24th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
For more resources: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference
Embedded Librarian: Research Assistance Just In Time
Dee Bozeman
Reference and Regional Campus Librarian
Daytona Beach Campus
University of Central Florida
Introduction
This eposter presentation will discuss the need for library instruction in distance learning classes, the
necessity for collaboration between faculty and librarians, and the program developed at the University of
Central Florida (UCF). There are two main sections to the UCF program, embedded librarians and
instruction modules. The embedded librarian is usually added to a class as a teaching assistant and is
available to the students for the semester. The instruction modules are self-contained units on a specific
topic. Faculty requests and student needs are what pushed the development of the UCF online library
instruction program.
Student Needs
Although the library instruction program for online classes was first developed at one of the University of
Central Florida (UCF) regional campuses, it is an evolving program which now includes several of the
campuses. UCF regional campuses are focused on the last 2 years of an undergraduate program or
graduate level programs. There are a large number of transfer students and new graduate students on the
regional campuses. With the number of online classes increasing yearly; students may never go to
campus, never visit the library, or have no idea what online library resources are available for their use.
These students need library research instruction classes as much or more than a freshman. Even returning
UCF students generally need a refresher class. At the end of an online library instruction module one of
the graduate students commented, “I have used much of this in previous courses, but mostly figured it out
by trial and error. This clarified a lot for me and helped me to better pinpoint my research.”
With the information explosion, computer expertise is often equated with research expertise. Even
students with excellent computer skills may not have the knowledge of available resources or the ability
to locate all the resources available in their subject field. The study conducted by Chu and Law (2007)
“demonstrated that even computer experts…need to become information literate in order to uncover
important sources in their research” (p. 314). According to Hargittai, a sociologist at Northwestern
University, “students are not nearly as Web-savvy as they, or their elders assume” and “students have
difficulty evaluating the credibility of information online” (A Sociologist, 2008, para. 1, 5). Students,
even if they are as tech savvy as they think, need instruction in available and appropriate scholarly
resources, research strategies, evaluation of information, plagiarism, and citing the information used in
their papers. The Hurst and Leonard (2007) study provided “evidence that library instruction was
effective,” and that “students are much more likely to use and cite scholarly resources when they have
been shown how to use and access the databases” (Implications, para. 1).
The amount of information now available to students can be overwhelming. It becomes easy to use a
search engine and just pick the first couple of links listed. Since the easy way does not always provide
scholarly and relevant information, students must be motivated to use the library resources, learn research
skills, and learn to evaluate their sources. To encourage students, librarians need to work with the faculty
to provide the appropriate motivation.
Copyright 2008 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Duplication or redistribution prohibited without written permission of the
author(s) and the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
1
24th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
For more resources: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference
Collaboration
Faculty involvement is one of the best ways to motivate the students. As Kotter (1999) stated, “most
students use the library services only when they are encouraged or required to do so by their instructors”
(p. 295). In the Davis (2003) study, faculty worried that student papers were no longer scholarly and
neither were their sources. It was found that by using “professor implemented written and enforceable
guidelines for acceptable reference sources … the book citations rose, journal citations increased
dramatically, and web citations decreased along with newspaper citations” (p.47).
Collaboration between faculty and librarians is a growing trend because “we have reached a point at
which neither librarians or instructional faculty can adequately teach the research process in isolation
from each other.” (Raspa & Ward, 2000, p. 15). The amount of information available and the rapidly
changing methods of access make it nearly impossible for faculty to stay up to date. The collaboration of
librarians and faculty can motivate the students and provide them with current library research
information. According to Cook (2000), the “members of a collaborative effort work in a teamlike setting
toward a common goal” (p. 33). At the university, faculty and librarians can be the members of the
collaborative team that has as its goal the ability of students perform quality research.
Library Instruction for Online Classes
The UCF library instruction program for distance education classes is focused on two areas. The first is
the research modules designed by the librarians. The second is the librarian that is involved with the class
during the semester.
Research Modules
The library modules were developed to provide the online students with information about the resources
at the UCF libraries, research skills, and also to provide an introduction to at least one librarian. There are
several stand-alone modules that can be combined in different ways to provide for class specific
instruction. The modules cover some of the following information:
•
General information about the library
•
Searching strategies
•
Finding books, print and ebooks, and Interlibrary Loan
•
Finding articles, peer-reviewed journals
•
Databases
•
Internet searching techniques
•
Plagiarism
•
APA citation style
The instructor and librarian can use the separate but interconnected modules to meet the needs of a
particular class. The modules for a class would usually include some or all of the above components in
addition to information on subject specific databases. We know that each course is different and the
requirements of the faculty may be unique so the librarians work closely with the faculty to provide for
the needs of their students. Practice exercises are included with some of the modules. The librarian, with
faculty input, can develop a graded final assignment for the class.
