An investigation into student use of LibGuides: do they want fries with that? - Joanne Keleher

AN INVESTIGATION INTO STUDENTS’ USE OF

LIBGUIDES:DO THEY WANT FRIES WITH THAT?

LILAC 2014

JO KELEHER CQUNIVERSITY AUSTRALIA

April 8, 2023

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Australia vs the world !!!!

CQUniversity:A multi-campus university

5Check out our Libraries @ http://www.cqu.edu.au/library/locations

OUR CQUNIVERSITY LIBRARIES Rockhampton

MackayBrisbane

Bundaberg

Gladstone

Melbourne

Noosa

Sydney

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IL IS A GRADUATE ATTRIBUTE AT CQUNIVERSITY

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INFORMATION LITERACY AT CQU LIBRARY:That was IL then! The traditional one hour face to face library class

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Needing to reach students in their online environment

THIS IS IL NOW!!!!

So CQUniversity Library launched LibGuides in 2007

And according to Springshare (the creator) LibGuides are the

Most Popular Web Publishing Platform for

Libraries !!

http://www.springshare.com/libguides/

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LibGuides: An online product designed to help students navigate through the information maze!!!

Allows You (the librarian) to create discipline, subject, course, or topic Guides

AND WE DID !!!!!

146 of them !!!!

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FIRST WE LINKED LIBGUIDES ON OUR LIBRARY HOMEPAGE

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OVER TIME SOME ACADEMICS WERE HAPPY TO ADD A LINK TO THE SPECIFIC LIBGUIDE - THUS BEGAN OUR “MOODLE INFILTRATION” !

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AND IN SOME CASES WE MANAGED TO

INFILTRATE MOODLE EVEN DEEPER?

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SOME ACADEMICS LET US EMBED SPECIFIC LIBGUIDE CONTENT INTO WEEKLY SECTIONS IN MOODLE: E.G. HERE IN WEEK 6.

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AND THEN !!! SOME ACADEMICS GAVE US CARTE BLANCHE TO

CREATE VERY SPECIFIC IL ACTIVITIES WITHIN THEIR MOODLE SITES.

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LIBGUIDE STATS TOLD US THEY WERE BEING USED

• Suggest a high use of LibGuides

• Presume product/content is serving its purpose

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So with such wonderful numbers, there must be a relationship between LibGuides usage and student learning!

But how true was that picture really?

Was IL content, regardless of where students accessed it from, actually assisting them with their learning outcomes?

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Based on findings from my initial literature review coupled with our own LibGuide statistics, I proposed to conduct an online survey of undergraduate CQUniversity students on their use of LibGuides.

Study objectives:• Information-seeking behaviour of UG

students• Specifically designed content in

LibGuides contributing to:• IL skills development?• Student learning outcomes?• LibGuide Content and format –

fit for purpose?

THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL

What did I ask students?

• typical demographic questions• Age range, discipline, year of study & mode of study

• about their assessment tasks

• their use of content in LibGuides

• their perception of LibGuide value to their learning

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HOW LOW WAS THE RESPONSE RATE I HEAR YOU ASK ?

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WHAT SORT OF STUDENTS TOOK THE TIME TO RESPOND TO THE SURVEY?

Respondents profile…

• 34 students from FABIE • with 21% from the school of Humanities and Communication

• 26 students from FSEH• with 35% from the School of Health and Human Services

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What did students say they had the most trouble with?

• figuring out what the assessment task means = 34%

• coming up with suitable terms for databases = 39%

• critically evaluating information = 38%

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WHAT SOURCES DID THEY USE?

Rated 67%

Rated 85% followed closely by course readings @ 80% Asking a Librarian

15 %

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So how many said they consulted LibGuides?

YES = 69%

NO = 31%

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THERE WHERE SOME NEGATIVECOMMENTS

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BUT BEFORE WE DESPAIR !

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THERE WERE LOTS OF GOOD THINGS TOO !

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IN SUMMARY…

“USING LIBGUIDES HAS HELPED ME IMPROVE MY RESEARCH SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

ABOUT USING LIBRARY RESOURCES”

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LIBGUIDES:

YES STUDENTS DO WANT FRIES WITH THAT !

AND SOME EVEN WANT US TO ADD SAUCE !

AND CHICKEN SALT TOO…

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LILAC 2014

THANKS SO MUCH FOR LISTENING