ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ July/August 1999 / 531 C o l l e g e & R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s news Designing instruction for a renovated library by K atherine Furlong and M ichael C. McGuire, w ith Paul Welch and Jill A. Reny T h e library staff w as jubilant. T he 1998 sp rin g se m e ste r w as finished, building re n o v a tio n s w e re co m p le te , th e jack h m ers fell silent, an d th e p laster d u st settled. Staff vacancies w ere filled, an d th e library’s elec tro n ic classroom w as fully functioning. T he U niversity o f M aine at F arm in g to n ’s (U M F ) M a n t o r L ibrary h a d s u r­ v iv ed a n e x tra o r­ d i n a r y y e a r o f change, and it w as tim e fo r a w ell- deserved rest. T h e c r e a t i o n o f a n e le c tro n ic classroom h ad re­ su lte d in a fo u r­ fold increase in in­ struction over one s e m e s te r . W h ile Library Instructor M ichael McGuire w orks w ith a stu d en t in th e classroom p o rtio n o f th e instruction session. t h e i n s t r u c t i o n te a m o f fiv e li­ b r a r i a n s ( t w o w ere n e w staff m em b ers) an d o n e p a ra p ro ­ fessional som etim es th o u g h t th ey w o u ld n ’t survive the long, cold w inter—they h ad made it through. Springtim e in Maine, a n d an easy sum m er ah ead . Life w as lo o k in g up. a m A nd th e n cam e th e faculty s e n a te m e e t­ ing. ­ T he faculty senate, after m uch discussion o f a com m on core o f learning, im plem ented a n e w class, Liberal Arts (LIA) 101, “E x p lo ­ ra tio n s in L earn in g .” A o n e -c re d it class r e ­ q u ire d o f all in co m in g first-year stu d en ts, LIA 101 w o u ld be a com m on in­ t r o d u c t i o n to co lleg e life an d c o l l e g e r e ­ so u rces. T h e li­ b ra r y w a s o n e s u c h re s o u r c e , a n d it w a s d e ­ c id e d th a t e a c h class w ould have a form al visit to t h e l i b r a r y a t least once during th e sem ester. Up to this p o in t the library’s in stru c­ tio n p ro g ra m w as fo c u s e d o n c o u rs e -in te ­ g ra te d in stru c tio n at th e p o in t o f n e e d , n o t general orientation sessions. W e w ould n eed to shift o u r fo cu s fo r th e s e 31 n e w in stru c ­ tion sessions, while accom modating the fact About the authors Katherine Furlong is the User Education a nd Electronic Resources librarian a t University o f M aine a t Farm ington, e-mail: kfurlong@maine.maine.edu; Michael C. McGuire is the head o f Reference Services a t the University o f Maine a t Farmington, e-mail: mmcguire@maine.maine.edu; Paul Welch a nd Jill A. Reny are undergraduate teaching assistants a t M a n to r Library fo r th e 1998-99 academic year. The river’s rising, and all we have are teaspoons mailto:kfurlong@maine.maine.edu mailto:mmcguire@maine.maine.edu 53 2 / C&RL News ■ July/August 1999 Students retrie vin g clues fro m a mystery to u r pos that there w ould b e n o reduction in the num ­ b e r o f English Composition an d other disci­ pline-specific classes. T he result: nearly 100 instruction sessions w ere anticipated for the 1998 fall sem ester, d o u b lin g th e lib ra ry ’s te a c h in g lo ad . It w a s n o w su m m er, a n d a m e m b e r o f o u r in stru ctio n te a m a n n o u n c e d h e r in te n tio n to start a p h a s e d re tire m e n t p ro g ra m . W hile a se a rc h c o m m itte e w as fo rm e d , w e k n e w w e w o u ld n o t o n ly face th is in c re a se d co u rse lo a d w ith n o increase in sta ff o r fu n d in g , w e w o u ld b e fu n c tio n ­ ally d e c re a s in g o u r n u m b e r o f in stru cto rs. The riv e r w as ris in g O f c o u rs e th e staff c h a n g e s a n d b u ild in g ren o v atio n s w e re n ’t th e only challenges fac­ ing th e library. T hat sam e sum m er, th e UMF system m igrated to a W eb-based catalog, add­ ing 20 p u b lic access PCs w ith In te rn e t c o n ­ n e c tio n s, w h ile re m o v in g th e fam iliar am ­ b e r-screen ed VT100 term inals th at h a d b e e n in place for nearly te n years. Some databases fo rm e rly o n CD-ROM w e re s w itc h e d to W eb v e rs io n s w ith a n e w v e n d o r. T h e en d result, w hile a pow erful system o f databases, w as v ery d ifferen t from th e re s o u rc e s avail­ able at th e e n d o f the previous