Digital Learning: Teaching Information

Literacy through Online Research Guides

Innovations in Online Learning 2012, San Antonio, Texas

Jody Bailey, Reference and Instruction Librarian

Rafia Mirza, Reference and Instruction Librarian

Gretchen Trkay, Information Literacy Librarian

University of Texas at Arlington

Overview

History of research guides.

Literature review.

UT Arlington usability studies.

Problem: Students need research help,

especially distance-ed students.

Solution: Add information literacy (instructional)

content to online research guides so that they

will be more useful.

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Synonyms

Bibliographies (annotated, subject, biographical, topical, etc.)

Reading lists

Readers’ aids

Pathfinders

Information portals

Webliographies

Resource lists

Study guides

Subject guides

Topic guides

Research guides

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Detail from Annotated Syllabus for the Systematic Study

of Librarianship, page 4. Note that this 1904 study guide comprised only 27 pages.

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Transition to Digital Form

Started in 1990s

Basic transfer: print

digital

Little/no thought

given to hypertext

environment

Guides remain

fairly linear with

long lists of links http://web.archive.org/web/19971024115756/http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/lit.html

Example of a research guide on Literature

from 1997.

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(Vileno, 2007)

Assessment of Online Research Guides: Literature Review

Themes

Most students do not use research guides.

Paucity of user-centered data.

“One size does not fit all.”

“Students do not relate well to subject guides” and find them “difficult to use.”

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(Adebonojo, 2010; Ouellette, 2011, pp. 442, 436; Reeb & Gibbons,

2004, pp. 123-124; Staley, 2007, pp. 119, 126; Vileno, 2007, p. 436;

Vileno, 2010, p. 1).

Assessment of Online Research Guides: Literature Review

Students want . . .

A “simple and clean layout”

“Search feature”

“Succinct annotations to resources”

“Limited page scrolling”

“Embedded instruction”

“Librarian contact info”

Clear navigation

Faculty recommendations of guides and librarian recommendations of resources

Content customized to their needs

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(Hintz et al., 2010, pp. 40, 45-46; Ouellette, 2011, p. 443-444, 448; Stitz, Laster, Bove, & Wise, 2011, p. 191; Vileno, 2010, p. 19).

Assessment of Online Research Guides: Literature Review

Students don’t want . . .

Jargon and unclear, confusing labels

Cluttered, crowded sites

Web 2.0 functionality: user-generated “rating systems, discussion forums, student recommendations, and . . . personalization features”

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(Hintz et al., 2010, pp. 45-46; Ouellette, 2011, p. 444; Reeb &

Gibbons, 2004, p. 127; Stitz et al., 2011, p. 191; Vileno, 2010, p.

19)

UT Arlington’s Research Guide Platform: LibGuides

Produced by

Springshare

Content

management

system

Widely used by

academic libraries

Easy to learn

Superb tech support

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LibGuides: Functionality

WYSIWYG and point-and-click editing.

No experience with HTML needed.

Content types: links to resources (e.g., books, databases, podcasts), embedded video and images, RSS feeds, polls, various search boxes.

APIs and widgets.

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UT Arlington Usability Study: Methodology

11

Our interpretation of University of

Washington’s recommendations

for LibGuide design

Our baseline design

UT Arlington Usability Study: Methodology

Graduate Students Undergraduate Students

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&

UT Arlington Usability Study: Methodology

Infrequent users Frequent Users

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UT Arlington Usability Study: Methodology

Tasks: Each User Completed One Task

Task 1 You are writing a paper on high-stakes testing in education. Where can you find a resource to give you a brief overview of this topic?

Task 2 You are writing a 10-page research paper for English about depictions of women in Shakespeare's Hamlet. You must find reliable, scholarly sources that will help you better understand this topic. You are uncertain what makes a source reliable and/or scholarly. Use the LibGuide to find out the characteristics of reliable and scholarly sources.

Task 3 You need to write about an issue related to a home based nursing. Locate one peer-reviewed article.

Task 4 Using the Subject Guide for electrical engineering, find a paper on the topic of wireless sensors in biological research.

Task 5 Locate this article: Burke, E. (2009). Islam at the center: Technological complexes and the roots of modernity. Journal of World History, 20(2), 165-186.

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UT Arlington Usability Study: Methodology

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-Question Survey

UT Arlington Usability Study: Methodology

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/samdogs/3253791356/

Round 1 Findings: Contextualized Content

Students want guides contextualized to their

assignments

“Where is the tab for my

assignment?”

“Why are there so many

tabs?”

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Round 1 Findings: Jargon

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Students found some of our language to

be confusing.

“What are reference resources?”

“What is interlibrary loan?”

Round 1 Findings: Landing Page Confusion

Students found the home page insufficient and the amount of content overwhelming

Students partially scanned text instead of reading and searched using only the keywords provided in an assignment prompt.

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Round 1 Findings: Search Box Confusion

Students equate ALL search boxes with Google-like search.

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Basic Principles of Web Design

Define a target audience.

Articulate the site’s purpose.

Use targeted navigation.

Choose readable font size and colors.

Include white space.

Avoid walls of text.

