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The Role of an Embedded Librarian 1

Running Head: THE ROLE OF AN EMBEDDED LIBRARIAN

The Role of an Embedded Librarian in Substance Abuse Counseling Courses:

A Pilot Study

Mary K. Crozier, Ed. D.,

Amy E. Blevins, MALS, Sherr McMillan, MAEd., Suzanne Hudson, Ph. D.

East Carolina University

Mary K. Crozier received her doctorate from the College of William and Mary in Virginia

and currently teaches at East Carolina University. Her research focus is addictions

counseling and substance abuse prevention. Amy E. Blevins received her MALS from the

University of Missouri-Columbia and is the Education and Instructional Technology Librarian at

East Carolina University. Her research focus is on instructional technologies and design. Sherr

McMillan is a doctoral student in the Department of Rehabilitation Studies at East Carolina

University. Suzanne Hudson received her doctorate from the University of Oregon and is

currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Biostatistics at East Carolina University.

Address correspondence to Mary K. Crozier, Assistant Professor, Substance Abuse,

and Clinical Counseling, Department of Rehabilitation Studies, College of Allied

Health Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, [email protected]


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Abstract

As distance education courses increase on college campuses, new methods are needed to ensure

that students experiences and outcomes are equivalent to those of onsite students. This pilot

study was conducted to examine the development, benefits, and challenges of providing an

embedded librarian in on campus and distance substance abuse counseling courses in a

rehabilitation studies department. An embedded librarian worked with the course instructor to

provide customized materials and library instruction to students through a course management

system which resulted in a positive change in the use of online scholarly resources.

Keywords. Course management systems, embedded librarian, substance abuse counseling,

information literacy, distance education, library instruction, and rehabilitation studies.


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The Need for Library Instruction

Library instruction adds great value to the education experience by exposing students to

reliable and scholarly information sources and by giving them the skills to evaluate the

credibility of information. Unfortunately, students sometimes do not seek out library instruction

on their own because they do not know to ask, or because they think they already possess the

skills necessary to conduct a literature search. With the existence of internet search engines such

as Google, many students falsely believe that everything is easily accessible online and that all

online information is credible. Students may not realize, for example, that Google Scholar

contains information that is not peer-reviewed, such as conference proceedings and paper

abstracts. The reliability and credibility problems of Google Scholar are exacerbated by its

ranking system, which is in part based on the number of times a work is cited. This can make

older material appear to be more relevant (Google, 2009), a particular problem where health

sciences students should be using the most current research available.

Library instruction has been found to improve the quality and variety of resources used in

student research papers (Appleton, 2005). Thus, library instruction has been added as a

requirement for accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (Commission

on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, 2008) and library research

skills are a knowledge area in the Current CORE Accreditation Standards (Council on

Rehabilitation Education [CORE], 2008). Yet some students, especially those in distance courses,

do not have access to library instruction. Research at the Pennsylvania State Universitys World

Campus found that many DE faculty did not provide library instruction to students because they

did not believe it was needed and were not aware that library instruction was available for DE

courses at their institution (Cahoy & Moyo, 2005). A study of midwifery students, however,


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found that 80% of the course participants claimed they did not have sufficient information-

seeking skills to do their coursework (Appleton, 2005).

The Embedded Librarian

As DE programs began to grow, so did online library resources and services. Of

particular relevance was the establishment of outreach or distance-learning librarians (Kearley &

Phillips, 2005) who performed a variety of services including the creation of websites for DE

students and instructors and marketing of services to the distance faculty to ensure equal access

to information for all members of the institution regardless of their on or off-campus status

(Wyss, 2008).

