Online Tutorials in Engineering Libraries_ Analysis and Discussion

							Online Tutorials In
Engineering Libraries:
Analysis and Discussion


                              Yue (Julie) Xu
                         Assistant Professor
                      Reference Department
       Mississippi State University Libraries
Why On-line Tutorials

 Librarians have the responsibility to instruct
 patrons; patrons have the searching habit of
 self-paced learning

 Easy to access, 24/7 availability
 Release the challenges of shortage of staff,
 limited time, and resources
 Supplement for class instructions
Purpose of Research
Limited 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’s      1990’s     2000’s
 Developing   Emerging   Broadly
   stage      research   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 Questions
   How 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 Analysis
Selecting 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 Categories
                   Information
                     Literacy


                                     Basic
       Others
                                 Library Skills




         Course                Advanced
         Related             Library Skills
2: Tutorial Categories (Cont.)
                 (Library-created, n = 166)


   Others                                       Advanced
   0.6%                                       Library Skills
                                                 18.7%
 Information
   Literacy
    27.7%



       Course-                                Basic Library
       Related                                   Skills
        6.6%                                     46.4%
2: Tutorial Categories (Cont.)
               (Third-party-created, n = 47)

                                                   Advanced
                                                 Library Skills
Information                                         31.9%
  Literacy
   17.0%


     Course-
     Related                                   Basic Library
      6.4%                                        Skills
                                                  44.7%
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 Learning
 Definition: 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            Tutorial Level

• 14 of 27 libraries     • 87 of 166 tutorials
  (51.9%) offered          (52.4%) applied
  tutorials with           audio/video
  audio/video; 11 of
  14 libraries (78.6%)
  used screen cast
  flash videos
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 Captivate
   E-learning software tools
  Adding other types as active learning
   components
   Game (for example)
University of Louisville Libraries
Camtasia Screenshot



      Flash quiz and
          survey
Captivate Screenshot


   Quiz
Software Package Examples




 Camtasia        Captivate
Software Package Examples




 Camtasia        Captivate
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Questions?