Library Research Guides and the Learning Environment: Go Big or Go Home

Abstract

In Fall 2016, librarians at Indiana University Bloomington and Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis undertook a pilot project to embed course-specific library research guides directly into Canvas course sites. With help from partners at IU's Information Technology division, we were able to install a software tool that uses metadata to connect course and research guides within the navigation menu of a Canvas course. This increased ability to seamlessly present expert research help, library services, and resources (both subscription-based and open educational content) within a learning ecosystem where students and faculty already operate, presented a wonderful opportunity to make this content discoverable. More importantly, integrating library content and research help directly into the LMS itself has promoted greater collaboration among librarians, students, and faculty, and allowed librarians to create a more customized learning environment for students to enhance their learning experience. In this session we will present results from our eight-month pilot, including faculty and student responses to these learning modules, as well as usage data. We will also discuss how this project enables libraries to provide both a consistent user interface and high-quality scholarly content to all students and faculty. Finally, our project presents a compelling opportunity for a more unified approach to information access needs not only across the entire Indiana University system, but among all Unizin institutions.