Online Tutorials In Engineering Libraries:Analysis and Discussion

Yue (Julie) XuAssistant Professor

Reference DepartmentMississippi State University

Libraries

Why On-line TutorialsLibrarians have the responsibility to instruct patrons; patrons have the searching habit of self-paced learningEasy to access, 24/7 availability

Release the challenges of shortage of staff, limited time, and resources

Supplement for class instructions

Purpose of ResearchLimited number of resources focusing on web-based instructions in engineering libraries

Analyzing existing online tutorial projects that were implemented in engineering libraries could help with the building of future tutorials in • Selecting the tutorial content• Choosing the proper software tools• Rendering in the format of selected media

based on required features

Development History

1980’sDeveloping

stage

1990’s Emerging research

2000’sBroadly applied

What Have Been Found Characteristics of good instructions: Active

learning , Media, Navigational aids, Course-related, Collaborative learning, Concepts vs. Mechanics, Offering a librarian’s help

Interactivity and graphics were identified as two major elements

Active learning: quizzes and exercises with frames/separate browser windows

Multimedia: audio & video could strengthen the effect of web

Research QuestionsHow widely are online tutorials

applied in engineering libraries? What kinds of instruction do engineering libraries hope to present through the online

channel? Do the web instructions use media and active learning

elements to enhance teaching and learning experience? What are the current trends of

design regarding online tutorials in engineering libraries?

Data Collection and AnalysisSelecting 39 engineering libraries from the “Guide to Engineering Libraries” of ELD

Targeting open web-based tutorials

Five aspects to analyze online tutorials

Implementing Microsoft SQL Server database

1: The Application Status of Online Tutorials 27 of 39 libraries (69%) provide open

online tutorials The types of online tutorials can be

broken into four situations: Types of Development Libraries Percentage

Library-created only 19 48.72%

Library and third-party created 8 20.51%

Third-party-created only 0 0%

No implementation 12 30.77%

2: Tutorial CategoriesInformation

Literacy

Basic Library Skills

Advanced Library Skills

Course Related

Others

2: Tutorial Categories (Cont.)

Advanced Library Skills18.7%

Basic Library Skills46.4%

Course-Re-lated6.6%

Informa-tion Lit-

eracy27.7%

Others0.6%

(Library-created, n = 166)

2: Tutorial Categories (Cont.)

Advanced Library Skills31.9%

Basic Li-brary Skills

44.7%

Course-Re-lated6.4%

Information Literacy17.0%

(Third-party-created, n = 47)

2: Tutorial Categories (Cont.)

14 topics are engineering specific online tutorials: Engineering databases(10): web of science,

PubMed, IEEE Xpolre, Scifinder Scholar, Compendex & Inspec, etc.

Patent Standards & specifications Engineering web resources Engineering staff training

3: Active LearningDefinition: when patrons join the learning process and think actively, hands-on experience is required and feedback is provided to allow further self-evaluation. 15 libraries (55.6%) provided online

tutorials with active learning features Two types: Interactive quizzes and exercises

with frames

4: Audio/Video

Library Level• 14 of 27 libraries

(51.9%) offered tutorials with audio/video; 11 of 14 libraries (78.6%) used screen cast flash videos

Tutorial Level

• 87 of 166 tutorials (52.4%) applied audio/video

5: Software Packages Camtasia Studio – 7 libraries Adobe Captivate – 5 libraries Macromedia Flash – 2 libraries Articulate – 1 library Camtasia and Captivate are mostly used

to create “Basic Library Skills” and “Advanced Library Skills” tutorials

Discussion Online tutorials are widely used in

engineering libraries Helping patrons to search library

resources and find available services is one of the most important tasks provided by library web instructions

Active learning is applied by 55% of the 39 libraries. Compared with other research in 2005, there is no significant difference

Discussion (Cont.)Four main features : Developing online tutorials instead of

using third-party resources “Basic Library Skills” is the dominant

category HTML based websites are mainly used Most of the audio/video files are created

by Camtasia Studio and Adobe Captivate

Suggestions Modifying/Using third-party-created

tutorials Increasing active learning components

through easy learning software tools: Camtasia and CaptivateE-learning software tools

Adding other types as active learning components Game (for example)

University of Louisville Libraries

Flash quiz and survey

Camtasia Screenshot

Captivate Screenshot

Quiz

Software Package Examples

Camtasia Captivate

Software Package Examples

Camtasia Captivate

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Questions?