Presented at LILAC 2009

1. Just give me The Basics: online inductions….
Lisa Balman and Zoë Johnson
Senior Assistant Librarians
University of Huddersfield
lisa.balman@hud.ac.uk
zoe.johnson@hud.ac.uk

2. Today’s Basics
• Background of the online induction project
• Showcase each “emerging technology”
– Identifying challenges and solutions
• Promotion and Reception
• New and future developments
• Suggestions and Questions

3. Contextual setting
• Identified need to improve our inductions
– Summer refurbishment reduced number of teaching
spaces and made tours impractical
– Reach wider range of students (part-time, distance
learners, late enrollers)
– Support self-directed learning
– Staff keen to incorporate emerging technology to
better engage students in dry but essential information

4. The Basics itself
• Project team
– 4 senior assistant librarians
• Consultants
– 2 web support officers
– Information Skills Group
– Technical support office (School of Education)
• Standalone website
– Editable by project team and web support officer

5. Technologies used (1)
• Flickr
– Open source
– Easy to embed and update
• Podcast
– More flexible than video
– Photographs plus audio track
– Garageband (Mac software)
– Support needed from outside the Library
– Accessibility issues (format)
– RSS feed

6. Technologies used (2)
• Informs
– Originally developed at the University of
Huddersfield
– Recycle existing learning objects
– Exercise-based tutorials
• Captivate (screen capture software)
– Already had license and technical support
– Demonstrations

7. Promotion
• Marketing
– Blackboard tab
– Front page of Computing and Library Services
website
– Student Portal
– Plasma screens and flyers
– Subject Team blogs

8. Reception
• Initial reaction
– Informal feedback
• Data collection
– Feedback (star ratings on each page)
– Usage statistics (from mid January 09)

9. The statistics
• Huddersfield 60%
• Barnsley 40%
• Top 5 URLs
– Email
– Information for Studies
– Borrowing
– Off-campus
– The Portal
• Top technologies
– Welcome podcast
– Issuing podcast
– MetaLib login demo
– Renewals demo
Average number of daily visits:
January 102
February104

10. New developments
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/hudlib
• Facebook : University of Huddersfield Library Group
• Text a Librarian
– complimenting current email enquiry service
• Google Analytics (forthcoming)
– open source
– more user friendly than current system for
measuring usage

11. What next?
• Continue to improve / update current content
• Complete Oldham content
• Widening resource to
– Affiliated colleges (UK/ overseas)
– Include information literacy learning objects as
well as the Basics

12. Advice
• Time
– there is never enough!
• Do it yourself
– Do it in house = you can change it yourselves
– Cheaper
– Assess your technical skills beforehand
– Build in training to project plan or find a friendly techie
– More Web 2.0 (tap in to current trends of
communication

13. Questions
• Now
• Later
– Twitter us @ http://twitter.com/hudlib