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Students’ Information Seeking Behavior

Carol Kuhlthau’s

Information Search

Process

Project Information

Literacy’s (PIL) Model of

the Undergraduate

Research Process

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Information Search Process

(Kuhlthau, 2012)

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Model of the Undergraduate Research Process

Big Picture Language

Information Gathering

Situational

Contexts

(PIL, 2009)

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Changes Made After Round 1

Original Guide Design

Redesign After

Round 1

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Mapping Content to Information-Seeking Behavior

(Herzog, Huddleston, & Trkay, 2012)

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Adaptation for Subject Guides

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Testing the Redesign

9 Participants.

Infrequent users of subject guides.

Each completed 5 tasks.

Answered 8 open-ended survey questions.

One committee member facilitated in person

while another member remotely observed and

coded.

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Task 1 — Gather Background Information

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Average task score – 0.40 points

Average time on task – 6.54 minutes

Average task score – 2.33 points

Average time on task – 4.26 minutes

Comparative Results: Task 1 Errors

Statistically significant decrease in errors made

using the redesigned guide

Inappropriate use of search box

Inappropriate use of resource

Deviation from expected path

Total errors

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Task 2 — What is a Scholarly Source?

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Average task score – 1.20 points

Average time on task – 11.51 minutes

Average task score – 0.22 points

Average time on task – 2.86 minutes

Comparative Results: Task 2 Errors

Statistically significant decrease in errors made

using the redesigned guide

Inappropriate use of resource

Language confusion

Deviation from expected path

Total errors

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Task 3 — Find a Peer-Reviewed Article

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Average task score – 1.60 points

Average time on task – 5.54 minutes

Average task score – 1.63 points

Average time on task – 4 minutes

Task 4 — Find a Primary Source

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No round-1 comparison

Average task score – 1.78 points

Average time on task – 3.22 minutes

Task 5 — Find an Article from a Citation

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Average task score – 2.0 points

Average time on task – 6.33 minutes

Average task score – 2.5 points

Average time on task – 2.34 minutes

Comparative Results: Task 5 Errors

Statistically significant decrease in errors made

using the redesigned guide

Inappropriate use of search box

Inappropriate use of resource

Deviation from expected path

Total errors

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Next Steps

Refining instructional content.

Creating content that can be used throughout

all the guides.

Adapting content to individual subject guides.

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References

Adebonojo, L. G. (2010). LibGuides: Customizing subject guides for individual courses. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 17, 398-412. doi: 10.1080/10691316.2010.525426

Brown, J. D. (1904). Annotated Syllabus for the Systematic Study of Librarianship. London, United Kingdom: Library Supply Co. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=aspvMHvmOSoC&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

Head, A. J., & Eisenberg, M. B. (2009, December 1). Lessons learned: How college students seek information in the digital age. Project Information Literacy. Retrieved from http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2009_finalv_YR1_12_2009v2.pdf

Herzog, A., Huddleston, B., & Trkay, G. (2012, February 23). Digital learning: Teaching information literacy through LibGuides. Poster session presented at Educause West/Southwest Regional Conference, Portland, OR.

Hintz, K., et al. (2010). Letting students take the lead: A user-centred approach to evaluating subject guides. Evidence Based Library And Information Practice, 5(4), 39-52. Retrieved from http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP

Kuhlthau, C. C. (2012, January). Information search process. Retrieved from http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/~kuhlthau/information_search_process.htm

Literature. (1997). LSU Libraries webliography. Retrieved from http://web.archive.org/web/19971024115756/http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/lit.html

Ouellelte, D. (2011). Subject guides in academic libraries: A user-centred study of uses and perceptions. Canadian Journal Of Information & Library Sciences, 35, 436-451. Retrieved from http://www.cais-acsi.ca/journal/journal.htm

Pathfinder (Library Science). (2012). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathfinder_(Library_Science)

Reeb, B., & Gibbons, S. (2004). Students, librarians, and subject guides: Improving a poor rate of return. Portal: Libraries & The Academy, 4(1), 123-130. Retrieved from http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/portal_libraries_and_the_academy/

Reitz, J. M. (2012). Pathfinder. ODLIS: Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science. Retrieved from http://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_p.aspx#pathfinder

Reitz, J. M. (2012). Research guide. ODLIS: Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science. Retrieved from http://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_R.aspx?#researchguide

Staley, S. M. (2007). Academic subject guides: A case study of use at San Jose State University. College & Research Libraries, 68, 119-139. Retrieved from http://crl.acrl.org/content/68/2/119.full.pdf+html

Stitz, T., Laster, S., Bove, F. J., & Wise, C. (2011). A path to providing user-centered subject guides. Internet Reference Services Quarterly, 16(4), 183-198. doi: 10.1080/10875301.2011.621819

Vileno, L. (2007). From paper to electronic, the evolution of pathfinders: A review of the literature. Reference Services Review, 35, 434-451. doi: 10.1108/00907320710774300

Vileno, L. (2010). Testing the usability of two online research guides. Partnership: The Canadian Journal Of Library And Information Practice And Research, 5(2), 1-21. Retrieved from http://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/

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