ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ Feb ruary 19 9 9 / 7 5 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 In c o rp o ra tin g In te rn e t re so u rc e s into b ib lio g rap h ic in stru ctio n K now y o u r lim its by Rob W ithers and Jane F. Sharpe I n tr o d u c in g a d is c u s s io n o f I n te r n e t r e ­ s o u rc e s in to library in stru ctio n s e s s io n s c a n s e e m lik e a d au nting c h a lle n g e . Librarians m a b e tem p ted to attem pt th e im p ossible task o f dis­ cu ssin g all things In ternet-related in o n e h o u r o r less. W h ile s u c h attem pts are d o o m e d to failure, in co rp o ratin g d iscu ssio n s o f In tern et reso u rces in to in struction al ses s io n s c a n b e d o n e . Librar­ ians c a n su c ce e d at this task b y limiting the sco p e o f th e ir d is cu ss io n to a m a n a g e a b le a m o u n t o f m aterial th at m e e ts th e m o st p re s sin g in fo rm a­ tion n e e d s o f e a c h presentation. In a d d itio n , lib rarian s c a n e x te n d th e ir o u t­ r e a c h b y en c o u ra g in g in teractio n w ith studen ts o u tsid e o f th e ir in stru ctio n al s es s io n s , d ev isin g n o n tr a d itio n a l fo rm a ts fo r te a c h in g a b o u t th e In te rn e t, a n d e ffe c tiv e ly m a r k e tin g th e ir s e r ­ vices. B y con sciou sly follow ing a few guidelines, lib ra ria n s c a n e ffe c tiv e ly in c o r p o r a te in stru c ­ tion in th e u se o f th e In tern et to th eir repertoire. D o n 't t r y t o c o v e r e v e r y t h i n g in a n h o u r I f a s k e d b y a fa c u lty m e m b e r to t e a c h e v e r y ­ th in g e v e r y o n e w ill e v e r k n o w a b o u t t h e li­ b ra ry , lib r a r ia n s s h o u ld a s k a b o u t th e m o s t p r e s sin g in fo rm a tio n n e e d s o f th e c la s s ra th e r th a n trying to c o v e r “ev ery th in g e v e r y o n e will e v e r n e e d to k n o w . ” S im ila r ly , lib r a r ia n s s h o u ld n ’t try to c o v e r e v e r y th in g th e r e is to k n o w a b o u t th e In te r n e t in a n h o u r o r le ss . I d e n t i f y p e r t i n e n t t o p i c s K e e p a ch ecklist o f p o ssib le topics, w ith th e esti­ m ated am ount o f time need ed to cov er th e m . y A b o ut th e authors R ob W ith ers is electron ic in form a tion services librarian a t M iam i U niversity in O xford, Ohio, e-m ail: rw ithers@ lib.m uohio.edu; Ja n e F. S h a rp e is access se rvices lib ra ria n a t W estern M a ry la n d C olleg e, e-m ail: jsh a rp e@ w m d c.ed u P o s s ib le to p ic s in clu d e : • s ea rch in g th e W e b effectiv ely , • ev alu atin g a n d citin g reso u rces, • u s in g W e b s ite s to lo c a te m a te ria ls at n e a r b y in stitu tio n s, an d • In tern et reso u rces in a particular discipline (e d u ca tio n , ep id em io lo g y , e tc.). I f y o u h a v e th e o p tio n o f te a c h in g th e cla ss either as a lecture o r as a h an ds-on session, m ak e s u r e to p ro v id e th e e stim a te d a m o u n t o f tim e req u ired fo r e a c h te a ch in g ap p ro ach . U sing this a p p r o a c h , lib rarian s c a n p ro v id e a r e a s o n a b le idea o f w hat topics th ey c a n co v e r within a class­ ro o m sessio n . K n o w t h e n e e d s o f e a c h c l a s s I f th e faculty m em b e r requ esting a class isn’t sure w h a t to p ic s a re m o st im p