Many institutions have taken the next step and integrated library services and staff into

teaching and course content with the integrated or blended librarian, the lurking librarian, or a

librarian in the classroom (Stewart, 2007, p. 29). It was determined that embedding library

reference services and resources into courses was easily accomplished [however] links alone

were insufficient (Kearley & Phillips, 2005, p. 71). Thus the EL model emerged. Although the

literature on embedded librarians is not new, the definition of an EL has not been standardized

nor has the training been uniform for librarians (York & Vance, 2009). The metaphor of the EL

was inspired by the phenomenon of embedding journalists in various military sectors during the

Iraq war. The concept of embedding implies comprehensive integration requiring direct and

purposeful interaction, in contrast to acting in parallel with another person, group, or activity

(Dewey, 2006). This purpose makes the concept of embedding appropriate for librarians in the

higher education community (Dewey, 2006). Vanderbilt University librarians have defined the

EL as a librarian who audits a formal course with the students, is available to the students

before and after class for networking and for questions, and who identifies learning needs


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throughout the semester and provides workshops and individualized instruction based on those

identified needs (Foutch, Griffith, Lannom, Sommer, & Weiner, 2007, p. 4). Other institutions

consider an EL as being physically located in an academic department or in a classroom setting

(York & Vance, 2009).

While EL programs vary greatly from one institution to the next, there are some common

elements. Despite differing adjectives and applications, embedded librarians strive to follow

standards outlined by the Association of College and Research Libraries (Kinnie, 2006). The

Standards for Distance Learning Library Services contain a Bill of Rights for the Distance

Learning Community that states libraries must provide equivalent services for any student,

faculty, or staff member of the greater learning institution, and that efforts should be made to

accommodate any special needs that may arise because of their distance from the physical

institution (Association of College and Research Libraries, 2008). EL programs generally take

place in a course using a course management system (CMS) such as Blackboard, Sakai, or

Moodle. By placing library handouts and help materials within the CMS, the librarian ensures

that students will have access to all materials for the course and at the point when the students

are ready to use them. EL programs also enhance information literacy skills, including the ability

to realize when information is needed, know sources of information, evaluate information, and

use the information in an ethical manner (Mulherrin, Kelley, Fishman, & Orr, 2004). Thus, the

standards and EL goals strive to prevent disenfranchisement of DE students.

Addressing Learning Styles with an Embedded Librarian

Students are more motivated and learn better when an instructional approach matches

their preferred learning style (Manuel, 2002) and their generational learning style (Johnson &

Romanello, 2005; Kipnis & Childs, 2004; Lower, 2008). The features of CMS and DE suit the


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learning styles of students from the three different generations; Generation Y, who were born

from 1982-2002; Generation X, who were born from 1961-1981; and the Baby Boomer

Generation, who were born from1943-1960 (Johnson & Romanello, 2005). Generation Y

students are often characterized as technologically savvy with expectations that information will

be online at all times (Johnson & Romanello, 2005). In addition, they are said to have a short

attention span and to prefer to get information in bits and pieces rather than in a lengthy lecture

(Lower, 2008). Generation X shares some of the characteristics of Generation Y since both grew

up with video games and computers (Kipnis & Childs, 2004). They respond to visually

stimulating tutorials, customized information (Costello, Lenholt, & Stryker, 2004), instant

gratification and quick feedback, as well as boredom resistant and engaging material. Generation

Y and X will be accommodated by information on library resources that is available 24/7 so they

can work at their own pace rather than all at once with an EL who can add a homepage on his/her

contact information, professional experience, and credibility. Students from the Baby Boomer

Generation, however, may not be familiar with computers, CMS, or online learning (Johnson &

Romanello, 2005). The EL may alleviate stress for Baby Boomer students by making it easier for

them to access library resources in an online environment. The EL can tailor services to

accommodate the learning styles and readiness of these students (Bergen & MacAdam, 1985).

Applications of Embedded Librarians

Librarians now serve students in virtual facilities and with resources found around the

globe. Course-related library instruction has migrated from physical to virtual learning

environments (Ladner, Beagle, Steele, & Steele, 2004). In this so-called classroom flip, lectures

are moved out of the classroom and into a CMS, homework is brought into the classroom where

there is more time for higher level discussion and practice, and conversations extend out of class


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through the CMS discussion board (Kinnie, 2006). Academic librarians in general and embedded

librarians in particular weave library resources into CMS to ensure their vitality and relevance

(Fang & Kortz, 2005). In this way, the EL and instructor create an academic community for

students throughout the semester which gives intentional guidance to help deepen the level of

interaction and learning (Garrison & Cleveland-Innes, 2005).

