August 08, 2007

Resources, Data, or Tools

Are libraries offering resources, data, or tools to support instruction? Is the difference in the actual terms used just word play? Do libraries not market tools for instruction and only focus on research? Are library tools not good enough?

The Wired Campus (Chronicle of Higher Education, August 8, 2007) highlights a project asking educators their top ten lists of learning TOOLS. It has caused a ripple in the library profession communication channels as NOT one library tool once mentioned by the first 88 learning professional to respond.

Some have proposed that there is a difference between information resources and learning tools. Libraries do advertise and promote many of the learning tools mentioned but none of the subscription-based or library-design resources made the list.

I think all might be true.

First, surveys should define the meanings of words. But another view is that libraries have a reputation of developing our own terminology. Does that terminology make sense to users? Maybe library patrons do not fully grasp the words "database" or "resource". Maybe the simpler word "tool" is easier to grasp.

Second, libraries have always been good at marketing to people in the physical buildings, but marketing to more and more online patrons can be tough. Online competition is severe.

Finally, maybe we are not focused enough on instruction as a reason to use the library resources. I openly promote a database called Knovel as an instruction tool. I would not take credit for that stance though. One of my professors shared with me how he uses it for in the classroom activities. He feels it is a strong method to demonstrate chemical engineering calculations and develop real understanding. It is closer to how graduates would conduct such calculations in the real world.

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Comments

Posted by Sasha Gurke
Posted on August 10, 2007 02:34 PM

Very timely post! Knovel is developing a program called "Knovel in the Classroom" to be rolled out later this year. It is intended to help librarians and faculty to use Knovel as a learning tool for engineering students as opposed to its traditional use as an information resource. The program is being developed in collaboration with engineering faculty and students from leading universities. The key component of the program is collection of course exercises. While doing these exercises the students will solve real life engineering problems and learn more about underpinning physical phenomena online. The emphasis is on the use of various interactive components - Tables, Graph Digitizers, Equation Plotter. Exercises are tailored for common engineering courses such as Chemical Process Design, Process Fluid Mechanics, Process Safety, and Engineering Thermodynamics. A chemical engineering student from Georgia Tech said that these exercises “will help the student to learn how to find the right information and how to use that information to solve a problem. Specifically, in today’s society, the technology is advanced and most companies now use software programs for their calculations. It will be a plus for the new generation of students to start learning those skills now and to use the information learned in class to physically interpret their results. This method is less time consuming and it helps the student think more about the physical significance of a problem rather than spending hours trying to find a formula in a book."