1. 1 The Gateway to Information: Simplifying Access to Library Resources Fred Roecker Head Instruction The Ohio State University Libraries roecker.1@osu.edu

2. 2 Today’s presentation  Ohio State University environment  Library Instruction Program  Development of The Gateway  Future  Questions

3. 3 Ohio State People  40,000 undergraduates  10,000 graduates  7,000 faculty/administrators  70 faculty librarians

4. 4 Print and Online Resources 6 million print volumes6 million print volumes 30,000 periodical titles30,000 periodical titles 350+ online databases350+ online databases

5. 5 Ohio State Libraries 23 library buildings on campus ArchitectureArchives Business Biological Sciences and Cartoons Pharmacy Fine Arts Food, Agriculture, and Geology Environmental Sciences Journalism Health Sciences Music and Dance Law Rare BooksScience and Engineering Theater ResearchVeterinary Medicine

6. 6 Language Collections East Asian Studies (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) Eastern European and Slavic Latin American, Spanish, & Portuguese Middle East Studies Western Languages ( French, German, Greek, Italian, Latin, etc.)

7. 7 Research Can Be Challenging  Many possible starting points  Difficult to identify and locate relevant tools  Time-consuming  Not sure where to get Help

8. 8 Information in Many Formats  Print (books, journals, newspapers)  Online (database, e-journals, e-text)  Web site (HTML format) Very confusing to students

9. 9 Help - Library Instruction Office Each year over 24,000 students participate in:  In-Class instruction  Workshops  Library Tours  Online courses At least 26,000 receive no formal instruction

10. 10 Help - Libraries’ Web Site Does not help students understand where to find the best resources

11. 11 Research Strategy Diagram Background Information Background Information Articles Books Words Quick Facts & Statistics Quick Facts & Statistics People Opinions & Reviews Opinions & Reviews Further Research Further Research Students should find information from each area

12. 12 Creating The Gateway to Info Goals: 1. Help students identify, locate, evaluate, and search important print, online, and Web resources on their topics following a search strategy 2.Help students become successful, independent information users [without help from librarian]

13. 13 Began in 1989 Funded by grants ($500,000 US) Programmed in Macintosh HyperCard Common search interface for:  online catalog  CD-ROMs Helped users evaluate resources

14. 14 The Gateway today Database of 1,000 titles resources  66 subjects  Selected by librarians  Follows a search strategy  Abstracts describe contents  Linked to online access or catalog record

15. 15 Follows the Search Strategy 1.Background Information 2.Words and Definitions 3.Articles 4.Books 5.Quick Facts and Statistics 6.People 7.Organizations and Directories 8.Reviews and Opinions 9.Libraries and Reference Help 10.Other Web Sites

16. 16 Demo of The Gateway [Link to The Gateway] library.osu.edu/sites/thegateway

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24. 24 [Find articles]

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28. 28 [Find books]

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34. 34 The Gateway Database  Uses free software  PirateSource (East Carolina University) web.lib.ecu.edu/piratesource/

35. 35 The Gateway Database  Over 1,000 resources  Other titles easy to add or update  Uses free software  PirateSource (East Carolina University) Create a new title

36. 36 The Gateway Database  Over 1,000 resources  Other titles easy to add or update  Uses free software  PirateSource (East Carolina University) Create a new title

37. 37 Link to The Gateway

38. 38 Usage 1,400 hits per month 18 th most visited site on Libraries’ server Used in student instruction sessions Easy way to find information for research papers Updated by Instruction Office Suggestions from users and librarians

39. 39 Future Expand and update database Publicize to students Make available on online course pages

40. 40 Web Sites OSU Libraries’ Web site library.osu.edu/ The Gateway to Information library.osu.edu/sites/thegateway/ PirateSource - (East Carolina University) web.lib.ecu.edu/piratesource/

41. 41 Contact me Fred Roecker Head, Library Instruction The Ohio State University 120N Mason Hall 250 West Woodruff Road Columbus, OH 43210 (614) 292-5172 roecker.1@osu.edu

42. 42 Thanks for Coming! Questions?