How Students Virtually Approach the Library
NELIG Annual Program 2013Kendall Hobbs
Reference/Instruction LibrarianWesleyan University
Discovery Tools
• Single “Google-like” search box to search most/all library content
• We tested: – WorldCat– Summon– EBSCO – Primo
The Study
• Students who recently completed a paper/project requiring sources beyond assigned materials
• “Briefly show and explain how you found resources for that assignment”
• “Use the four candidate discovery tools to search for your topic”
• Recorded with BB Flashback Express (from Blueberry Software)
Summary of Findings
• Tools started to look more similar than different
• No strong consensus on favorites or ranking.• Similar patterns in doing research and using
tools
General Search Strategies
• Basic keyword searches, then modify with facets, other terms, etc.
• Mostly articles, maybe some books• Abstracts • Fewer clicks are better• Rarely go past first page or two of results
Using Discovery Tools
• Good general understanding of facets, but vague on details
• Favorite facets: full text, scholarly/peer-reviewed
• They go with default settings
Wesleyan’s Current Home Page
WorldCat (Trinity College)
Summon (UConn)
Summon’s Subject Facets
EBSCO (U of Georgia)
Primo (Northwestern)
How Do We Teach This?
• Is “good enough” too easy?• From “how to search” to “how to evaluate
search results”• Discovery tool vs. subject indexes/databases• Does it really make much of a difference? • Rethink information literacy standards?
Some Common Concerns
• Is this “dumbing down” research?• Can we trust the process/results?• Future– Information scarcity– Information overload– ?