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Vision and Strategy Towards the Course-Embedded Library: New Possibilities for a “Virtual Carrel” Initiative

Arjun Sabharwal, Remote Services Librarian, Baker College, arjun.sabharwal@baker.edu

Abstract

Course-embedded libraries represent an emerging need in education, as academic libraries seek new strategies in service. Amidst the sweeping changes in demographics, technology, science, and economy, the need to reach out to distant learners has reached a critical point, urging librarians, course administrators, and technologist staff to establish new collective goals and strategies. The “virtual carrel” is a vision for an online workspace with collocated course content and embedded library resources. Innovative strategies can be introduced to further integrate the library in the online classroom, thus embedding the library into the context of online coursework. As an extension to macro- and micro-level strategies for library involvement intended for hybrid courses, the author proposes a nano-level strategy, which may solve technical problems preventing the seamless movement between course content and academic library resources. Although the findings here are somewhat specific to the online environment at Baker College, the strategies can be applied towards solving shared problems throughout higher education.

Introduction

The integration of academic library services into the online classroom has been a shared goal for librarians at colleges and universities providing online programs to a growing body of non-traditional students. Online programs for this audience have been proliferating as an alternative to existing campus-based (onsite) programs, thus requiring innovative methods of delivery beyond the campus, which now relies on the use of course management systems (CMSs), such as Blackboard and WebCT. The delivery of instructional content via such CMSs has necessitated the integration library resources and services hitherto limited to onsite access. In addition to maintaining Web presence, libraries have also expanded some of their public services (e.g., virtual reference, research assistance, document delivery, and library instruction) to satisfy new needs related to online and asynchronous learning. CMSs can provide an effective platform for these services, thus facilitating the process for online faculty and students to access course content and library resources seamlessly.

In this article, I intend to discuss the vision and strategies (including further possibilities) of embedding online library services at Baker. I also intend to propose another strategy (based on experimenting with the system) that requires modifying the architecture of CMS-based courses ( coursescape).

Vision and history

The “virtual carrel” initiative that I introduced to system librarians, academic leadership, and technology staff at Baker College had drawn inspiration from numerous prior efforts sharing the vision to collocate course content and library resources in an integrated virtual learning environment. The all-too-familiar library carrel has been a driving metaphor in conceptualizing the “virtual carrel,” since in larger research libraries, faculty and students use carrels as a hub to collect and keep resources for short- and long-term projects. The vision thus entails providing an environment with seamless access to course content, library resources, and the Web—all this in a carrel-like workspace with information at the fingertip!

An early reference to “virtual carrel” can be found in a review of the Perseus Project 1.0 (Wiltshire et al., 1992), in which Pearcy compares the CD-ROM to a “virtual carrel” allowing users to access maps, floor plans, biographies, original Greek texts and translations. From the typical library patron’s perspective, the CD-ROM must have saved a few trips to the stacks for each map, encyclopedia, monograph, and other items.

A report by the ALCTS Technical Services Directors of Large Research Libraries Discussion Group (1999, Cornell University section, para. 12) identifies the Mann Library Group at Cornell University, which had undertaken the “virtual carrel” project in favor of developing a more “personalized” library—now the “MyLibrary.” Elsewhere (McMillan, 2000, Research scenario section, para. 2), the carrel environment is described in the context as scenario with a fictitious professor importing content from the Virginia Tech Digital Library, the library catalogs, and research databases into this “virtual carrel.”

I have adhered to these models while conceptualizing and presenting a customized version of the “virtual carrel” to Baker, which meant adopting the vision for the Blackboard environment. Baker Online students and faculty daily use Blackboard to access course content, so an important consideration was to establish a workspace that users to navigate with a degree of ease. My study had eventually yielded a model: to connect the online classroom with the library, which surpassed the onsite models since travel between the classroom and the library was necessary. Notwithstanding the potentials for useful implementation, the administrative and technical challenges here are comparable to those reported by libraries at other institutions (e.g., Buehler, 2004; Feeney, 2004; Gibbons, 2005; Rieger, Horrie, & Revels, 2004; Silver & Nickel, 2003; Williams, 2003). Where libraries have succeeded in their new environment, is the use of multi-tiered strategies. This approach not only provided structured context for introducing new visions, but allowed planning for short- and long-term engagement with the online community.