ortan t, talk w ith him o r h e r ab o u t students’ assignm ents a n d their per­ fo rm a n ce to d ate; listen fo r a reas o f c o n ce rn . H as a p ro fe s s o r w h o e n c o u r a g e s h is o r h e r stu d en ts to u se th e In te rn e t b e e n d isa p p o in te d b y a d earth o f resou rces? T a lk a b o u t h o w to u se s e a r c h to o ls. Is a p ro fe s s o r w h o is n o t p articu ­ larly in te re ste d in In te rn e t re s o u rc e s fru strated b y in a ccu ra te, ou td ated , im p ertin en t, o r b a rely u s e fu l re so u rce s? T a lk a b o u t e v alu atin g re ­ s o u rc e s. Is a p ro fe s s o r fru strated b y lim itations in y o u r library’s co lle ctio n ? T a lk a b o u t h o w to fin d individual library ca ta lo g s, u n io n catalo g s (s u c h as th e A ssociated C o lleg e Libraries o f C en­ tral Pen nsylvan ia Catalog, W a sh in gto n R esearch Libraries C o n so rtiu m c a ta lo g , o r P erio d ica ls in M aryland Libraries), an d in fo rm atio n a b o u t r e ­ c ip r o c a l b o rro w in g . mailto:nvithers@lib.muohio.edu mailto:jsharpe@wmdc.edu 76 / C&RL News ■ February 1999 H a v e a b a c k - u p p l a n M any librarian s d em o n strate In te rn e t re so u rc e s o r provide han ds-on sessions. Th is kind o f teach ­ ing is w onderful— providing th e eq u ip m en t isn’t b ro k en , th e n etw o rk isn’t b o g g e d dow n , a n d the sites b ein g discussed aren’t overloaded. Sin ce net­ w ork slow -dow ns and malfunctioning equipm ent a re facts o f life, h a v e a “p la n B . ” T h is m a y in ­ clu d e a n y o f th e follow ing: • u sin g W e b W h a c k e r o r sim ilar so ftw are to crea te “c a n n e d ” p resentation s, • having printouts o f th e reso u rces u n der dis­ cussion, and • relying o n traditional, com puter-less instruc­ tion . Preparing a “plan B ” can b e tim e-con su m ing, b u t in th e ev en t o f tech n ical difficulties, it ca n b e a lifesaver (a n d a face-saver, too). S t a y o n t a r g e t D e fin e th e go als an d limits o f e a c h p resen tatio n a n d stick to th em . Q u e s tio n s th at arise d u rin g a particular s es s io n m ay b e intriguing, interesting, a n d w o rth y o f a len gth y an sw er. U nfortunately, th e s e q u e s tio n s m a y b e o n a to tally u n re la te d to p ic. P ro v id e a b r ie f a n sw e r, if p o s sib le ; th e n p olitely b u t firmly ex p la in that th e q u e stio n falls ou tsid e th e s c o p e o f y o u r presen tatio n , b u t that y o u will b e h a p p y to a n s w e r it after th e sessio n , at th e r e fe r e n c e d es k , o r at a la te r tim e. T ry in g to an sw er an un related qu estio n ch eats th e audi­ e n c e b y ta k in g a w a y fro m th e tim e n e e d e d to c o v e r th e to p ic at hand. M a r k e t y o u r s e l f Sadly, m an y faculty m ay n o t associate Internet in­ struction w ith the library. T a k e an y opportunity available to rem ind users o f th e to p ics that c a n b e addressed in library instruction sessions— and o f the fact that it takes m o re than o n e h ou r to cov er m ore than o n e topic. Formal, written m em o s o r flyers ab o u t th e topics librarians c a n provide m ay help; informal com m u nication, how ever, has b e e n far m ore effective in our experience. If faculty grumbles ab o u t students using inappropriate Internet re­ sources, o r no t b ein g able to