3.8.2  

The institution ensures that users have access to regular and timely instruction in the use of the library and other learning/information resources.

RATIONALE FOR COMPLIANCE JUDGMENT

The Kisber Library makes a consistent effort to provide users with instruction. During the 2005-06 academic year, staff members conducted 140 research orientations to classes. Most were in the library; however, in some cases, the librarians went to the classes themselves to do a  session on a specific research assignment. Furthermore, there is online instruction for students, including an orientation and research handouts [1]. For the Cookeville Center, librarians at Tennessee Technological University will provide library orientation sessions for Nashville State Technical Community College (NSCC) students upon request. At the Humphreys County Center, a Kisber Library staff member goes each semester to conduct a library orientation. The Ask-the-Librarian link on the Kisber Library webpage is available to all students at all sites and those in distance education classes.

Overall, faculty and students state that the library instruction is helpful in preparing students to complete their research assignments. In 2006, 100% of respondents who had brought classes to the library for an orientation agreed or strongly agreed that the library orientations provided students with the necessary skills to complete their research assignments [2].  Seventy-one percent of all respondents agreed or strongly agreed to the statement: “The online library orientation helps students learn to conduct research.”  In a 2005 survey of in English 1010, a course in which instructors routinely schedule orientations for their students, 91% of respondents answered that the orientation provided them with useful information on how to find good sources for a research project. Seventy-eight percent agreed that they found better sources as a result of the orientation. Seventy-eight percent reported they were more confident about doing research since the library orientation. Eighty-one percent gave the library an A or B grade based on its services [3].

For the past several years, the library staff has made a concerted effort to reach out to those students who need to conduct research from off-campus. This began in 2002 with the purchase of a proxy server, which allowed students to access all databases with their school log-in instead of having separate passwords for each database. Then in 2003, the library staff, in conjunction with English faculty members, developed an online orientation. In 2005, the library staff began its effort to place research guides, distributed during class orientations, on the library’s webpage [4]. In fall 2006, after attending a workshop on librarians in distance courses, the library staff began an embedded librarian program with the online ENGL 1010 and PSYC 1111 classes. For spring 2007, the program expanded to include ENGL 1020 and SOCI 2112 (Marriage and Family). The next step is to assess student satisfaction with this service.

The library staff also conducts instruction to help faculty use the library more effectively. The dean always makes a presentation on available library services at the pre-semester inservice sessions for new faculty. In the past year, the dean has also presented sessions on critical thinking, information literacy, and fair use [5].