Multi-tiered strategies

The expansion of online classes and degree programs has caused some concern among librarians about the future relevance of campus library services and resources to online education. As far as public services were concerned, most routines have been established: onsite students receive library orientations, bibliographical instruction, interlibrary loan, and face-to-face reference help at the campus library. These services need to extend into the online environment as well, where library services can be integrated into the CMS. Gibbons (2000, p. 12) emphasizes that “to remain relevant, academic libraries must go where the students and faculty are, [and] where learning is happening, even if this is the virtual environment of a CMS.” Elsewhere, DeWald (1999) notes that techniques used in onsite services may not have their parallels in the electronic environment with reduced staff, time and resources. Libraries must approach this challenge by importing best practices (these are also the proven techniques) from the onsite environment into the online. Based on findings after an evaluation of nineteen web-based library tutorials, Dewald has listed seven critical practices suitable in the web environment: Course-related instruction, active learning, collaborative learning, using suitable media (audio and visual), stating the learning objectives, discerning between concepts and mechanics of database searching, and offering direct library assistance. These practices are also the hallmark of what most libraries consider under service excellence.

Strategies of library integration in the CMS fall into two principal categories identified by John D. Shank and Nancy H. DeWald (2003): Macro-Level Library CourseWare Involvement (or MALLCI) and Micro- Level Library CourseWare Involvement (or MiLLCI). Macro-level strategies involve global library presence in the CMS, featuring four library services: virtual reference; library catalog and journal database links; pathfinders and handouts; and document delivery services combined with interlibrary loan services. These strategies rely on using existing resources external to the online classroom; the librarian creates and maintains links to this external content that is independent of the course content. Examples are links to the library catalog, journal databases, and Web resources. In contrast, micro-level strategies involve localized resources dependent on course content within the CMS, and feature course-specific services and resources eight of which are listed: library instruction online; pathfinders, bibliographies, and webliographies; recommended databases for assignments; citation style sheets; reference service; course-specific tutorials; quizzes; and questionnaire or survey. Although these strategies have been meant for web-enhanced onsite courses in mind, they have proved to be effective in fully online courses. The difference may lie in the use of different media, wording, technology, and time allotment. The experiments and experiences in the Baker Library’s online services may present important lessons for a possible case study.

Strategies in the Online Library

The Online Library had been part of the System Library prior to its recent transfer to the Baker Center for Graduate and Online Studies a year ago. Online library services fall into the following major categories: reference, research assistance, technical support, instruction, and document delivery. Reference services are delivered over the phone, email, or in discussion threads, which suits the asynchronous nature of online programs at Baker. Technical support has been a critical part of our services, as remote access issues are usually addressed to the librarians. Document delivery is arranged via mail, fax, or the Blackboard content system, depending on the type of material—books and photocopies articles go out in the mail while scanned and other electronic items can go in an email attachment or via the content system.

Library instruction presents a unique challenge at the online library due to the peculiar three- or six-week course formats that, unlike with onsite semester-based courses, do not provide the luxury for a library orientation or bibliographical instruction per se. These two functions, therefore, were consolidated in the COL 112 (College Success Strategies) course, which is equivalent to first-year-experience courses taught elsewhere (Boff & Johnson, 2002). Students in this course are assigned projects requiring rudimentary research and can peruse library content available via links (to the Library Web page) and various content areas (such as Course Documents) within the CMS. The Online librarians have also been approached to teach these courses, although that did not lead to extended bibliographical instruction by any stretch of the imagination.

The strategies used by the Online Library were very similar to those lined out by Shank and Dewald: the macro-level (global) strategies involved providing links to the catalog, databases, handouts, citation guides, contact information, and services such as Interlibrary loan and ID cards; the micro-level strategies involved monitoring the Library Q & A discussion forum and two external faculty forums as the “lurking librarian” (Markgraf, 2004); creating handouts, citation style sheets, and working with administrators on improving the library part of projects. Additional developments to the online library services are anticipated, as the enhancements to Blackboard present future opportunities for innovation. Some of the anticipated improvements would allow 1) students and faculty to access the library resources and individual databases from within Blackboard, which eliminates successive authentication; 2) librarians to import tutorials into the CMS—a procedure hindered by technical incompatibilities; and 3) librarians to deliver secure documents into and from the Content System.

Considerations for nano-level strategy

Notwithstanding its appeal in the fully online environment and apparent value to the Online Library, the two-tiered strategy system may be insufficient for purposes of representing a more pervasive involvement in shaping the CMS. To address this need, I propose considering nano-level strategies. The nano-level strategy would target the information architecture of master courses ( coursescape) in order to improve usability and allow the embedding of the library into the coursescape. This strategy would also require close collaboration of librarians, administrators, and technology staff, a process that has already taken shape at Baker to some extent. Some of the recommendations are based on experiments I had been carrying out independently at Baker and Wayne State where Blackboard is the chosen CMS.

