Session Title: Empowering Students: Incorporating Library Resources in the CMS
Time & Date: 2:00 P.M. – 2:55 P.M., Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Location: Rm. 185, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre (IKBLC)
Session Description: Like the rest of society, students want resources to be “right at their fingertips”. Course Management Systems (CMS) bring together resources, such as course outlines, online quizzes, discussion forums, PowerPoint lecture slides, et cetera, that students need for their programs. Why not also include library resources, thereby giving students the tools they need to be successful in their courses and programs?
York University was in the process of migrating from WebCT to a new open source Course Management System called Moodle. This transition provided the perfect opportunity for collaboration between the Centre for the Support of Teaching and the E-learning librarian, and for the E-learning librarian to embed library resources into the CMS. By taking advantage of the features inherent in the CMS, it was possible for York librarians to access new communication tools (discussion forums, calendars, announcements), and new assessment tools (quizzes, surveys), and to craft, and promote information literacy resources for York students.
The project was subdivided into three stages. The first stage involved creating a library information box on the Moodle home page, which all students would see as soon as they logged in. The second stage involved creating a library course, which brought together the library’s online tutorials, including several Camtasia videos, and library resources such as chat reference. The third stage was to work collaboratively with faculty, as well as liaison librarians, to provide subject specific library information in the faculty’s Moodle courses. Challenges and successes at each stage will be discussed and examples will be provided. General survey data as well as access data was collected and the results will be discussed.
Type: Extending the CMS
Presentation Format: Paper Jam
Presenter: Sarah Coysh
Presenter Bio: Sarah Coysh is the E-learning Librarian for all five libraries at York University. Her research interests include online learning and emerging technologies.
