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Minutes of VIVA Learning Objects Portal Planning Meeting
Clemons Library, University of Virginia, June 8, 2007
Sponsored by VIVA Outreach Committee
Introduction
In a February 4, 2007, letter to VIVA library directors, VIVA Outreach Committee chair John
Ulmschneider wrote: “In response to long-standing requests from VIVA members, the VIVA
Outreach Committee is developing a clearinghouse of instructional and publicity resources for
databases, digital books and journals, and other web-accessed library materials. An important part
of this initiative is a small, very focused meeting of representatives from VIVA institutions,
scheduled for June 8 in Charlottesville, to design the basic framework and determine the initial
content of the clearinghouse.”
Some two dozen librarians from across Virginia met in Clemons Library at the University of
Virginia on June 8, 2007, to discuss their experiences in and thoughts on creating / developing webbased instructional, promotional, and /or training aids for digital library material (particularly
resources provided by VIVA). As John Ulmschneider noted in his welcoming remarks, Virginia
librarians have voiced a desire for some sort of learning portal objects clearinghouse since the July
2001, “VIVA Across the Curriculum” Outreach Committee forum in Williamsburg. Such a
clearinghouse, he added, would make librarians and other users aware of instructional resources and
allow materials to be shared. Staff members at some institutions are unable to prepare such
resources, due to staff, expertise, or other constraints. He cautioned, however, that even though
people say they will use tutorials and other presentations, it is not certain if they actually will. If
this project is undertaken, the marketing and promotion of it will be important.
In response to a question, VIVA Associate Director Tansy Matthews said that this would not be a
repository but would involve collecting links to put on a library site. VIVA does not have the
resources to host a repository.
Morning Presentations
The morning sessions included presentations by six librarians. Jennifer Keach at James Madison
University focused on JMU’s Collaborative Library Instruction Repository (CLIR). CLIR began in
February 2005 as a repository of librarian-created presentations, exercises, lesson plans, tutorials,
and other library instruction materials. It is divided by subject areas (that is, liaison areas), and
subdivided by type of material (handouts, presentations, etc.). CLIR’s purpose, Jennifer explained,
was to spark creativity, mentor new library liaisons, increase collaboration, and reduce duplication
of effort. Users can not only browse through the repository, but they can also search it (by keyword
and name of librarian who created the material). CLIR is restricted to JMU library staff. No
attempt is made to keep track of who uses what.
Jennifer said that although email reminders are sent to librarians to include material in CLIR, the
repository is “somewhat small and slow to grow.” It’s possible that “marketing” could increase
submissions, but staff members are already sent reminders. Technology changes so quickly that
older material may be ignored, though “alerts” to new items might possibly help. Some librarians
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might view CLIR as just one more thing to log onto. Jennifer mentioned incentives to get involved
in such a repository. Librarians can interact with and learn from others. They can learn to construct
and manage instructional materials.
During a question-and-answer session, one person asked if librarians were hesitant to use the
repository because of a “if they did the work, why should they share it?” philosophy. Jennifer
replied that that has not been a problem. Another observed that at his library, librarians compiled
instructional materials in case one person had to “fill in” for another in an emergency or in the event
of librarian turnover. He added, however, that there have been few instances where “filling in” was
necessary and there is little staff turnover, so the material is in kind of a “black hole.” Moderator
John Ulmschneider pointed out that there is much tutorial and database information on the Web.
“There are many ideas out there, and you can use a few at least,” he emphasized. To emphasize his
point, he showed a number of online resources, including:
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The Internet Scout Portal Toolkit (http://scout.wisc.edu/Projects/SPT/)
Eastern Oregon University’s The EduResources Portal: A Gateway to Higher Education
Instructional Resources (http://sage.eou.edu/SPT/)
LOEX’s Instruction Resources (http://www.emich.edu/public/loex/resources.html)
Library Instruction Wiki: Stop Reinventing the Wheel, which was originally developed by
the Oregon Library Association (http://instructionwiki.org/Main_Page), and
George Mason University’s Learning Object Repositories
(http://www.irc.gmu.edu/resources/findingaid/twt_guides/repos.htm).
Next on the agenda was Charlotte Jones of the University of Mary Washington Library. Charlotte
preceded her remarks with a discussion of learning objects, which she regards as digital (and linked
to, uploaded, or downloaded), discrete resources. She added that she uses “very specific” ones for
the library classes. Charlotte navigated the UMW libraries home page to illustrate her comments
(http://www.umw.edu/library/). For example, each of the FAQs on the home page is a learning
object, and the UMW reference librarians’ handouts and tutorials in the “Research by Subject”
section are also learning objects. Charlotte, the UMW Social Sciences Librarian, has created
PowerPoint tutorials on databases in “her” areas of the social sciences and maintains online research
guides using Macromedia Contribute. This summer she hopes to develop additional guides and
tutorials using Camtasia and is planning on producing an MP3 audio tour of UMW’s Simpson
Library.