academ ic year. W e w e re also c o n tin u in g c o m m u n ity o u t­ re a c h th r o u g h a B ell A tlantic E x cellen ce in E d u c a tio n In fo rm a tio n Literacy G ran t, a l­ lo w in g u s to te a c h c lasses to a re a sc h o o l teac h ers a n d children. We n e e d e d help. The idea o f using u n d e r­ g ra d u a te te a c h in g a ssistan ts h a d b e e n s u g ­ g ested. UMF h as a stro n g e d u c a tio n d e p a rt­ m en t, p ro v id in g a rich p o o l o f ta le n t, b u t th e lib rary h a d n o m e a n s o f p a y in g s tu ­ d e n ts fo r th e ir w o rk . W hile th e id ea o f using in tern s o r w o rk -stu d y stu d en ts w as su g g e s te d , staff m e m b e rs felt th a t s o m e th in g m o re w as n e cessary . It w as th e n th a t th e u n iv e r s ity ’s p r e s id e n t c re a te d a n e w S tu d e n t E m p lo y m e n t Initiative, p ro v id in g fu n d s to h ire s tu ­ d e n ts fo r innovative projects. We w ro te a p ro p o s a l fo r a te ac h in g assistant, a n d it w a s fu n d e d . D u rin g th e in terv iew p ro c e s s, w e d is c o v e re d th e p o ss ib ili­ ties a n d talen ts p o s s e s s e d b y stu d en ts. We h a d so m an y q u a lifie d a p p lic a n ts , w e d e c id e d to h ire a s e c o n d te a c h in g ter. a ss ista n t u sin g th e tra d itio n a l fed eral w o rk -stu d y p ro g ra m . We h a d h elp . We h a d classes sc h e d u le d . W e still d id n ’t k n o w w h a t w e w o u ld b e teaching th e students in LIA 101. W e n e e d e d goals a n d objectives. T he basic goal o f th e library’s p a rt o f LIA 101 w a s to p ro v id e a n in tro d u c tio n to th e library, its staff, an d resources. We w ere h o p ­ ing to d ovetail th e LIA classes w ith sessio n s stu d e n ts w o u ld lik ely re c e iv e in th e ir first- y e a r E n g lis h C o m p o s itio n c o u r s e . LIA w o u ld provide a foundation, allow ing librar­ ia n s te a c h in g th e E n g lish C o m p o s itio n courses to offer m ore advanced searching and in fo rm atio n ev alu a tio n tech n iq u es. T h e LIA 101 s e s s io n w o u ld fe a tu re a p h y s ic a l to u r, o r ie n tin g s tu d e n ts to th e lib rary ’s reso u rces. T his w o u ld b e fo llo w ed by a h a n d s-o n in tro d u ctio n to o u r o n lin e re­ s o u rc e s in th e e le c tro n ic classro o m . W e k n e w w e w a n te d to e m p lo y active learn in g tech n iq u es, a n d h av e stu d en ts p erfo rm sev­ eral searches o n th e catalog as w ell as p hysi­ cally finding books on the shelves. W e w anted the experience in the library to be positive and fun, and to ensure student success. B ut h o w w e re w e g o in g to re a c h th e s e goals? W e h ad a w o rk sh eet o n using th e cata­ lo g th a t h a d b e e n d e v e lo p e d se v e ra l y ears ago, b u t th a t s e e m e d d e a th ly b o rin g to o u r stu d e n t teac h in g assistants, a n d m an y o f th e te a c h in g te a m a g re e d . T h e U ser E d u catio n librarian h a d b een learning Java scripting and h a d started creating a self-paced online tu to ­ rial, b u t it w o u ld n o t b e re a d y fo r th e start o f classes in S ep tem b er. It w as p a s t tim e to find o u t h o w o th e r libraries co p e d . A literature search rev ealed m an y articles an d ideas. The m ost helpful proved to b e Pro­ C&RL News ■ July/August 1999 / 533 g ram s th a t Work, papers that w ere presented at th e 24th N ational LOEX Library In stru c ­ tion C onference. After reading ab o u t several o f th e m o d e l pro g ram s, w e w e re in trig u ed b y th e U niversity o f P u g et S o u n d ’s “Library M ystery T o u r.” T his p ro g ra m w as, in tu rn , b a se d o n an ALA N ational R eading P rogram . S tudents p la y e d th e ro le o f d e te c tiv e a n d fo llo w e d clu es th at le d th e m th ro u g h o u t th e library to solve th e m y sterio u s d e a th o f th e m u ch d esp ised Professor T w eed .1 T he P u g e n t S ound m o d el s e e m e d ideal, an d it w as created by a library facing a simi­ lar situation. D esigned as an individual, self- d irected o rien tatio n , th e P u g et S ound Mys­ tery T o u r in v o lv ed little lib rarian in te ra c ­ tion. B ut th e lack o f lib rarian in teractio n , w e felt, w as also its w e a k n e ss. W e w a n te d librarians