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Learning library skills -workbook to web
Margaret Emery

Presenter's biographical details
Margaret Emery is Research Services Librarian at the Barr Smith Library, University of Adelaide. Margaret coordinates the activities of the research librarians and the provision of electronic information resources. She has been working with the Library's Computer Based Learning project since early 1998.

Abstract
The University of Adelaide Library has been using self-paced Library skills workbooks since 1989 to teach library and information skills to first year students. In 1998 the Library began a project to convert the Science Library skills workbook to a web-based format, and in 1999 first year Science students (n=440) completed a Science Library skills tutorial on the web. The web, already the norm for delivery of information resources such as library catalogues and indexing and abstracting services, has significant advantages for the teaching of library skills to large numbers of first years. Next year, first years in Health Sciences, Humanitites and Social Sciences and Science will learn library skills from the web.

Web address
http://online.adelaide.edu.au/LearnIT.nsf/URLs/Learning_library_skills

Introduction and background

Library and information skills instruction for large numbers of new undergraduates is difficult. Libraries don't have the resources to provide classroom instruction, and undergraduates enter university with varying levels of expertise. It was in order to overcome these difficulties that the Barr Smith Library embarked on the development of the self-paced Library skills workbook in 1989. By 1998 the Library was providing almost all of its instruction to first year students by way of the Library skills workbooks.

Computer assisted, or computer based instruction has been in use by libraries, as well as many other groups, for some time. Many of its advantages — that it is interactive, self-paced, self-directed, with immediate feedback — were well known. However, the World Wide Web has brought more attractive possibilities, particularly with regard to accessibility. Access can be from anywhere, on many types of computer. In addition, the web technology is now in widespread use for accessing library and information resources — the catalogue, journal indexes and abstracts, electronic journals, and many other resources, and students no longer need to come to the Library to access many information resources.

The Library decided to initiate a project in 1998, with a view to testing an online library skills training product with a group of first year students in 1999. It was recognised that development would not be a trivial task, and would involve investment of considerable time and expertise, although we were confident that we already had much of the content in the paper Library skills workbook. Funds were provided to employ a project coordinator, and a developer to work with Library staff. The project became the Computer based learning, or ComBL Project, and the Library skills workbook for Science was chosen as the basis for a pilot web-based tutorial to be run in 1999.

Project development

Mission and description

The project defined at the beginning of 1998 had as its mission:

From early 1998, the Library contracted with Aspect Computing to provide Karen Horsfall as project manager, and Glenn Ball as design and implementation developer. Glenn had considerable experience working with development of online training materials. A working group was established, comprising Library staff, project staff and an ACUE staff member. The group was responsible for defining content, which was to be based on the print Science Library skills workbook. The design and implementation developer would translate the content to the web, liaising with group on design issues.

Software

Before the project team was formed, some work had been done by Library staff on identifying possible software products which could be used. The first task of the project manager was to evaluate the possible products, and recommend a product for the development. The software chosen was WebCT. Factors which influenced this choice were functionality and cost. The WebCT software, coupled with the project team's design, allowed students a good deal of flexibility in their approach to the tutorial. They could do it over a number of sessions, and could resume where they had left off previously, or anywhere they chose. They could view their results in any session. They could attempt the questions at any time, whether or not they had looked at the content. There could be more than one attempt at a question.

Content

The existing Science Library skills workbook had been developed and refined over a number of years, and its content formed a sound basis for the content of the new tutorial. Content on navigating the web-based tutorial had to be added, more use could be made of illustrations and colour, and questions needed to be re-worked. The software offered the ability to have self-test questions as well as questions for assessment.

Design

Many of the issues for the design of the tutorial arose from the differences between navigating a paper product and a web-based product — scrolling the screen vs turning pages, the possibility of hyperlinks as well as an overall contents page, having questions more integrated. A good deal of work on these issues was done by Glenn Ball, and reviewed by the working group.

Implementation

Many practical and administrative issues had to be considered when the tutorial was to be used with first year Science students in 1999. An introductory web page and handout with location and instructions had to be prepared. Student IDs and passwords had to be loaded into the system. Sufficient equipment had to be made available for students to complete the tutorial in the Library, although it was expected that a number would do at least part of the tutorial from elsewhere.

