AOP Summer Library Research Academy, Milne Library: 2016 LIRT Innovation in Instruction Award Winning Program

Originality

Milne Librarians are embedded in a four-week summer course, and we collaborate with faculty to build on the prior knowledge of new college students. The entire library is involved as we provide students with structured individual and group opportunities to build skills and confidence in many areas; we include the integration of technologies into our instruction to improve students' information and digital literacy. The Academy culminates in a unique poster session during which the new college first-year students speak at length with faculty and administrators about their summer research.

Building Research, Writing, and Presentation Skills

• Choosing appropriate research databases, tools, and technologies
• Using advanced database searching techniques
• Accessing sources online, in the library, and via interlibrary loan
• Navigating the Library; meeting and asking for help from the entire library staff
• Critically evaluating sources
• Distinguishing between scholarly and popular sources
• Refining research topics for appropriate assignment scope and length
• Writing papers and annotated bibliographies
• Citing sources
• Using Google Docs to share research with a team of writers
• Using Padlets to better understand complex ideas
• Presenting relevant research findings during a poster session
• Engaging professors in discussion using effective rhetorical techniques

Developing Study Habits, Coping Skills, and Social Engagement

• Becoming familiar with the Center for Academic Excellence (CAE), a one-stop service for their subject tutoring, writing, and research needs
• Scheduling daily study time
• Collaborating with peers
• Communicating successfully with college professors
• Asking for help from appropriate college professionals
• Practicing social and civic engagement in an academic setting
• Preparing to participate in our college's undergraduate research tradition, G.R.E.A.T. Day (Geneseo Recognizing Excellence, Achievement, & Talent Day), held every Spring semester

A post-summer 2014 survey gave us much evidence that the students learned valuable lessons about academic work during their summer project. When talking to faculty during and after the poster session, their comments confirmed they were impressed by the students’ levels of achievement.

Classroom Assessment (throughout the four weeks)

• Scavenger hunt findings
• In-class source evaluation exercise
• Collaborative Google Doc to organize their working annotated bibliography
• Librarians provide feedback using the Google Doc
• Research paper and poster session attended by college faculty, staff, and administration (students’ interaction with the attendees is observed by the librarians, who then coordinate with the INTD 170 instructors to confirm a grade for each student)

Program Assessment (throughout the academic year)

• Collecting student data by logging user interactions with various library services (reference, library instruction, circulation, and use of interlibrary loan)
• Working with our institutional research office to analyze the data. Our current statistics show that AOP students are more likely to become frequent users of library services compared to their undergraduate peers, suggesting that participation in the program has an impact on library usage.
• Using methods similar to those outlined by Nackerud, Fransen, Peterson, and Mastel's 2013 study, we assess the potential impacts of our program on participating students, correlating use of library services with measures of student success (e.g., retention, grades, graduation rates).
• Survey administered to students in Fall 2014, two months after completion of the summer program (see blue callouts on this page for quotes from the survey)

• In the survey mentioned above, all 26 of the respondents stated that they felt more comfortable and more confident using the library’s resources after the summer program.
• 24 students said they have used the skills learned during the summer in their classes (Fall 2014).
• 13 reported that they had already consulted a librarian one month after the start of their academic career.

• Feedback from librarians involved with the program reveal that they build long-lasting relationships with the students.

These librarians have taught and/or planned instruction sessions in Milne Library's AOP Summer Library Research Academy in the last few years: Sue Ann Brainard, Daniel Ross, Michelle Costello, Bonnie Swoger, Tracy Paradis, Kim Hoffman, Justina Elmore, and Sherry Larson-Rhodes.

We'd also like to thank the following individuals:  Interim Director Kate Pitcher and the rest of the staff of Milne Library; the staff of SUNY Geneseo's Access Opportunity Programs, especially Gabe Iturbides and former director Calvin Gantt for fostering collaboration with Milne librarians; Ronny Tsang and the other INTD 170 instructors; and the many Geneseo faculty members who come to the poster session every summer to welcome and engage with the Academy students.

Reproducibility

The presence of a similar summer bridge program for incoming TRIO students will most likely be the biggest determining factor as to whether or not a similar library instruction program can be implemented at your institution.

The current iteration of the AOP Summer Library Research Academy, designed and taught by librarians from the Milne Library, consists of one session per week over the course of four weeks, and is based around the following activities, competencies, and assignments:

• A themed scavenger hunt to familiarize students with the library’s layout and resources (past themes have included Mythbusters, Hunger Games, Superheroes, and Civic Engagement)

• Basic and advanced research skills from database searching to evaluation, selection, and citation to prepare students for college-level expectations

• A team-based research project in which students learn to collaborate, share the workload, and finalize a written research assignment

• A culminating academic presentation, allowing participating students to showcase their newly learned library research skills and knowledge to the campus community, engaging in meaningful academic discussion with faculty members and peers. In past years, these have taken the form of digital presentations, oral presentations, and most recently, academic poster sessions.

Additional sessions could be added as needed, or as granted by your institution's TRIO program. If your library cannot host four full library instruction sessions, our recommendation would be to coordinate with your institution's TRIO program in order to ensure that students' knowledge gained within library instruction sessions is being utilized in the broader summer program curriculum.

The assessment piece for this particular project is likely the most difficult part to replicate, as it took almost a year to implement. Now that it is in place, it can be used not just for our Summer Library Research Academy, but for library usage as a whole.

Cost

As with most projects, staff time is the most costly aspect of our summer library academy. The additional costs for our library include:

• Prizes for each winning scavenger hunt team
• Office supplies such as easels, poster boards, markers, etc.
• Food and drink for the reception at the final poster presentations

Staff time and office supplies are the only necessary costs, however, and any additional costs can be added or subtracted at the discretion of the hosting library.