This document discusses how librarians at the University of South Dakota are using LibGuides to scaffold and support information literacy instruction across large general education courses. It describes how LibGuides are used as instructional scripts to ensure uniform content and quality in library sessions. It also explains how LibGuides can be used to "train the trainer" by educating teaching faculty in information literacy pedagogy, allowing IL instruction to be scaled up and embedded within disciplinary courses. The goal is a "LibGuide on steroids" that supports library instructors, teaching faculty, and students through the IL instruction process.

1. "LibGuides on Steroids":Expanding the User Base of LibGuides to Support Library Instruction and Justify Workload Carol A. Leibiger, Ph.D., MSLIS Associate Professor, Information Literacy Coordinator University Libraries, The University of South Dakota

2. A Short History of Subject Guides Pathfinders to Subject Guides to LibGuides

3. Pathfinder, c. 1970-1995 developed as part of the Model Library Project of Project Intrex, Massachusetts Institute of Technology step-by-step orientation, reference, and instructional tool to information sources intended to support the first 3-5 hours of research uniform in arrangement and content limited to a single 8.5 x 11 inch sheet “The result is an efficient and productive library experience.” (Canfield, 1972)

4. Pathfinders, c. 1970-1995 Pros (for users and librarians): Pathfinders addressed two related problems of reference work: “the orientation problems of library users” “the repetitive instructional demands placed on library staff” (Cipolla, 1980)

5. Pathfinders, c. 1970-1995 Cons: Pathfinders originated two problems inherent in subject guides: workload: the need to create Pathfinders and keep them up to date marketing: the need to broaden their use among patrons (Canfield, 1972)

7. accessibility

8. marketing

9. information literacy

10. workload(Vileno, 2007) topic selection inclusion criteria design guidelines target audience usage user evaluations

11. Online Subject Guides, c. 1994- Librarians have approached the workload issues associated subject guide creation in various ways: static HTML database-driven subject guides course management systems Web 2.0 technologies blogs social bookmarking Web sites wikis (Corrado 2010)

12. And then came LibGuides, 2007- “subject guide in a box”: CMS available from Springshare (www.springshare.com) maintained on Springshare’s web site created by librarians!!! extremely popular (over 2,000 institutional subscriptions) many enthusiastic conference presentations (www.springshare.com/libguides/reviews.html)

13. To summarize… Subject guides have been in use in libraries since the 1970s. They are intended to… provide reference help and instruction to library users and raise the level of reference questions and improve reference staff morale. Web subject guides provide reference assistance, instruction, and 24/7 access to users regardless of location. Major issues of subject guides are… marketing (how to get users to access/use them) and workload associated with their creation and maintenance. LibGuides… provide subject guides with Web 2.0 features that students will access and provide a solution to one of the workload problems of subject guides.

14. Why We love libguides Let us count the ways!

15. LibGuides, 2007- Do you LibGuides?

16. What librarians love about LibGuides: From the literature… quick and easy to create (perfect for non-techie subject liaisons) can be customized, personalized, branded promote consistency of format and contents allow repackaging of content for different audiences can be embedded in a CMS automatically check links; broken links reported to page creator easily capture statistics Web 2.0 applications allow dynamic communication and collaboration

17. What librarians love about LibGuides: Uses beyond guides library research/resource FAQ for distance learning students research methods resource page IL pages instructional pages to replace live instruction??? training tool/reference site for staff and student workers supporting library/institutional projects and events tenure/promotion document repository surveys digital repository conference presentations and virtual handouts!

18. LibGuides aren’t perfect Continuing Problems Associated With Subject Guides/ Pathfinders

19. LibGuides aren’t perfect Continuing problems associated with subject guides: Who are the intended users of subject guides? How do we get them to use subject guides? How do we know that users learn from subject guides? How do we justify the workload of subject guides, if we can’t answer these questions?

20. Who are subject guides actually created for? Students? Researchers? subject guides relieve reference librarians of repetitive questions (Cipolla, 1980) and thus raise staff morale (Jackson, 1984) production of guides is considered part of the traditional role of subject librarians (Pinfield, 2001) “important library publications” (Dunsmore, 2002)

21. Who are subject guides actually created for? Students? Researchers? used for staff training (Jackson & Pellack, 2004) “proof of expertise in a subject area, …quantitative measure of performance during…reviews” (Reeb & Gibbons, 2004) While we create subject guides for users, we also create them for ourselves.

22. Marketing subject guides The literature is unanimous: Market them via instruction! (Adebonojo, 2010; Brazzeal, 2006; Foster et al., 2010; Greene, 2008; Jackson, 2004; McMullin, 2010; Miner & Alexander, 2010; Reeb & Gibbons, 2004; Staley, 2007)

23. Do we know that subject guides increase learning? Guide availability doesn’t guarantee their use (Hemming, 2005; Morris, 2010; Staley, 2007; Vileno, 2007) Librarians invest a great deal of time on subject guides, but student use is low (Reeb & Gibbons, 2004) Guides reflect librarians’ mental models, not those of students or faculty (Reeb & Gibbons, 2004; Neilson, 2004) If guides are associated with course faculty rather than the library, will student use and learning increase?

