Library Tools for Teaching Kate Peterson, University Libraries Shannon Klug, Writing Studies

1. Library Tools for TeachingKate Peterson, University LibrariesShannon Klug, Writing Studies September 2, 2009

2. Agenda • Research skills of Undergraduates • Tools for Teaching • Assignment Calculator • UThink blogs

3. Is research Harder or Easier today?

4. Undergraduate Students • Start with Google and Wikipedia • Little discipline knowledge • Never used an academic library (may not have had librarian or library training in high school) • No knowledge of scholars or how scholarly communication works

5. Library Tools for Teaching • Unravel the Libraries (FYW) series of workshops • http://www.lib.umn.edu/research/instruction/modules/unravel.html • CourseLib-page of library resources for your class • http://www.lib.umn.edu/libdata/courses.phtml • Chat with a Librarian (24/7) • Click on “Chat” in upper left corner of Library website • E-reserves • http://www.lib.umn.edu/services/reserves

6. E-reserves • Can be used for a variety of materials • When licensed resources are linked inside e-reserve course pages, instructors no longer need to include them in traditional course packs • Not paying royalties on licensed articles saves students money! • Statistics show that students use e-reserves heavily • Submit PDFs or clean, single-sided paper copies • Library will evaluate non-licensed documents for fair use

7. Peer Research Consultants (Pilot) • Partnership with the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence  and the SMART Learning Commons • PRCs have completed WRIT 1301 • Extensive training in information literacy, tutoring and cultural competencies • Hired three students for Fall

8. Peer Research Consultants (Pilot) • Available for one-on-one appointments and drop-ins in early October • SMART Learning Commons and MCAE • PRC can help with research • Selecting and narrowing a topic • Finding Books and articles • Finding scholarly articles • Evaluating sources • Basic citation creation

9. Questions?

10. Assignment Calculator • Debuted in 2002 • Created in partnership with Center for Writing and Center for Teaching and Learning • Goal: Break down research and writing process for students into deadlines (get email reminders) • New beta version in 2009: https://tools.lib.umn.edu/ac/

11. Assignment Calculator-New Features • Customize assignments for your class • Research Paper • Poster • Media/Video • Add, delete, edit steps • Add course specific readings, etc. to a step • Move assignment online (where students live) • Students can sign up to get email reminders

12. Assignment Calculator

13. Assignment Calculator • Change the dates • Edit/add/delete steps • Get URL for your assignment • Post in WebVista/Moodle • Email to students • Put in syllabi • Hand out in class

14. Assignment Calculator • Demo: https://tools.lib.umn.edu/ac/

15. Questions?

16. Uthink Blogs

17. Reasons to use a blog in your class • Takes learning and engagement with classmates outside of the classroom • Asynchronous • Participatory / student centric • Encourages collaboration • Easy to share multi-media (links, images, video, etc.) • Learn how to write for a public forum

18. UThink Upgrade • UThink blogs are hosted by University Libraries • http://blog.lib.umn.edu/ • Upgraded to MT 4.25 on June 15, 2009 • UThink now has a whole bunch of new features (including tagging, page creation, custom fields, etc.) • Example of new template • http://blog.lib.umn.edu/frans005/myblog/

19. Things to consider • Will you have one blog for the class or will students have individual blogs? • How will you measure/encourage participation? • Privacy and anonymity • Will you moderate comments? • What will you do with the blog after the semester ends? • Can be labor intensive • What will you do with incorrect content / information?

20. Questions?

21. Contact Us • Kate Peterson • katep@umn.edu, 626-3746 • Shannon Klug • klugx004@umn.edu, 625-9236