Tammy J. Eschedor Voelker
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During the 2002-2003 academic year a team of reference librarians at the Kent State University main library began working with two freshman learning communities as part of an initiative to learn more about the needs of first-year students. This article reports on the outreach to one of those, the Science Learning Community, and on the results of a focus group undertaken with members of that group. The study found that the students valued the library instruction offered and were even inclined to request that more library-related instruction be incorporated in the future. Students revealed apprehensions about using the library and also offered suggestions for new services, including the idea that all freshmen should have the same learning opportunity. The community program director was very pleased with the library’s contributions to the students’ learning experience. The initial outreach was considered a success by all involved and it was decided that the Main Library continue to develop the services and to further integrate library components into the students’ curriculum for future semesters.
In the spring of 2002, a team of four reference librarians at the Kent State University (KSU) main library began thinking of new ways to market the library’s services and information resources. Most traditional marketing plans begin with “an investigation of needs in a given market, together with an analysis of organizational talent and resources to determine which needs the organization is best fitted to satisfy.”1 The selection of a target market, or a subgroup of customers, upon which to concentrate ones’ efforts is the next step.2 Early in the process, several key patron groups were identified, of which the team hoped to gain a better understanding. First-year students were one of the identified groups. The quickly changing information environment was making it increasingly difficult to make assumptions about their experiences, skills, and needs, as well as their expectations from the libraries.
The team’s first task, therefore, was to devise a means of learning more about the freshman class. An article in a university-wide faculty-staff newsletter made the team aware of several new learning communities beginning on campus in fall semester 2002. The article also highlighted a few communities that had been ongoing for several years, none of which had had any involvement with the libraries. Lippincott confirmed “involvement in learning communities can provide academic librarians with a window into the thinking of students who have grown up with technology and who regularly use the Web to locate all kinds of information.”3 The team immediately recognized the potential inherent in belonging to such a community and began brainstorming about ways to become involved and what could be offered to the community.
Learning communities vary greatly in their organization, goals, and activities. At its simplest, a learning community may be defined as “an intentionally developed community that will promote and maximize learning.”4 Each of the communities on the KSU campus had a unique focus and drew on different criteria for forming the community. Some were based on academic major, others on lifestyle (healthy living, fitness), and others on interests (community service). Each community promoted and maximized learning from a unique perspective. However, none had yet tapped into the resources of the library. The librarian team believed that the library had a unique role to play in enhancing the first-year experience for these students. Becoming involved with learning communities could be an opportunity for librarians to provide additional guidance and nurturing of students’ information literacy skills, and to discover new and creative ways to interact with students. This would coincide with KSU libraries and Media Services’ mission to find new and effective ways to infuse information literacy instruction into the curriculum. The librarians would in turn benefit from the close-knit structure of the communities by fulfilling their need to better understand first-year students’ needs and expectations. It was with these goals in mind that the team set out to become involved with learning communities on campus.
The Learning Community and Information Literacy
A review of the existing literature on learning communities reveals that, although not a new concept in education, learning communities and similar forms of collaboration are in the forefront of the minds of many librarians across the country. Recent Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) presidential themes focused on such collaboration and were based on ACRL’s Strategic Plan 2005.5 In his 2003-2004 theme, Cannon stressed that “partnerships, connections, learning, and knowledge building define present-day higher education.”6 Reichel, in the introduction to her 2001-2002 presidential theme, highlighted the recent shift in emphasis from teaching to learning and stressed that librarian-faculty collaboration in promoting information literacy creates meaningful learning experiences for students. She noted that information literacy “focuses on the learner and the process of learning.”7 Even with such emphasis on the learning community theme, Frank, Beasley, and Kroll noted in 2001 that “the number of articles that include the academic library as a key element of the learning community is surprisingly small.”8
The literature does, however, reveal the key reasons there has been such a focus on new collaborations with learning communities. In the first place, as librarians become involved with learning communities, they can establish themselves as partners in the learning enterprise in new and important ways.9 Secondly, in addition to developing new and valuable working relationships, involvement in a learning community enables librarians to try out new services that could benefit all students making library visits.10 Last, it is now recognized that information literacy initiatives must reach beyond the walls of the library to achieve their full potential.11 The nature of learning communities allows for a deeper level of integration of library components and is a natural environment for information literacy instruction.12 Still, Iannuzzi stresses the importance of approaching each new collaboration initiative with the appropriate motivation. She notes that instead of focusing on how to advance a library’s information literacy agenda, it is important to stress and question the way in which information literacy efforts can help others succeed in their goals and initiatives.13 This was the intent of the team’s approach to becoming integrated with learning communities on the KSU campus.