24. A word about workload The average subject guide/pathfinder takes an experienced librarian between 8 and 20 hours to produce (Kapoun, 1995; Wilbert, 1981). The more electronic resources a subject guide contains, the more unstable its contents (the average life span of a URL = 44 days [Kahle, 1997]).

25. A word about workload No research has been done on the time required to maintain a subject guide. The literature is unanimous in pointing out the effect of creating/ maintaining guides on workload.

26. Another workload issue New issue associated with LibGuides Ease of creation encourages production of LibGuides, but adds to workload because of necessary maintenance.

27. Coordinating IL instruction and scalability Sharing Instruction in Large General-Education Courses

28. IL Coordinator Issues University of South Dakota Instructional Team = IL Coordinator and Instructional Services Librarian IL-mandated courses Freshman Composition Honors English Introduction to Literature Advanced Composition Speech Communication Fall 2010: 44 sections of Freshman English at main and satellite campuses Gen-ed IL instruction shared with 9 other faculty librarians

29. IL Coordinator Issues LIS programs don’t train librarians to teach. Subject liaisons don’t all have expertise in gen-ed subjects like literature. Library colleagues have limited time for instructional planning/design. Gen-ed one-shot library sessions must contain uniform content and high-quality instruction. How to ensure uniformity and quality of instruction in large general-education courses?

30. Solution: LibGuides! LibGuides are currently used to support student learning during and after library instruction. Let’s use them to scaffold instruction by library faculty before and during library sessions.

31. Libguides that support library instruction Scaffolding Library Faculty IL Instruction and Student Learning

32. Solution: LibGuides! The Freshman English Research Guide is used by the USD library faculty as an instructional script to ensure uniformity and quality of content in library sessions. Freshman English Research Guide

33. Solution: LibGuides! The ENGL 210: Introduction to Literature Research Guide is used by the USD library faculty as an instructional script to ensure uniformity and quality of content in library sessions. ENGL 210: Introduction to Literature contains information on literary analysis to scaffold library faculty preparation and teaching performs the traditional function of scaffolding student research and learning

34. LibGuides, Scalable Instruction, and the Teaching Faculty Scaffolding Teaching Faculty to Expand Scalable IL Instruction

35. LibGuidesand Scalable IL Instruction LibGuide use in library instruction can lead to more library instruction. The goal of IL instruction is to become increasingly embedded into higher education curricula. * * * * * * * * * What problems do we encounter as the demand for IL instruction increases? Do we become victims of our own success?

36. LibGuidesand Scalable IL Instruction Smith (1997) and Leibiger (2010) suggest IL instruction will not become engrained into higher education or be taught authentically until… it’s disassociated from the library it becomes embedded in faculty disciplinary instruction

37. LibGuidesand Scalable IL Instruction To embed IL into the curriculum in a scalable way, library faculty need to become IL educational experts: library faculty “train the trainer” in course design and IL pedagogy the library becomes a teaching and learning venue for both faculty and students Library faculty are both subject specialists and IL teaching specialists.

38. LibGuidesand Scalable IL Instruction Why “hand over” IL instruction? decreasinglibrary faculty and expanding requests for IL instruction including the teaching faculty is a scalableway to increase IL instruction more efficient to “train the trainer” possible to reach more students with a limited library faculty

39. LibGuidesand Scalable IL Instruction Why “hand over” IL instruction? allows faculty librarians to engage in higher-order, higher-visibility teaching IL perceived as part of a course or discipline and not as an add-on or “hoop” makes possible new, powerful, collaborative relationships with faculty, departments, and programs to enhance teaching and learning

40. LibGuidesand Scalable IL Instruction How to “train the trainer” formal instruction via workshops, presentations at departmental meetings, etc. informal marketing and instruction via conversations at social gatherings, over lunch, etc. online teaching and support of IL instruction via a LibGuide! LibGuides

41. Voilà! A LibGuide on Steroids The Finished Product: A Multiple-Use Scaffolding Tool to Support IL Instruction

42. Voilà! A LibGuide on Steroids Freshman English Information Literacy Instructors' Guide Provides the resources necessary for the Freshman English course assignments Provides scaffolding for library faculty who teach in support of these assignments Provides scaffolding for teaching faculty who wish to include IL instruction and activities in their disciplinary instruction Freshman English Information Literacy Instructors' Guide

43. Conclusion and discussion Questions? Comments? Advice?

44. Conclusion The Freshman English Information Literacy Instructors' Guidehas been developed to support/scaffold… library faculty colleagues’ teaching of research sessions scalable IL instruction by teaching faculty

45. Conclusion A “LibGuide on Steroids” has the following additional benefits: Identification of users: Once faculty users are identified, we can focus the contents on their instructional needs. Marketing: Faculty use LibGuides to teach and thus ensure use by students. Justification of workload: As the number of users increases, work to maintain LibGuides is justified.

46. Questions and Discussion Questions? Help me out! Can you suggest additional content?

47. Check out this slideshow On slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/cleibige/libguides-on-steroids As a LibGuide: http://libguides.usd.edu/LibGuides_on_Steroids

48. Contact the Author Carol A. Leibiger, Ph.D., MSLIS Associate Professor Information Literacy Coordinator University Libraries University of South Dakota Vermillion, SD 57069 C.Leibiger@usd.edu 605-677-6089