Best of Core Forum: Can't Find It, Build Your Own

How do we share information and procedures related to acquisitions? We have documents, workshops, dedicated time in meetings in person or Zoom, but is there a better way to provide information and training while freeing up future time? While training can be time intensive, it is a necessity; what if we transition to self-service modules that can be used as a refresher at any time? Our information literacy colleagues have seen success developing asynchronous learning objects that can be slotted into classes, which can free them up to focus on more complex teaching and research. This team of presenters is made up of an acquisitions librarian partnered with an instruction librarian who has experience in the creation of asynchronous content to develop acquisitions based training modules. They identified a platform and used existing training and documentation to scaffold a selection of topics that were aimed at two user groups, Selectors and Acquisitions Staff. Topics covered include understanding the selection interface (GOBI) & searching, selecting, and evaluating items. The modules are highly multimodal—a mix of written descriptions, videos, activities, and games—to keep the material engaging and reinforce topics, while grouping similar concepts to allow for replayability and reinforcement. The presenters will demonstrate and share how they built their modules, their preliminary assessment data, and where they plan to go next.

This webinar was previously presented in-person as a session at the 2023 Core Forum. We are hosting this webinar, with the session adapted and presented live as a virtual event, to extend its reach.

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this webinar, attendees will be able to:

Who Should Attend: This is beginner level content, but can be of use at the intermediate level as well. Acquisitions departments staff will benefit. Attendees are also encouraged to consider areas outside Tech Services where this type of asynchronous training implementation could be useful.

Presenters:

Cara Calabrese is the Acquisitions & Access Librarian at Miami University Libraries. She received her MLIS from Florida State University in 2015 and began her librarian career as a Resident Librarian in Technical Services. She has worked in various areas of Technical Services, but recently has focused on acquisitions and electronic resources. She currently serves as the Chair of the ALA Core Budget and Finance Committee, and Technical Services and Systems Committee.

Ginny Boehme is the Science Librarian for Miami University Libraries and a past co-chair for the Library Gaming Knights Committee. She has previously taught a first-year research experience course on museological research and exhibit design, and is currently serving as a member of the editorial team for an upcoming special issue on Science Librarianship and Social Justice for the journal Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship.