University of Findlay

Shafer Library
1000 North Main Street
Findlay, Ohio 45840

(800) 472-9502

The keynote was given by Stephanie Davis-Kahl

Additional 2015 conference photos can be found in the OPAL Repository

Library affect: How we shape student learning and research
 

University of Findlay, August 6 & 7th, 2015

OPAL 2015 Annual Conference Breakout Descriptions

10:30 to 11:20 AM Breakouts

Flipping the one shot by Carl Hess in Room 2232

For the spring of 2015, the librarians at Heidelberg University wanted to create more engaging and informative one-shot instruction sessions for Communication 100 and Writing 101 courses. Sessions for both classes cover introductory library use and information literacy topics, and many students take them in the same semester, leading to unengaged students seeing the exact same content twice. The flipped classroom model, where students learn some content outside of class, was chosen to revamp these sessions. The flipped model was chosen because it was believed it would help students get more out of library instruction by moving lower-order information literacy knowledge such as where to search and Boolean operators to the out of class materials, allowing in-class time to focus on higher-order knowledge such as turning a topic into search terms and source evaluation. It would also keep students more engaged because it would provide more time in class for them to engage in active learning. This session will cover how we determined what could be effectively taught outside of the classroom, the creation of outside learning materials, what activities were done during the class sessions, and initial student reception. This session will also cover how faculty buy-in was obtained as well as issues that were faced during the first semester under the flipped model.

Planning THE ASK: How to utilize the story of your data to help you and your stake-holders achieve your goals for student learning by Michelle Blank in Room 2233

As participants in the ACRL’s Assessment in Action (AiA) program, the Pilgrim Library at Defiance College undertook a project to assess the impact of our embedded information literacy sessions in one particular course. Through this process, the AiA team helped us realize that analyzed data is not the culmination of the project but merely tools to use in the most important step, planning the “Ask”. This is the action step in which we effectively craft and leverage the story told through the data. We are utilizing our data to garner support from various campus stake-holders for the implementation of changes necessary to assist students in meeting their learning goals. Currently, we are focusing on the course instructors, the vice-president of academic affairs (VPAA), and the office of student academic support services (SASS). We measure our success by the impact these changes have on student learning. Both quantitative and qualitative assessment tools are in place to measure their learning. Participants in this session will be introduced to some core principles for creating buy-in based on ideas presented in “Diffusions of Innovations” by Everett Rogers. Participants will also begin to formulate their “Ask” and will leave with an “Ask” format that can be utilized in their individual contexts.

Student orientation: How to sell to administration and tools for ongoing training by Audra Oglesbee and Claire Ballinger in Room 1121

Libraries are facing staff reduction and time challenges in completing day-to-day tasks that fluctuate with student needs. When our circulation staff member retired and was not replaced, we had to combine ILL/PCIRC/Events and all circulation functions into one position. Thus was born our current orientation and hiring program. When our director began at Bluffton, she worked with financial aid in transitioning to interviewing and hiring our own student assistants, and created four supervisor positions. This has become the foundation of how we manage our student assistants currently. The added responsibilities performed by our supervisors and students has replaced staff work in many departments. We hire in May and train students in mid-August when they return to campus. There are many social media tools being used for on-going communication and training. We will speak about the use of blogs, wikis, and LibGuides for emphasizing and reinforcing important or rare procedures, as well as for creatively engaging student workers in their roles.

Archiving across the curriculum: Digital archives that serve both students and administration by Katie Hutchison and Barb Sedlock in Room 1129

Small college digital archives can serve a wide variety of campus constituencies. Walsh University’s archives site serves students by incorporating multiple interdisciplinary student projects into their site, such as oral history, service learning, and photojournalism classes. Students learn and use Content DM to host these projects and can then see the connections and impact their work on the class has made in a context broader than the classroom. Defiance College’s DC Memory site provides an institutional history database that, as expected, is used by alumni and the Office of Institutional Advancement. But an email survey revealed that a much wider campus constituency makes use of the site, for sometimes unexpected uses. The former art gallery head used it to track down college-owned artwork as depicted in historic photos. The athletic trainer plans to use historic sports photos from the site to decorate his office and training room. Libraries in the development stage of digitization projects may find encouragement that they may be able to build a broader support base beyond library walls for maintaining a cultural heritage/institutional history digital collection. In this presentation we will describe successes and unique challenges, as well as offer best practices for implementation for these and similar digital humanities projects.

1:00 to 1:50 PM Breakouts

Research consultations: Creating personalized, one-on-one, library instruction by Alexandra Hauser in Room 2232

With the introduction of a new Core Curriculum at Defiance College, library staff were presented with new opportunities to provide library instruction to students. Composition II, a Core course taken during the fall semester of sophomore year, is one such place where information literacy instruction was altered to provide students a more meaningful interaction with the library. One-on-one research consultations, facilitated by librarians, are now used in place of a one-shot session and are paired with the students’ final research paper. These research consultations are designed to guide students in new directions for research while allowing the student to have a conversation with the librarian about their topic and personal research process. The research consultation allows active engagement with research material and one-on-one attention for each student so they may gain the skills they need as they move through their academic & work careers. Additionally, these consultations provide positive interaction with a librarian which can help to alleviate any library anxiety that might be present. Consultations are evaluated through the use of information provided on a consultation preparation worksheet. Students are also sent an invitation to a follow-up survey asking them to evaluate and compare the one-on-one consultation to any one-shot library instruction they have experienced. Our presentation will include sample materials used both before and during the research consultation. We will also include evidence both from the research consultation worksheets and results of the follow-up survey.