Online library skills tutorial — Science

A demonstration of the Science tutorial reveals the competencies it is designed to impart to first year students, who, on completion should be able to:

identify citations to books and chapters in books distinguish a citation to a book or a chapter in a book identify the parts of a citation (author, title, etc) identify which part of a chapter citation would be searched in the Library catalogue search the Library catalogue for the locations and call numbers of books using their titles, authors or keywords search a book title in the Library catalogue search a book chapter in the Library catalogue search for an author in the Library catalogue search by keyword in the Library catalogue find the book's location, call number and whether it is available or on loan find books on shelves through their locations and call numbers know where to find call numbers in the Main collection know where to find other collections identify citations to journal articles, identify the journal title, volume, issue and pages in a citation

find full journal titles from their abbreviations find journal titles in the Library catalogue find which volumes and issues of a journal are held by the Library determine whether the Library holds a given volume/year/issue of a journal and whether it will receive future issues determine whether the issue wanted is in the Unbound journals collection or in the Main collection or being bound or on loan find books in the Library catalogue when only the subject they deal with, but not the author or title, is known search an electronic database to find journal articles on a topic when only the subject they deal with, but not the author or title, is known use scientific encyclopaedias and dictionaries effectively look for scientific information on the World Wide Web by entering a URL, browsing science gateways or using a search engine assess the quality and reliability of the information they find

The web-based format enables students to complete all the questions at their own pace, over any number of separate sessions. Students get immediate feedback on their answers to questions, and can always view their results to date. Although the tutorial is designed for students to progress through section by section, it is flexible and allows students to complete the sections and questions in any order they choose. Students can start sessions in the catalogue, databases and the Internet from hyperlinks, and

Outcomes, advantages and disadvantages

The Library has not carried out formal evaluation of the Science Online library skills tutorial, but it has obtained feedback about the effectiveness of the project in a number of ways.

During the development phase of the project in 1998, in addition to the testing and evaluation done by the ComBL working group, the tutorial was tested with three small groups of users: beginning international postgraduate students, Library and Information Studies students from the University of South Australia, and Library clerical staff. The tests were supervised by members of the ComBL working group and observation as well as feedback from testers provided useful information which was used to modify the tutorial.

The pilot of the tutorial with first year Science students in Semester 1, 1999 yielded a variety of information on its effectiveness. The WebCT software allows students to leave comments online, and about half of the 440 students who did the tutorial made comments. Many of these comments were helpful, and on balance they were surprisingly favourable. Many students liked the electronic format, the fact that it was clear and informative, incorporated questions and answers, was convenient, and they found it useful. On the negative side, students complained about the time it took, that it was tedious, boring, a waste of time and repeated skills known from school. Quite a number of students who complained also commented that it was useful, informative and well-designed! A number recognised its long term benefits although they found it tedious at the time. The complaints were similar to those that we received about the paper Workbook, and highlighted the desirability of integrating the library skills training with the requirements of academic subjects. The student comments on the Science tutorial were similar to those documented from other library online training projects, e.g. Kaplowitz and Contini (1998).

In addition to the comments, WebCT provides statistical summaries of the answers to questions submitted by students. The statistics from the Science pilot suggested that problem areas which have been poorly answered in the printed workbook and are poorly understood by students asking at the Information desk are no better handled by students in the online Tutorial. We may need to highlight key points in the journal and databases sections and shift the emphasis towards these more difficult sections. It is also possible that students tend to guess more once they have reached the minimum pass mark. Since the difficult sections are later, it may be worth weighting the marks in their favour or having fewer questions on the simpler sections.

Advantages

The web-based tutorial is accessible from both within the Library, and many locations outside the Library, including other locations on campus and from homes. While any feedback to students from the print workbook was very slow, the web-based tutorial is interactive and students receive immediate feedback on their answers. The web-based tutorial provides the opportunity for students to go directly to web-based information resources and practise using them. Many students like the electronic form of the tutorial.

Students are also able to give immediate feedback to Library staff on their reactions to the tutorial. The use of multiple choice questions with the electronic format means that there is no marking to be done by Library staff; who can then devote resources to more assistance to students. Statistics are readily available on the questions students answered.

Material produced for the basic tutorials can be used or adapted for other training purposes, for example a section on a database can be used as the basis for a more detailed tutorial for the database.

Disadvantages

The technology may be a barrier to students new to, or fearful of, computers. Development of a web-based tutorial is expensive, but this investment in the first tutorial should pay off in easier development of other tutorials, and better, more accessible training for students. Students do not have a print 'reference' to take away, although they can print out sections of the tutorial from the web.

