Reference Librarian
Science Library
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 20602-7412


Library As Presence: A wiki for library instruction and support
http://tandl.wetpaint.com/


Statement of Purpose
1. Provide a container for library instruction materials, including links to supporting materials and technologies.
2. Encourage learner feedback.
3. Share new concepts on teaching and learning.


Abstract
Library As Presence (LAP) is a wiki designed to support my library instruction classes.
The wiki will contain handouts and other resources, links to a social bookmarking site and a blog and links to other materials. Learners introduced to this site will be able to interact with each other transparently via the blog, and indirectly through social bookmarking. Feedback is expected to support and encourage learning on a wider scope than just the one classroom. My intent is to provide instruction in research techniques, and to assist in finding solutions to obstacles as they arise.


Educational Context
Learners at the University of Georgia (UGA) include undergraduates, graduate students, faculty,staff, and the occasional member of the public.There is no required course on the research process at UGA. Library instruction relies on invitation. I am invited to teach a 50-75-minute session once a semester to a class or individual. I use an agenda of critical skills, rather than a curriculum. Usually students are not tested on retention of what I share. Learners may initiate further contact; a few do. Every so often I am invited to teach more than one session, or a learner will ask for extended sessions so they may understand how and why their research is enhanced. In those cases, I can provide in-depth examinations of the relevant resources, and help in troubleshooting problems.

The World Wide Web (WWW) has altered the tapestry of research options. It is no longer pedagogically sufficient to distribute subject pathfinders in print and online. Print resources are now only one option in an expanding universe of possibilities. Journal indexes represent only one method of collecting sources. Online journals, web bibliographies, social bookmark sites, audio and video files introduce a glut of information which must then be sorted, ranked and put to use. Undergraduates, who uses the WWW, and older researchers unfamiliar with the potential of the WWW, may each be missing important additions to research in their fields.


Rationale
LAP allows researchers to find the help they need to expedite their research after they have attended an instruction session I have taught. The impetus to use one-stop-shopping web sites of aggregated citations can be answered by posting more systematic approaches for all learners to share. LAP intends to provide a full frontal encounter with these resources, tips and techniques for searching. Other Web 2.0 tools, social bookmarking and a blog will provide support and scaffolding in this encounter.

Library As Presence (http://tandl.wetpaint.com/) is a wiki that aims to provide a perspective that values all avenues of research, print and digital. It will focus on describing and demonstrating efficient and effective finding skills. It will serve as a base camp for these operations. The wiki will include, or link to text, audio and video instructions for using the UGA Libraries’ resources.

The social bookmark site will highlight relevant and appropriate research resources. It will use publisher and vendor web site tutorials and help screens, other libraries’ instruction resources, and podcasts (audio and video) that can assist understanding of key concepts. It will also include links to key organizations’ web sites where practical and constructive.

The blog will provide opportunity for feedback of all kinds, including complaints and suggestions for further instruction. It will allow me to improve my teaching. Perhaps the most useful element of the feedback is that it will allow learners to communicate directly with each other to ask questions and compare solutions.


Support of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
The main purpose of this site is to support my library instruction. It is expected that this site will help sustain students in healthy research practices, and serve as a springboard for other ideas to extend research. The blog will provide a site where complaints, suggestions and other exchanges can be shared among the students who use the wiki. While is it not anticipated that ever student will use the site, it is hoped that the use of dynamic ingredients on the site will entice some, and that those students will bring their research friends to the site as well fulfilling the promise of social networking.

The wiki, blog, and social bookmarking site are not intended to be private spaces. Consequently interactions could occur among all levels of researchers at UGA and non-affiliates as well. The wiki will be restricted to invited contributors only, so additions and adjustments will be made that directly address research pathways and techniques. Regular backups will be made. I believe this can have the effect of boosting critical inquiry and encouraging dialectic, especially in the blog. The blog and social bookmarking site will be more accessible, and benefit from intellectual cross-pollination.


Philosophical Underpinnings
Inquiry Stance
The best search strategies arise from probing the angles of a topic and approaches to searching it. It presupposes a willingness to rethink and rework topic continually in order to improve relevancy.

Educational Equity
Beginning researchers will have a chance to interact with more experienced researchers purely on the basis of their research problem. It is hoped that between library instruction and this wiki the playing field is leveled for researchers at UGA.