New Kids on the Block
Becoming Part of a Community
It is necessary for librarians to be proactive, to initiate collaboration, and to be willing to leave the library building itself to become actively involved in the greater community.14 The notion of “if you build it, they will come” does not necessarily work in regard to library collections and services. “They” may indeed come. But the question remains, will they then use the resources to their best advantage? The team’s proactive approach began by contacting the interim dean of undergraduate studies, under whom all learning communities were organized, and arranging to meet and discuss with him becoming members of the communities. The meeting was a great success, largely due to an unexpected element. KSU’s dean of Libraries and Media Services had already paved the way for an open, enthusiastic attitude at a recent dean’s retreat, where new roles for academic librarians had been discussed. This demonstrated the importance of an ongoing and consistent message from the library about its role in building information literacy competencies. The interim dean recommended two communities to approach, based on a preference for communities serving at-risk students: the EXCEL Program, which is open to any exploratory major, and the science learning community (SLC), intended for first-generation college students in a science-related major. The program directors in turn welcomed the team with very enthusiastic attitudes about the library’s possible contribution. The librarians involved decided to split into two teams. However, one librarian remained involved with both; therefore, SLC had a total of three librarians interacting with it over the course of the academic year (the science librarian, the humanities librarian, and the head of the library’s instructional-services team).This article will report on the activities, challenges, and outcomes of working with SLC.
Supporting Retention Goals
SLC was in its first year at KSU, so it was necessary to anticipate some of the challenges these students might confront and to help equip them with the related skills and information resources they would need to face and overcome those challenges. SLC is composed of twenty-five freshman science majors, all first-generation college students. They are enrolled in three courses together, two of which–English and biology–have integrated curricula. The students also live on the same floor of a residence hall. In addition to their similar course schedules, learning community members are required to attend several extracurricular activities per month allowing for further enrichment and social interaction.
The learning community offers a very practical way for librarians to contribute to the retention of at-risk students. Components were to be spread throughout the academic year, building on each other and building student comfort levels as they became more familiar with the staff, services, and resources in the university libraries. This required taking into consideration two key characteristics. First, they were all new college students. The literature has established library anxiety as a detrimental barrier to student success in the library, and freshman students are more anxious than any other group of students.15 Studies have determined several key approaches to easing library anxiety. Scoyoc found that face-to-face interaction with a librarian was the best method of instruction (versus online tutorials) for increasing student comfort levels with the library. The presence of a librarian was found to be critical, regardless of the students’ experience level. This study also found that student perceptions of staff are a major determiner of library anxiety.16 The Jiao and Onweugbuzie study also concluded that students who take library skills courses have fewer effective barriers to library use and recommended that interventions target freshman students. Both this study and the Keefer study concluded that library instruction should affirm that library anxiety is natural and that the frustrations the students experience doing research are normal.17 Additionally, Keefer noted that students who are lacking time and under other stress will have more difficulties. They will begin to miss external cues such as library directional signs and other forms of help. Thus, it is critical that these students are reached before they arrive at that critical melting point. Keefer also notes that students who most need assistance are the least likely to ask for it.18 This helps reinforce the need for early intervention and the development of a trusting relationship between librarians and new students, both issues that the learning community environment are particularly geared to address.
The second important characteristic to consider is that the students were all science majors. A study by Kuh and Gonyea found that science majors were part of a group of those least likely to use the library (along with business, math, and undecided majors).19 Leckie and Fullerton’s study may offer some insight as to why science majors fall into this group, noting that most science courses rely primarily on standardized texts well into the first two or three years of study. “In other words, it is quite possible for science and engineering undergraduates to avoid the library, if not completely, at least until relatively late in their educational experience.”20 These studies seem to emphasize the need for individualized attention for students similar to those in this particular community.
Personalized Attention Is the Key
Sherona Garrett-Ruffin, director of the KSU SLC, immediately emphasized how important it was for all of those involved in supporting SLC to be willing to become a part of a close-knit community and to want to interact regularly with the students. She stressed that it was key for students to be able to receive personalized attention whenever needed, and that all faculty and staff members in the community should maintain an open-door policy. The librarians were very encouraged by this philosophy and indicated their desire to be fully integrated.
The librarians’ contact with SLC students began on the very first night the students moved into the residence halls. Two of the three librarians involved were able to attend an opening social arranged by the program director. This was an opportunity to meet the classroom faculty involved, as well as enabling the librarians to be a part of the community from day one in the minds of the students and faculty. It also offered a unique opportunity for students to be introduced to the idea of a librarian being an integral part of their learning experience.
The SLC director saw personalization as a necessary component of the community experience. Thus, the first and most basic service the team could offer the community was to provide a more personalized approach to services already in place. All university orientation classes have an integrated library component. This component was designed by KSU librarians, but is typically presented by the student or faculty orientation instructor (which is due to the limited number of librarians available on staff to serve the more than 150 sections of the course). For the SLC orientation section, however, a member of the librarian team, the instructional services head, visited the class and presented the library component (which introduced the research process, stressed the importance of evaluating information, and encouraged students to solicit help from librarians). This enabled the students to meet the third librarian working with their community and also allowed the librarian to see firsthand how a class reacted to and interacted with the lesson plan she had created for orientation.
A second preestablished service is that of PERCs, or PErsonalized Research Consultations. This service is open to all students and promoted to all freshman English courses. Normally, students phone or stop by the reference desk to set up an appointment during any available librarian’s office hour. The personalized touch for this service simply entailed introducing the learning community students to their own personal librarians early in the semester and encouraging them to call their librarian directly for any needed help. SLC students were specifically guided to the librarian for biological sciences, who they had already met at the opening social. Several students took advantage of this personal contact by e-mailing and phoning questions to their librarian. Those that took advantage of this option have commented that they appreciated having a personal contact in the library.