C&RL News April 2019 224 Kate Costin, formerly of the Vanderbilt University Library, is now research librarian at the Congressional Research Service, email: kcostin@crs.loc.gov, and Pamela J. Morgan is subject librarian at Vanderbilt University Library, email: pamela.j.morgan@vanderbilt.edu CRS Disclosure: “The views expressed herein are those of the author and are not presented as those of the Congressional Research Service or the Library of Congress.” © 2019 Kate Costin and Pamela J. Morgan The Vanderbilt University Library, in col-laboration with the university’s Depart- ment of Athletics Stratton Foster Academic Support Center, established an initiative to better acquaint the counselors at the center with the library and its resources. Through conversation, both sides realized there were many opportunities to make the relationship stronger, resulting in year-round support for student athletes. The partnership, now in its fourth year, has evolved to meet the needs of both the students and support staff. Invitation to play and kick off As part of a larger initiative to establish more formal relationships with campus partners, the Vanderbilt University Library’s Student Outreach and Engagement Committee (SOEC) contacted the director of the Strat- ton Foster Academic Support Center. SOEC wanted to explore the possibility of setting up a formal conversation with the counsel- ors to see how the library could better sup- port the center’s work with student athletes. The counselors agreed to meet with several librarians. At the initial meeting, counselors expressed their concerns regarding the stu- dents’ struggles with research tasks, such as using the library databases, navigating the library website, and citing sources. An outcome from the first meeting was the creation of the “Train the Trainer” session de- signed specifically for the counselors. In this session librarians highlighted library services, contact information for the subject librarians, research guides, and available technologies, such as laptops and iPads, for checkout. Given the counselors’ regular contact with the student athletes, the librarians believed the counselors were in a position to reinforce the library’s role in student success. However, both parties wanted a product designed spe- cifically for the students. This resulted in an invitation for the library to participate in the center’s annual Summer Bridge program.1 Game on As part of the Summer Bridge program, li- brarians designed activities to introduce new student athletes to the library and its services. The first was a tour led by subject librarians, where students visited the cam- pus library associated with their intended major. The second was an in-depth instruc- tion session about the library’s services and resources. Kate Costin and Pamela J. Morgan Moving from the sidelines to the playing field Developing a relationship with student athletics mailto:kcostin%40crs.loc.gov?subject= mailto:pamela.j.morgan%40vanderbilt.edu%20%20?subject= April 2019 225 C&RL News Librarians wanted to provide the students with an engaging and festive atmosphere. The solution? A game. Librarians chose FlipQuiz to design a quiz show-like game consisting of questions that reinforced the session’s learning objectives. This choice intended to capitalize on the stu- dent ath- lete’s com- petitive na- ture, while e n s u r i n g they dem- o n s t r a t e d u n d e r - standing of library ser- vices and resources. T h e q u i z c o n s i s t e d of several categories, including technology, finding materials, website, and databases. In order to support the session, l i b r a r i a n s c r e a t e d a r e s e a r c h guide, using the follow- ing learning objectives. • L o - cate the list of s ub ject librarians in order to con- tact a librarian for assistance. • Find the research guides with subject- related resources in order to successfully complete coursework. • Distinguish steps in the research cycle in order to break the process down into manageable parts. • Format citations in order to properly provide attribution to sources. • Access the A-Z List of Databases in order to select the most appropriate sources for information. Prior to the session, counselors asked stu- dents to review the research guide. The ob- jective was to expose students to information included in t h e q u i z , b u t n o t n e c e s s a r - ily covered in the ses- sion’s lec- t u r e . A c - cessing the r e s e a r c h guide prior to the ses- s i o n a l s o provided students a chance to navigate the library’s website. In the event some students did not have a chance to v i e w t h e guide, the first part of the instruc- tion session i n v o l v e d a l e c t u r e / tour of the r e s e a r c h guide, then moving on to the quiz/ competition. The game resulted in lively student participa- tion, and the librarians received positive feed- back from the counselors after the session. The library’s away game: Reference service at study halls After the summer tours and instruction ses- sion, librarians saw an opportunity for em- bedded librarianship by providing reference FlipQuiz sample question. FlipQuiz game board with categories. C&RL News April 2019 226 service at the student athlete study halls. This