Librarians have traditionally worked with faculty to purchase materials, teach library

classes, create library research guides, and assist in their research (Buehler, 2004). In the era of

DE, librarians have posted simple links to library resources, helped to build courses, used course

management software (Love & Norwood, 2005), become co-instructors, assessed students

(Kinnie, 2006), and extended the traditional one-shot library lecture to distance learners (Cox,

2002). Shank and Dewald (as cited in Kinnie) see two models of librarian involvement in the

virtual classroom: macro-level library courseware involvement, which entails working with

course developers to integrate a global library presence in the CMS, and micro-level library

courseware involvement, in which individual librarians collaborate with instructors to customize

library instruction. Integrating library resources in CMS builds on the faculty-librarian

collaboration to better reach DE students, who in turn can spend less time navigating the library

site without direction, or indiscriminately Googling (Buehler, 2004).

Embedded librarians have been used at a number of institutions, mainly in undergraduate

and graduate level English or composition courses. ELs at Central Missouri State University,

New Jersey City University, and Daniel Webster College post online tutorial topics such as ways

to use the librarys reference collection, read citations, locate newspaper articles and transcripts,

access materials not locally available, and access research conferences (Love & Norwood, 2005).

At Daniel Webster College and the Community College of Vermont, the EL helps with student


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research papers (Love & Norwood, 2005). To gauge the effectiveness of this EL service, 12

student papers were randomly chosen and reviewed. It was concluded that students who used the

EL also used more peer reviewed resources, credible government websites, library subscription

databases, and placed less emphasis on unprofessional internet resources (Hearn, 2005). At the

Community College of Vermont and Pulaski Technical College,the librarian was embedded in a

discussion board (Matthew & Schroeder, 2006; Stewart, 2007). The EL program at Pulaski

Technical College was judged a success and well worth continuing (Stewart, 2007). The EL at

Vanderbilt University felt more prepared to consult with students after attending all lectures and

learning the course assignments (Foutch et al., 2007). The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

has found that the most effective way for librarians to reach distance learners is through

cooperation (at least) and collaboration (at best) with teaching faculty to respond to the changing

landscape of online education (Raspa & Ward, 2000, p. 150). The Community College of

Vermonts EL program has demonstrated how, through a partnership approach with faculty,

comprehensive library instruction can be provided for online students in a meaningful and

integrated way (Matthew & Schroeder, 2006). Despite these varied examples of EL programs,

data suggest the EL is only involved in 10% of online courses at most institutions (York &

Vance, 2009, p. 204).

Pilot Study

Department History

This pilot study was conducted at a large state university in Southeastern United States where

distance education has been increasing an average of 30% per year for the last five years. This

institution is now the largest deliverer of DE courses in the statewide university system (J.

Connelly, personal communication, May 6, 2009). The academic health sciences library serves


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the College of Allied Health Sciences, College of Nursing, School of Dentistry, and School of

Medicine with a combined enrollment of 798 undergraduates and 1148 graduate students. The

library provides services and resources to both distance and on campus students. Most of the

services and resources offered to distance students are common among libraries; they include

access to online databases and full text online journals as well as interlibrary loan and document

delivery.

The library also runs a highly successful library liaison program. A liaison is assigned to

the College of Allied Health Sciences and another is assigned to the College of Nursing, while

two librarian liaisons serve the School of Medicine. The liaisons allow faculty in these colleges

to have a strong working relationship with one dedicated, specialized librarian, and involvement

with only one college or school allows the liaison to have a better knowledge of the courses

taught as well as the library needs in the college. One department in the College of Allied Health

Sciences served by the health sciences library is the Department of Rehabilitation Studies, which

has offered online courses for the last five years. This department has a particularly good

relationship with the library liaison and that has led to the development of EL services for DE

courses.

