ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries O c to b e r 1 9 9 7 / 6 3 3 Focus on Libraries User ed u c atio n a t NYPL's n e w SIBL B y M a rk B e n t l e y A new level o f service a t the New York Public Library O n M ay 2, 1996, d u rin g its c e n te n n ia l anniversary, th e N ew York Public Library (NYPL) o p e n e d its fo u rth re s e a rc h cen te Science, In d u stry a n d B usiness Library (SIBL), to integrate, in o n e site, its w orld-class research c o lle c tio n w ith a h eav ily u s e d c o lle c tio n o f circulating m aterials in th e s e th re e fields. By s u p p le m e n tin g th is in c o m p a ra b ly rich p rin t collection w ith a n extensive array o f n etw o rk ed electro n ic re so u rces o n 75 p u b lic w orkstations, NYPL is m a k in g a b o ld s ta te m e n t a b o u t its p h ilo s o p h y o f 21st-century library service. Ar­ g u ab ly th e m o st in n o v ativ e o f th e s e services is SIBL’s u n iq u e u se r-e d u c a tio n p ro g ra m c o n ­ sisting o f a w id e cu rricu lu m o f c o u rs e s offered free to th e public. A fter d escrib in g in so m e detail th e specifics o f SIBL’s p o p u la r a n d o v e r­ su b s c rib e d in stru ctio n al p ro g ram , this article su g g ests issues th a t th e library m u st ad d re ss to k e e p th e p ro g ra m v iab le a n d re s p o n siv e to u se r a n d staff n eed s. The SIBL profile A $100 m illion facility lo cated in m id to w n M an­ hattan, SIBL is th e n a tio n ’s largest p u b lic infor­ m atio n c e n te r d e v o te d solely to science, in d u s­ try, a n d business. C o m p reh en siv e co v erag e is p ro v id ed for th e b u sin ess fields o f advertising a n d m arketing, b an k in g a n d finance, la b o r a n d industrial relations, a n d real estate. Particularly strong in m athem atics an d co m p u tin g as w ell as th e physical sciences, th e library is fu n d ed to su p p o rt life sciences at th e college rath er th a n th e research level, w ith c o n su m e r health a n d health sciences b e y o n d its collecting scope. W ithin th e se subject param eters, th e collections can b e d e sc rib e d as: c o m p reh en siv e a n d retro ­ r spective, in tern atio n al in sco p e, in English as w ell as m an y foreign languages, an d in print a n d electro n ic form at. In quantitative term s, they com prise: 1.5 mil­ lion vo lu m es in th e R esearch C ollection, 40,000 v o lu m es in th e C irculating C ollection, 10,000 , cthuerr en t serials titles, a n d nearly 100 d atab a se titles. The SIBL challenge A collection this c o m p reh en siv e— an d includ­ ing legal research m aterials, g o v ern m en t d o c u ­ m ents, an d p aten ts a n d tradem arks, w ith their c o m p lex bib lio g rap h ic structure— has th e p o ­ tential to o v erw h elm e v en w ith o u t th e a d d e d com plexity o f SIBL’s th ree different classifica­ tio n sch em es. A dd to this th e tech n o lo g ical sophistication o f th e electronic resources, an d th e result is a setting th at calls fo r u se r assis­ tan ce in m any form s. Many o f SIBL’s 2,500 daily u sers— stu d en ts, scientists, inventors, e n tre p re ­ neurs, a n d m em b ers o f th e sm all b u sin ess an d co rp o ra te com m unities— q u e u e u p at o n e o f th e library’s th re e p u b lic service d esk s fo r o n e- o n -o n e o n -th e -sp o t assistance. H u n d red s m ore rem o te u sers g e t assistance via te le p h o n e ref­ e re n c e o r b y visiting SIBL’s h o m ep ag e , small business, international trade, co m pany research, p aten ts a n d tradem arks, an d scien ce e d u catio n W eb sites. B ut for th o se in n e e d o f m o re help in getting started to s h a p e a research strategy o r seek in g o rien tatio n w ith th e library an d its array o f resources, SIBL offers a u n iq u e user- e d u c a tio n program . The user-education program's profile T h e p ro g ram is d istin g u ish ed by th ree features: a c o m p lex o f fo u r technologically a d v an ced classroom s, a v aried a n d flexible curriculum o f 12 co u rses th a t offers instruction in th e diverse array o f p rin t a n d electro n ic inform