Bettina Phifer from Virginia Commonwealth University has created a number of podcasts using
Captivate, Camtasia, and other tools for her blog, Podcasts@Cabell
(http://blog.vcu.edu/cabellpodcasts/). She feels that the blog is an effective way to organize her
podcasts, especially as so many students have laptops and MP3 players (you do not need an iPod to
listen to podcasts). She has a podcast demonstrating the use of InfoTrac OneFile and another on
locating scholarly articles in the library.
Chandra Gigliotti-Guridi, the Instructional Technologist for Hampden-Sydney College uses webbased guides to teach Blackboard, Microsoft Word, and other types of software. She started out
with text tutorials, and now creates Flash tutorials on her Instructional Technology page using
Captivate (http://www2.hsc.edu/academics/computing/softwaretutorials/tutorialsflash.html). While
addressing the issue of marketing her instructional resources, Chandra recounted how one
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Hampden-Sydney staff member overloaded the campus with promotional emails. She did not want
to do this so instead she has sponsored “Teaching with Technology” lunch tables, at which she
discusses “issues related to the use of technology in their teaching.” For example, one session
focused on inserting audio comments in a Word document. A computer and projector are at hand,
and at each lunch she hands out a sheet of useful tips and advice. All of her handouts are available
in PDF files. Some two dozen faculty members sometimes show up at a lunch, which lasts from
11:30 to about 1:30 or 2:00.
Carolyn Meier of Virginia Tech has developed a Blackboard site for students enrolled in freshman
English (English 1106), on which she has posted “tip sheets, subject area contacts, general library
information, database information, and basic research practices.” She has students take an
information literacy survey, and remarked that although 40% wrote fewer than two pages for their
high school term papers, some 90% were familiar with the significance of evaluating web pages.
Kay Buchanan at the University of Virginia has created Camtasia tutorials for some of the VIVA
databases and has also developed handouts with detailed instructions and screen shots. To make
them readily accessible to students, she placed tutorial icons next to the databases links on the
library home page (see, for example, http://www.lib.virginia.edu/subjects/education/). Students,
however, still don’t get to them, and one drawback she and others voiced concerning a statewide
clearinghouse is that if such resources are not readily available through Google or other search
engines, students won’t find them. Students can be “force fed” the information through required
courses, but in the end it all boils down to ready accessibility.
Other comments concerning the practicality of a clearinghouse came up. What do you do with a
tutorial when a database undergoes a dramatic change (or even a change not so dramatic)? A
simple search in Google already finds many tutorials and videos on RefWorks and other online
resources. Why should we do the work for another one? Also, faculty members have their own
ideas about databases and how to use them. “I don’t care what the tutorial says,” one might protest.
“I want the students to do it my way.” Furthermore, many professors assume that students already
know all about databases.
Afternoon session #1
The first of three afternoon group discussions focused on the content of the proposed clearinghouse.
What is needed? What is available? What should be included? What about branding issues? Also,
who is our audience? Is it the end user or the librarian or both? (Librarians said both.) One
participant argued that vendors should provide student-oriented tutorials for their databases.
Outreach Committee member Elaine Day said that a needs-assessment should first be done. Why
stay with just Virginia? What is already out there nationally? Perhaps start with VIVA resources
and go on from there? And as John Ulmschneider already observed, there are already very good
clearinghouses on the Web. Ellen Wertman, another Outreach committee member, stressed that
goals of the portal should be formulated, such as: 1) promote statewide, effective access of VIVA
resources, and 2) share materials reference librarians are using (especially with institutions that
don’t have the time or the resources to create them). Elaine Day added that another goal is to avoid
the “duplication of efforts.” Some libraries are struggling with teaching materials, while some have
already compiled them.
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Would these materials, however, be useful to reference librarians in their daily work? “If I knew
there was a place I could go to, I would use it,” one librarian said. Others agreed. Perhaps a
brochure could be designed that would list the various tutorials. Another person noted that links to
the resources could be put on each library’s database pages. John Ulmschneider said that VIVA and
the Steering Committee are interested in statistics. Are the resources being used? Furthermore, can
this project get people to use these resources?