to be active partners in instruction, a relevant p a rt o f the university experience. It w as tim e to m odify th e m odel. W e k n e w th a t g ro u p in te ra c tio n w as a strong aspect o f th e LIA 101 fram ew ork, and w e decided to incorporate the group into our library orientation. Instead of individual d e ­ tectives setting o u t to solve the puzzle o f th e d ead Professor Tw eed, our design ad d ed the tw ist o f detective agencies. Class size w as e x p e c te d to b e sm all, b e ­ tw een 12 an d 16, so w e created four differ­ ent sets o f clues that w ould allow the groups Students searching th e stacks fo r clues d u rin g th e mystery tour. to explore the building and learn about the lib rary ’s services a n d reso u rces. We w o u ld start the class together, provide a ten-minute physical o rien tatio n an d tour, th e n p ro c e e d to the electronic classroom for a brief intro­ duction to the online catalog. O nce each stu­ d e n t h a d su ccessfu lly u s e d th e cata lo g for som e basic search es, w e w o u ld th e n b re a k the class u p in to team s or ag en cies o f th ree o r fo u r stu d e n ts. Each ag e n c y w a s g iv en a le tte r w ith b a c k g ro u n d in fo rm atio n a n d its first clue. T h e first te a m to solve th e m ys­ tery w o u ld receiv e a rew ard. S a n d b a g g in g We h ad help, w e h ad goals, w e had a plan to m eet th o se goals. T he levees w ere holding, a n d w e th o u g h t w e c o u ld w ith s ta n d the flood. W e p re s e n te d o u r m o d ified m ystery to u r to th e full instruction team , only to find o u t th a t th e library director, a v ery in flu en ­ tial te a m m em b er, h a te d it. H e h a d grave m isgivings a b o u t the ap p ro p riaten ess o f the e x ercise a n d th o u g h t it w as a bit to o cu te fo r o u r au d ien c e. In stead , h e p re fe rre d o u r existing w o rk sh eet exercise. In a spirit o f com prom ise, w e d e c id e d to try b o th , a n d to le t th e e v a lu a tio n s sh o w w h ic h te a c h in g m e th o d w as b etter. H aving o ptions for teaching LIA 101 accom m odated d ifferen t te a c h in g styles a n d m ad e it easier to p e rs u a d e all te a c h in g te a m m em b ers to p articip ate. W e n o w h a d to m o d i f y t h e o l d w o rk sh e e ts fo r o u r n e w W e b -b a se d ca ta ­ log a n d re so u rc e s, b u t th is w as n o p ro b ­ lem . W e h a d to fin d a w ay to physically create th e M ystery T o u r clues so th a t th ey w o u ld w ith s ta n d re p e a te d assault. Again, n o p ro b lem . W e also h a d to te a c h all of th e o th er English C om position an d subject specific classes, coordinate th e com m unity outreach sessions, an d hire new staff m em ­ bers. And train o u r stu d e n t teac h in g assis­ tan ts a n d c o v e r th e re fe re n c e d e sk a n d m aintain the technology a n d all the “o th er duties as assigned.” We w ere starting to see a few p ro b lem s after all. W hat re a lly happened By th e e n d of the sem ester, w e taught over 90 in stru ctio n sessions, in clu d in g 29 se c ­ tio n s o f LIA 101. T h e stu d en t-teach in g a s­ sistants o ften led th e physical tours, w hile 534 / C&RL News ■ July/August 1999 staff m em bers w o u ld w o rk in th e electronic c la ssro o m to in tro d u c e th e catalo g . T h e li­ brary w o rk sh e e t w as a d a p te d to conform to o u r g ro u p w o rk m odel. S tudents w o rk e d in p airs to a n s w e r th e w o rk s h e e t q u e stio n s, w e n t o u t in to th e library stacks to retrieve a b o o k specified o n th e w orksheets, an d th en b ro u g h t it b ack to th e classroom . Roughly h alf the LIA sections w ere given th e M ystery T our. Even th o s e in stru c tio n te a m m e m b e rs w h o initially d islik ed th e M ystery T o u r id ea liked th e w ay it re q u ire d s tu d e n ts to visit re m o te p arts o f th e o ften - co n fu sin g library building. F aculty m e m b e rs p ro v id e d m ix e d c o m ­ m en ts. T h o se w h o actually p a rtic ip a te d in th e to u r w ith th eir stu d en ts g ain ed th e m ost fro m th e ex ercise. As w o u ld b e e x p e c te d , som e team s sim ply ran like m ad th ro u g h the library, frantically s e e k in g th e distinctive b la c k sk u ll-a n d -c ro ss b o n e s M ystery T o u r m o