New Student Library Orientation: Comparing Programs Within Oregon, Washington

1
New Student Library Orientation Comparing
Programs Within Oregon, Washington Beyond

• John Repplinger
• Science Librarian, Willamette University

OLA 2009
2
Where This All Began

• Begin responsibility (2004)
• Inherit spot in campus orientation
• Observe tours as non-participant (2008)
• Average evaluation (ranked with other campus
  events)
• What are other libraries doing? (fun alternative
  methods)
• No comprehensive survey of all Summit instit.

3
Goal of Survey

• 18 Survey Questions - (Questions are designed
  to be vague)
• Compare 36 Orbis Cascade Alliance institutions
  (46 libraries surveyed)
• Snapshot of orientations
• Capture broad picture
• Gauge activities of institutions
• Borrow good ideas
• Share results

4
Orientation Defined

• They introduce
• Physical facilities of building
• Departments, service desks appropriate staff
• Specific services(e.g. reference or interlibrary
  loan)
• How collections are organized(e.g. reduce
  anxiety about locating materials)
• Encourage return visits
• Foster helpful friendly atmosphere
• (Source Instruction as a Reference Service, pg
  154-5, chapter 6. What is instruction?)

5
Tours vs. Library Instruction
Focus
TOURS
LIBRARY INSTRUCTION

• Short amount of time (under 30 minutes)
• Just the basics (intro) - Begin awareness
  familiarity- Basic resource available to them

• Longer amount of time (over 30 minutes)
• In-depth coverage (teaching) - How to find
  resources- How to use resources

6
Why Is Orientation Important?

• Negative Points
• Time investment (campus, library, student)
• Effort coordinating activities
• Costs (gifts student workers)
• Increased foot traffic
• Resources used by orientation (taken away from
  library users)

7
Why Is Orientation Important?

• Positive Points
• Build relationships with students
• Catch new students early
• Showcase gem of campus
• Introduce services, staff facilities
• Awareness of specific policies

8
Survey Expectations

• Different interpretations of orientations
• Some orientation type at all institutions
• Attendance problems
• Few attend voluntary programs
• Dont reach students that avoid the library
• Too many attend if mandatory
• Growing interest in virtual activities

9
Survey Topics Covered

• Orientation for New Students
• Types of Activities
• Types of Resources
• Campus Orientation Inclusion
• In Existing Classes
• Time of Orientation
• Info Overload

• Virtual Activities
• Involvement (voluntary vs. mandatory)
• Objectives of Program
• Type of Content Covered
• Problems of Program
• Evaluation Continuation

(Survey questions at end of presentation)
10
Libraries Without General Orientation
Any Guesses?
13 Libraries without general orientations

• Central Washington University
• Clark College
• Eastern Washington University
• George Fox University
• Linfield College (McMinnville)
• Marylhurst University
• Mt. Hood Community College
• Portland Community College
• Seattle Pacific University
• Seattle University
• University of Washington (Bothell)
• Warner Pacific College
• Washington State University (Pullman)

11
Reasons For No Orientations

• Reasons (thirteen libraries)
• Part of required/non-required classes (x7)
• No orientations (x6 libraries)
• Schedule conflicts (orientation staff)
• Lack campus admin. Support
• Not enough staff

Why?
12
Activities Resources (All libraries)

• Note Some libraries have multiple activities
• Basic orientation (tours)
• Voluntary (x20)
• Required (x8)
• Info Table/Open House (x8)
• Gifts Incentives (x7)
• Contests (x7)
• Pamphlets Fliers (x4)
• Passwords (x2)
• PowerPoint Present. (x2)

13
Activities Included in Campus Orientation?

• Most are incorporated into larger campus
  orientation (x8 are not)
• Arrangement may be out of choice- In key courses
  already- Too much work for the end results
• May reflect lack campus admin. support - Want
  library to be included, but always excluded

14
Able to Hit the Same Community

• Is the library integrated within classes?
• 61 Are not integrated
• 39 Are integrated
• Includes required non-required classes
• Consistently hit same classes
• Mostly writing courses
• Classes that inconsistently include the library
  were grouped with Not in Curricula group.

15
Integration within Curricula

• In classes, no
• general orientation

Not in curricula. No orientations
In classes, AND still give general orientation
(tours)
Not in curricula. But provide General
orientations
16
Timing of Orientations

• When does the orientation take place?

• 4 Weeks or Longer
• Varies (x5)
• Second Semester (x1)
• Much later in their academic career! (x1)

17
Virtual Activities

• Half with virtual activities!- Several expressed
  interest
• Most are voluntary virtual activities(x18)
• Few required activities(x4)
• Primarily tutorials
• Some competitions (e.g. Photo booth, scavenger
  hunt, Jeopardy)

18
Virtual Activities

• BENEFITS
• Reach more people
• Target specific groups
• Not confined by time (24/7 access)
• Learn at own pace
• More dynamic (fun AND educational)
• E.g. CLIP tutorials http//clip-il.wetpaint.com/?
  tanon
• DRAWBACKS
• Not physically in building
• No face to face interaction
• Turn off students if not designed well
• Inaccurate or out of date info

19
Getting Students to Attend?
Guess the of Voluntary Activities?

• Majority are voluntary activities (x33)
• Rely on good will of students faculty
• Mostly large institutions
• Some mixed voluntary mandatory activities
• Require participation (x13)
• Primarily part of required course
• Mostly small institutions