service seemed a natural fit, providing assistance in a space intended for research and academic work. The service began in the fall semester with one slot on Monday afternoons and expanded in the spring se- mester to include Thursday evenings. While the number of interactions was small, the s t u d e n t s u s - ing library of- fice hours ex- pressed great appreciation for the service. Li- brarians were able to spend q u a l i t y t i m e with the stu- dents discuss- ing a variety of research com- ponents, such as assignment interpretation, identifying ap- propriate resources, and proper citation formatting. The counselors were very en- thusiastic about this initiative, and assisted in promoting the service by creating vari- ous publicity materials and signage. As the semester progressed, students became more aware of the type of help librarians could provide, sometimes scheduling research consultations outside of study hall hours. Playback and modifying game plans The success of the partnership between the library and the Stratton Foster Aca- demic Support Center in its first year far exceeded the expectations of the librar- ians. The first year established relation- ships with the counselors and set the stage for ways in which the partnership could evolve the following summer. Prior to the second Summer Bridge program, library staff sat down with the counselors to dis- cuss the tours, the instruction session, and the satellite service. The librarians wanted to know what could be improved moving forward. Satellite service The counselors were pleased with the librar- ians’ presence, concluding “more is better.” Suggestions for improvements included: • c o n - tinuing service twice a week, with the pos- sibility for ad- ditional hours at targeted times during the se- mester; • c a p - turing more in- formation about who uses the service and why (source help, citation help, etc.); and • h e l p - ing the counselors create more publicity to promote library services both inside and outside of study halls. In the second year, student usage of the service remained steady, although librarians had hoped for greater numbers. Still, those students who did take advantage of the ser- vice expressed appreciation for library service at the study halls. The second year also meant athletes began to recognize librarians on campus and felt more comfortable reaching out for assistance. Counselors remained enthusiastic about the service, and coaches who knew of the service also were extremely appreciative. Librarians tweaked the service to offer refer- ence hours on Wednesday evenings, with the hope that more students would use it. Summer orientation and instructional game Librarians believed the website tour/lecture Signage at Stratton Foster Center. April 2019 227 C&RL News was only partially engaging, with the com- petitive element of the game garnering far more enthusiasm and engagement than the lecture. Counselors liked the game format but wanted more interaction with the da- tabases. Librarians devised the following modifications: • devoting the whole hour to the game, discarding the formal presentation. • paring the question categories down to three: website, finding materials, and databases; and • grouping students into teams to make use of peer learning. L i b r a r - ians rewrote questions to incorporate more active l e a r n i n g . The quiz re- quired more e n g a g e - ment with the library website and d a t a b a s e s . Staff divid- ed the students into teams, and each team competed for points by correctly answering questions. Recognizing the need to keep some instructional element, librarians inter- spersed the game with timeouts, teachable moments with additional context regard- ing the service or concept highlighted at that particular moment in the game. For example, after the question, “Who is the liaison for English?” students were reminded that the library is staffed with many subject specialist, who are available to assist in their research needs. The game remained popular with the students, and the teams made the event lively and fun. According to the counselors, the athletes were more engaged at the library than at any other point during their various orientation sessions. The third year saw further modifications for the library instruction session. Counselors emphasized the role of positive engagement with the competition. However, the counsel- ors wanted more opportunities for students to go online and practice using the databases. The librarians needed to develop an online scavenger hunt/competition where students had to work to find library materials. While FlipQuiz worked well for the first two years, librarians set it aside in favor of Kahoot! Kahoot! allowed librarians to design ques- tions that would require website navigation and database use, along with a time limit to answer a question. Quiz questions included locating specific librarians, key subject data- bases, data- base tools, and specific a r t i c l e s . O n c e l i - brarians de- signed the quiz, they compiled a “ Te n T i p s in Ten Min- utes” lecture that would address all the questions. This structure was a departure from devoting the whole hour to the game, but the game/hands on time remained the