Skip to main content

Libraries and Student Success


 By Angela Naranjo 

    Many academic libraries have LibGuides that focus on “point-of-need research,” that help guide students through using the databases and properly citing your research (Burchfield and Possinger 2). These LibGuides have easy to read step-by-step instructions on how to plan your research and use the databases to find peer reviewed works with proper evidence, other forms of LibGuides help with citing your found article correctly in the format needed. These LibGuides are created by librarians and are created to focus student success and guide them in making the research process easier. 

Although these LibGuides have been created for students to have an easier time doing their research, statistics have shown that librarians who are subject specialists in their areas may not have all the necessary skills to translate their knowledge in ways students can understand (Burchfield and Possinger 2). In order for more student success with LibGuides, it's important to take into account the needs of the students and their learning patterns. Some common problems with the style of LibGuides that students find hard to understand are the terms and phrases used, organization, and too much information. Research has shown that many students are not attracted to guides that have too much information and don’t get to the point, leading to many students using online guides to not bother scrolling to the bottom of the page (Burchfield and Possinger 3). 

  One of the best solutions brought up by students for student success with LibGuides is proposing a template that “ensures the use of standardized language for labeling guide content and tabs” (Burchfield and Possinger 3). This ensures that the organization of the LibGuide is easy to understand and the language is simple enough to follow and feel comfortable enough to continue reading through. Lee University conducted a study using the template method and found that students felt more successful using LibGuides organized this way because they felt more confident going through the research steps and writing their citations (Burchfield and Possinger 11). Student success concerning LibGuides can be achieved by listening to the students' needs and allowing them to have a say in the way they learn. 




Burchfield, Julie, and Maggie Possinger. “Managing Your Library’s LibGuides: Conducting A Usability Study to Determine Student Preference for LibGuide Design.” Information Technology & Libraries, vol. 42, no. 4, Dec. 2023, pp. 1–18. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ezproxy.palomar.edu/10.5860/ital.v42i4.16473.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Post

Favicon

 Hello, my name is Michelle and though this is my first blog that I've worked on, I consider myself tech savvy and hope to share some tech knowledge here.  My first contribution to this blog is the addition of a favicon to distinguish ours from other Blogger blogs. A favicon is also known as a tab icon, URL icon, bookmark icon, etc, and is visible on the browser tab for the webpage.  In making this change, I also learned a valuable tip. At first when I was attempting to change the icon, the change was not visible. I learned that to force refresh a website and show changes that were made, I had to press Ctrl + F5. 
2 comments
Read more

Slow Decline of Staffing in School Libraries (LT130, Teaching Others to Use Technology, KGaines)

  The Slow Decline of Staff in School Libraries When you think back to your early days in the library, what do you remember?  Some people might remember cozy storytime on the carpet, while others can recall being shushed by the librarian for being too loud.   However, what most people remember is learning how to use the library, most often by library staff either at the public library or their school library.  With that knowledge, the library opened up with infinite information - whether how to find just the right book, write a school paper, use a computer or the latest technology.  But what happens when library staff is sparse due to funding or other issues - who will teach the children how to access the library? According to the National Center for Education Statistics, employment of school librarians has decreased by 20% since the 2009-2010 school year (Maughan 38).  In the 2021-2022 school year, over 7 million students did not have a school librari...
1 comment
Read more