EMBEDDED LIBRARIANSHIP IN ONLINE COURSES

OUR EXPERIENCE

Seth Allen King University

Patrice HallLenoir-Rhyne University

About UsWe are NOT experts, but….Seth Allen and Patrice Hall are instructional librarians who serve growing online student bodies at King University and Lenoir-Rhyne University, respectively. We took a continuing ed course, “Online Embedded Librarianship”, in January 2015 through Library Juice Academy and wanted to share what we learned!

COURSE DESCRIPTION

“This course will discuss ways librarians may embed their skills in the virtual campus through its learning management system through the use of portal tabs, blocks, eReserves, knowledge bases, and student/faculty orientations... An examination of the librarian as both a subject matter liaison and copyright point person during the design and development of online courses is explored. The course concludes with an analysis of assessing embedded librarian efforts.”

WHY EMBED LIBRARIANS IN ONLINE CLASSES?ONLINE STUDENTS NEED EQUIVALENTINSTRUCTIONMost libraries have well established strategies for teaching face-to-face students, but lack a strategy for reaching online students with comparable instruction!

IT PROMOTES THE LIBRARY’S RESOURCESMost of the library’s resources are now available online, yet many online students assume that the library is only a brick and mortar building with print collections.

THE LIBRARIAN IS SEEN AS AN INSTRUCTOR Librarians are thought to be guardians of info resources, not instructors. Embedded library instruction helps students & faculty to see the librarian as a partner in teaching and learning.

“Embedded librarianship is a powerful way to show the impact that librarians can and do have beyond the

traditional functions of the library, and why librarians are needed now more than ever.”

Carlson, J. and Kneale, R., “Embedded Librarianship in the Research Context: Navigating New Waters,” College & Research Libraries News 72, no. 3 (March 2011): 167, Retrieved on May 5, 2015 from, http://crln.acrl.org/content/72/3/167.full.pdf+html

BARRIERS TO BECOMING AN

ONLINE EMBEDDED LIBRARIAN

➜ Faculty “buy-in”➜ Time commitment

○ Growing the program with your institution’s growth

➜ Access to LMS & technology

BARRIERS TO BECOMING AN ONLINE EMBEDDED LIBRARIAN

SOLUTION #1Planning

Consider ways to embed library services and select

some strategies that met the needs of the class/program.

➜ How much time can you invest in each embedded class?○ Differentiated level of involvement by

class? ➜ How will you make your

embedded efforts scalable and sustainable? (See Appendix 2)

➜ How will you get access to your campus LMS system?

➜ How will you assess student learning?

PLANNING

INCLUDE LEVELS OF EMBEDDEDNESS

Workload for Librarian

Level 1Minimal

Level 2Minimal-Moderate

Level 3Moderate-Extensive

Methods of Embedding Library

Services

-Link to Library in Course Shell-Library chat widget(?)-Posting Librarian Contact Info

-Librarian-hosted discussion forum-Link to discipline libguide-Link to tutorials pertinent to the class-Librarian leaves an announcement offering help in Blackboard

-Creating a custom Libguide for the course-Create a custom tutorial for the course-Host a synchronous online workshop

Appropriate for What Courses?

All courses Courses in which instructors solicit librarians for help

Targeted courses (ideally 2) in each online program identified by program chairs & librarians

How to Assess Effectiveness/Use

-No. of clicks to library page from Blackboard course shell-No. of chats originating from Blacboard

-No. of students contacting librarian-No. of students responding to discussion board prompts-No. of page visits to LibGuides-No. of views to YouTube channel

-Use instruction evaluation forms for online workshops-Customized tutorials should have a short quiz at the end (or some quick form of assessment) – strongly encourage to faculty to count quiz as a participation grade for the course Plan your level of involvement in each course

SOLUTION #2Communication

Communicate your vision clearly and succinctly to faculty

members & LMS administrators and keep them updated!

With LMS Admins➜ Know your admins

- their cooperation is crucial to your success!

➜ Discuss levels of access in LMS - use a level that permits you to accomplish your goals

COMMUNICATIONWith Faculty➜ Prepare an ‘elevator

speech’ about the embedded librarian program

➜ Explain what you plan to do in their classes in concrete terms

➜ Tailor your services to the need of a class

➜ Communicate any challenges with student engagement

Market Your Embedded Librarian Program

Infographic embedded on a LibGuide

Practice Your Elevator Speech on Embedded LibrarianshipFaculty need to grasp the ‘big picture’ - you can share the details later!● How will it benefit them? Save them time?● What are you doing? Why are you doing this?● Why is the worth the effort?

Be able to give your speech In 3 minutes….or less.

