ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 758 / C&RL News ■ Novem ber 1998 NetMeeting A new and inexpensive alternative for delivering library instruction to distance students by Paul R. Pival and Johanna Tuñón D is ta n c e e d u c a tio n h a s b e c o m e in ­creasingly p o p u lar in the 1990s. A re­ cent report from the National Center for Edu­ cational Statistics, an arm o f the U.S. D epart­ m ent o f Education, suggests that in 1998, 90% o f all institutions with 10,000 students o r more, an d 85% o f institutions w ith enrollm ents of 3,000 to 10,000, will b e offering at least som e distance education courses.1 Long before m any institutions w ere look­ ing to distance education as a m ethod of main­ taining enrollm ent an d replacing dw indling federal funding, Nova Southeastern Univer­ sity (NSU) in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, w as p io ­ neering in this area. The Einstein Library at NSU has b e e n actively supporting students in off-campus program s since 1992. The im­ portance o f delivering bibliographic instruc­ tion (BI) to students enrolled in distance e d u ­ cation courses has b ecom e m ore ap p aren t w ith the advent o f online databases an d full- text resources. Students, faculty, adm inistra­ tors, an d accrediting b odies recognize the n e e d for distance students to learn inform a­ tion literacy skills. O ne distance program at NSU that p re­ sents a particular challenge to library instruc­ tion is the G raduate T eacher Education Pro­ gram (GTEP). This program has 11 sites (clus­ ters) in Florida and o n e in Las Vegas. Classes are offered at each site five times a year in eight-w eek blocks. Some classes are co n ­ d ucted live at the cluster sites, w hile others are conducted remotely via either audiobridge (m oderated conference call) o r com pressed video. Starting in the fall o f 1997, librarians b e ­ gan visiting each GTEP site to deliver basic library instruction. This travel w as necessary because, unlike other NSU distance ed u ca­ tion program s, GTEP students never com e to the m ain campus. The library training was in teg rated into a req u ired GTEP research course that w as taught entirely in classes deliv­ ered at the sites. This plan, how ever, quickly becam e b u rdensom e since it m eant the li­ brarians w ere m aking a total o f 60 site visits p e r year. As a result, the Einstein Library b e­ gan looking for technology solutions for d e ­ livering library instruction to these sites. N e tM e e tin g as a solutio n fo r d eliv e rin g BI to distance students T h e lib ra ry te a m b e c a m e in te r e s te d in Microsoft’s NetMeeting, a collaborative soft­ ware, because it allows individuals and groups to interact via the Web. This program allows softw are to b e u sed collaboratively, permits online group m eetings using text chat, has w hite b o ard features, can b e u se d for visual data to multiple sites, and can transm it both audio an d visual data in a one-to-one format. This solution ap p e ared to have real possibili­ ties sin ce GTEP h ad c o m p u te r labs w ith Internet connections, technology staff, and LCD projectors at all the sites. The library team also liked the fact that NetMeeting software p ro v id ed m ore interactivity th an softw are, A b o u t th e authors Paul R. Pival is document delivery librarian a t Nova Southeastern University, e-mail: paulp@nsu.nova.edu. Johanna Tuñó n is distance library services librarian a t Nova Southeastern University, e-mail: tunon@nsu.nova.edu mailto:paulp@nsu.nova.edu mailto:tunon@nsu.nova.edu C&RL N ew s ■ N ovem b er 1998 / 759 such as CUSeeMe, and equipm ent solutions, such as com pressed video, interactive TV, or satellite. NetMeeting also permits a presenter to elect to share control of the session with others. A librarian presenting a BI session can elect to use the sharing function and allow a stu­ dent at a remote site to search in an online database. Individuals at all the sites are able to see the search results. Preliminary trial Before the library decided to go ahead with this project, the library team arranged for sev­ eral trial connections. The intention was to test h ow many sites could receive instruction si­ multaneously. The remote sites used Microsoft NetMeeting 2.1 for Windows95, running o n a Gateway P I 66 with 32 MG of RAM. The library was showing a slide presentation on Microsoft’s P o w e rP o in t9 8 a n d o n lin e d a ta b a s e s via Netscape Navigator 4.01. The on-cam pus con­ nection w as a T -l connection, the receiving sites w ere dialing in via m odem s at 28.8 or 33.3 bps. Based o n the preliminary trials, the library team learned: • The transmission o f both audio and vi­ sual data over the Internet slow ed dow n the transmission times for sites using m odem con­ nections. • The quality of audio transmissions over the Internet w as not great. • NetMeeting could not quickly handle ten simultaneous sites, even w hen the library only u sed it to transmit visual data. • The transmission of elaborate PowerPoint transitions slowed dow n the process. • The system w orked best w hen com put­ ers at all the sites w ere set at the lowest dis­ play settings (640 by 480 pixels). • Using Microsoft’s public server w as slow. NSU set u p its ow n NetMeeting server. This improved transmission and privacy problems. As a result of these findings, the library team o p ted to use audiobridge, a commercial tele­ p h o n e conferencing system for transmitting audio to the GTEP sites. This m eant that each site had to provide tw o telephone lines: one for the m odem connection and o n e for the audiobridge connection. Each site also had to