ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


10/C & R L News

Cal Poly's multimedia 
approach to research
B y Paul T. Adalian J r .

Graphics make Retriever a n  
enticing research experience

During the past few years, libraries such Ohio State University and Cornell Unive
sity have sought to develop library instructio
programs to teach the elements o f a search stra
egy, and access to local paper and automate
sources.1 The California Polytechnic State Un
versity Library has taken this idea one step fu
ther by developing a multisensory, multimed
application for teaching the use o f print an
Internet-accessible sources.

Known as the Retriever, the program is 
colorful user interface providing library use
with a com plete learning environment to iden
tify and locate print sources, and to access l
cal and remote online databases. The interfac
utilizes color, QuickTime™ video clips, scanne
images, line drawings, floor plans, and creativ
graphics to provide students with an enticin
research experience.

DEVELOPING THE CONCEPT
The program was developed for first-time l
brary users to help them navigate through th
research process at their own pace, yet sea
soned users will appreciate how quickly an
easily they can access specific sources o f info
mation.

The Retriever development was based o
meeting the two basic information needs o f stu
dents at Cal Poly. First, every student needs t
com plete a senior project as a graduation re
quirement. The one requirement o f all senio
project students is to conduct a comprehensiv
review o f the literature. Many students have

not used the library enough to be familiar with 
the concept o f a literature review. The Retriever 
was designed to take students through this pro­
cess within specific majors.

Second, Cal Poly has an applied curriculum. 
as Students require information in conjunction with 
r­ study and research in labs, field work, archi­
n tecture and engineering design studios, print­
t­ ing and graphic art studios, etc. Students are 
d building, creating, and d esigning projects. 
i­ Within this context students are not required to 
r­ write the typical term paper. Rather, they re­
ia quire reference information to be incorporated 
d into their applied study.

The “Looking for Information In” window 
a meets the needs o f literature review; the “Ref­

rs erence Sources O n” window provides access 
­ to relevant references used within the major.

o­ Macromind Director™ was used to develop 
e the interface. The Director program provides 
d color, enhanced graphic capability, compatibil­
e ity with Macintosh and IBM platforms, reliabil­
g ity, self-running players (royalty-free distribu­

tion), sophisticated multimedia features such 
as animation, QuickTime™, and a serial Port 
XO bject for emulating a modem telecommuni­

i­ cations program.
e 
­ THREE COMPONENTS OF THE SYSTEM

d All three components o f the system are dis­
r­ played on the introductory screen (figure 1).

O n lin e R eso u rce links users to local and re­
n mote online databases with the click of a but­
­ ton. O nce connected, the Retriever program 

o provides a searching environment that guides 
­ students to utilize the full capabilities o f each 
r online system.
e The discipline-specific section, O nline/P rint 

R esou rces f o r  P a p ers a n d  S e n io r  P rojects in  Spe­

P a u l T. A d a lia n  Jr. is h e a d  o f  the R eferen ce D epartm ent in the R obert E. K en n edy Library a t  C alifornia 
P olytechn ic State University, San Luis Obispo; e-m ail: pad alian @ library .ca lp oly .ed u

mailto:padalian@library.calpoly.edu


Ja n u a ry  1 9 9 5 /1 1

Figure 1. In tro d u cto ry  scre e n .

cific Majors, links students to print and online Once connected, the program provides a 
searching environment that guides the begin­

i­ ning students to the beginning and advanced 
 searching features of the system, while the ex­

t perienced user can use all the quick features 
 and commands with which they are familiar.

The vtl00 screen of the database is displayed 
 (figure 3). To the right and at the bottom of the 

­ vtlOO screen are a series of buttons and help 
options. On-screen help, step-by-step instruc
tions, and advanced searching prompts can be 
selected and viewed while the host database is 

 displayed (figure 4).
t Students are encouraged to use advanced 
. features of each database. In addition, students 
t are guided to broaden or narrow a search by 
 selecting buttons labelled C a n ’t F in d  Enough 

, and F o u n d  Too Much.
. A Q u ickS earch option is also available for 
r each database that makes it simple to enter the 
 search statement along with selected search lim­

a iters and other advanced features (figure 5).
Users can print screen by screen, or save 

 the search results to a notepad. O nce results 
s are saved in the notepad, users have the 
 choice o f printing the results, forwarding the 
 results to their e-mail account, or download­

ing if the student is using the system re-

sources for every major on campus.
Sources on  Current Events a n d  G en eral L

brary In form ation  provides access to print and
online resources for writing papers on curren
event topics, and answering frequently asked
questions.

Directional information was not included on
the interface since there is a touch screen in
formation kiosk near the stations.

Online Sources
“Online Sources” (figure 2) is a simple menu
providing 11 options for the user to connec
quickly to local or remote online databases
The A bout button provides information abou
each of the databases, while descriptions give
a general overview, strengths and weaknesses
and tips on why and when they should be used

This menu interacts with Cal Poly’s gophe
server to make the initial connection. Scripting
in Macromind Director™ takes the user to 
specific screen within the database.