focus. Conclusion Now in its fourth year, the Vanderbilt Librar- ies’ partnership with the Stratton Foster Aca- demic Support Center offers student athletes a variety of ways to engage with the library and the librarians throughout the academic year. The collaboration has increased aware- ness of library services and support among students and counselors. Librarians benefit by working with a population of students they might not otherwise see, resulting in the librarians’ ability to shape collections and services based on these interactions. Librarians are also proud to participate in Sample question from Kahoot! C&RL News April 2019 228 the Summer Bridge program, a recipient of the Model Practices Award for Student Support Services by the National Associa- tion of Academic and Student-Athlete De- velopment Professionals.2 It is rewarding to hear from counselors how much they value the library’s on-sight reference services and that student athletes appreciate the sup- port. Perhaps the best part of the partner- ship for the librarians is seeing the student academic honors year after year. Vanderbilt student athletes have a strong academic per- formance. Several teams have either perfect Aca- demic Performance Rates (APR) or the best APR in the Southeast Conference (SEC).3 Librarians take great pride in playing a part in these accomplishments and enjoy see- ing familiar names on the SEC Honor Roll plaques. Deans and directors of other librar- ies serving SEC schools have taken notice and have expressed interest in learning about the service. Even if numbers of transactions are small, the quality time with the students is well worth it, and the focus is now on maintaining a strong relationship with the academic counselors and providing flexible reference, outreach and instruction, and ser- vices that adapt to student needs. Tips from our playbook • Scor e major points with a game. Whether it’s a scavenger hunt, Jeopardy style quiz, or other game, consider a com- petitive element with athletes. FlipQuiz was by far the most engaging portion of the outreach portfolio. Vanderbilt University Athletics ended up using it for their own activities. Even as needs changed, the game remained. • Keep up with the stats. Are the athletes you work with listed on honor rolls? Let them know you notice. It will be appreciated. At Vanderbilt, librarians use academic success stories and APR information to promote library services. • Develop relationships with your coun- selors. You will find a receptive audience, as academic counselors welcome assignment alerts, tips and tricks for library research, notifications about research workshops, etc. You both share a goal—student success. • Know when to pass. Be familiar with other campus resources, such as writing centers, software labs, tutoring, so that you can make appropriate referrals. Many campus organizations make their resources available online, so you can include information about them in a research guide. Notes 1. h t t p s : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m /watch?v=d3AEgnlJNoQ&t=1s. 2. https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2018 /06/29/academic-support-center-for-student -athletes-wins-national-model-practices -award/. 3. https://vucommodores.com/news /2017/8/18/GPA_highest_in_VU_athletics _history.aspx. SAGE-CQ Press, sponsor of the award, will present the $1,000 award and plaque to Kellam during the ALA Annual Confer- ence. “Lynda Kellam has provided distinguished service in political science librarianship,” said Award Chair Erin Ackerman, social sciences librarian at the College of New Jersey. “The tools and programs she has created have an enormous impact on the profession as a whole and individual librarians. “Lynda created and continues to coordi- nate the webinar series ‘Help! I’m an Acci- dental Government Information Librarian,’” Ackerman continued. “These webinars cover a wide range of topics from Brexit to Census data to the U.S. Geological Survey. With this series—now in its ninth year—as well as in her work on academic databrarianship, Lynda creates opportunities for librarians to connect and share the information that helps us do our jobs better.” (“ACRL honors the 2019 award winners, part 1,” continues from page 200) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3AEgnlJNoQ&t=1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3AEgnlJNoQ&t=1s https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2018 /06/29/academic-support-center-for-student -athletes-wins-national-model-practices -award/ https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2018 /06/29/academic-support-center-for-student -athletes-wins-national-model-practices -award/ https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2018 /06/29/academic-support-center-for-student -athletes-wins-national-model-practices -award/ https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2018 /06/29/academic-support-center-for-student -athletes-wins-national-model-practices -award/ https://vucommodores.com/news /2017/8/18/GPA_highest_in_VU_athletics _history.aspx https://vucommodores.com/news /2017/8/18/GPA_highest_in_VU_athletics _history.aspx https://vucommodores.com/news /2017/8/18/GPA_highest_in_VU_athletics _history.aspx