Celebrating student research and creativity: Opportunities for our libraries by Julie McDaniel and Mary Jean Johnson in Room 2233

To give students an opportunity to share their research and creative projects with the University community, two OPAL libraries recently introduced student research presentation events on their campuses. Urbana University started Research Week in which faculty members select student projects to be featured in the University Library. Student posters and papers are displayed while power point presentations are played continuously. Anyone visiting the library can view the work done by students. At Bluffton University, Celebrate the Library Week now features a Research Fair event with students nominated for participation by faculty. In addition, the week includes two hour-long student research presentation programs and a nutrition and fitness fair. Both libraries have seen increased interest from faculty in having students participate in research sharing events. Students are excited to have been included, as testimonials and survey results show. The libraries have had new opportunities for involvement with student research, adding to instruction and research consultations by showcasing the completed projects. Overall, the events are evaluated on each campus as strengthening academic culture.

Enhancing the training experience of student assistants utilizing self-paced instruction by Collette Knight in Room 1121

Building upon the ideas presented in a flipped classroom setting, Student Assistant Orientation now includes procedural learning activities experienced during regularly scheduled work time, and direct computer based individual instruction that can occur prior to beginning employment at the library. We are hoping to bolster our library student assistant’s skill set by incorporating the use of computer instruction and interactive tutorials. It is our intent that newly hired student employees will be able to spend their first 60-day probationary period more effectively by reading introductory lessons focused on customer service, Circulation procedures, and library terminology. Learning tools include short quizzes, brief responses to readings and either viewing OR creating video clips addressing topics relevant to a student assistant’s job. Additionally, returning student assistants are able to review procedures and tasks that are not daily occurrences.

FRAME-ing the future: Improving patron services through improved cataloging with BIBFRAME by Tim Keller in Room 1129

Current cataloging practices use dated rules and record formats which are problematic when trying to find information. The goal of this presentation is to examine BIBFRAME as a future option to overcome the limitations of traditional MARC catalog records, and what this means from both a non-specialist’s perspective (e.g. patrons, library directors, circulation, etc.) and a cataloger’s perspective. BIBFRAME approaches the structure of information in a linked data model to provide a richer, more granular level of contextualized library content. For the patron, this would mean simpler, more transparent search and for the cataloger/metadata librarian, a more cohesive catalog record without the hitches and restrictions of MARC21 coding. Currently, no OPAL library has begun testing BIBFRAME, therefore this presentation draws from existing research from other institutions. This presentation will discuss existing cataloging practices (i.e. MARC records); research from other institutions currently implementing or testing this model; explanation of the conceptual model of BIBFRAME; and theoretical implication for future actions within OPAL.

2:00 to 2:50 PM Breakouts

What are they doing in there? Using Google Analytics to better understand our students by Jessica McIntosh and Carl Hess in Room 2232

Conventional electronic resource statistics can provide valuable information about where students are searching and what content they are downloading. Yet they cannot tell you anything about what students are doing in the database such as what they are searching, how long they are staying on a page, and whether they are revising their search. Google Analytics can. In this presentation, we will show you how to access Google Analytics statistics for EBSCO Discovery Service and how to use this data to examine user behavior. We will share current trends from Otterbein University, Heidelberg University, and OPAL as a whole, and offer tips and best practices in using Google Analytics to better serve your individual communities.

More than numbers: Beeghly Library’s seat count system by Nainsí Houston in Room 2233

This presentation will discuss the seat count system that Heidelberg’s Beeghly Library designed and implemented December 2012. This system allows us to know where students sit, how they use the space, as well as how many of those students are using laptops/tablets. In addition to where they sit, we are now able to track our busiest and slowest times of library building use more precisely. We have used this information to rearrange/remove/add furniture, demonstrate a need for wireless printing (which was recently installed), plan staff/librarian schedules, add information to the university-wide master schedule, determine our exam hours, and to justify opening and closing when we do. This information serves as evidence of library use and its importance to our students which gives the library more leverage on campus.

OPAL’s EBSCO Academic eBook Collection Panel by LuAnn Boris, Amy Parsons, and Rebecca Quintus in Room 1121

Three OPAL libraries will share their experience promoting and using EBSCO’s Academic eBook Collection.

Engaging Ohio’s new learning standards: When first graders visit the archives by Carrie Phillips in Room 1129

“Do you ever open the archives for visiting school groups?” was the catalyst question for a new avenue of community outreach and a unique educational experience for local first grade students. The answer was no, but seeing great potential, this archivist set out to create a fun, engaging, interactive program to help students think about “the past,” incorporating archival collections which align with Ohio’s New Learning Standards for Grade One Social Studies. Four first grade classes each visited the archives for a 30 minute program. Seven items from the archives & special collections were chosen for examination by the group, and the archivist facilitated a discussion about the past for each item and its particular context. Items were chosen for their relevance to the lives of 6-7 year olds. The program engaged and excited students for the full 30 minutes and earned high praise from classroom teachers. This presentation will review program development, delivery, and evaluation considerations, as well as possible adaption for other student age levels.

Future of Higher Education Discussion with Dan Suvak and Bob Garland in the West Lobby

You are invited to join Dan Suvak and Bob Garland in a short, open discussion on hopes, fears, and plans related to the future of higher education. Consider this an opportunity to share ideas and strategies on how to