find en o u g h Internet resources, remind them that librarians offer instruc­ tion o n these very topics. A y e a r a g o , th e library at W e ste rn M aryland C ollege offered w alk-in w orksh op s o n searching, evaluating, a n d citing W e b pages. W h ile th e ses­ s io n s w e r e n o t w e ll a tte n d ed , th ey w e r e m u ch talked a b o u t an d w ell appreciated b y th e faculty. In th e y e a r sin c e , re q u e s ts fo r b ib lio g ra p h ic in­ stru ctio n h a v e n ea rly d o u b le d , in p art b e c a u s e m a n y facu lty fo r th e first tim e id en tified th e li­ b ra ry as a r e s o u r c e fo r h e lp w ith In te rn e t re ­ sou rces an d training. Librarians at the college n o w re c e iv e req u ests b o th fo r h o u r-lo n g c la sse s a n d fo r b rie f d iscu ssio n s o f In tern et reso u rces in co r­ p o rated into traditional bib lio grap h ic instruction sessions. P r o v id e f o l lo w - u p c o n t a c t w i t h s t u d e n t s N o instruction al s e s s io n c a n b e e xh au stiv e; stu­ den ts will alw ays hav e question s. B e p repared to r e a c h o u t to th e m a fte r th e 50 -m in u te s e s s io n . O p tio n s fo r d o in g s o in c lu d e w o rk in g to g e th e r w ith th e in stru cto r to c re a te fo llo w -p ro je c ts o r d esig n in g W e b p a g es c u sto m iz e d fo r th e n e e d s o f a p articu lar c la ss. I f n o th in g e lse , m a k e s u r e s tu d e n ts k n o w to t a lk to lib r a r ia n s if th e y n e e d h e lp w ith a n y in fo rm a tio n re s o u rc e , in clu d in g th o s e o n th e Internet. S e e k m o r e t i m e f o r in s t r u c t io n A ggressively s e e k o u t a n y op p ortu n ity fo r addi­ tio n a l a m o u n ts o f tim e to d iscu ss In te rn e t u se. D e p e n d in g o n yo u r institution, this c o u ld m e a n m ainstream ing sessio n s into fresh m an co m p o si­ tio n cla s se s o r fre s h m e n sem in a rs, in c o r p o ra t­ ing a session into freshman/new graduate student orientation, o r taking advantage o f short sessions, s u c h as W e s te rn M arylan d C o lle g e ’s Ja n u a ry term. All o f th ese ap p roach es dep en d o n th e will­ in g n e ss o f ad m in istrato rs o u tsid e th e library to furnish librarians w ith tim e p reviou sly allo cated elsew here. Think o f as m an y approaches for n on- traditional s e s s io n s as p o s sib le a n d try th e m all. Find th e a p p ro a c h (e s ) that w o rk b e st at y o u r in­ stitu tio n . C o n c lu s io n A n a sto u n d in g a m o u n t a n d variety o f in fo rm a­ tio n an d m isin fo rm a tio n is a v a ila b le o n th e In tern et; u n fo rtu n ately , a n a sto u n d in g a m o u n t o f tim e an d variety o f o cc a s io n s fo r teach in g stu­ d en ts a b o u t th e In te rn e t is n o t. B y sca lin g b a c k d iscu ssions o f In tern et reso u rces to th e m o st im­ portan t po in ts, h o w ev er, librarians c a n s u c c e e d in m eetin g stu d en ts’ n e e d s w ithin traditional in­ stru ctio n sessio n s. T h ro u g h a g g re ssiv e m ark et­ in g a n d fo llo w -u p , lib rarian s c a n e x p a n d th e ir o p p o rtu n itie s fo r te a c h in g stu d en ts a n d faculty a lik e . M a y b e in c o rp o ra tin g In te rn e t re s o u rc e s into library instruction sessions isn’t su ch a daunt­ ing c h a lle n g e after all. ■ C&RL News ■ Feb ruary 7 999 / 77