Chris Leeder

Faculty Usage of Library Tools in a Learning Management System

To better understand faculty attitudes and practices regarding usage of library-specific tools and roles in a university learning management system, log data for a period of three semesters was analyzed. Academic departments with highest rates of usage were identified, and faculty users and nonusers within those departments were surveyed regarding their perceptions of and experience with the library tools. Librarians who use the tools were also surveyed to compare their perceptions of faculty tool and role use. While faculty survey respondents showed high levels of positive perceptions of librarians, they also exhibited low awareness of the library tools and little understanding of their use. Recommendations for encouraging wider adoption and effective usage are discussed.

The Benefits of Integrating an Information Literacy Skills Game into Academic Coursework: A Preliminary Evaluation

This article describes a new tool for teaching information literacy skills to college undergraduates. BiblioBouts is a game built on premises of educational gaming that came out of research published in the October 2008 issue of D-Lib Magazine. BiblioBouts seeks to satisfy student requests for a gaming experience directly integrated into their current coursework. Alpha testing of the game focuses on answering three main questions: Is BiblioBouts an effective approach for teaching undergraduate students information literacy skills? Do students want to play this game? What improvements does BiblioBouts need? Student response has been encouraging on all fronts. Contact information is provided so that interested parties can learn more.

Use of library tools in a learning management system

There has been little empirical research into the involvement of subject librarians in university Learning Management Systems (LMS). This study examined how library-specific tools in a university-wide LMS are used, by who and for what purposes, in order to assess their effectiveness and to draw conclusions about how to encourage wider adoption and usage. Few demographic differences were found between users and non-users. Overall, survey respondents showed high levels of positive perceptions of librarians, but exhibited low awareness of the library tools and little understanding of their use. This suggests that potential for greater usage of the LMS library tools exists, with the main challenge being lack of awareness and inadequate training.

The effect of scoring and feedback mechanisms in an online educational game

A research and development (R&D) team designed and developed the BiblioBouts online information literacy game to give undergraduate students opportunities to learn and practice information literacy skills using online library research tools and scholarly databases while they work on a research-and-writing assignment. To evaluate the alpha version of BiblioBouts, the R&D team analyzed game-play logs from two undergraduate classes and invited students who played the game in class to participate in focus group interviews. The resulting insights into the impact of scoring and game feedback on student game play were used to help instructors plan for game play in their classes and to help the R&D team improve BiblioBouts. These results also spawned game premises to guide the R&D team and other designers of educational games build better games.