This article aims to report on a usability study to assess whether students performed better after working through a screencast library tutorial or a web‐based tutorial with…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to report on a usability study to assess whether students performed better after working through a screencast library tutorial or a web‐based tutorial with screenshots.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study asked 21 students from diverse backgrounds and learning styles to take two learning style inventories prior to a usability study. The students then went through two short tutorials (a static web page tutorial with screenshots and a Camtasia screencast (video) tutorial, as well as a pre‐ and post‐test and debriefing for each. The “think aloud” protocol was used as their movements and voices were recorded using the Camtasia software.
Findings
The results of this study indicate that across all learning preferences students performed much better in recreating tasks when they used a static web page with screen shots than they did after viewing a screencasting tutorial.
Practical implications
Suggestions are offered for ways to create tutorials that are effective for multiple learning styles that will fit into a student's workflow.
Originality/value
Results of this study may help inform other librarians in ways to effectively design tutorials and learning objects to meet student needs.
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This paper aims to provide details of a collaborative campus effort that created a Media Commons at an undergraduate library at a major research university to provide students and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide details of a collaborative campus effort that created a Media Commons at an undergraduate library at a major research university to provide students and faculty opportunities to experiment with emerging technologies, with expanded opportunities to learn of best practices in educational technology.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a case study that used a web survey, focus groups, usage statistics, and interviews to determine the needs and best practices for creating and maintaining the Media Commons.
Findings
Preliminary results indicate that this program provides value to students and faculty seeking to learn about and use multimedia for coursework and projects. It confirms the gap on campus for places students can go for loanable technology and consultation services in the production and editing of multimedia.
Research limitations/implications
Because the Media Commons just launched there has not had a programmatic evaluation yet to assess the impact of this program. However, based on initial feedback, suggestions for improvements in the program are included.
Practical implications
The rationale, process and efforts described in this paper can be replicated by other institutions that are interested in creating a Media Commons.
Originality/value
Although there are many articles written about Learning Commons and Information Commons, there is not much available that documents the efforts of creating a Media Commons at a library and the rationale for centralizing and freely making available campus multimedia expertise and equipment.
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David A. Hurley, Sarah R. Kostelecky and Lori Townsend
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the idea of cultural humility, distinguish it from cultural competence and explore how it fits within librarianship.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the idea of cultural humility, distinguish it from cultural competence and explore how it fits within librarianship.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use an interdisciplinary exploration of the concept of humility to understand what cultural humility means and how it differs from cultural competence and other approaches to intercultural communication in libraries.
Findings
Despite some reservations with the term itself, the authors find that a practice of cultural humility is more appropriate to front-line interactions in library contexts than cultural competence models.
Practical implications
Libraries looking to address issues in intercultural communication and services to multicultural populations will find an approach that may be better suited to their contexts than prevailing models of cultural competency.
Social implications
Librarians need to commit to redressing the power imbalances and other structural issues that interfere with library service, for the benefit of the patrons, the library and librarians themselves.
Originality/value
While cultural humility is increasingly being used in librarianship, there has not been a systematic exploration of the concept and how it applies to library contexts.
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Jim Hahn, Lori Mestre, David Ward and Susan Avery
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the implementation process one academic library used to create a loanable technology program to address student needs for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the implementation process one academic library used to create a loanable technology program to address student needs for multiple technologies that support and facilitate assignments and other projects, including an increasing number that are multimodal.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a case study utilizing focus groups and management data to detail best practices for implementing and maintaining a loanable technology program.
Findings
Preliminary results indicate that this program provides value to students and coursework, as well as justifying creating a budget line to support further program development. Implementing a loanable technology program requires additional strategies for policies and procedures related to acquisition, budget allocation, processing, cataloging, check‐out, replacement, and security of the equipment, as well as marketing the service. Findability and equitable student access to loanable technology are also discussed.
Research limitations/implications
An extensive programmatic evaluation method has yet to be put into place to assess the impact of this program. Suggestions for improvements in the program are included.
Practical implications
The process and strategies described in this paper can be replicated by other institutions that are interested in creating a loanable technology program.
Originality/value
Although many institutions provide some loanable technology, there is little written that documents decisions made that lead to a successful, robust, and sustainable program.
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Jon J. Fallesen and Stanley M. Halpin
Pew and Mavor (1998) called for an integrative representation of human behavior for use in models of individual combatants and organizations. Models with integrated representation…
Abstract
Pew and Mavor (1998) called for an integrative representation of human behavior for use in models of individual combatants and organizations. Models with integrated representation of behavior have only been achieved at rudimentary levels according to those performing the studies (e.g. Pew & Mavor, 1998; Tulving, 2002) and those building the models (e.g. Warwick et al., 2002). This chapter will address aspects of cognitive performance that are important to incorporate into models of combat based on acceptance of theory, strength of empirical data, or for other reasons such as to bridge gaps where incomplete knowledge exists about cognitive behavior and performance. As a starting point, this chapter will assess which of Pew and Mavor’s recommendations are still appropriate as determined by a review of selected literature on cognition and its representation. We will also provide some review and extensions of key literature on cognition and modeling and suggest a way ahead to close the remaining gaps. Different aspects of cognition are described with recent findings, and most are followed by an example of how they have been represented in computer models or a discussion of challenges to their representation in modeling.