NCSU Libraries Focus Online

Volume 27 number 2 - Winter 2007

"Elluminating" Library Research for Distance Education Students

By Kim Duckett, Research and Information Services

Several times each semester, NCSU librarians meet virtually with groups of distance education students online using a synchronous, virtual classroom called Elluminate Live!® This tool, now being pilot-tested at the university, provides an online environment in which students meet with librarians, watch them demonstrate how to use library resources, ask questions, and interact with classmates. These workshops are similar to the face-to-face sessions offered by librarians on campus and are part of the Libraries’ efforts to provide the highest-quality services for distance learners. For many of these students, this online instruction will be their introduction into library research even though they may never set foot on campus.

Since 2003 Kim Duckett, principal librarian for digital technologies and learning, has experimented with a variety of technologies to organize online, synchronous instruction. Elluminate Live!® is by far the best technology the Libraries has used. It allows students to gather in an online classroom where each person has a unique presence and can use icons to raise their hands, express emotions, and answer quick polls. The librarian talks to the students via voice-over IP and can share a Web browser with students to demonstrate how to search for books and articles. Students with microphones can talk with the librarian over the Web, but text chat is also built into the Elluminate Live!® environment and is a more common mode of communication for students. Additionally, Elluminate Live!®’s archiving capabilities allow the librarian to record the session to share with students who could not attend.

Workshops are typically offered in the evening to accommodate the work schedules that lead many students toward distance education. Duckett works closely with instructors to assess learning objectives for the sessions and to establish methods of communication with students. Most workshops have focused on searching article databases, the library catalog, and Refworks, an online citation management program. Duckett also collaborates with library subject specialists to design and deliver specialized instruction. Each semester she works with Scott Warren, a subject specialist in textiles and engineering, to teach groups of undergraduates about the economics of information and issues pertaining to scholarly communication. She also collaborates with Katherine Dexter Willis, the reference librarian for education and management, to teach students about library resources as part of an education research methods course. Eleanor Smith, reference librarian for the life sciences, collaborated with Duckett to design an “Introduction to Literature Reviews” workshop for graduate students.

Feedback from students is overwhelmingly positive. The workshops are routinely rated as “informative” and “very useful.” One student noted that the archived workshop she watched “provided concrete actions to help my [research] efforts.” Andre Blair, a graduate student in the Department of Adult and Higher Education, commented, “The experience was great! Unexpected staffing problems at work required an extended day (13 hours), but with your technology and a broadband connection, I was still able to participate. I look forward to other Web-based training opportunities at NCSU.”

Instructors have also praised the Libraries’ efforts. Daun Daemon, Department of English, said, “My three classroom sections get the benefit of interacting with librarians in person, which allows them to ask questions they have during the presentation. Elluminate allows my online students to have as rich and rewarding an experience.” Julia Storberg-Walker, assistant professor in adult and higher education, explained,

“The online workshops have been an invaluable addition to the graduate level master’s degree courses I teach for two reasons: First, attending the workshops helps students de-mystify the library search engines and helps them develop a feeling of partnership with the library. Although it is virtual, the students put a “face” on the library and the barriers of using library services are decreased. Secondly, knowing that the workshops are available and effective gives faculty the assurance that their students are learning how to incorporate the library into their scholarship.”

Instructors or others who are interested in learning more about the Libraries’ online workshops for distance learners should call Kim Duckett at (919) 513-3653, or send an electronic-mail message to kim_duckett@ncsu.edu.