Information Services Support for Learning Communities

Indiana State University Library
Office of Library Instruction

Information Services Support for Learning Communities
Handbook, 2000 edition, continued

1. Logistics (scheduling what, where, who)

Information Services currently consists of Library Services, Information Technology Services, and Telecommunications Services. Instructional support for the Learning Community Initiative will consist primarily of two kinds:

Basic Academic Library & Research experiences
Technology support, including Internet, email, word processing instruction

Personnel from both Library Services and Information Technology Services participate in the Learning Communities Initiative: each Learning Community will be assigned an Information Services Liaison, who will be a librarian. That librarian will work with the LC faculty in ways described below. If information or support is needed from Information Technology, the LC Liaison [librarian] will coordinate the contact/support, etc. Many services and resources already in place can be adapted for the LC course. Information on those services and resources is detailed in this section. Additionally, new resources or approaches may be developed, in cooperation with the teaching faculty and other members of the Information Services LC Team. Some of the information in this section has been adapted from information previously presented to groups such as University 101 instructors and freshman composition graduate teaching assistants. Much of the information applies to anyone needing library or computing support. As the Fall 2000 semester approaches, each LC team will work together to decide what components are needed in each paired course. Most of the decisions should be built into the syllabus. The Information Services Liaison may also assist in arranging scheduling (described below), conduct portions of a class, describe and distribute materials in advance of a scheduled session, provide support virtually via your Blackboard website, or simply be on call, as needed, for both teacher and student.

1. Logistics (scheduling what, where, who); Assessment of student needs

Library Instruction [LI]

The LI Office is located on the 2nd floor of the Library (room 204). Two classrooms and an instructional computer lab are available for librarian-conducted instruction. For the Learning Community Initiative, the Liaison may also meet students in their regular classrooms. To request scheduling or receive more information: call extension 2604; email marshamiller@indstate.edu; visit the LI Home Page at http://library.indstate.edu/level1.dir/lio.dir/liohome.html.

Practical Tips and Suggestions:

have a clear purpose regarding subsequent library use; schedule at appropriate point
schedule early=NOW for Fall; have alternate dates
don’t make attendance optional; students overestimate their library skills
avoid generic exercises, e.g. scavenger hunts, birthday events, extra credit trivia
attend sessions with your group
interact with librarian
assign value to exercises
have students print-out, email or save records, citations
reinforce the concept of consulting with librarians as often as they wish
think of the librarian as a guest lecturer & collaborator, not a substitute teacher

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2. Course-specific Instruction.

The ISU Library has an extensive instructional program that reaches across all academic disciplines and all levels, from high school through graduate-level. Faculty members whose class assignments will require Library research skills and use of Library resources (both print and electronic) should contact Library Instruction to make arrangements. Scheduling should take place well in advance of the anticipated dates needed. While class groups of 25-30 are preferred, LI can accommodate groups of up to 60. A variety of instructional options are available, including library search skills assessment, self-directed library tours, online catalog exercises, lecture and computer lab time. LI encourages faculty to contact either LI or Reference to consult on anticipated library projects and assignments. A variety of handouts are available online or via the Library's Information Rack (1st floor). Additional handouts are developed as appropriate.

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3. Electronic Course Reserve

In addition to regular course reserve, Electronic Reserve can provide students with easy access to online full-text ProQuest articles to read. It will be up to the individual teacher whether or not the students will be assigned to access these materials. Copyright may play a factor in what/how much may be placed on reserve.

In addition, consider placing personal materials on Electronic Reserve. If you have a course web page, you can link to the Electronic Reserve. To place materials, whether they are online, e.g., ProQuest articles, or other articles, sample tests, other documents of your own creation, please contact the Reserve Desk. Online forms are under development.

Information on Reserve is available at http://library.indstate.edu/level1.dir/reserve.html. If you are unfamiliar with what Electronic Reserve material look like, feel free to examine a sample. Access the Library Homepage. Select Course Reserve from the opening menu. Click thru the Instructor list for Miller, Marsha, then click the Search button. You will retrieve a list of "E-items." Select one or more to go to the individual record for that item (just like any other LUIS search). Look for the field: E-Item: Click Here to View Item. If a link to a ProQuest full-text article, the article will simply open up. If a link to a scanned item, you will be required to enter enter a password & id. The ID is miller; the password is library. You will find sample articles that link directly to ProQuest, articles from journals; pages from a text. Note: these articles, originally designed to support the Spring 1999 Course Transformation Academy, may be of interest to you. More will be added as time allows, concentrating on topics of interest to faculty teaching in an electronic environment.

