September 12, 2011 Meeting of User Education Committee

Agenda not yet available.

Members Present: Susan Avery (ex officio), Adriana Cuervo (13), Kirstin Dougan (12), Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe (ex officio) – Chair, Carissa Phillips (13), Elizabeth (Beth) Sheehan (13), Greg Youngen (12)

Members Absent: Merinda Hensley (ex officio), Cindy Ingold (12), Sue Searing (13), Peggy Steele (12)

Additional Attendees: Emma Clausen (Information Literacy GA)

1. Welcome and Introductions

Lisa welcomed all new and returning members and provided an overview of the purpose of the committee. Members each introduced themselves.

2. Upcoming 2011-2012 Meetings – 10:00-11:00 am Library 428

• October 10
• November 14
• December 12
• February 13
• March 12
• April 9
• May 14
• June 11
• July 9
• August 13

3. Acclamations and Accolades

This agenda item will be repeated at each meeting and is an opportunity to share highlights related to information literacy and instruction work. Committee members are encouraged to submit items ahead of time so they can be listed in the agenda.

Committee members shared that requests for instruction are growing. The Education and Social Sciences Library has received more than 30 requests for Fall instruction sessions already; the Undergraduate Library had nearly 60 sessions scheduled prior to the beginning of the semester; and the Music and Performing Arts Library has many courses scheduling for two sessions instead of just one.

The Veterinary Medicine Library had a seeming set-back when Greg was not included in new student orientation for the college. To compensate, he sent a welcome letter to members of the incoming class with a link to a LibGuide and has since received greater response than he had in previous years to the orientation session presentation.

The committee noted that building relationships with faculty and sending out communications prior to courses beginning, including a link to a LibGuide and an outline of major services offered, are some of the best ways to market instruction sessions.

4. Committee Charge:

The committee reviewed the charge and member responsibilities. Lisa shared her hopes for what might be accomplished in this coming year and noted the importance of the working groups the committee has created in the past and their deep investigation into ongoing projects.

The User Education Committee provides guidance and advice to the Coordinator for Information Literacy Services and Instruction and the University Library by formulating and reviewing plans, goals, priorities, strategies, policies and procedures related to user education; identifying temporary and ongoing instructional issues; promoting awareness of and participation in information literacy activities within the Library and the University as a whole; gathering information and encouraging research and discussion about information literacy, information seeking, and user education; creating and assisting with instructional development programming; and responding to requests for assistance or advice about user education and information literacy issues.

5. 2010-2011 Recap

a. Status of IT Requests

Lisa reviewed the status of the IT requests related to instruction.

• Assignment Calculator – Further work on this request has been suspended by mutual agreement. The product available through open source is not what was expected, as it is more appropriate for a K-12 learning environment. Lisa and Susan noted that many places have adapted the version used by the University of Minnesota; however, that version is not available through open source.
• TurningPoint Clickers – This project is completed. Currently there is one set of clickers located in the Undergraduate Library for use in the Undergraduate Library classrooms and two sets in Library IT that can be checked out and used anywhere on campus. The committee will need to decide if more sets are necessary, taking into consideration if on-site sets are needed in the libraries that have a high volume of sessions that are at a distance from the Main Library. For example, would it be useful to have an on-site set at the Music and Performing Arts Library?  Susan noted an issue downloading TurningPoint software on computers. She will follow up to see if an IT request has been filed and, if so, what the resolution of the problem is. Another “introduction to clickers” session that will cover last year’s training and user experience will be scheduled in late October or early November. Susan agreed to lead the session.
• Instruction Statistics Database – This project is completed. The database interface and underlying structure was re-done. Some people have requested that former library unit names be removed from the system; however, this is not possible to do since those names are tied to historic instruction session records.
• Web Teaching System – This request was denied. Over the past year, however, additional librarians have indicated the need for such a system. The committee will further investigate the need for this functionality in the Library and then re-submit the request. The committee noted some key features of Elluminate that would be beneficial, including desktop sharing and recording capabilities, and discussed the range of what this technology could be used for including staff training, professional development sessions, and conference calls.

