Felicia Barrett, MLS University of Illinois at Chicago Library of the Health Sciences - Rockford 1

Library instruction is one of the most important services provided by librarians. Traditional hands- on sessions in a computer laboratory is still an effective and common method of teaching. Many library users prefer this type of learning environment. 2

Provide an opportunity for library users to develop a habit of coming into the library every fourth Wednesday to learn a new online database. 3

Library of the Health Sciences – Rockford serving faculty, students and staff of the University of Illinois College of Medicine - Rockford  707 faculty (full-time, part-time and volunteer)  217 staff (full-time and part-time)  155 medical students  30 family medicine residents  40 nursing students 4

A schedule of classes was developed and implemented. Training sessions on different online database were offered on the fourth Wednesday of the month. The sessions were advertised by displaying flyers and distributing s throughout the month highlighting the database-of- the-month. 5

January 24, 2007Access Medicine February 28, 2007Clinical Pharmacology March 28, 2007Research Tools and You April 25, UIC May 23, 2007RefWorks June 27, 2007No Class July 25, 2007PIER and Up-To-Date August 22, 2007First Consult and MD Consult September 26, 2007 CINAHL Plus and Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition October 24, 2007EMBASE November 28, UIC December 26, 2007No Class 6

January 23, 2008QUICsearch and SUMSearch February 27, 2008RefWorks March 26, 2008Discover Your Health Sciences Databases April 23, 2008 PsycINFO, PsycArticles & Psychology May 28, 2008Clinical Pharmacology June 25, 2008No Class July 23, 2008No Class August 27, 2008Consumer Health September 24, UIC October 22, 2008CINAHL Plus November 26, 2008Access Surgery December 24, 2008No Class 7

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The database training sessions were initially offered four times a day. This was done to discover when it was most convenient for our library users to attend. Over the next several months the times and attendance of the classes were reviewed It was decided that 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM were the best times to hold training sessions. 9

Best attendance at first session with 18 participants EMBASE database had the second best attendance with 14 participants Average class attendance was 7 participants Classes with worst attendance of 2 participants included Up To Date and PIER Attendance varied each month 10

Library instruction is needed today more than ever because of the multitude of databases available. Offering face to face sessions regularly provided an opportunity to make a habit of coming into the library to learn information seeking skills. Attendance varied from month to month and from database to database, but one advantage included increased visibility of the library as each month a new and flyer was distributed. 11

 Alimohammadi, D. and Sajjadi, M. Library instruction: past lessons, future plans Library Philosophy and Practice Vol. 9(1):1-4 Fall 2006  Dalrymple, C. Perceptions and practices of learning styles in library instruction College & Research Libraries Vol. 63(3): May 2002  Hollister, C.V. and Coe, J. Current trends vs. traditional models: librarians’ views on the methods of library instruction College & Undergraduate Libraries Vol. 10(2):