Taming the Dragon The Collaborative Revitalization of an Online Library Skills Course Carol Hansen Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah & Nancy Lombardo Eccles Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

How many librarians does it take to create an online course?

Today’s Objectives Who’s here today? Attendees will Understand the development of the Internet Navigator online course Get details on its collaborative management and funding View some of the newer elements of the course Please ask questions at any time

The Internet Navigator Course What makes it unique? Long term experiment in collaborative online course development Multiple uses Emphasis on information literacy competency assessment

The Challenges Enabling student learning The ability to define, access, find evaluate and use information effectively On and off campus Across the state and around the world Taking advantage of new technologies, new pedagogies and shared resources NOT recreating the wheel at every institution

Technology Background Library catalogs go online late 80’s gets popular early 1990’s Netscape Browser October 1994 Internet Navigator launched Jan 1996 Focus is on “what is the Internet?” Infotrac goes on the Web June 1997 By 1998 a whole new focus is needed

Utah Academic Library Consortium 14 academic libraries 9 public (U of Utah, Utah State, Weber State, Utah Valley…) 2 private(BYU and Westminster) Over 151,000 students History of cooperation Collecting, borrowing Sharing (Pioneer), Nevada Libraries too Instruction - Internet Navigator

Goals of Online Course Meeting the needs of a diverse student body Enabling use of curriculum for multiple purposes Integrating latest Web technologies Including latest pedagogies Managing course for delivery at multiple institutions

More Goals Support lifelong learning Be learner centered Emphasize collaboration across distances Emphasize individual inquiry Be structured enough for freshman Enable exploration of values and reflection

First version Included content on Different versions of (pine, vax, etc) Gopher Telnet Catalogs Search Engines Evaluating information HTML FTP

The Shift From - “what is the Internet?” To - effectively finding and using scholarly content found in Web based library resources Other shifts Online and distance ed merge Emphasis on information literacy and assessing student learning

1998 Our plans began June LOEX of the West in Cedar City New Tutorials – RIO, TILT, Net trail The UALC Information for Life Task Force formed Representation from all academic institutions in Utah The State Library offered PL representation

Primary Goals for New Course Promote information literacy in a global and dynamic information technology environment for all types of learners Share curriculum Promote shared resources in Utah

New Course Outline 1. What is the Internet 2. Getting Started with Research 3. Information Navigator 4. Web publishing Interactive Exercises Research Assignments Topic selection Annotated bibliography HTML and Web publishing Quizzes

Early Administration and Funding Began with one time funding from HETI For 10 librarians Naively, no funding was sought for maintenance and ongoing support Technical and server support was donated by U of U Eccles Library Site has been mirrored since 1995

Information for Life Grant Requested $25,000 from UALC funds for: Staff Project Director Team Programmer Graphic design Development and implementation of the new course Ongoing maintenance EXTREMELY time consuming

Program Planning Development Over a dozen librarians worked in teams to write first drafts of new curriculum over a year Team worked with programmers and graphic artist Implementation Over a summer, 4 librarians rewrote rough drafts of modules Group of 4 loaded new curriculum Larger team proofed and made additional suggestions Maintenance Team meets regularly

New course Tested Spring 2000 Over 1500 students enrolled each year at WSU alone Very positive student response Over 85% rated course as excellent or very good Funding for ongoing maintenance

Assessment Learning outcomes identified Pretest, skills survey Exercises – self assessment Research project – practical Quizzes – knowledge Internal feedback forms End of course evaluation – their feelings Cyclical process

Still to come Assignments requiring students to reflect even more On their information needs,values, ethics On how they use information now and in the future to gain knowledge in their areas of interest New Student end of course evaluation Assessing priority learning outcomes

What we’ve learned Statewide funding is critical Collaboration is fun Collaboration takes more time For those involved in development and maintenance Results are richer and more useful Students are loving the course Students are learning

Demonstration of New Course and Questions? Syllabus Instructors (Global!) /Faculty page – statewide clearinghouse Flash Exercises Call number Evaluating Questions?