Anne Marie asks:
I'm wondering how librarians include LibGuides in instruction. We got them just this year & the feedback is GREAT, but I'm struggling with how to effectively incorporate them into my teaching. Do I teach off that AND the library website? I've tried that & students are left going "how did you get there again?" At the same time, I don't want to just skip the website alltogether because I want them to be able to navigate the library website even though we might put the catalog or database search boxes on the LibGuides. Help?
It feels a little odd to answer my own coworker's question, but I'll take a stab at it. It is a bit of a balancing act. For me, I try to look at what my learning outcomes are for the students. In a lower-level core class I'm usually concerned with the students learning how to find, locate, and retrieve sources. So in that case I tend to show where the LibGuide is, but teach and demo searching from the website. When it's a class in the major, either lower level or upper division, I tend to lean more toward teaching them from the LibGuide as getting to the specialized databases are minimum 3 clicks away from the library homepage and I'd much rather spend the time with students to learn to use subject searching or talk about source evaluation, or specialized source types than how to navigate the website. That said, it's not always a pretty or entirely successful transition to get the students where I want them to be.
ReplyDeleteI tend to be in the "I don't care how they get there as long as they know what to do once they are" camp. I want to see students working with keywords, and tackling sources, and figuring out how to extract evidence and information from them. I understand and agree with the utility of knowing how to use the library website, but...I'm not sure it rises to the level of priority in most instruction cases. Especially when you have to be on the library website to navigate to the LibGuides.
I hadn't thought about it this way, but I think I'm like Beck in that I tend to teach directly from the research guide with the more advanced classes where they are are looking for specific kinds of information. This is especially true now that we have a discovery layer on our home page. The LibGuide helps me point to a subject specific databases for those classes that need them.
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense. I'm still feeling it out, but it sounds like determining an approach based on the needs of each class (learning objectives, students' experience, etc.) is probably best. Any other insights?
ReplyDeleteI've tried it both ways, starting with the LibGuide, starting with the web page. What I find myself doing most often now is showing it to them before I let them practice on their own. I usually say something like, "I've created a guide you can go to in case you forget everything I just said. You can always come back to this page for help.Or you can start your research from this page." And I quickly show them around. I put my assesment tool on the LibGuide that I show in class so that way everyone must find it before they leave class.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of including the assessment on the research guide. Then no excuses for not knowing how to get there! :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I want to teach from a Research Guide, particularly if I've made one specifically for the course, I use bit.ly to make a custom url that's easy to remember (i.e. bit.ly/fys42 for First Year Seminar 42) then I hand out a quarter sheet of paper with both the bit.ly address and a QR code on it. Students can then navigate directly to the Research Guide both during the session and after.
ReplyDeleteI think I work with them more like Jennifer does. I don't usually teach from guides. Unless they are somehow interactive (have an activity or questions), I'm not sure they are great teaching tools. To me they serve as reminders, showing strategies and tips for later--or a workshop session.
ReplyDeleteLibGuides do offer a unique challenge for instruction. Do we teach students how to access information without a crutch or do we make the process simplified to the point that resource selection is not an issue? I think the answer may be in website design.
ReplyDeleteAt my university, we use LibGuides for our website… i.e., the homepage, guides, launching pad, etc., etc. On the homepage, we have a search box. That box contains a tab for Books, eBooks, Articles, Films, Journals and Guides. Under the articles tab, students can choose to search EBSCO, ProQuest or any other database we've highlighted in that tab. By default, they will search our entire holdings in each database. Our homepage: http://library.briarcliff.edu/
On guides, I like to highlight specific resources. For example, on my Literary Criticism page, I offer a link to Humanities Source directly. (EBSCO product) It's nice to show them the difference between a part of the EBSCO omnibus and EBSCO as a whole. I also highlight some specific electronic/print books. You can see the guide I am talking about here: http://library.briarcliff.edu/engl301
When I taught the instruction session for ENGL 301: Literary Criticsm, I took them to the library website first and then took them to the guide from the homepage. I showed them the resources specific to their course, then took them to the broad EBSCO/ProQuest databases, all from the guide. I also showed them some electronic reference sources. At the end, I showed them the homepage and how they could just as easily search for articles via the homepage search box.
So I think the answer is that we should show them both. Let them explore the resource specific to their particular class. Then show them how to access those resources from the library’s main website.