provide a speakerphone so that all the stu­ dents at the site could hear. The library team decided to limit transmis­ sion to a maximum of three to four sites at a time and to keep the initial trials with GTEP classes simple. The library trainer w ould stick to the basics an d w ould not use the collabora­ tion feature in the initial set of training ses­ sions. The team decided to spread the imple­ mentation over several w eeks and to have li­ brarians present at the GTEP sites as observ­ ers. This perm itted the library to formatively evaluate the training and m ake adjustments based on b oth student input and the library observers’ input. GTEP library training sessions via NetMeeting B e c a u s e th e s u c c e s s o f im p le m e n tin g NetMeeting d ep en d ed o n the cooperation of GTEP staff at the sites, the library w anted to ensure that GTEP staff knew what was expected o f them. As a result, the library asked the GTEP dean to send a m em o to the technology staff and cluster coordinators at the various GTEP site s. E ach GTEP site n eed ed to provide 1) a person to set u p equip­ m e n t a n d m a k e th e NetMeeting connection, and 2) a facilitator to es­ cort the class to the room in w hich instruction was to be received, to distrib­ u te library d o cu m en ta­ tion, to act as a m odera­ tor during instruction, and to c o lle c t e v a lu a tio n sheets. The Einstein Library began delivering library 760 / C&RL News ■ N ovem ber 1998 NetMeeting provides academic libraries with a new and inexpensive alternative for delivering bibliographic instruction to distance sites. instruction to GTEP sites in April 1998. The library ran the trial presentations at the five sites with scheduled research classes during that session and spread the training over three w eeks. Librarians w ere present at each trial site during the first tw o weeks. These librar­ ians w ere observers or “flies on the wall.” They w ould only step in if there w ere major techni­ cal difficulties. Students w ere instructed to ad­ dress all questions an d interactions to the NetMeeting presenter from the main campus. At the en d o f the trials, th e library team evaluated NetMeeting as an alternative for de­ livering library instruction. If the results had b ee n unsatisfactory, the library w as p repared to go back to traveling to the sites to deliver BI. Fortunately, the NetMeeting training imple­ m entation seem ed very successful. Student evaluations d o cu m en ted that students found NetMeeting w as a satisfactory m eth o d for d e­ livering library instruction. During the initial trials, a total of 59 stu­ dents received instruction via NetMeeting at the five sites. All the students participating at the five sites indicated that they felt this was an acceptable m ethod of receiving basic library instruction. Equally important, 100% o f the participants also felt that future classes w ould benefit by receiving instruction in this format. Problems encountered and lessons learned M urphy’s Law dictates that if som ething can go w rong, it will, an d our GTEP NetMeeting trials w ere n o exception. Some o f the lessons learned included: • K eep th e training segm ent relative short. The observers n oted that students grow w eary o f just w atching the screen w hile lis­ tening to a “disem bodied voice.” Students participated m ore w h en the content o f the instruction w as m ore relevant to the recipi­ ent an d w h en the p resen ter allow ed m ore tim e to conduct student-suggested searches in the online databases. • Have a backup machine ready to deliver instruction. • Make sure NetMeeting settings o n the training machine do not m ask the presenter’s nam e to outside participants. • Use the lowest screen resolution (640 by 480 pixels) at all sites. • Be sure to contact the people at the site a few days before the presentation to ensure that all is ready and that they are comfortable with the procedures to b e used. • Verify if there is a problem with Internet Service Providers used at the sites dropping connections if the m achines have an extended period of inactivity. • Stop regularly during the presentation to ask if there are any questions since the pre­ senter has no visual clues for judging w hether students understand the content. Future plans During the 1998-99 academic year, the Einstein Library plans to use NetMeeting for training at the sites three times. We h o p e to send a librar­ ian to each site twice a year to do live presen­ tations and offer optional, hands-on training. The other three sessions p er year w ould be delivered via NetMeeting. We plan to add a camera to the com puter at the main campus an d ho p e to be able to add cameras at each site. This w ould provide visual cues to the stu­ dents at the sites and the NetMeeting presenter. Conclusions NetMeeting provides academic libraries with a new and inexpensive alternative for delivering bibliographic instruction to distan ce sites. NetMeeting has the potential o f saving librar­ ies a substantial am ount o f m oney in both li­ brarian staff time and travel expenses. Best of all, students receive basic library instruction at a time and place that is convenient for them, rather than having students wait for times w hen librarians are able to schedule library training sessions at their sites. NetMeeting is not a per­ ly fect training solution, but it offers librarians one more tool in the arsenal o f training options. Notes 1. Lewis, Laurie, D ebbie Alexander, and Elizabeth Farris. “Distance Education in Higher Education Institutions,” NCES 98-062. (Wash­ ington, D.C.: U.S. D epartm ent o f Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1997). ■