tif d e s ig n e d b y o u r te a c h in g assistants. O th e rs to o k th e ir tim e a n d p ain stak in g ly p o n d e re d each clue. Ju s t as th e M ystery T o u r initially p o la r­ ized o u r instruction team , th e stu d e n ts w h o re tu rn e d th e e v alu a tio n survey eith er loved o r h a te d th e ex ercise. T h o se w h o h a te d it, really h a te d it. V arious e v a lu a tio n s ra te d it as condescending, childish, stupid, an d point­ less. O thers fo u n d it “strange, y e t am u sin g ”; so m e th a n k e d u s fo r th e g re a t e x p e rie n c e . More than 70 percent of respondents thought w e s h o u ld c o n tin u e to u se th e tour. No o n e m e n tio n e d th e c h o c o la te w e p ro v id e d as a re w a rd to th e victorious d etec tiv e agencies. B ut re g a rd le ss o f w h ic h LIA 101 p ro g ram th e y p a rtic ip a te d in, o v e r 70 p e rc e n t o f re ­ s p o n d e n ts in d icated th ey w e re com fortable u sin g th e te c h n o lo g y in th e library, c o u ld lo c a te a b o o k in th e cata lo g a n d o n th e shelves, an d w ould ask a question o f a librar­ ian if they n e e d e d help. In various faculty meetings, feed b ack has b e e n m ostly positive. Many instructors have b e e n p le a s e d b y th e h a n d s-o n focus o f o u r p ro g ram . F aculty m e m b e rs w h o h a d n e v e r scheduled subject-specific library sessions b e ­ gan to bring th eir o th er classes to the library b e cau se of positive ex p e rie n c e s in LIA 101. If w e had it to do all o v e r a g a in G iven th e ch a n c e to d o it all o v e r again, w e m ight p o lite ly d e c lin e . T h e c h a lle n g e s o f learning a new position, learning n e w library reso u rces, te a c h in g th o se re s o u rc e s to n e w students, a n d conducting a regional Inform a­ tio n Literacy P ro g ram are d a u n tin g at best. A dding to th a t th e c h a lle n g e o f cre a tin g a c u rricu lu m fo r 500 first-year stu d e n ts w as tru ly o v erw h elm in g . U sing u n d e rg ra d u a te te a c h in g assistants as p a rt o f th e so lu tio n h as b e e n o n e o f th e m ost rew arding aspects of th e past sem ester. W e g ain ed v alu ab le insights into th e u n d e r­ g ra d u a te p sy c h e a n d w e re ab le to cre a te a stro n g e r in s tru c tio n p ro g ra m d u e to th e ir input. T he assistants p artic ip a te d directly in 20 percent of the sessions as well as supported all a sp e c ts o f th e lib ra ry ’s in stru c tio n p r o ­ gram . W e h o p e th a t th e te a c h in g assistants also g a in e d w o rth w h ile e x p e rie n c e . W o rk ­ ing w ith th e p ro g ra m m ay, h o w e v e r, h av e h ad a n unfo reseen im pact. B oth teaching as­ sistants, w h o started th e se m e ste r as e d u c a ­ tio n m ajors, have sw itch ed o u t o f ed u catio n in to o th e r fields. N ev erth eless, w e will b e e x p an d in g th e program in th e u p co m in g se­ m ester. W e are still trying to find th e p e rfe c t ex ­ ercise, o n e th a t c o m b in e s d em o n s tra tio n s , s tu d e n t p a rtic ip a tio n , a n d actually w alking th ro u g h th e b u ild in g . P art o f o u r p ro b le m in refin in g o u r w o rk is d u e to th e failure o f o u r initial evaluation instrum ent. T he evalu­ ation return rate w as very low, an d w e m ade th e m istak e o f try in g to e v a lu a te th e Mys­ tery T our an d th e w o rk sh e e t exercise o n the sam e form , assu m in g th a t s tu d e n ts w o u ld k n o w w h ic h p a rt o f th e form to co m p le te . W e n o w k n o w th a t w e h av e to h a v e s e p a ­ rate, distinct ev alu atio n s for every class an d exercise. LIA 101 h as g iv en th e library n e w e x p o ­ su re, h as in tro d u c e d first-sem ester stu d en ts to th e library in an e n tire ly n e w w ay, an d h as a llo w e d us to e x p a n d o u r ro le o n c am ­ pus. It’s b e e n a fun sem ester. We just h o p e it gets e a sie r from here! Note 1. Lori R icigliano, “T h e L ibrary M ystery T our: a F resh m an O rien tatio n P rogram that W orks,” in Program s th a t Work, Papers a n d Sessions M aterial Presented a t the 24th N ational LOEX L ib ra ry In s tr u c tio n C onference, ed. Linda Shirato (A nn A rbor, MI: Pierian Press, 1997), 207-212. ■ C&RL News ■ July/August 1999 / 535