored specifically for their information needs, they move on
to other information resources.”
Reeb & Gibbons (2004), pp.126
U of S Context: Evolution of Course Pages
Information Literacy & Library Instruction
HTML Course Page: Psyc 213.3
HTML Course Page: Hist 152.3
HTML Course Page – Use of Tabs
U of S Context: Evolution of Course Pages
PAWS (Personalized Access to Web Services)
Library’s Integrated Plan
Resource Management System
RMS
Admin view User view
Admin View
Adding Resources
Assigning Resource Type
Subject Pages
Editing Subject Pages
Editing Subject Pages…
Course Pages
Editing Course Pages
Editing Course Pages…
Access to Subject & Courses Pages via PAWS
Access to Subject & Course Pages via WebCT
Access to Subject & Course Pages via Library
Subjects Page
Psychology Subject Page
Course Pages
Course Page for ECNT 810
Course Page for ECNT 810
Course Page for ECNT 810
Course Page for ECNT 810
Course Page for ECNT 810
Course Page for ECNT 810
Benefits
Students
Faculty
Librarians
Benefits: Students
Ease of access
Filtered, relevant resources (customized)
Decreased confusion
Better resources=better research=better grades
Benefits: Faculty
Collaboration with liaison librarian
Learn about new products & services
Improved quality of resources
Refined assignments
Benefits: Librarians
Increased visibility of resources & services
Seen as relevant information source
Opportunity to forge relationships & collaboration
Increased familiarity with curriculum
Rich database developed
Issues to Consider
Database constraints
Lack of formal assessment
Workload
Conclusions
U of S Library is a partner in online learning
Fosters collaboration and innovation cycles
Future: Students as researchers Students as course contributors Students as evaluators
References
Gibbons, S. (2003). Building upon the MyLibrary concept to better meet the information needs of college students. D-Lib Magazine, 9(3), March.
Jones, S. (2002). The internet goes to college: How students are living in the future with today’s technology. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved March 8, 2002 from http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/pdfs/PIP_College_Report.pdf
Lippincott, S. and Kyrillidou, M. (2004). How ARL university communities access information: Highlights from LibQUAL+. ARL Bimonthly Report 236, October.
Reeb, B. and Gibbons, S. (2004). Student, librarians, and subject guides: Improving a poor rate of return. Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 4(1), pp. 123-130.
Spool, J. (2003). Getting confidence from Lincoln. User Interface Engineering (n.d.). Retrieved October, 2003 from http://world.std.com/uieweb/Articles/getting_confidence.htm
The 2003 OCLC Environmental Scan: Pattern Recognition. Executive Summary. http:/www.oclc.org/reports/escan/downloads/escansummary_en.pdf