The modules are kept on the library server and students are given the link in the introduction to the library
assignment. Students work through the modules, which include practice exercises. Students are finding
the module useful and we have been receiving positive input. One of the suggestions received from
students was to include more practice exercises with the modules. A final graded library assignment is
Copyright 2008 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Duplication or redistribution prohibited without written permission of the
author(s) and the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
2
24th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
For more resources: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference
available if requested by the instructor. The following is a typical student comment, “I think that the
library research module was an extremely helpful tool.” The librarian is available if the students have
questions.
Embedded Librarian
What is an embedded librarian? Dewey (2004) stated in his article that “the concept of embedding
implies a more comprehensive integration of one group with another to the extent that the group seeking
to integrate is experiencing and observing, as nearly as possible, the daily life of the primary group” (p.
6). The librarian must be closely involved with the class to clearly understand the needs of the online
students and faculty. At UCF a librarian is usually embedded or added to the class by the instructor as a
teaching assistant. This allows the librarian to access the course email, set up a library discussion,
monitor the library discussions as well as the other discussion boards, and answer questions. By
monitoring the discussion postings the librarian can discover when a student is having research problems.
The librarian can stay with the class all semester to help with research and library questions. Students
find having a librarian in the class especially helpful, as shown by this discussion posting, a “student in
the course mentioned that she consulted with our course librarian while searching for related research, and
she highly recommended that the rest of us do the same.”
Conclusion
The library instruction program for distance education, which includes the research modules and
embedded librarians, at the University of Central Florida has been successful, in a large part, due to the
collaboration between librarians and teaching faculty. By becoming more closely involved with the online
classes, the librarian is able to better understand the needs of the students and as a result library
instruction can be structured to meet these needs. The comments from students have been very positive
and we want to keep them interested. This program is not static but changes and grows to meet new
technologies and faculty requirements. When teaching faculty and librarians work together, they provide
an excellent basis of support for the online students.
References
Cook, D. (2000). Creating connections: A review of the literature. In D. Raspa & D. Ward (Eds.), The
collaborative imperative: Librarian and faculty working together in the information universe (pp.
19-38). Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries.
Chu, S. K. W., & Law, N. (2007). Development of information search expertise: Postgraduates'
knowledge of searching skills. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 7(3), 295-316.
Davis, P.M. (2003). Effect of the web on undergraduate citation behavior: Guiding student scholarship in
a networked age. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 3(1), 41-41.
Dewey, Barbara I. (2004). The embedded librarian: Strategic campus collaborations. Resource
Sharing & Information Networks 17(1/2), 5-17.
Hurst, S., & Leonard, J. (2007). Garbage in, garbage out: The effect of library instruction on the quality of
students' term papers. E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship, 8(1).
Retrieved from http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org/content/v08n01/hurst_s01.htm
Kotter, W.R. (1999). Bridging the great divide: Improving relations between librarians and classroom
faculty. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 25(4), 294-303.
Raspa, D., & Ward, D. (2000). Listening for collaboration: Faculty and librarians working together. In D.
Raspa & D. Ward (Eds.), The collaborative imperative: Librarians and faculty working together
in the information universe (pp. 1-18). Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries.
A sociologist says students aren't so web-wise after all. (2008, April 29). Chronicle of Higher Education.
Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/2943
Copyright 2008 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Duplication or redistribution prohibited without written permission of the
author(s) and the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
3
24th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
For more resources: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference
About the Presenter
Dee Bozeman is a University of Central Florida reference/regional campus librarian at the DBC/UCF
Joint-Use Library at the University of Central Florida regional campus in Daytona Beach, FL. She has
taught library instruction classes for 16 years and recently embedded in online classes. Bozeman has
presented at the Joint Use Libraries: An International Conference in Manchester, England and Florida
Library Association conference. Bozeman is interested in joint-use libraries, regional campus and
distance education.
Address: DBC/UCF Joint-Use Library
1200 W. International Speedway Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
Email:
dbozeman@mail.ucf.edu
Phone:
386.506.3353
Copyright 2008 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Duplication or redistribution prohibited without written permission of the
author(s) and the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
4