20
Goals, Content Evaluations

• Goals of Most Libraries
• Intro to the physical layout of library
• Intro to library web site
• Intro to library catalog
• Intro to key databases
• Intro to key staff welcoming staff
  environment
• Evaluations
• 52 No Evaluations
• 24 Attendees Comments
• 13 Course Evaluations
• 7 Attendees Course Evaluations
• 4 Formal Surveys
• 4 Developing Evaluation Process
• Other Student portfolios, program difficulty
  level

21
Willamette University Evaluations

2008 Poor1 2 Average3 4 Excellent5
Check In/Settling In Checklist 0 2 43 73 56
Student Athlete Parent Orientation 0 0 12 19 15
Welcome Opening Program 0 1 22 95 61
Opening Days Picnic 0 4 32 95 42
Residence Life at Willamette 1 3 26 78 51
Opening Convocation 0 3 11 64 92
New Student Employment Fair 2 10 35 28 12
Matriculation 0 3 20 87 64
WU Night Out 0 5 33 59 56
Willamette Dinners 1 1 37 58 76
OD Group Night 1 3 27 67 70
Interdenominational Worship Service 1 2 4 6 5
Grass Volleyball Tournament 0 4 12 41 74
Straight Talk 2 4 14 67 90
Library Orientation Session 2 20 65 52 12
Campus Tour 2 12 38 50 13
Decades Dance 3 9 36 50 33
22
Willamette Assessed Over Time

• Student perception of library orientation

Percent Poor1   Average3   Excellent5 Total Responses
1997 4 8 31 37 19 89
1998 5 5 34 27 29 59
1999 1 22 28 41 8 156
2000 5 24 31 35 5 243
2001 3 19 28 46 3 149
2002 3 21 22 47 8 111
2003 5 17 25 45 8 204
2004 1 7 25 60 7 183
2005 2 24 26 39 9 135
2006 1 17 28 44 10 134
2007 5 10 28 50 7 88
2008 1 11 36 29 7 179
Evaluation scales changed in 1999 2008. Evaluation scales changed in 1999 2008. Evaluation scales changed in 1999 2008. Evaluation scales changed in 1999 2008. Evaluation scales changed in 1999 2008.
23
Same Techniques in the Future
Guesses?

• Similar program in near future (x36)- Keep it
  simple- Focus on basics - Not broke, dont fix
  it
• Add elements (x6) - Virtual activities- Less
  scholarly - Scavenger hunts- Games
• Programs are changing (x4)
• Will see what happens

24
Libraries Beyond the Alliance

• 2004 Oberlin Group survey
• Similar findings
• Integrate into key courses
• Move away from traditional tours
• Several alternatives Poker, root beer floats,
  audio-tour, treasure hunts, raffles, Wheel of
  Fortune, Jeopardy, house advisors, Tag Team with
  ID Cards

25
Discussion

• No correct way. Many options
• Several libraries have no orientations
• Attendance is a challenge (except if required)
• Larger institutions encourage voluntary
  activities
• Push towards complimentary virtual orientations
• Moving towards Just-in-time vs. Just-in-case
• How does library orientation effect student usage
  of the library?

26
Group Discussion Question

• How does library orientation effect student
  usage of the library?
• Thank you for attending!
• John Repplinger
• Science Librarian
• Willamette University
• jrepplin_at_willamette.edu
• http//www.willamette.edu/jrepplin/orientation_20
  09.ppt

27
Questionnaire
Most institutions have some degree of
orientation to introduce the physical facilities
of the library, specific services or departments,
collections, and more. These orientations have a
wide range of outreach, and are often as
different as each institution. The purpose of
these questions is to take a snap shot of what is
currently being done by libraries in the Orbis
Cascade Alliance, and to gauge what other
institutions are doing for new incoming students.
The questions are sometimes vague in order to get
an overall look at how orientation at your
institution functions.
10. How do you get the students to
participate in the orientation activities? Is it
a mandatory group or individual activity, or is
it voluntarily?11. What are your objectives for
the orientation?12. What content do you
cover?13. What kind of problems have you
encountered with your program?14. How do you
evaluate the success of the program? How would
you evaluate your current program's success?15.
Have you tried other orientation methods? Why did
the method change?16. Do you plan on using the
same orientation/training techniques in the near
future (e.g. next year or two)?17. If not, what
do you plan on changing and why?18. How do you
deal with information overload of students? (E.g.
Too much info during the first week from various
campus entities, and too much info given to
students by the library)

• 1. Does your library provide any
  orientation for incoming students?2. If there
  aren't any orientation/training activities, are
  there reasons why?3. What activities or
  resources does your library provide that are
  geared towards incoming students to orient them
  to the library? (E.g. Tours, sessions/booths,
  virtual activities, fliers by email or postal
  mail, gifts, required class, etc.)4. Is the
  library orientation integrated into a larger
  institutional orientation?5. Do you have an
  established time slot within existing curricula
  (e.g. a new student seminar/course/class)?6. If
  there is a seminar/course/class that the library
  orientation/training is integrated into, how is
  the orientation/training integrated?7. When
  does the orientation take place? (E.g. Before
  classes begin, the first week of class, during
  the first term/semester, etc.)8. Are these
  activities primarily educational, entertainment,
  or a combination?
• 9. Do you have any virtual activities,
  such as raffles, scavenger hunts, or online
  tutorials? And are these activities voluntary or
  mandatory?

28

• End of slide show