1. Special Users, Special Needs:  Designing an Instructional Toolkit for Research Assistants at a Research Library
Kate Scherler, Molly Stewart,
and Judit Ward
Center of Alcohol Studies, Rutgers University
VALE/Users'/ACRL-NJ/NJLA-CUS Conference 2012

2. Agenda About our library and this project Planning Creating
Implementing
Evaluating
Discussion

3. The Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University

4. The Center of Alcohol Studies

5. The Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University
The CAS is a small institution in a much larger network of institutions at Rutgers University.

6. The Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University
The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Other Drugs (JSAD) is also published at the CAS.

7. Library and Information Services at the CAS
The CAS Library website has information on some of the services offered to faculty.

8. Current Services at CAS Library
Computers and wireless
for online research (CAS IP)
Article request & delivery
Literature searches
Creating bibliographies
Scanning, OCR
Proofreading
Fact checking
Bibliographic instruction
Reference management
Special collections

9. Special needs: Research

10. Special needs: Education/Training and Treatment
Add details to slide – stopped here on TUE

11. The Need for a Specialized Toolkit
Frequent requests for training
Quick turnover of research staff
Large UGrad populations
Volunteers without RU access
Many students are reluctant to ask for help
CAS library has limited hours and a small staff

12. Research Assistant Toolkit (the project)

13. Planning, part one
Meetings! Research groups Lab staff Grad students CAS core faculty– one on one Needs analysis

14. Planning, part two How do we define our users and their needs?
Rubrics?
Benchmarks?
Minimum requirements?
Immediate needs created by the task

16. Planning, part three What have others done?

17. LibGuides versus Sakai
Creating, part one
LibGuides versus Sakai
easy to use – clumsy
variety of options – limiting modifications
RUL resource – RU resource
existing guide – new content
open to everyone – invitation only

18. Creating, part two What’s most important?
What key words will people look for?
3. What was requested most frequently in the past for training and orientation?

19. Creating, part three
Forever?

20. The LibGuide

21. The LibGuide: Find Articles

22. The LibGuide: Statistics

23. The Sakai site

24. The Sakai site
Syllabus Tab = Site Directory

25. The Sakai site (cont’d)
Resources Tab:
general and RUL info
getting started guides
library-specific information

26. The Sakai site: CAS Library Services
A detailed guide to services and equipment available in the library, meant to orient those to new to the center.
CAS Library Special

27. Quick Reference Guide

28. Implementing, part one
Publicize, publicize, publicize!

29. Implementing, part two One-on-one and group training sessions for
Women’s Treatment Project
Emotion and Sensation Study
NeuroPharmacoGenetics Laboratory
Integrative Data Analysis Lab for College Alcohol Intervention Research
Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory
Proactive steps: more meetings with faculty to identify evolving needs

30. Implementing, part three
Introducing LibGuide to key people: PI’s, Lab directors, instructors, project managers
Finalizing Sakai site
(still creating documentation)
Print and distribute quick reference guide
(in progress)

31. Evaluating, part one
Feedback!

32. Evaluating, part two After the training sessions: Forms of feedback
Immediate feedback from participants
Long-term evaluation by key CAS members
Forms of feedback
Formal survey
Informal feedback, fits CAS profile more

33. Evaluating, part three What we think works What we might change
What else to add
How often to update

34. Overall, what we learned from this…..
Just do it!

35. Questions?