A new faculty member wanted to ensure that DE students were receiving services

equivalent to those of onsite students and to streamline the use of electronic resources. Thus, the

new faculty member collaborated with her library liaison to expand CMS components for her

students, especially DE students. To expand this collaboration, the library liaison became

embedded in the CMS of her three courses in Substance Abuse and Clinical Counseling. This

paper reports on a pilot study that examined the benefits of having an EL within three courses

using a Blackboard shell for the purpose of enhancing research skills and fostering lifelong


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learning in students.

Method

Three Rehabilitation Studies courses in a CORE accredited program took part in this

pilot study to determine the benefits of having an EL. One of the courses had two sections, one

onsite and one DE. The other course was just onsite. All three courses had the same instructor as

well as the same EL who was added as a teaching assistant. The EL was given an opportunity to

place her contact information and link to the health sciences library homepage in the Instructor

Information section. The EL took an active role in the courses, including inserting materials into

the CMS to assist students with researching and writing the term paper; speaking to the class

about library search engines, referencing, and appropriate citations for the term paper; and

maintaining a discussion board forum for the DE course. Her role did not include grading course

work, nor did she have access to the gradebook in Blackboard. Although this library liaison made

presentations for courses in the Department of Rehabilitation Studies each semester, this was the

first course in which she was embedded via a CMS discussion board forum.

All three courses had similar CMS features. The most important was a link for Term

Papers where Resources for your paper was created with a short library orientation video;

library research guides for rehabilitation, substance abuse, and clinical counseling literature;

electronic databases; tutorials on using library resources; a How Do I? page, which included

frequently asked questions and answers; and a handout on finding, evaluating, and judging

credible websites. The instructor and EL collaborated on the research guides specific to

rehabilitation, substance abuse, and counseling literature, which included peer reviewed,

government, and internet resources.

Although each course had all of these resources, there were some differences. For the DE


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course, the EL offered a discussion board forum that addressed library and research questions.

This forum was explained in the library orientation video recorded and posted by the EL for the

DE course. For the onsite courses, a different library orientation video was recorded and posted;

it did not include information on the discussion board forum. In addition, the EL visited the two

onsite classes and delivered 15 minute presentations.

Results

Institutional Review Board approval was given for this pilot study on knowledge about

and use of library resources and services. The electronic survey used Likert Scale, check all that

apply and open-ended items. There were 59 students in the two onsite courses and 16 students

in the online course, for a total of 75 students. Data were collected through an anonymous,

electronic pre-post survey (see Appendix) developed by the authors and through tracking the

number of students who viewed the library orientation video and the number of DE students

posting to the EL in her discussion board forum. No demographic data were collected.

Responses to the anonymous pre-survey (N=49, 65% response rate) were considered to

be representative of students in all three courses; however, the post-survey responses (N=29,

39% response rate) were not considered representative. Since the pre and post samples may not

have been equivalent groups, comparisons need to be interpreted cautiously. The pre and post

surveys asked about experiences with an EL, usefulness of and expectations for an EL, typical

resources used when completing course assignments, and learning preferences for library

materials. The overwhelming majority of students (87.5% in the pre-survey) had not previously

taken a course with an EL although they expected the EL and the discussion board forum to be a

useful component in the course (75.5% and 71.4%, respectively); percents given are the percent

of all people taking the survey. Students expected the EL to assist with navigating library


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services and resources, searching for e-journals and full text articles, and referencing according

to American Psychological Association standards. A major change in the use of online scholarly

resources was found between the pre and post responses; for example, the percentages of

students who reported using the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature

(CINAHL) and PsycInfo increased, while fewer students used Google. A final open-ended

question asked for suggestions about the EL program and general library services. All comments

in response to this final question were positive; for example students said,

The librarian is very helpful in many situations!

All courses should have an embedded librarian if needed!

This is very helpful in many ways!

I have learned a lot since I have been here from the librarian. Thank you.

Did not use the service this time, but probably should have. Some of the databases are

hard to figure outbut would think it would be helpful to continue to include,

particularly in an online class.

Data were also collected on the orientation video and the use of discussion board. Fifty-

one of the total 76 students in the three courses viewed the video; however, the length of time it

was viewed could not be determined.

