1. Course Views A Scalable Project to Connect Students to Library Resources Kim Duckett and Tito Sierra NCSU Libraries Educause 2007 Conference October 26, 2007

2. Outline Challenges for Libraries Reaching Out to Students Online Library Content for Courses Course Views at NCSU Future Work

3. Challenges

4. Library websites are overwhelming

5. Challenges Library websites are overwhelming Information resources are often unfamiliar

6. Challenges Library websites are overwhelming Information resources are often unfamiliar Librarians tend to focus on: Disciplines / subjects Resource types

7. Challenges Library websites are overwhelming Information resources are often unfamiliar Librarians tend to focus on: Disciplines / subjects Resource types Integration into learning management systems is difficult

8. Library Content for Courses

9. Course Pages / Guides Tailored to specific courses Student experience is course-centric “I’m taking X, Y, Z courses” Offers a scaled-down entry to the library Can be linked into course websites

10. Example 1

11. Example 2

12. Example 3

13. Example 4

14. Benefit: Assignment-centric

15. Problem: Not Holistic

16. Benefit: Highly Customized

18. Problem: High Production Costs

19. Problem: Limited Reach

20. Problem: Inconsistent Design

22. Course Pages Summary Course-centric pages have potential Scalability is a challenge Course pages need to be more multifaceted

23. Course Views at NCSU

24. Project Overview Collaborative effort between Research and Information Services, and Digital Library Initiatives departments at NCSU Homegrown system in development Initial release slated for Summer 2008

25. Course View Definition “A course-centric portal composed of student-centric widgets designed to connect students to library resources”

31. Project Goals

32. 1.A Course View for every course

33. Project Goals 1.A Course View for every course 2.A scalable and sustainable system for library course content delivery

34. Project Goals 1.A Course View for every course 2.A scalable and sustainable system for library course content delivery 3.Library content customized as much as possible to the course

35. Example Course View 1

37. Widgets Static Ubersearch Find Books Citation Tools Project Tools Ask a Librarian Dynamic Course Reserves Find Articles (subject database recommendations) Librarian Recommended

38. Widget Selection Process 1.Content inventory of existing library course pages

39. Widget Selection Process 1.Content inventory of existing library course pages 2.Brainstorm new content

40. Widget Selection Process 1.Content inventory of existing library course pages 2.Brainstorm new content 3.Fifteen candidate widgets

41. Widget Selection Process 1.Content inventory of existing library course pages 2.Brainstorm new content 3.Fifteen candidate widgets 4.Three focus groups with students

42. Widget Selection Process 1.Content inventory of existing library course pages 2.Brainstorm new content 3.Fifteen candidate widgets 4.Three focus groups with students 5.Eight finalists for pilot launch

43. Example Course View 2

44. Static Widgets

45. Static Widget Example

46. Dynamic Widgets Customized content based on existing institutional course identifiers. NC State example: ENG 221 ‘ENG’ = curriculum code ‘221’ = course number ‘ENG 221’ = full course identifier

47. http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/course/ENG/221

49. Customization Options Curriculum level Customized content is shared across all courses in the same department Easier to manage but less customized Approximately 150 curriculums at NC State Course level Customized content is tailored to a specific course More customized but more work to create and maintain Approximately 5000 courses at NC State

50. Dynamic Widgets - Curriculum

51. Find Articles 1

52. Find Articles 2

53. Find Articles Curriculum-level customization Specialized article database recommendations Leverages existing mapping between library subjects and curriculum codes

54. Librarian Recommended 1

58. Dynamic Widgets - Course

59. Librarian Recommended 2

62. Access Points Learning management system(s) Library website Other online course environments Non-LMS course websites Wikis and blogs

63. Learning Mgmt. System

65. Library Website

69. Course Wiki

72. Summary of Benefits Course Views for all courses = significantly increased potential reach

73. Summary of Benefits Course Views for all courses = significantly increased potential reach Widget model allows the overall system to grow and evolve over time

74. Summary of Benefits Course Views for all courses = significantly increased potential reach Widget model allows the overall system to grow and evolve over time Course identifiers provide versatility and scalability in content customization

75. Future Work

76. Short Term Continue curriculum content creation Finish application programming Pilot launch, summer 2008

77. Medium Term Usage statistics analysis Most used widgets Usage by curricula, college Investigate automated LMS linking

78. Long Term Facilitate deep integration of library content outside the library website

79. Starting Here

80. Going Here

83. More Information Project Page: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/dli/projects/courseviews/ Kim Duckett Principal Librarian for Digital Technologies and Learning Research and Information Services NCSU Libraries kim_duckett@ncsu.edu Tito Sierra Assistant Head for Digital Library Development Digital Library Initiatives NCSU Libraries tito_sierra@ncsu.edu