Where to now?

After completion of the pilot of the Library skills workbook for Science during 1999, and consideration of the outcomes, the Library embarked on a further project for the development of online tutorials for Humanities and Social Sciences and Health Sciences, in addition to revision of the Science tutorial. A similar process was used, with a slightly changed working group, and Glenn Ball, now of Quoin Technology, as project manager and developer. At time of writing, this project is almost complete, and these tutorials will replace the paper Library skills workbooks for these disciplines in 2000. The Library also has a staff member working outside the project on a tutorial for Economics.

There are a number of further developments the Library would like to pursue now that the viability of web-based training in library and information skills has been demonstrated.

The effectiveness of the library skills training has been demonstrated to be greatly improved when integrated into course offerings, and the Library plans to try and work with academic staff towards better integration. In addition, work needs to be done to better integrate the Library tutorials with Adelaide University Online.

There is also the opportunity to extend the tutorials other disciplines, and to more advanced courses — some areas that we plan to develop are later year chemistry, EndNote, and individual databases such as Medline.

It goes without saying revision and development will continue as information resources and technologies change. We need to keep software and University intranet developments under review, as well as to develop content as resources change.

WWW References

Selected web based library and information tutorial sites are provided in the following references list.

References
California Polytechnic State University: Information competence (accessed 12/11/99) <http://multiweb.lib.calpoly.edu/infocomp/modules/>

Curtin University Library: InfoTrekk <http://www.curtin.edu.au/curtin/library/guides/infotrekk/>

Deakin University Library: Online tutorials (link no longer available as of 2007-02-09)

Griffith University Library: Library research tutorial (accessed 12/11/99) <http://www.gu.edu.au/ins/lils/infolit/lrt/lrtintro.htm>

Monash University Library: On-line tutorials on information seeking skills and tools (accessed 12/11/99) <http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/vl/howind.htm>

Murdoch University Library: LITE, the Library and Information Technology Exercises (accessed 12/11/99) <http://wwwlite.murdoch.edu.au/lite/home.htm>

Purdue University Libraries: CORE+ (Comprehensive Online Research Education) (accessed 12/11/99) <http://www.lib.purdue.edu/core/summary.html>

RMIT University Library: Tutorials and guides (accessed 12/11/99) <http://www.lib.rmit.edu.au/tutorials/index.html>

University of Adelaide Library: Library skills tutorial for science (non-interactive reference version) (accessed 12/11/99) <http://www.library.adelaide.edu.au/guide/sci/Generalsci/tutref/>

University of Central Florida Library: WebLUIS Tutorial (accessed 12/11/99) <http://reach.ucf.edu:8900/public/libtut/>

University of Iowa Libraries: Library Explorer on the World Wide Web (accessed 12/11/99) <http://explorer.lib.uiowa.edu/>

University of Western Australia: InfoPathways (accessed 12/11/99) <http://www.library.uwa.edu.au/packages/infopathways/>

Dewald, N. H. (1999). "Transporting good library instruction practices into the web environment: An analysis of online tutorials." Journal of Academic Librarianship 25(1): 26-31.

Dewald, N. H. (1999). "Web-based library instruction: What is good pedagogy?" Information Technology & Libraries 18(1): 26-31.

Evans, P. (1997). Designing a multimedia system to instruct novice users of online library catalogues. In Information Online and On Disc. Proceedings of the Eighth Australasian Information Online and On Disc Conference Sydney 21-23 January 1997, Sydney, Australian Library and Information Association Information Science Section. <http://www.csu.edu.au/special/online97/proceedings/onl207.htm#one>

Kaplowitz, J. and J. Contini (1998). "Computer-Assisted Instruction - Is It an Option For Bibliographic Instruction in Large Undergraduate Survey Classes." College & Research Libraries 59(1): 19-27.

Prestamo, A. M. T. (1998). "Development of Web-based tutorials for online databases." Issues in Science & Technology Librarianship 17. <http://www.library.ucsb.edu/istl/98-winter/article3.html>

Westera, G. and J. Frylinck (1996). Interactive information literacy on the World Wide Web. Ausweb 96: landscaping the Web. Proceedings of the Second Australian World Wide Web Conference Gold Coast Queensland 7-9 July 1996, Gold Coast, Queensland. <http://www.scu.edu.au/sponsored/ausweb/ausweb96/educn/westera/>

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