DYNAMIC DUOReference and Instruction Are Better Together!

Anna Mary Williford, Kelly Bradish, Amanda Folk & Amanda MillerMillstein Library

University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg

A Team Librarians

◦ Front: Amanda Folk & Anna Mary Williford◦ Back: Kelly Bradish & Amanda Miller

Credit: Diane Hughes

How Instruction Informs Reference

•Assignment Binder•Specific Products Demonstrated•LibGuides (such as

Intro to Theatre)Pass Information

Along

•Advertise individualized reference services (A Team LibGuide)Captive

Audience

How Instruction Informs Reference

•Assignment Binder•Specific Products Demonstrated•LibGuides (such as

Intro to Theatre)Pass Information

Along

•Advertise individualized reference services (A Team LibGuide)Captive

Audience

Students’ Perception of Librarians

1 2 3 4 50

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Q9-After the session, I feel comfortable coming to the library to use their resources, or ask for help from a librarian

Series1

Instruction SurveyFall 2010

to Spring 20154,219 Responses

Sometimes, students get stuck.

Get the most out of your

efforts to help them“unstick!”

jdurham/morguefile

Get details at the reference desk

> find out the class, instructor & assignment> ask to copy, scan or take a photo

Talk to instructors!> clarify assignments> share with colleagues

Frequently Asked

Questions are key!

Instruction librarians need to know about

reference statistics.

jeanneg/morguefile

Use those stats & fill in gapsLibGuide updatesTutorial linksEmbedding resources into LMSFollow-up class visits

Questions about assignments

•Has a librarian provided instruction to this class?Communicate

with instruction librarians

•Instructor might not arrange session without contact and evidence of needFAQs could

result in new sessions

Questions about resources

Met with students• During consultation,

questions asked about JOVE

LibGuide updated• JOVE tips added to

course guide to help students navigate

Instruction enhanced• Future classes will

benefit from additions to guide

Think of reference

consultations and

interactions as informal teaching

opportunities.

Miphoto/m

orguefile

– Dr. Olivia Long, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, Pitt-Greensburg

“…having the research librarians interact with my senior capstone students…transformed the students’ understanding of a literature search from a search in Google into being able

to utilize our campus resources. The students find these sessions very helpful…they find better

quality primary literature and are therefore more successful when developing their own research projects.

…our librarians partner with the students and really understand their needs on our campus. I will definitely be

continuing these types of consultations in the future.”

– Dr. Gretchen Underwood, Assistant Professor of Communication, Pitt-Greensburg

“…no matter how many times we tell students that resources are available, they rarely see the value…until they can utilize them in a meaningful way. By designing projects for my intro level courses that require research consultations, I hope to get students in the habit of using the library and scheduling time for consultations…

To date, more than a dozen students have made a point to tell me how valuable their consultations were...

I can see the value in the improved writing, evaluation of sources, and critical thinking that these students have demonstrated…I am

more than satisfied that our collaboration is a success.”

Formalizing Information Literacy◦ ACRL’s Characteristics of Programs of Information Literacy that Illustrate Best

Practices: A Guideline

http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/characteristics

Formalizing Information Literacy

Getting our measures to measure up◦Are we able to determine the level of instruction involved in reference transactions? ◦Existing system of gathering data did not differentiate between basic, intermediate and complex reference questions◦Conclusion: Existing system did not accurately reflect the type of informal teaching provided by librarians

Warner Classification System pilot

This classification was developed by Debra

Warner and colleagues at Eastern Carolina University’s Health Sciences Library.

Warner, D.G. (2001). A new classification for reference statistics. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 41(1), 51-55.

Classification pilot at MillsteinIncorporating the

Warner Model into our transaction recording provides more detail

about questions we are asked.

EXPLANATORY: how to/demonstrationEXPLORATORY: strategy/subject or topic searchEXTENSIVE: consultation/in-depth

1. Understand how our reference services add value to students’ experiences

2. More accurately assess informal teaching activities embedded in our reference services

3. Improve informal instruction we provide for students through reference

Goals of the Warner pilot

Research CollaboratoryDevoted quiet space for students to discuss and work with librarians on their research projects

Research CollaboratoryBEFORE AFTER

Questions?Feel free to contact us!Amanda Folk (alfolk@pitt.edu)Anna Mary Williford (annamary@pitt.edu)Kelly Bradish (kelly.bradish@pitt.edu)Amanda Miller

Or visit our LibGuide!pitt.libguides.com/ateam