ation re- M a rk B en tley is in fo rm a tion services lib ra ria n at the Scien ce, In d u stry, a n d B u s in e ss Libra ry at the N ew York P u b lic Library; e-m a il: mbentley@ nypl.org mailto:mbentley@nypl.org 6 3 4 / C & R L News One o f SIBL's state-of-the-art classroom s sources available, a n d an electronic reservations system th at m an ag e s access to th e program . As d esig n ed , th e p ro g ram has, fo r th e m o st part, p ro v e n to b e effective o n tw o counts: for a d ­ dressing th e n e e d s o f users w h o se bibliographic a n d c o m p u tin g skills are so diverse, a n d for d ealin g w ith th e logistics o f co o rd in atin g th e in stru ctio n o f h u n d re d s o f u sers e a c h w e e k (as o f mid-M arch 1997, m ore th an 10,000 users have a tte n d e d classes at SIBL). The user-education program's physical configuration T h e physical fram ew o rk c reated to su p p o rt th e p ro g ram is set a ro u n d th e H arrison S. Kravis E lectronic T raining C en ter (ETC). It is distin­ g u ish ed b y four state-of-the-art classroom s. Each is e q u ip p e d w ith: 13 public term inals for hands- o n c o m p u te r u se by registrants; an in stru cto r’s c o m p u te r a n d lectern at th e fro n t o f th e class, from w h ich librarians can give In te rn e t a n d d a ­ tab ase d em o n stratio n s; a n d an audiovisual sys­ te m w ith a n electro n ic ro ll-d o w n front-projec­ tio n sc re e n a n d c e ilin g -m o u n te d v id e o /d a ta projectors. Coordinating the Training Center and user-education activities C o ordination o f th e p ro g ram is m a n a g e d by th e electronic training coordinator. M anagem ent o f th e E lectronic T raining C en­ te r (ETC) is carried o u t th ro u g h co n su ltatio n b e tw e e n th e electronic training c o o rd in ato r an d a n u m b e r o f o th er individuals: th e assistant h ead fo r electro n ic resources, th e h e a d o f inform ation services, a n d th e fo u r librarians w h o m a n a g e th e daily sch ed u lin g o f 32 librarians b e tw e e n th e classroom s a n d th e library’s t h r e e in f o r m a t i o n s e r v ic e desks. C urriculum d e v e lo p m e n t a n d classroom in stru c tio n are a r e s p o n s i b i l i t y s h a r e d a m o n g all lib ra ria n s. G e n e r ­ ally, e a c h in f o rm a tio n s e r ­ v ic e s lib ra ria n is s c h e d u le d to te a c h a m in im u m o f o n e class p e r w eek. An essential c o m p o n e n t of th e p ro g ra m ’s o p e ra tio n is a n electronic self-registration sys­ te m th a t m an ag e s th e logis­ tics o f re g iste rin g u se rs fo r seats in fo u r to five co u rses e a c h day. T o re­ serve a se a t in o n e o f th e classes, registrants m u st u se a reservations term inal called a kiosk th a t a llo w s th e u s e r to p la c e a re s e rv a tio n th r o u g h a g ra p h ic a l u s e r in te rfa c e . U sin g th e classes fu n c tio n o n th e k io sk , u s e rs c a n scroll th r o u g h th e listin g o f class titles a n d re s e rv e a p la c e in a n y o n e o r m o re o f th e c o u rs e s b e in g o ff e re d fo r th e c u r r e n t d ay . T h e k io s k g e n e r a t e s a p r i n to u t in d ic a tin g th e u s e r ’s n a m e , r e s e rv a tio n s ta tu s (c o n f irm e d s e a t o r w a itin g list), c o n firm a tio n n u m b e r, c la s sro o m n u m b e r , a n d c o u rs e title. U sers a re a b le to o b ta in a s c h e d u le o f classes covering a tw o- w e e k p erio d . It ou tlin es class d ates a n d times. The curriculum profile T h e p ro g ra m ’s curriculum in clu d es six classes o n th e u se o f electro n ic resources: • W eb W o rk sh o p fo r B eginners, • W eb W o rk sh o p 2: S earching for Inform a­ tion, • In tro d u ctio n to S earching E lectronic D ata­ bases, • In tro d u ctio n to C atnyp a n d Leo: T h e O n lin e C atalogs o f T h e N ew Y ork Public Library, • H ow to U se A B I/Inform fo r B usiness Infor­ m ation • H o w to Use th e D ow J o n e s N ew s Service fo r C om pany, Industry a n d Financial In form a­ tion. (T h ese last tw o te a c h u sers h o w to search tw o o f th e library’s m ost heavily u