ILU Committee Meeting Minutes
September 18, 2013
Present: Susan Barker (Law), Richard Carter (St. Mike’s), Sarah Fedko (UTSC), Carla Hagstrom
(Gerstein), Sheril Hook (UTM), Eveline Houtman (Robarts), Roma Kail (EJ Pratt), Judith Logan
(Robarts), Kathleen Scheaffer (Inforum), Cris Sewerin (Engineering & Comp Sci), Rita Vine via
Skype, Jenaya Webb (OISE)
Regrets: Kate Johnson (UTSC), Courtney Lundrigan (Graham Library)
Minutes of the August 21 meeting: corrections: Cris Sewerin was present at the meeting;
Sheril Hook had sent her regrets.
Turnitin (Rita): Turnitin is now integrated into Blackboard courses. Students submit their
assignments through Turnitin. There should be no impact on us, except for perhaps some
questions at the desk, e.g., “How do I submit my assignment?” The help pages on the Portal
are very good and sessions have been held for instructors. Rita will send this information to the
refinfo list.
T-card scanners for library instruction (Rita): Robarts has a simple swipe reader for use in
the co-curricular program, to keep data of students’ co-curricular records. If you are interested
in T-card readers or if you need instruction, please contact Rita. Sheril said Bluetooth scanners
work with iPads and smartphones.
Course registration (Rita): The lists are not as long as they used to be, now that advertising
the sessions is being held back until appropriate. An SLA has been trained and is releasing the
courses according to the Google calendar.
Eveline asked if the SLA could indicate which week has been released on the Google calendar.
There are problems with the way dates are displaying. Eveline will contact Marc Lalonde about
this problem.
Judith asked if there was any way that Marc could add a tag to show the level of the course, e.g.,
UG. Rita said it wasn’t possible with the current system. She is collecting information about
other course registration systems.
There are about a dozen course registration accounts (infolit plus individual libraries). Rita
would like to narrow it down to three. Cris said that Engineering has an account but would like
to keep it, as it shows the history of their courses. Rita will get back to us on which accounts
can be kept.
Round Table of IL initiatives and updates:
Jenaya: OISE has cut back on the number of drop-in sessions. Instead, they are offering
workshops on demand. They’ve had 3 requests so far. JW and Monique also leading
Blackboard collaboration sessions pilot project.
Eveline: Eveline, Judith, and Richard are working on core library skills (e.g., understanding your
assignment, organizing your search, etc.). These are 80 minute sessions. Maureen Morin has
designed a poster for the sessions. 18 people attended the first session; 11 attended the
second.
Robarts tours are heavily booked. There appears to be an increase in the library in general.
ANT100 has 1000 students. Eveline has discussed plans with the instructor.
CCR launch is Oct. 3.
Roma: Pratt offers course-specific sessions. History of Science and Philosophy is new.
Judith: Robarts has chosen not to teach RefWorks.
Cris: Engineering is offering an open registration session aimed at 4th year materials science
students. There are 2 RefWorks for engineers sessions scheduled. Their course-specific
sessions are aimed at 3rd and 4th year students.
Cris received 20 replies just one day after the personal librarian message was sent out.
Cris is working on a libguide for APS.
Richard: is now the Research and Academic Skills Centre coordinator. This is a one-stop centre
that provides instruction in research and writing.
Carla: Gerstein is offering mainly course-related sessions
Sarah: UTSC is preparing course reading guides for faculty. Instruction librarians have access to
Blackboard courses. UTSC wants to take fixit out of the menu and put libguides in.
Sheril: UTM first-year residence or international students living off-campus must complete a specific
number of courses for credit. The sessions run until 7 p.m.; they used to run until midnight. Between
10 and 30 students participate, with the workshops continuing until March.
Sheril will show us a self-awareness inventory for students used at UTM. Instruction librarians can see
what skills students need.
Kathleen: The Inforum has 30 workshops planned for the fall semester and another 30 to follow in
the winter. Students pay into a technology fund, which can be used for workshops or technology.
Susan: Three librarians at Law are involved in the legal research and writing program. The library has
been more integrated in planning the curriculum this year. John is teaching an upper year program.
PD Day (Eveline): Please let Eveline know what you’re interested in for the content of the workshop.
Some suggestions are threshold concepts and metacognition. Judith suggested how to make one-shot
instruction sessions valuable.
A general session is planned for the morning, with two specific topics in the afternoon. The workshop
will take place in the Blackburn Room in Robarts.
Other business:
Cris asked if Fundamentals of University Teaching will be offered again this year. Eveline replied that
Rita had sent out a message to librarians about the course. We will have to ask Rita about this year.
Jenaya said that Michelle Spence and Sarah Forbes are looking for two volunteers from the ILU
Committee to help them with libguide services. Sheril and Susan volunteered.