readings on library website design

Figured I'd share some of the useful readings I've encountered as we begin to tackle the question of redesigning our library website:

http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/09/16/the-future-of-web-services-isnt-the-library-website/

http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/librarianinblack/2005/05/ten_alternative.html

http://www.jkup.net/terms.html

http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Website_Design

http://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/lcp/0502/lcp0502.pdf

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9605.html

Possible Wimba session topics

[I've updated the date on this older post for further discussion - DHL]
Folks,

As discussed yesterday, here is a list of possible Wimba session topics for your perusal. Please post your feedback/suggestions/additions to this blog entry (that way our conversation can all be gathered in one place rather than scattered all over in e-mails!).

My preference would be to start with the first 2 basic ones and expand to others from there over time. The idea behind most of these is to concentrate on students' practical needs (i.e., finding info, searching, citing sources). I would think a limit of say 5 people per session would be ideal. Let the group know what you think,
Dana

1. Start your Research (session would cover):

• How to get to library web site and how to contact librarians
• All Research Databases and Subject Guides (quick overview)
• Background information sources
• Journals and newspapers
• Books (catalog)
• Citation/style guide resources

2. Basic Search Strategy:

• Finding keywords
• AND and OR
• Quotes
• Parentheses
• Database limit options (peer-reviewed, date, full-text)
• Putting it all together (search examples)

3. Find Journal and Newspaper Articles:

• Multi-Database Search
• All Research Databases/Subject Guides
• FReD
• Basic search strategy

4. Find Full-Text, Peer-Reviewed Articles:

• What does peer-reviewed mean?
• All Research Databases
• FReD searching
• Database limit options (EBSCO, PQ, Gale)
• JSTOR and ScienceDirect (all peer-reviewed sources)

5. Evaluate Your Sources:

• Why evaluate?
• Things to look for (setting the "Rat TRAP"):
• Timeliness (when)
• Reliability (how)
• Authority (who)
• Purpose (why)

6. Search EBSCOhost:

• Getting to EBSCOhost
• Selecting databases to search
• Search interface orientation
• Limit options
• Results

7. Use the Multi-Database Search:

• Basic search
• Advanced search
• Choosing databases/subjects
• Results

8. Cite Your Sources:

• Importance of accurate citations
• Interpeting the citation
• Strategies for notetaking
• Where to go for citation/style guide information

Wimba Session topic ideas

- using Worldcat.org to locate books, and obtaining them (local/SUNY libraries, local library ILL, Amazon.com, etc.)

- locating journal articles (known-item and search/browse) - databases, Article Linker, FReD, Citation Linker

- using Multi-database Search

- using the Web for scholarly research (Google Scholar, portal resources, locating the web presence of reliable organizations, assessing online resources)

- locating books (known-item and search/browse) using the E-book Catalog and the individual e-book collections (includes section on the ebrary reader)

- creating citations for various types of material (guide them through using the resources we have on that)

- using EndNote X1

- using Interlibrary Loan (for grad students)

- what is plagiarism; how to avoid it

- doing current events and issues research (newspaper databases, Opposing Viewpoints, CQ resources, web, blogs as resources, etc.)

New resources via Conference Board

I posted this on the Newsletter blog as well - useful for doing any library resource requests for business/management/economics:

The library's subscription to The Conference Board Business Knowledge Research database now includes several new collections of multimedia tools:

Webcasts: recorded webcasts featuring business presentations that can be used in the classroom and as assignments by faculty. Our webcasts cover a broad range of topical business management and economic issues such as globalization, talent management, ethics and compliance, corporate governance, compensation and benefits, leadership, and corporate citizenship and sustainability.

PowerPoint Presentations: these slides, many of which are based on Conference Board reports, may be used to add value to your own presentations. Among their many benefits are:

• Most are a visual representation of our full research reports
• Opportunity to use slides in your own presentations
• In addition to the slides, we offer a "notes view" that provides additional text and explanations to each slide.

Lib 2.0 product to keep an eye on: LibGuides

We had talked about a place to bring together a lot of the library 2.0 tools (blogs, wikis, rss, etc.) into one place and this potentially meets that. Came across this relatively new product (it's not free though):

http://www.springshare.com/libguides/index.html

Especially check out the examples to see how this kind of thing can be used: http://www.springshare.com/libguides/examples.html

They also have a demo.
For a super-quick review of it, go here:
http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/librarianinblack/2007/06/libguides.html

Anyways, the kind of software/2.0 content management system we might think about purchasing at some point in the future...

Dana

new study of student research behavior

Beyond Google: How do students conduct academic research? by Alison J. HeadFirst Monday, volume 12, number 8 (August 2007),URL: http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue12_8/head/index.html

Quotes (my emphasis):
"A picture of the student research experience emerged from our survey data:

• Most students were confused by what college–level research entails. Students faced a variety of obstacles working against them, including their own procrastination with getting started on assignments (73 percent).
• Other challenges were related to accessing resource materials, especially what students described as their inability to narrow down topics and make them manageable (59 percent) and their tendency to become overwhelmed by the plethora of available resources (60 percent).
• Students felt they did not have enough information from professors to begin assignments (85 percent) and over two–thirds had difficulties gauging what professors wanted from one class to the next (67 percent)."

Students reported they had the best chance of succeeding (i.e., getting a good grade) when these options were available:

• Turning in drafts of papers, reviewed with comments added by the professor and then rewritten and resubmitted by the student (82 percent).
• Individual sessions with librarians for narrowing down unwieldy research topics (68 percent).
• One–on–one professor to student coaching sessions, focusing on how to overcome obstacles with conducting research (72 percent).

We offer three recommendations, based on our findings, for improving the student research process in a digital age:

• Research assignment handouts disseminated to students should include details about expectations for conducting quality research, including the use of the Internet.
• Professors and librarians should recognize students’ needs for individualized coaching, so that students’ abilities to find, select, and evaluate resources may be improved.
• Above all, the value of “high touch” interactions (human–mediated) with students in addition to “high tech” interactions (computer–mediated) should not be underestimated.

Question for us: is there anything we can do to address these recommendations? For example, will our planned ramping up of Wimba sessions help? Might an additional avenue of interaction (e.g., work with faculty to have them require their students to sign up for a one-2-one Wimba or phone or IM session with a librarian to get them started on their research paper?). And perhaps we should develop a Wimba session devoted to locating a research topic?