Ask Your LMS Admin for a ‘Librarian’ Role

SOLUTION #3Pick an Embedded Librarianship that

Works for YouThere is no one-size-fits-all

model!

Embedded Librarian CSE Model

Evaluate Support

Collaborate

student centered

Adapted from: Donaldson, A., & Valenti, A. (2014). Embedded librarians: evolving and expanding in higher education. In E. Leonard (Ed.) and E. McCaffrey (Ed.), Virtually embedded: the librarian in an online environment (pp.17- 36). Chicago: The Association of College & Research Libraries.

➜ Understand instructor’s goals and intended student outcomes

➜ Know planned assignments and due dates

➜ Deliver resources to support outcomes

➜ Evaluate program through instructor and student feedback

CSE Model

COURSE TITLE

TUTORIAL LEARNING OBJECTIVES

2000 INFO LIT STANDARD(S)

COVERED

2014 FRAMEWORK

FRAME(S) COVERED

CRJU3300

RESEARCH

METHODS IN

CRIMINAL

JUSTICE

-Distinguish between quantitative vs. qualitative research studies-Distinguish peer-reviewed from popular articles-Recognize parts of a peer-reviewed articles (i.e. abstract, methods)-Introduce APA

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

CRJU3600

THEORIES OF

CRIMINOLOGY

-Identify tertiary sources for criminal justice research – to research a theory or theorist-How to use phrase Searching in Databases for Theory-Reinforce APA style

2, 3 1,2,4,5

CRJU4550

CRIMINAL

JUSTICE POLICY

-Introduce Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Issues and Controversies-Use phrasing search and topic searching to do research on criminal justice debates (i.e. community policing, gun control)-Reinforce APA style

2, 3 5,6

King develops its program by meeting with each department that offers online degrees and select courses for a strategic embedded presence. Seth creates a tutorial and quiz for the selected classes that align with ACRL Info Lit Standards/Frames, the tutorial + quiz is embedded in all sections of these courses offered.

SOLUTION #4Develop a Winning

StrategyHow can you practically engage with students in online classes?

EMBEDDED STRATEGY #1 Create a custom tutorial for the class● Use research

assignments indicated in syllabus or other course docs to demonstrate info lit skills in context

EMBEDDED STRATEGY #2 Host a discussion forum on students’ needs● Don’t ask open-ended

questions!● Request that instructor

participate in discussion● Ask if instructor would

offer credit for student participation

EMBEDDED STRATEGY #3 Ask your LMS Admins to create strategic links● Blackboard has e-

reserves● Consider adding a chat

box in course shell or link to the library website

EMBEDDED STRATEGY #4 Ask instructors to add announcement about library services● Consider asking profs

to announce library workshops in their course shells

SOLUTION #5Assess Your Efforts

Can you prove that students have learned? Are instructors satisfied

with the embedded program?

ASSESSMENT

➜ Tailor embedded librarian instruction to course learning objective - see next slide

➜ Use formative and summative assessments○ Pre-tests/Post-tests (Summative) Sample Pre-Test/Post-Test○ Discussion Forum (Formative) ○ Citation Analysis (Summative) Sample Citation Analysis

COURSE TITLE

TUTORIAL LEARNING OBJECTIVES

2000 INFO LIT STANDARD(S)

COVERED

2014 FRAMEWORK

FRAME(S) COVERED

CRJU3300

RESEARCH

METHODS IN

CRIMINAL

JUSTICE

-Distinguish between quantitative vs. qualitative research studies-Distinguish peer-reviewed from popular articles-Recognize parts of a peer-reviewed articles (i.e. abstract, methods)-Introduce APA

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

CRJU3600

THEORIES OF

CRIMINOLOGY

-Identify tertiary sources for criminal justice research – to research a theory or theorist-How to use phrase Searching in Databases for Theory-Reinforce APA style

2, 3 1,2,4,5

CRJU4550

CRIMINAL

JUSTICE POLICY

-Introduce Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Issues and Controversies-Use phrasing search and topic searching to do research on criminal justice debates (i.e. community policing, gun control)-Reinforce APA style

2, 3 5,6

Tailor learning objectives to the needs of the course and align them with ACRL Info Lit Standards and Frames.

HOW WE DO WHAT

WE DO

King University➜ Dedicated Online

Instruction Librarian as of 2014

➜ 6 full-time librarians for student body of ~3,000 students

➜ Good relationship with LMS admins & dept. chairs (ie strong buy-in for embedded program)

NO ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL MODEL OF EMBEDDED LIBRARIANSHIP

Lenoir-Rhyne University➜ Liaison model to serve

62 undergraduate/ graduate programs

➜ 3 campuses, 4 full-time, 6 part-time librarians for a student body of ~2100 students

➜ New Center for Teaching & Learning and a new LMS providing support and opportunities for growth of program

Seth at King:➜ Met with dept.

chairs of all online programs - built embedded program dept. by dept.