The EL received four questions and comments from students through the discussion

board:

1) a question on what types of materials were appropriate for referencing in a term paper

and how to find peer reviewed journals that covered the course topic of substance abuse;

2) a comment on the helpfulness of the EL response to the first students question;

3) a comment thanking the EL for mentioning that non-peer reviewed materials were not


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how and when library instruction is to be presented. Good communication between the librarian

and teaching faculty will enhance student learning, increase student retention and improve the

quality of work submitted by students (Appleton, 2005; Bell, 2008).

This pilot study has some limitations. The sample was small and pre and post data were

not matched for individual students. Future research should match pre and post student survey

data anonymously to assess changes in information literacy skills, track embedded library

resources, and correlate use of library resources and services with final term paper grades and

course grades. Future research might also include tracking student use of library and research

services to ascertain additional benefits of an EL.

In the meantime, this pilot study has revealed some promising results. The study showed

that embedding a librarian in substance abuse courses offers benefits comparable to those seen in

English composition courses across colleges and universities in the U.S. It compliments the

mission of the National Council on Rehabilitation Educations Council on Distance Education regarding

evaluating DE methods of instruction in the field of rehabilitation education (M. Kiener, personal

communication, October 12, 2009). This pilot study also supports the Current CORE

Accreditation Standards regarding students ability to conduct library research (CORE, 2008).

The EL model clearly has merit in rehabilitation, substance abuse, and clinical counseling

courses. Students new found library literacy skills can also be applied beyond the collegiate

setting to career sites and lifelong learning.


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References

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services. Retrieved from

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/guidelinesdistancelearning.cfm

Appleton, L. (2005). Examination of the impact of information-skills training on the academic

work of health-studies students: A single case study. Health Information & Libraries

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Bell, S. (2008). Keeping them enrolled: How academic libraries contribute to student retention.

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333-340.

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principles of accreditation: Foundations for quality enhancement(3rd ed.). Decatur, GA:

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Costello, B., Lenholt, R., & Stryker, J. (2004). Using blackboard in library instruction:

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d. CINAHL

e. Ovid Medline/PubMed

f. Google

g. Other internet search engine (please specify)

h. Books

i. PsycInfo

j. E-Books

k. Other ________________________________________

6.If you want to learn about library resources and how to find information, etc. which of the

following method(s) would you prefer? Check all that apply.

a. Ask for help at the service desk in the library

b. Handouts (both online or printed)

c. Online tutorials

d. Online library instruction session

e. Face to face library instruction session

f. One on one appointment with librarian

g. Library website

h. Blackboard discussion board

7. Please add other comments or suggestions.

Post Survey

1. Do you think having a librarian in the course

Wasnt useful Was somewhat useful Was very useful

2. Do you think the Librarian Discussion Board Forum


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Wasnt useful Was somewhat useful Was very useful

3. How often did you use the Librarian Discussion Board Forum?

Check the appropriate response.

__never __1-2 times ___3-5 times ___6-10 times ___ weekly

4. If you used the librarian, how useful was this service?

Not useful Somewhat useful Very useful

5. Would you want to have a librarian embedded in future classes?

Yes No No opinion

6.As a result of having a librarian in this course, please rate how prepared you are to use

library resources now and in the future.

Not at all prepared Somewhat prepared Very prepared

7. Please select the resources you used this semester in this course for completing papers

and other assignments. Check all that apply.

a. Library Catalog

b. Print Journals

c. E-Journals

d. CINAHL

e. Ovid Medline/PubMed

f. Google

g. Other internet search engine (please specify)

h. Books

i. PsycInfo

j. E-Books


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k. Other ________________________________________

8. If you wanted to learn about library resources and how to find information, etc. which of

the following methods would you prefer? Check all that apply.

a. Ask for help at the service desk in the library

b. Handouts (both online or printed)

c. Online tutorials

d. Online library instruction session

e. Face to face library instruction session

f. One on one appointment with librarian

g. Library website

h. Blackboard discussion board

i. Other _________________________________

9. Please add other comments or suggestions.

manuscript r09-013

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