b. Assessment Initiative

The committee hosted Deb Gilchrist as a guest speaker last spring. The committee decided to hold a follow-up session when those who attended Deb’s workshop could share how they are implementing what they learned. This will be scheduled later in the fall. Also related to assessment, Merinda will be an attendee at Assessment Immersion 2011 in Nashville. Lisa will be one of the leaders of this program. Susan and Carissa have attended in previous years.

c. Instructional Facilities

Lisa reviewed the status of projects related to the Library’s instructional facilities.

• Library 314 – Scholarly Commons will now oversee the day-to-day management of Library 314.

• ESSL Monitor – A large LCD monitor has been installed in the curriculum room in the Education and Social Science Libraries so that it is no longer necessary to project onto a window shade.

• Library/IT Fee Request for Rare Book Classroom – The request was approved for a $50,000 upgrade in the reading room of Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The equipment in this upgrade includes a high-quality document camera.

d. Status of Working Groups

• Undergraduate Research Award – Last year’s working group submitted drafts of recommendations but a new working group may be needed to finish project. A decision needs to be made about whether the award should be administered by the User Education Committee, the Undergraduate Library, or the Reference and Research Support Services unit.

• Instructional Spaces – The Instructional Spaces working group, which was created last year has not yet convened, but will move forward by assessing existing instructional spaces in the Main and Undergraduate Libraries and documenting space needs. The goal is to determine if an additional classroom is needed.

• Copyright Instruction Working Group – Merinda and Lauren Dodge, Visiting Program Coordinator for the Copyright Education and Consultation Program, co-chaired this group, which developed instruction materials and documented needs for copyright education and consultation. Mark Wardecker will be taking on additional responsibilities for copyright education. The committee proposes that this year’s working group be a collaborative working group with the Scholarly Communications Committee. Lisa will discuss this with Sarah Shreeves, chair of the Scholarly Communications Committee.

e. Strategic Planning Forum Presentation

The committee contributed ideas for the “teaching and learning” presentation at the Strategic Planning Forum. The draft of the Strategic Plan will be available at the October 11, 2011 open meeting on the plan.

6. Possible Goals for 2011-2012

The committee discussed which projects to focus on in the coming year. Ideas under consideration include:

• Create materials to alert users to primary sources, especially in archives and special collections. Adrianna will further develop this idea for discussion at a future committee meeting.
• Bring another speaker to campus. The committee will discuss this at a future meeting.

• Re-initiate the Teaching Toss. The committee identified two topics (clickers and follow-up to Deb Gilchrist’s workshop) and also decided to eliminate the “potluck salad bar” approach. Instead, discussions will be held as schedules best allow.

• Investigate technology in the classroom and its impact on instruction. Lisa will investigate which technologies are supported on campus and report back at the next meeting.

• Rekindle the instruction awards working group. Lisa will inquire with Scott Walter about the status of the Library Awards Working Group.

• Add advanced composition courses to information literacy curriculum. The committee will discuss this at a future meeting.

• Explore answers to “Who is/should be responsible for public announcements and user support when we make a major change to our search tools that affects users campus-wide?” and “What communication and collaboration structures are needed for whoever that is to do so effectively and efficiently?” The committee will discuss this at a future meeting.

• Clarify relationships among User Education/Services Advisory/Reference Services committees. Lisa will discuss this topic with Scott Walter, Chair of the Services Advisory Committee, and David Ward, Chair of the Reference Services Committee.

• Re-initiate K-12 curriculum outreach efforts. The committee will discuss forming a working group on this topic at a future meeting.

7. Announcements/Closing Comments

Lisa alerted committee members that they would be asked to review revisions to the Library 314 room use policy in the coming weeks. Changes focus on use of the space for brown bag events and opening the space for use as a lab.

Submitted by Emma Clausen