➜ Built reusable tutorials/quizzes in Google Forms to embed in unlimited no. of course sections

START SMALL AND BUILD YOUR EMBEDDED PROGRAM

Patrice at Lenoir-Rhyne:➜ Previously embedded

in 2 classes, one summer, one spring semester

➜ Currently embedded in EBP nursing summer session

➜ Plan to use this experience to build and improve service

Thanks!Any questions? Contact Us!Seth AllenOnline Instruction LibrarianKing Universityswallen@king.edu

Patrice HallInstruction & Reference LibrarianLenoir-Rhyne University Patrice.Hall@lr.edu

Tumbleson, B., & Burke, J. (2013). Embedding librarianship in learning management systems: A how-to-do-it manual for librarians (p. 157). Chicago: Neal-Shuman.

Appendix 1: Article on Best Practices for Online Embedded Librarianship

Appendix 2: Tips for a Scalable, Sustainable Online Embedded Program

Re-use tutorials/ assessments Instead of creating custom tutorials for a Level 3 course, use existing tutorials and assessments Browse the web for existing information literacy tutorials, particularly items that have been licensed under Creative Commons for re-use, to show in online classesConsider re-using/adapting national information literacy tests (ie TRAILS) to assess students’ learning

Divide embedded service responsibilities by discipline

As the embedded program expands, instructional librarians could divide the workload by collection development or libguide maintenance responsibility – thus faculty can develop a relationship with a single librarian for acquisitions and instructional services.

Use existing lesson plans to build tutorials

Since library instruction in online courses should mirror face to face courses, tutorials for targeted classes in online programs should be created using lesson plans for face-to-face instruction sessions (if they exist)

Keep notes of content covered in tutorials/workshops and learning objectives for targeted courses

Shifts in technology and accessibility to free tools might render existing tutorials obsolete. Therefore, the Online Instruction Librarian and other librarians who create tutorials or host workshops should keep an outline of their activities and how they relate to the learning objectives in a particular course. This might prove helpful to re-create tutorials in future mediums and assist librarians from needlessly creating new content for workshops.

Offer Level 3 Support sparingly Level 3 services involves value-added services that can easily siphon work time. For the embedded program to be sustainable, the librarian needs to offer Level 3 support to courses that are research-intensive, upper level, and have few sections offered per semester or small class sizes. As the ‘portfolio’ of tutorial grow, this should be less problematic.

BibliographyCarlson, J. and Kneale, R., “Embedded Librarianship in the Research Context: Navigating New Waters,” College & Research Libraries News 72, no. 3 (March 2011): 167, Retrieved on May 5, 2015 from, http://crln.acrl.org/content/72/3/167.full.pdf+html

De Rosa, C., Cantrell, J., Hawk, J., & Wilson, A. (2006). College students’ perceptions of libraries and information resources: A report to the OCLC membership. Dublin, OH: OCLC. Retrieved on January 1, 2008, from http://www.oclc.org/reports/pdfs/studentperceptions.pdf

Donaldson, A., & Valenti, A. (2014). Embedded librarians: evolving and expanding in higher education. In E. Leonard (Ed.) and E. McCaffrey (Ed.), Virtually embedded: the librarian in an online environment (pp.17- 36). Chicago: The Association of College & Research Libraries.

Hamilton, B. (2012). Embedded Librarianship : Tools and Practices. Chicago, Ill: ALA TechSource.

BibliographyHoffman, Starr & Ramin, Lilly. Best Practices for Librarians Embedded in Online Courses. [New York, New York]. UNT Digital Library. http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc67620/

Leonard, E., and McCaffrey, E. (Eds.), (2014). Virtually embedded: the librarian in an online environment. Chicago: The Association of College & Research Libraries.

Mackey, T. P., and Jacobson, T. (Eds.). (2011), Teaching Information Literacy Online Chicago, Illinois: Neal-Schuman

Shumaker, D. (2012). The Embedded Librarian : Innovative Strategies for Taking Knowledge Where It's Needed. Medford, N.J.: Information Today.

Tumbleson, B. E., and Burke, J. (2013). Embedding Librarianship in Learning Management Systems : A How-to-do-it Manual for Librarians. Chicago, Neal-Schuman.

York, A. C., & Vance, J. M. (2009). Taking Library Instruction into the Online Classroom: Best Practices for Embedded Librarians. Journal Of Library Administration, 49(1/2), 197-209. doi:10.1080/01930820802312995

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