It is not intended that the wiki will be made private. While some aspects of research at UGA (e.g. IP authentication) remain exclusive, search strategizing is transferable. Similarly, understanding how research can be expanded and finessed is the domain of all, and should be accessible to all web citizens.

Professional Development
It is expected that collaboration with other instructors who share these philosophical stances will be a large part of the creation of this wiki. Since there is no one best way to teach a concept, the variety of approaches can support multiple literacies, and learning styles.


Weekly Timeline
Note: The educational context in which LAP will be used does not depend on, or use, traditional markers to indicate the depth of a learners’ understanding. Consequently, this timeline lists the activities in which I will engage in order to implement the project.

• June 23:Learn about Web 2.0 tools and their affordances. Consider ramifications of each tool for projected web site.
The week of the Red Clay Advanced Institute for Technology and Literacy. The backups leave something to be desired. Text only, and scant formatting retained.
• June 30: Assemble and design components for EndNote modules.
Unable to anchor links on a page. Consequently, the EndNote module is linked to my personal web site. Complete.
• July 7: Assemble and design components for RefWorks modules.
The RefWorks modules are linked to the UGA Libraries web site. Complete.
• July 14: Create section on Library Jargon.
Could have used anchoring to link within the page for see also references. Page is a simple list of terms. Using a browser’s Find function will locate
terms. Complete.
• July 21: Assemble, create, and update materials for Search Strategizing module.
• July 28: Assemble, create, and update materials for Using a Library module.
• August 4: Script and create modules for podcasts: Citation management systems, GIL Express, UGA ID, etc.
• August 11: Design and create necessary multimedia to illustrate research concepts


Web 2.0 Tools Used
• Wiki constitutes the base web site from which other tools are linked. All tools will be interlinked as necessary.
Wiki site: http://tandl.wetpaint.com/
• Blog conversations will be linked to the wiki for feedback and support.
Blog site: http://tandlstickies.blogspot.com/
Categories will be set up to channel feedback appropriately.
• Social bookmarking will be linked to the wiki for support (tentative)
Social bookmarking site: http://del.icio.us/
Links will be to organizations, or institutional web sites and materials. As appropriate, individual items may also be linked through the wiki. This is
intended to enable those who do not want to create a social bookmarking account.
• Audio and video instructions will use audio and screen capture files as demonstrations.
These tools will probably include Audacity, CamStudio, and VoiceThread, and other tools as appropriate. A full investigation is underway to
examine and systematize this process.


Reflections on Advanced Institute
Advanced Institute (AI) introduced me to wikis, blogs, social bookmarking, photo sharing, RSS feeds, citation management, and videosharing. The affordances and pedagogical possibilities of these tools were considered and discussed.

A week ago, I would not have considered using any Web 2.0 tools. The array of tools seemed long and their affordances blurred as a result. I have used this week to set aside my fear of the unknown, and begun examining them with a mind to extending my instructional reach.

Perhaps the most engaging elements of the AI were the opportunity to create accounts at once and dive into a tool (or two!) without worrying about what I would do with the tool in any final analysis. I also enjoyed the video segments we watched. I have since watched them on my own and recommended them to others.

Perhaps what is most exciting is that I finally have an opportunity to help learners appreciate that:
• Research is not a linear process.
The back and forthness of a blog, and the variety of alternate resources through the social bookmarking site will illustrate this much better than I can
articulate.
• Even armed with logical operators and truncation, search results can disappoint.
Multiple examples and illustrations can help temper the excitement of using operators and truncation. Focusing on the process of turning topics into
strategies can also highlight that the tools are just that. They cannot compensate for a dearth of keywords.

The AI has given me a much better appreciation of the allure of Web 2.0 technologies. I am better able to understand their appeal. Armed with that appreciation, I feel I can use my growing understanding of such technologies to garner attention when I teach. The fact that I’m using the tools will probably elevate me in the eyes of faculty and instructors who stand where I stood before this week began!

I am already talking to other faculty about these affordances. I am hoping some of those I share this experience with will accept my invitation to join me in learning more about Web 2.0. I learn best by doing, and having others working on their own projects alongside mine encourages me to keep on learning in order to become a better teacher and learner.