Comments on: Sensations Or Experiences: Which Do We Want To Provide http://acrlog.org/2005/12/23/sensations-or-experiences-which-do-we-want-to-provide/ Blogging by and for academic and research librarians Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:32:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Steve Lawson http://acrlog.org/2005/12/23/sensations-or-experiences-which-do-we-want-to-provide/comment-page-1/#comment-362 Steve Lawson Mon, 26 Dec 2005 15:30:07 +0000 http://acrlblog.org/?p=119#comment-362 I agree that helping students learn to do research and creating "persistent change in their research behavior" should be the goal, and that integrated classroom instruction is one of the best ways to achieve that goal. Often, the students I help haven't yet learned how to choose good keywords for their search; no matter how simple the interface, they will have trouble doing research until they lean some basic skills. But one indication that our interfaces still have a long way to go is the number of <em>faculty</em> who ask for help with using these resources. If our tools and interfaces were really up to the task, then faculty--who have already had the "experience" (in Rogers's formulation) of doing research and earning a PhD--should have no trouble using them. Yet, in my experience, many faculty find the array of databases, catalogs, and add-on services (such a link resolvers) bewildering. If these experienced researchers can't untangle our many offerings and interfaces, why should we expect an incoming student to be able to do so? Let's keep trying to make our tools and systems more transparent and easy to use while still insisting that integrating library instruction in the curriculum is necessary. I agree that helping students learn to do research and creating “persistent change in their research behavior” should be the goal, and that integrated classroom instruction is one of the best ways to achieve that goal. Often, the students I help haven’t yet learned how to choose good keywords for their search; no matter how simple the interface, they will have trouble doing research until they lean some basic skills.

But one indication that our interfaces still have a long way to go is the number of faculty who ask for help with using these resources. If our tools and interfaces were really up to the task, then faculty–who have already had the “experience” (in Rogers’s formulation) of doing research and earning a PhD–should have no trouble using them. Yet, in my experience, many faculty find the array of databases, catalogs, and add-on services (such a link resolvers) bewildering. If these experienced researchers can’t untangle our many offerings and interfaces, why should we expect an incoming student to be able to do so? Let’s keep trying to make our tools and systems more transparent and easy to use while still insisting that integrating library instruction in the curriculum is necessary.

]]> By: Lisa Hinchliffe http://acrlog.org/2005/12/23/sensations-or-experiences-which-do-we-want-to-provide/comment-page-1/#comment-341 Lisa Hinchliffe Sun, 25 Dec 2005 06:31:56 +0000 http://acrlblog.org/?p=119#comment-341 Be assured I don't keep these "words of wisdom" from students to myself. In addition to communicating with vendors on these (pretty much my whole focus in visiting the ALA exhibits since I have no collections budget responsibilities), sometimes it is important to communicate with whoever has the administrative password to a given system. In many cases, the vendor has built in capacity for change - we just have to do it! And, then, there are our library-developed resources (e.g., all those library homepages out there) that we control ourselves..... Be assured I don’t keep these “words of wisdom” from students to myself. In addition to communicating with vendors on these (pretty much my whole focus in visiting the ALA exhibits since I have no collections budget responsibilities), sometimes it is important to communicate with whoever has the administrative password to a given system. In many cases, the vendor has built in capacity for change – we just have to do it! And, then, there are our library-developed resources (e.g., all those library homepages out there) that we control ourselves…..

]]> By: StevenB http://acrlog.org/2005/12/23/sensations-or-experiences-which-do-we-want-to-provide/comment-page-1/#comment-315 StevenB Sat, 24 Dec 2005 12:17:33 +0000 http://acrlblog.org/?p=119#comment-315 You make a good point Lisa. In my post about "simplicity vs. complexity" I said that it would not matter how great our resources are if no one used them, so part of our conundrum is how to provide the either/or option - library databases that are complex enough to allow users to achieve precise searches, but that don't overwhelm them at the start. The article I refer to does make a good point about creating an experience for the student so they'll retain information about using appropriate research resources, and perhaps that is what needs to happen in the instruction setting - although the challenge there is that we don't always have the time or resources to create memorable instruction. If your students have some ideas for improving the tools, can you capture it and put it in the hands of the folks who make the aggregated databases. If the resources are going to get better, they are the folks who need to make the changes. You make a good point Lisa. In my post about “simplicity vs. complexity” I said that it would not matter how great our resources are if no one used them, so part of our conundrum is how to provide the either/or option – library databases that are complex enough to allow users to achieve precise searches, but that don’t overwhelm them at the start. The article I refer to does make a good point about creating an experience for the student so they’ll retain information about using appropriate research resources, and perhaps that is what needs to happen in the instruction setting – although the challenge there is that we don’t always have the time or resources to create memorable instruction. If your students have some ideas for improving the tools, can you capture it and put it in the hands of the folks who make the aggregated databases. If the resources are going to get better, they are the folks who need to make the changes.

]]> By: Lisa Hinchliffe http://acrlog.org/2005/12/23/sensations-or-experiences-which-do-we-want-to-provide/comment-page-1/#comment-308 Lisa Hinchliffe Fri, 23 Dec 2005 17:18:52 +0000 http://acrlblog.org/?p=119#comment-308 Does it have to be either/or? Can't we work to build better tools AND work to integrate into the curriculum? I have been talking with a number of student groups at my institution this fall. They LOVE the library. They WANT to use the library. They TRY to use the library. But - they just can't figure it out. Sure - instruction/user education/information literacy can help. But the students also have suggestions for making the tools easier to understand and use. None of which would "dumb down" the tool - they would just make them better tools because the users would be able to understand and thus use them better. Does it have to be either/or? Can’t we work to build better tools AND work to integrate into the curriculum? I have been talking with a number of student groups at my institution this fall. They LOVE the library. They WANT to use the library. They TRY to use the library. But – they just can’t figure it out. Sure – instruction/user education/information literacy can help. But the students also have suggestions for making the tools easier to understand and use. None of which would “dumb down” the tool – they would just make them better tools because the users would be able to understand and thus use them better.

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