Discussion focused on the feasibility of a clearinghouse. One person wondered if material (such as
a slide) could be “cannibalized” from a library’s PowerPoint presentation and used as part of a
tutorial for all VIVA libraries. Bear in mind, however, that default screens vary from library to
library (some databases open to basic searches, while others open to advance searches). Colors may
also vary. But that may not be a problem, countered another librarian. A note could state
something to the effect that “this is a video from JMU that you can use, sponsored by VIVA. The
results are similar to what you find using the database here in your library.”
In any case, VIVA librarians certainly have plenty of items on hand. Outreach Committee member
Patricia Hardesty suggested that to save librarians’ time hunting through database websites, the
portal could provide links to good vendor-produced tutorials. John Ulmschneider said that he “saw
a lot today” that could be brought together, adding that “this is just scratching the surface. There is
a lot out there.”
While discussing the content of the clearinghouse, one librarian said that she likes the idea of simple
handouts with screen captures, as “this works best of all.” Someone else observed that there are
“different learners,” with some preferring handouts, some liking video, and some leaning towards
audio. A clearinghouse can use all types of material, and in some cases, “three slides from a
PowerPoint presentation may be all you need.”
Afternoon session #2
The second session was devoted to editorial issues, content management, and updating questions
concerning the proposed project. Tansy Matthews liked the idea of a moderated wiki, echoing an
opinion voiced by John Duke. It would be free, open, and searchable. The possibility of a blog was
mentioned (comments can be added and items can be arranged by topic), though a wiki can
incorporate a blog, RSS feeds, and other “comment streams.”
Others expressed concerns about the maintenance of a clearinghouse. One suggestion was that
perhaps after X amount of time, the person responsible could automatically be asked to update or
remove a work. On the other hand, older reference works don’t necessarily translate to ideas and
concepts that are incorrect, out-of-date, or inappropriate.
This led to a discussion of who will oversee the clearinghouse? Who will maintain it? What about
quality control? Who will talk to people about updating submissions and/or taking them down?
The point is not to “pass judgment” on submissions, but to keep spam and obviously inappropriate
items off a site. John Ulmschneider warned that these tasks were outside the purview of the
Outreach Committee. Tansy added that a wiki, to some extent, is self-edited. That is, one’s peers
read a wiki, so contributors are usually careful about the work they submit. Someone else said that
older items can be put in the wiki’s archives and that a link checker can be periodically run.
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Perhaps an editorial board committee can oversee the project. For that matter, a committee could
do a needs-assessment. Members could examine the resources that are already available, as well as
the project’s needs and goals, and ask, “What does this work want to be? Is this worth doing? Is
more study required?”
But if a wiki is undertaken, will librarians (and students) remember to look at it? Will they post
there? Tansy thought they would, noting that it was a “psychological thing,” as people get to “rate
items and comment on them.” One librarian observed that positive comments and pride are part of
the motivation that would support such a project and pull in both enthusiasm and contributors. VLA
or another library organization could perhaps even give an annual award for “best learning object”
or “best commenter.” (Tansy noted that the clearinghouse is scheduled to be introduced at VLA’s
fall conference.)
After much discussion, several librarians present volunteered to work on the project, possibly as
part of an editorial or oversight board. It was noted that there are other librarians from around the
state who were not at this meeting. Can they get involved? They can indeed, as this is part of the
incentive process that generates enthusiasm. Furthermore, other colleagues have the right to
participate and need to contribute if interested.
John reminded those in attendance that librarians and students should use this portal. If they don’t,
it’s a case of “the need was expressed, but the need was not there.”
Afternoon session #3
Some of the issues concerned with the third session (awareness, publicity, and marketing) were
covered earlier in the day, so this discussion was briefer than the others (also, it was getting late in
the afternoon). In terms of marketing, VIVA representatives could put notices on the VIVA listserv
and librarians can place similar notices on other listservs. Vendors can be contacted for handouts
for their products; in fact, several people said that vendors’ tutorials would provide a good baseline
on which to start a clearinghouse.
Elaine Day noted that VIVA probably has a certain amount of influence with vendors. These
database producers may look at a clearinghouse, with their products on display, and consequently
strive to produce high-quality tutorials and/or handouts. Tansy Matthews reminded everyone that if
librarians have problems or questions with VIVA products, they should let VIVA or the vendors
know. She added that VIVA does have influence, and that you should tell vendors that you belong
to VIVA.
The issue of copyright was briefly touched upon. A clearinghouse involves intellectual property
issues. VIVA libraries may use these resources but other libraries need to ask permission.
At the conclusion of the day, John Ulmschneider thanked Outreach Committee member and
University of Virginia librarian Beth Blanton-Kent for taking care of the necessary arrangements to
have everyone at Clemons Library.
Minutes submitted by Jack Bales
University of Mary Washington Library