s e d b u sin ess d a ­ tab ases.) O ctober 1 9 9 7 / 6 3 5 The curriculum is not limited to training users in the use ò f electronic resources. It also in­ cludes courses o n doing research using gov­ ernm ent publications, legal an d legislative in­ form ation sources, m arket research inform ation sources, p aten ts an d tradem arks inform ation sources, sm all b u sin ess start-u p inform ation so u rc e s, a n d p h y sical s c ie n c e s in fo rm a tio n sources. T he mission of the program is to offer in­ struction in the library-specific applications used for information retrieval. Thus, noticeably miss­ ing from the curriculum are courses offering basic com puter training in the use of a keyboard an d m ouse and software applications for personal co m p u tin g p u rp o se s. A dditional co u rses o n teaching keyboarding skills to seniors are being considered for the future, however. Future refinements T he program is in a state o f evolution. It can b e continuously im proved by m aking refine­ m ents in the areas o f instructor training, sch ed ­ uling, a n d classroom support. Refinem ents in the pedagogical training o f librarians m ust co n tin u e to b e m ade. The p ro ­ gram will benefit from th e further training o f librarians in course developm ent strategies (sp e­ cifically, such areas as verbal a n d visual orga­ nization o f inform ation that best facilitates learn­ ing for th e user; u n d erstan d in g th e n e e d for a high level o f accuracy in the content of courses; a n d u n d erstan d in g the n e e d for upd atin g an d revising co u rse c o n te n t) a n d in th e su b ject m atter co v ered by th e individual courses. Routine evaluation o f instructors a n d course co n ten t is an o th e r a sp ect o f instructor training th at will b en efit th e program . Factors to b e co n sid ered regarding evaluation are: • Should librarians evaluate their o w n p erfor­ m ance a n d th e n be ex p ected to m ake im prove­ m ents, b a se d o n feed b ack from evaluation forms co m p leted b y course registrants? • Should curriculum co n ten t d esig n ed by individual librarians b e evaluated an d a p p ro v e d b y p eers o r m anagers before being p resen ted to the public? R efinem ents in th e scheduling o f librarians b e tw e e n inform ation desks a n d classroom s can b e accom plished by attem pting to en su re that th e scheduling o f librarians b e tw e e n instruc­ tion an d inform ation d esk duties is w ell bal­ a n c e d an d flexible, so that breaks are m ade in th e schedule, allow ing tim e for valuable p u b ­ lic service dow ntim e; all librarians are assigned an equal am o u n t o f teaching tim e p e r w eek; an d librarians h av e en o u g h time to b eco m e k n o w led g eab le a b o u t the co n ten t o f a course before b ein g sch ed u led to teac h it. Refinem ents in the area o f classroom su p ­ p o rt can b e m ad e by ensuring th e tim eliness of 1) th e retu rn a n d review o f evaluation forms; 2) th e feedback a n d constructive criticism to course instructors b a se d o n inform ation gath­ e re d from evaluation forms; 3) th e distribution o f d o cu m en tatio n p rovided to each instructor for distribution to registrants at the start of each class; 4) th e reconfiguration o f com puters after a classroom has b e e n ren ted o u t for a private function; 5) th e notification o f system s staff of p ro b le m s in v o lv in g th e c o m p u te rs a n d o f changes to curriculum requiring n ew softw are installation; an d 6) the notification o f system s a n d security staff o f p ro b lem s involving th e rem oval an d rep lacem en t o f com puters in the ETC. In a n u m b e r o f areas, im portant policy is­ sues n o t related to th e issues ab o v e have yet to b e addressed. T hese are: • T he q u estio n o f w h e th e r o r no t librarians sho u ld teach only in areas in w hich they p o s­ sess a lot o f know ledge, confidence, a n d e x p e r­ tise; or, w h e th e r th ey sho u ld b e req u ired to teach all classes, regardless o f th e level of familiarity w ith th e content. • T he ex ch an g e o f teaching duties for a heavier load o