Information architecture and coursescape

Information architecture (IA) is a discipline concerned with the systematic and heuristic application of design and structure to content with a vested interest to help users find information efficiently. This combined definition of the field is based on those posted by the Support Group for Information Architecture (2001). More specific definitions (Hagedorn, 2000) do circulate but are beyond the scope of the present discussion. Addressing the information architecture is critical, as this is an area where nano-level strategies can be applied.

Coursescape is a term I am using in reference to the set-up of the courses. This includes the master course, which serves as template for the actual Blackboard courses. Each course comes with a standard layout containing documents, navigation area, and course tools, communication, external links, etc., and depending on institution policies, instructors may or may not alter this setup. Within Blackboard, nevertheless, a course can differ greatly from other courses, depending on the need of the instructor, subject taught, and the type of content featured. The COL 112 course is based on a pre-established plan to orient students to the policies, expectations, and resources of Baker College. The COL 112 instructors are mainly the mediators between content and user with some ability to add individual content and presentation of the standard content.

The role of the library is extensive in this course, as some content areas are devoted to library-related information. The existing coursescape, therefore, allows librarians to apply macro- and micro-level strategies, but the feel of the carrel is still absent with library playing a “passive” role. Embedding the library with the online classroom requires a greater effort in terms of design and function. According to Rosenfeld and Morville (2002, p. 24), one of the aims of information architecture is to uphold the “information ecology,” which rests on three areas: user, content, and context. Putting this model into the present context: the user would mean “student,” “faculty,” and librarian”; content would cover course and library content (instructions, assignments, policies, etc.); and the context includes learning objective, technology, and organizational culture). Good IA practice should also complement the course for improved usability in the user-interface interaction through improved navigation of course areas (Assignments, Course Information, Course Documents, External Links, etc). The default setup of Blackboard is rigid and counterintuitive; the architecture should enable moving between contents without the distraction from excessive navigation. Planning not only the course content but the coursescape (placement and interrelationships of the documents) as well can be a step in fine tuning the course, and this procedure should be applied to the master course first.

Mapping the course content

A critical step towards embedding the library in the online course should be the inventory of all course documents and resources. Each page on Blackboard has an address (URL) that can be viewed in the Content Metadata view. The inventory should include description, URL, and usage information. Librarians should be able to organize this information and track the usage of individual documents.

Planning the coursescape should involve identifying the documents and creating relationships through links. Interrelated pages would feature links leading to each other without having to navigate out of the designated content areas. This approach will enable navigation across the content areas, but a strategy is required. One must decide on the method of opening pages through the use of HTML coding, and the decisions will affect browser behavior, forcing a page to open in a new window or in the current one. The choice of “target” values (such as “blank,” “self,” or “top”) must, however, be made in the context of the course layout, and the legalities surrounding some content also. This step is necessary in the preparation of the navigation scheme.

The default navigation scheme in Blackboard is two-dimensional at best: it allows limited movement between contents, most of which requires excessive clicking to move between contents even in the same area. As part of the planning process, therefore, it will be important to (1) create a map of the course (an outline similar to the course map); and (2) establish sequential relationships between individual content used in the entire course. The relationships would determine the navigational options that are embedded on the pages.

The objective planning is to create a three-dimensional coursescape, which allows moving within and beyond a specific content area. This approach would facilitate the integration of library resources to an extent not available in the default Blackboard architecture, but the nano-level strategy that I have described here would also require close cooperation and support of course administrators and instructional technologists. The illustration below demonstrates the fundamental differences between the two coursescapes.

CONCLUSION

In combination with proven macro- and micro-level strategies, the nano-level strategy promises to bring the best of library practices into the online environment and lead to a more complete implementation of the “virtual carrel.” This achievement would not only facilitate the mere collocation of course and library content in this environment but would streamline the embedding process to make library resources accessible and relevant to online users. The collaborative environment that this vision fosters would bring librarians and faculty closer in the online environment, which is likely to impact the quality of student output as well. Rising online enrollment at Baker and other institutions will eventually mandate a more efficient strategy for integration and collaboration in this environment. The trend is global, further fueled by developments in demographics, technology, science, and economy with incentives to expand online education. It is certainly a shared vision to keep libraries central to developing new paradigms.

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