When a database is selected, a 3D-rendered
splash screen appears while the program i
preparing to connect. Scanned images and
graphics provide a colorful introduction to the
source.



12 /C&RL News



Ja n u a ry  1 9 9 5 /1 3

motely. Students can also save their searc
strings for later use.

The interfaces to each of these online source
can also be accessed through the disciplin
oriented section below.

Online/print resources . . .  in specific 
majors
Every major at Cal Poly is listed on this scro
window (see figure 1). This section links st
dents to print and online sources in specifi
subject disciplines. This module was designe
so students could relate to the unique inform
tion needs of their majors.

In addition to each major, the following di
ciplines were included: law, medicine, women
studies, and ethnic studies. The resources i
these fields are used extensively by student
and faculty even though there are no form
degree programs.

Once a major is selected, a colorful 3D-re
dered splash screen representing the majo
appears. After the graphic dissolves, the pr
mary screen for the major is displayed (figur
6). The name o f the major appears in a larg
bold type font at the top of the screen. Ther
are three windows. The two top windows co
tain information from which students can s
lect. The bottom empty window is a large are
to display the results from selecting options fro
one o f the top two windows.

The top left window is titled “Referenc
Sources O n .” This 
scro llin g  w indow  
provides a listing of 
information needs 
for the major. The 
information needs 
were identified by 
subject specialist li­
brarians.

Twenty or less 
categories were in­
c lu d e d  fo r m ost 
m ajors. T erm inol­
ogy used  b y  stu ­
dents and p ro fes­
sionals in the field 
was selected to de­
scribe the informa­
tion needs. Library 
terminology such as 
subject dictionaries, 
d irecto ries, hand ­
books, and manu­ Figure 2. O nline R esou rces scre e n .

h 

s 
e- 

ll 
u­
c 
d 
a­

s­
’s 
n 
s 

al 

n
r 
i­
e 
e 
e 

n­
e­
a 

m 

e 

als, etc., are not used within this window. How­
ever, these terms are used within annotations 
and introductory notes to various sections.

Once an information need is selected, a list 
of sources or a step-by-step search strategy is 
displayed.

Students can simply browse through this 
window and become bibliographically aware 
of the information needs within their field, along 
with sources that are available.

Once a relevant source is found, students 
have the option to click on the floor plan but­
ton (figure 6) to display a colorful floor plan of 
the department where the source is located. 
Moving footprints on the floor plan lead stu­
dents to the location of the source.

Students can also click on the video screen 
(figure 6) to see a QuickTime™ movie of the 
area containing the source.

Users can print information or save the re­
sults o f an entire session to a notepad for fu­
ture printing or forwarding to individual e-mail 
accounts. Floor plans can be printed, but not 
downloaded, to e-mail accounts.

The top right window is titled “Looking for 
Information In” and is also a scrolling window 
containing three different sections.

First, the H ow  to Get Started option provides 
students with basic descriptions o f the “Refer­
ence Sources On” and “Looking for Informa­
tion In” windows, and the large display win­
dow. It provides a quick overview of how each



14 /C&RL News

Figures 3 and 4. S earch  and Lim it by Date scree

subject-oriented section is structured and how
to navigate through both windows easily.

Second, A R ev iew  o f  t h e  L it e r a t u r e  gives a 
definition o f a literature review , the finished
product o f a literature review , how  the lit­
erature review  relates to stud ents’ research
through graphic images, and the steps to take 
in the review . It dem onstrates how  to find
relevant in form ation  in b o o k s , p e rio d ical
a rtic le s , g o v e r n m e n t d o c u m e n ts , s e n io r
projects, and any other literature relevant to
the discipline. Graphics are used extensively
to provide students with a visual step-by-step 
process.

The remainder o f the selections in the “Look­
ing for Information In” window are devoted to 
various types o f literature. Finding books, jour­
nal articles, newspaper articles, government
publications, and other types o f literature rel­
evant to each major is presented. Subject spe­
cialists determined the types o f literature to be 
included in this window.

n s.

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

O nce B o o k s  is selected, a brief introduc­
tory sentence about the types o f books that 
can be found within the major appears in 
the large scrolling window at the bottom 
o f the screen.

Each section (type o f literature) has a 
similar introductory sentence. This gives stu­
dents a point o f reference o f the literature 
type, and directs them to information in their 

field.
After the introductory statem ent is read, 

a click  o f the down arrow displays a screen  
d escribing Polycat, Cal Poly’s online catalog, 
along with a button that co n n ects directly to 
our OPAC. E ach online sou rce sele cte d  has 
an interface as d escribed  in O nline Sources 
ab ove. O n ce logged off, the student will re­
turn to the screen  o f his or h er m ajor (figure 
6).