f public service duties in o th er areas by librarians. • T he rate at w hich n ew classes are being a d d e d to the curriculum . • T h e d e v e lo p m e n t o f se c o n d -g e n e ra tio n classes. • T he o p tio n o f m aking advance reservations for classes by users. • T he u se o f classroom s for p u rp o ses o th er th an th e library’s user-education program . Spe­ cifically, sh o u ld the library allow 1) private g ro u p s to reserve blocks o f classroom time for private instruction by librarians, reducing p u b ­ lic access to th e library’s courses; an d 2) ETC classroom s to b e o p e n e d for public access to the com puters in th em w h en classes are not sch ed ­ uled, greatly increasing th e n u m b e r o f co m p u t­ ers th at w o u ld b e available for Internet an d database searching (currently th e com puters in the classroom s rem ain u n u se d w h en a class is not in session). Conclusion O ver the course o f th e 11 m onths that th e user- 6 3 6 / C & R L N ew s ed u catio n p r o g r a m h a s b e e n in p la c e , it h a s b e e n c o n ti n u o u s l y a s s e s s e d a n d e v a lu a te d . T h r o u g h a n a ly s is o f f e e d b a c k fr o m u s e r s a n d l i b r a r i a n s r e g a r d i n g t h e q u a l i t y o f c o u r s e c o n t e n t a n d i n s tr u c t io n , s i g n if i c a n t r e v i s io n s h a v e b e e n m a d e to im p r o v e th e q u a li ty o f th e p r o g r a m . In p a r t ic u l a r , im ­ p r o v e m e n t s a r e b e i n g m a d e in th e p r e s e n ­ t a t io n a n d c o u r s e - d e s i g n s k ills o f li b r a r ­ ia n s , in th e q u a li ty o f c o u r s e c o n t e n t in te r m s o f p r e c i s i o n a n d d e p t h o f in f o r m a ­ ti o n , in t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f s e c o n d - g e n ­ e r a t i o n c la s s e s th a t o f f e r a d v a n c e d le v e ls o f in s tr u c t io n in d if f e r e n t to p i c a r e a s , s u c h a s s e a r c h i n g t h e I n t e r n e t a n d le g a l r e ­ s e a r c h , a n d in a c c e s s to c o u r s e s th r o u g h th e electro n ic reservation system . In r e c e n t m o n th s , c e rta in c o u rs e s , su c h a s th e tw o W o rld W id e W e b c o u r s e s a n d b o th th e P a te n ts a n d th e T ra d e m a rk s c o u rs e , h a v e u n d e r g o n e c o m p le te re v isio n s to im ­ p ro v e th e c u rr e n c y o f th e c o n te n t a n d th e s ty le o f p r e s e n ta t io n . As w e ll, tw o m a jo r s te p s h a v e b e e n ta k e n to im p ro v e th e p r o ­ g ra m o v erall: 1) in d iv id u a l a n d g r o u p s e s ­ s io n s h a v e b e e n h e ld w ith a p r o f e s s o r o f c o m m u n ic a tio n s fro m th e City U n iv ersity o f N ew Y o rk to p ro v id e lib ra ria n s w ith e x p e rt a d v ic e o n p u b lic s p e a k in g a n d p re s e n ta tio n m e th o d s as w e ll as c u rric u lu m d e v e lo p m e n t, a n d 2) a fo rm al a d v is o ry b o d y c o m p ris in g lib ra ria n s h a s b e e n e s ta b lis h e d to m o n ito r th e q u a lity o f th e p ro g ram in term s o f te a c h ­ ing a n d co u rse content. E xam ples su ch as th e se p ro v e th at from th e start th e library has b e e n fully co m m itted to its u ser-ed u catio n m ission a n d to th e idea th at th e quality o f u se r ed u c a tio n sh o u ld b e c o n sid e re d as im p o rtan t as th e quality o f re fe re n c e ser­ vice, collection d ev elo p m en t, a n d technical ser­ vices. ■ Feature your library here C&RL News is seek in g articles describing new an d re n o v a te d libraries in co rp o ratin g in n o ­ vative tech n o lo g ies an d services. P h o to s o f n e w facilities a re a n im p o rtan t c o m p o n e n t o f th e article. Share y o u r library’s n ew c a ­ pabilities an d services w ith C&RL News. Send y o u r m anuscripts to: Mary Ellen Davis, Edi­ to r an d P ublisher, C&RL News, ACRL/ALA, 50 E. H u ro n St., C hicago, IL 6 0 6 ll ; e-mail: m edavis@ ala.org. High Society. Ice Cream Socials. Gang Wars. Fighting Words. Human society has countless manifestations and meanings. 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