1. Marketing Information
Literacy Training
Library and Heritage Collections
Rachel Smith
Communications and Marketing Officer
r.l.smith@durham.ac.uk
@missrachelsmith
Initial Survey
Background
We decided to launch a survey for one month from November to December 2012 to find out what our students
In 2012/13, Durham University Library has been trying out a new wanted from the Did you know? training programme. We publicised this via digital channels - through the Library
approach to information literacy training driven by student website, our VLE, email and social media. Around 70 people responded to our survey.
feedback.The recent increase in student fees has prompted us to
refocus our information literacy training offer to better meet the Here were the main conclusions we drew from the data:
needs of our undergraduates.
Most of the students Students were interested in learning
Previously, information literacy training for undergraduates has answering the survey how to use a wide range of resources.
been organised by the Library’s Academic Support team in already used online The most popular suggestions were:
conjunction with academic departments, which has relied on resources regularly
engaged teaching staff allowing time within their schedules. ■ Bibliographic and full-text databases
Although we have a strong programme of traditional information ■ E-journals and e-journal articles
skills sessions, with over 350 hours of teaching offered to over ■ Statistical resources
6700 students in 2011/12, National Student Survey results have ■ Google Scholar
When asked how long they
shown that final year students are unaware of the full range of ■ Library catalogue advanced features
would prefer sessions to last for,
resources available. Many students have also commented that they
wished they had known how to make the best use of our electronic What level of training would 65% students said they would
collections sooner. Most people you require?
prefer sessions of under 1.5
wanted training hours.
This year, our Did you know? promotional campaign has aimed to
How often do you use the Library’s to be offered at
online resources at the moment?
raise awareness of the Library’s online resources. By launching a a beginner to Almost 30% of those remaining
new programme of information skills sessions which all students Most days Infrequently intermediate said they didn’t mind how long
can book a place on, we can ensure we’re providing an equal A few times
Never
level. the session was and that the
a week
opportunity to all students. te
length of the session should
A few times ner ia ced
a month Be
gin
erm
ed
Ad
v an depend on the subjects covered.
Int
Planning the programme Publicity and promotion
Based on the results from our initial survey, we decided to:
Training sessions In mid-January 2013, our online resources campaign was
launched. As soon as the first course was available for students to
These were the information skills
■ Offer a range of sessions, covering a variety of subjects and book onto, we began to promote the sessions.
sessions we offered as part of the
resources, and incorporating some of the most popular In the Library
Did you know? programme:
options in our survey. News story Quick polls
In colleges and
departments
■ Offer sessions aimed at beginners. Where appropriate, the Links
trainer would move on to demonstrate some of the advanced Google Scholar: Widgets
features of the resources. Get more out of Google
■ Offer short sessions of up to 1 hour.
■ As we already have an information skills programme open to Facebook
Introduction to... VLE Posters
all research students, we chose to limit the training sessions Library
offered to undergraduates and taught postgraduates. E-journals and databases
website
We used a range
Twitter
We decided to offer four different sessions at the Bill Bryson Going beyond the of communications
Library in Durham city and Queen’s Campus Library, in academic literature: methods:
Stockton. Each session was led by a member of the Academic Digital In person
Support team. We decided to trial the sessions as early as
Newspapers and news resources displays
Emails
possible, in February and March 2013. Student Users
Forums
Finding images for your Board of Studies
Students were able to book a place online through the University’s presentations and assignments: SSCCs
training course booking system, which is increasingly being used
Image databases All student email
for student training (as well as staff development). Booking was In the Library
newsletters
available from late January 2013. In colleges and
To departments
College President’s
departments emails
Students attending the Results Initial evaluation
Some of the main issues with the sessions were:
Did you know? training Bill Bryson Library
a) Timing - We need to ensure we avoid assignment deadlines
sessions said: At the Bill Bryson Library, all sessions had a number of
bookings and went ahead. The first two sessions, Google Scholar b) Unpredictable attendance - Around 50% of students didn’t
and E-journals and databases, had good attendance, with around attend the session they had booked
‘Very clear presentation and 7 students attending (of the 11 that had booked a place). The c) What’s in it for me? - We need to develop ways of better
helpful insights’ final two sessions, News resources and Image databases, fell in communicating what students are going to get out of a session
the last week of the Epiphany term and only one or two students to encourage them to attend.
‘I’ve never used the library came, despite a healthy number of bookings. However, the
students who attended the News and Image databases courses
Next steps
search for journals before, and ■ We have decided to offer a second set of the same sessions in
were enthusiastic about the course content and all booked follow
since the lesson I have looked up up appointments with the Liaison Librarian leading the session. June 2013, after the end of the University examination period.
a lot of papers and articles’ ■ We will open these up to all students and staff.
Queen’s Campus Library ■ When promoting the sessions to students, we will target our
‘The presenter delivered the At Queen’s Campus, bookings for all sessions were low, with only second year students and taught postgraduates about to begin
one or two bookings on each course. Due to low demand, we dissertations.
session excellently and answered ■ We’re looking into offering an additional session on referencing,
decided to cancel all of the Queen’s Campus Library sessions the
my questions efficiently.’ day before the courses were due to run. following feedback from Queen’s Campus students.