I need	I will
To place materials on Electronic Reserve	Contact my IS Liaison -or- visit Library Reserve (Library, 1^st floor)
To arrange for introductory email sessions	Contact my IS Liaison
To direct my students to introductory computing or email workshops	Contact my ISU Liaison -or- direct the students to http://web.indstate.edu/acns/user-serv/training/
To arrange to have self-directed library tour booklets distributed to my class	Contact my ISU Liaison -or- the Office of Library Instruction & Orientation
To find some online articles for my students to read (probably to add to my Electronic Reserve)	Contact my IS Liaison -or- the Office of Library Instruction
To find some pertinent websites	Contact my IS Liaison
To incorporate library/computing links into my course website	Contact my IS Liaison
To direct students to online library resource guides	Link to the Library's Help Guides at http://library.indstate.edu/level1.dir/lio.dir/helpdx.html

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4. Information Technology Services

IT Web Site (http://web.indstate.edu/acns/user-serv/)

The best way to access computer information is through the IT web site which provides answers to commonly asked computer questions, ISU related computer information, the Student Computing Handbook, and documents to assist you in using popular software. You should visit the IT web site first when you need computer information. You can access the IT web site from a computer with access to the Internet and a Web browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer. IT Help Desk (http://web.indstate.edu/acns/user-serv/help/) Our Help Desk serves as the hub for most of your computer needs. We have consultants and technicians available to help you with hardware and software installation, hardware and software problems, network access, and other ISU computer-related problems. The Help Desk has two locations to serve you. Visit us in person at University Hall, room 234 or at Cromwell Hall Mezzanine. You can also contact us by phone at 812-237-2910 (local), or 1-888-818-5465 (toll free), email at IT-Help@indstate.edu, or through our web form at http://web.indstate.edu/acns/user-serv/help/helpform.html. Computer Training (http://web.indstate.edu/acns/user-serv/training/) IT offers a variety of services to enhance the computer knowledge of ISU students, faculty, and staff.

Among these services is the Instructor-Led Training program offering skills-based workshops which are free to all members of the ISU community.

Student-Led Computer Workshops are free, noncredit, hands-on, computing workshops taught by students for students, These workshops provide basic to advanced instruction to popular computer applications.

IT also provides a computer-based training (CBT) program to provide access to interactive training from individual offices and public student labs.

Training documentation is available on a variety of topics, including but not limited to: Microsoft Office, GroupWise, Windows 98, and Web Publishing with FrontPage and Netscape Communicator.

Computer Facilities for Instruction (http://hurricane.indstate.edu/impinfo/) Most of the IT computing facilities may be reserved for seminars, classes, or workshops. To schedule a room for one time use or to reserve it throughout the semester, to see the list of reservations for the current week, or read the lab reservation policy, or for information about subscribing to mailing lists and more visit our web site.

IT can also help you set up student accounts for classes requiring use of the mainframes and minicomputers or if you wish to reserve disk space on a network server for course materials. The class accounts request form is available at http://web.indstate.edu/acns/tech-supp/forms/clsacct-form.htm.

Multimedia Support Services Multimedia Support Services (MMSS) provides an array of services for virtual and traditional classrooms and for specific ISU functions. MMSS can help faculty transform classroom materials into digital forms and produce slides, photographic and digital images, and computer-generated graphic designs.

In addition, video production services can assist with the production, shooting, and editing of broadcast-quality video programming to suit a wide range of education and information needs. For more information on these services, call ext. 2676.

Printing and Text Processing Services (http://web.indstate.edu/acns/user-serv/textproc_printing/) IT has facilities to assist you in laser printing, text and graphics scanning, and mailing list and labels generation. For more information, contact the Help Desk at ext. 2910 or visit the IT Web site.

For more information on faculty computing services, please visit the IT Faculty Guide at http://web.indstate.edu/acns/user-serv/fsguide.html.

For more information on student computing services, please visit the IT Student Computing Handbook available at http://web.indstate.edu/acns/user-serv/handbook/content.html.

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