A click  on the dow n arrow after Polycat 
is sele cte d  takes students to a sim ilar screen 
in tr o d u c in g  MELVYL (th e  U n iv e rs ity  o f  
C alifornia’s online catalog), w hich also has 
a button that will directly conn ect to MELVYL. 
LIBS and Hytelnet are also in the system, 
and explanations are provided about their 
usefulness.

Materials found at other libraries can be 
saved and verified in Polycat and, if not found, 
e-mailed to Cal Poly’s Interlibrary Loan and 
Document Delivery Department.



Ja n u a ry  1 9 9 5 / 1 5

The Articles section contains both print and 
online indexing and abstracting services relevant 
to the major. Print sources contain a citation 
and a summary of contents. Students can click 
the floor plan icon and/or the video screen icons 
to see the location and a video clip o f the 
source’s location. Remote online indexes are 
also listed and can be connected to in a similar 
fashion. For example, in architecture, students 
will see a number of print indexes (Art Index, 
A rchitectu ral Index, A rchitectu ral P eriod icals 
In d ex , etc.) and online sources (UnCover, 
M ag azin e In d e x , and Avery In d e x  to A rchitec­
tu ral P eriod icals, etc.).

Senior Projects and Master’s Theses (if a ma­
jor has a graduate program) are also listed. By 
clicking on either of these two categories, stu­
dents can connect to Polycat, and the search is 
already formulated to select all senior projects 
or master’s theses in the major. Then students 
are guided to narrow the results to find rel­
evant hits.

Current events and basic library 
information
This section helps students identify frequently 
requested general information such as current 
events, scholarships, resumes, graduate schools, 
book reviews, film reviews, etc. Sources include 
specific online and print tools accompanied by 
search strategies to use for the writing of a pa­
per on a current social, political, economic, or 
international topic.

REMOTE ACCESS
Current plans call for selling disks of the sys­
tem at a nominal price. Disks will include spe­
cific majors and colleges within the university, 
but will not include video clips. The XObjects 
o f Macromind Director™ will make the con­
nection to a gopher, and contain royalty-free 
run-time versions. The disks can be produced 
for both Macintosh and IBM compatibles. In 
the future, full versions on CDs o f the system 
are also planned.

Options to enhance networking capabilities 
that would facilitate higher transfer speeds of 
large multimedia files utilizing a server are also 
being explored.

SUBJECT AND MULTIMEDIA 
SPECIALISTS
Subject specialists within the Reference Depart­
ment worked on each of the discipline-specific 
sections of the interface. Reference librarians 
include: Sharon Fujitani (agriculture), Lynne 
Gamble (humanities & social sciences), Wayne 
Montgomery (computer science & human-ities), 
Gertrude O ’Neill (art & foreign languages), Lane 
Page (business), Eileen Pritchard (sciences), Jay 
Waddell (engineering), and Paul Adalian (ar­
chitecture).

Je ff Delarm, the multimedia specialist, was 
responsible for the authoring side of the project. 
He conceptualized and designed all graphical 
a s p e cts , plus im p lem en ted  all lev els o f 
interactivity and scripting.

Figure 5. Quicksearch screen.



1 6 /C&RL News

Figure 6. R eferen ce S ources On scre e n .

OTHER USE OF MACROMIND 
DIRECTOR™
Macromind Director™ is currently being used 
as the Kennedy Library’s multimedia authoring 
environment. Modules have been developed 
for a touch screen information kiosk, classroom 
multimedia presentations, CAI modules for spe­
cific online and print sources, in addition to 
the Retriever.

FUNDING
Two campus grants were received to develop 
the Retriever. The first one was a small research 
grant to study the feasibility o f such a project. 
A second grant for multimedia development 
was used to hire student assistants, and to pur­
chase hardware and software. These two grants 
combined for a total of $23,000.

Apple Computer Inc. provided us with the 
hardware (a Macintosh Ilfx) and software for 
the initial development. Apple also provided

us with an external hard drive so the Retriever 
and other multimedia projects could be dem­
onstrated easily.

The library funded the remainder o f the 
project by hiring a half-time multimedia spe­
cialist. In addition, the library purchased pro­
jection equipment and requisite hardware for 
developing classroom multimedia projects and 
an information kiosk.

We have spent only $55,000 thus far for the 
Retriever and all other multimedia projects.

Note
1. Philip J . Smith and Virginia Tiefel, “T

Information Gateway: Designing a Front-End 
Interface to Enhance Library Instruction,” R ef­
e r e n c e  S erv ices R ev iew  20:4 (1992): 37– 48; 
Susan J . Barnes, “Award Winning Mann Li­
brary Show cases Its E lectronic G atew ay ,” 
C o m p u te r s  in  L ib r a r i e s  1 3 :8  (S e p te m b e r
1993): 12+.

he 



Ja n u a ry  1 9 9 5 / 1 7