Transcript Slide 1

The ERIAL Project:
Ethnographic Research in Illinois
Academic Libraries
Andrew Asher,
Lead Project Anthropologist
Lynda Duke, Academic Outreach Librarian,
Illinois Wesleyan University
Dave Green, Associate University Librarian for
Collections and Information Services,
Northeastern Illinois University
Introduction
 Library Services and Technology Act grant,
$377,000
 Two years
 Five institutions / 27 people
Research Question
What do students actually do when they are
assigned a research project for one of their class
assignments and what are the expectations of
students, faculty and librarians of each other with
regard to this assignment?
The ERIAL Project: Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries
DePaul University
Northern
Libraries
Northeastern Illinois
University
Susan Miller
Resident Anthropologist
Dave Green
Dr. Andrew Asher,
Lead Research
Anthropologist
ERIAL Project
Manager
Coordinating
Team
Central
Libraries
University of Illinois at
Chicago
Susan Miller
Resident
Anthropologist
Dr. Andrew Asher
Resident Anthropologist
University of Illinois at
Springfield
Illinois Wesleyan University
Dr. Nancy Foster,
University of
Rochester, Project
Consultant
ERIAL Participating Universities
IWU
UIS
DePaul
UIC
NEIU
Location
Bloomington
Springfield
Chicago
Chicago
Chicago
Environment
Residential
Residential
Urban
Urban
Commuter/
Urban
Public/Private
Private
Public
Private
Public
Public
Type
Liberal Arts
Liberal Arts/
Professional
CatholicAffiliated
Research
HispanicServing
Total
Enrollment
2125
4711
24,352
25,835
12,320
Undergraduate
Enrollment
2125
2889
15,782
15,665
10,114
Graduate
Enrollment
0
1822
8570
10170
2206
IWU
UIS
DePaul
UIC
NEIU
Full-time
99%
62%
81%
92%
56%
Part-time
1%
38%
19%
8%
44%
100%
55%
79%
87%
54%
0
45%
20%
13%
35%
Enrollment
Age
24 and Under
Age 25 and
over
Unknown
11%
Gender Ratio
Male
41%
44%
45%
47%
42%
Female
59%
56%
55%
53%
56%
Black/African
American
6%
12%
8%
9%
10%
Hispanic/Latino(a)
3%
3%
12%
17%
30%
White/Caucasian
76%
74%
57%
45%
41%
Asian
4%
3%
8%
23%
11%
Unknown
5%
6%
11%
5%
7%
International
Students
6%
1%
0%
1%
0%
Transfer
Students
27
661
1534
1447
1127
Race/Ethnicity
ERIAL Graduation/Retention Rates
Graduation Rate
Transfer Out
Rate
Retention Rate
(first year, fulltime
students)
IWU
UIS
DePaul
UIC
NEIU
83%
57%
64%
48%
18%
No data
No data
25%
No data
33%
90%
67%
85%
78%
64%
ERIAL Research Participants
IWU
UIS
DePaul
UIC
NEIU
Total
Librarian Interview
9
5
10
12
12
48
Faculty Interview
15
15
14
15
15
74
Student Interview
30
34
30
18
29
141
Student Photo Journal
12
10
10
8
10
50
Student Mapping Diaries
24
N/A
N/A
N/A
10
34
Students in Web Design
Workshops
30
N/A
N/A
N/A
24
54
Faculty in Web Design
Workshops
18
N/A
N/A
N/A
20
38
Research Process
30
N/A
10
9
10
59
Student Cognitive Mapping
44
23
37
N/A
30
134
Research Paper
Retrospective
Interview
9
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
9
221
87
111
62
160
641
Total
Cognitive Map
Mapping Diary
Students' View of Research
 An inability to correctly read citations
 Little or no understanding of cataloging systems
 No organized search strategies beyond "Google-
style" any word, anywhere searches
 Poor abilities in locating and evaluating resources (of
all types).
Examples
 On a 2009 information literacy test, only 14.5% of IWU
freshmen could correctly identify four citations. 42%
answered 0 or 1 question correctly.
 “Apparently you don’t have much on Rock and Roll.”
 No information on “All-American girls professional
baseball league.”
General Observations
 Technological solutions might allow more
instructional focus on concepts
 However, these solutions are unlikely to effectively
address students' conceptual deficiencies.
 Easier information access and more robust search
capabilities compound students’ research
difficulties.
 Addressing the students' instructional needs
requires broad educational and curricular
solutions in which the library can be a key player.
Students Fail to Utilize Librarians
 Very few students seek help from librarians.
 Librarians invisible in academic world-view of IWU students
 Students do not view that librarians as possessing disciplinary
expertise.
“I always assume librarians are busy doing library stuff and it’s just not
the first thing that pops into my head when I think of a librarian, like
helping with papers or paper writing.”
 The confusion about what librarians do hinders students from asking
questions and obtaining the help they need.
“I don’t know where the librarians here are. There’s someone that sits at
the information desk, and I don’t know if he’s a librarian. . . But I would
never go to their office and knock on their door and say, ‘help me out’
which just makes me feel bad.”
Student/Librarian Relationships
 Students worry about being judged for asking
"stupid" questions.
 Students who had developed a relationship with a
librarian reported high levels of satisfaction with
the help provided
 Students who participated in instruction sessions
with a librarian had markedly better research
skills than those who had not
“I understand that [librarians] are not magicians or
something, but sometimes they seem like it.”
The Role of Professors
 Professors often play a key role in brokering this
relationship between students and librarians.
 Students view professors as experts, and when the
professor specifically recommends a librarian they highly
value this advice.
 Professors act as gatekeepers who mediate when and how
students get in touch with librarian as they are working on
research assignments.
 Given librarians' structural placement as marginal to
students' academic world, librarians can not effectively
address these needs without active participation from
teaching faculty.
IWU Project Goals
 Understand students’ research processes
 Role academic libraries and librarians play
 Adjust library resources and services
Changes Implemented / Planned
 Library / faculty relationships
 Teaching Information literacy / research skills
 Website / tools of scholarship
 Student assistant training
 Library Space
 Outreach activities
Project Management, Logistics
and Collaboration
Before the beginning…
Collaboration
among Libraries
Collaboration
among 5 ERIAL Libraries
Collaboration
among ERIAL Participants on Research
Logistics
Centralized Administrative Structure
Logistics
Communication Structure
Phone
4 Meetings per month
29 Regularly Scheduled Meetings Each Month
Logistics
Communication Structure
 Communication as needed
 BaseCamp by 37 Signals
 Dropbox
X
 Phone
Logistics
Communication Structure
 Communication tool not utilized
X
Project Management
 ERIAL Administration
 ERIAL Research
 ERIAL Local Projects
The ERIAL Project:
Ethnographic Research in Illinois
Academic Libraries
For more information:
www.iwu.edu/library/ERIAL
A. Asher: [email protected]
L. Duke: [email protected]
D. Green: [email protected]