1. AN INVESTIGATION INTO
STUDENTS’ USE OF
LIBGUIDES:
DO THEY WANT FRIES WITH THAT?
LILAC 2014
JO KELEHER
CQUNIVERSITY AUSTRALIA

2. May 1, 2014
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3. 3
Australia vs the world !!!!

4. CQUniversity:
A multi-campus
university

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Check out our Libraries @ http://www.cqu.edu.au/library/locations
OUR CQUNIVERSITY
LIBRARIES
Rockhampton
MackayBrisbane
Bundaberg
Gladstone
Melbourne
Noosa
Sydney

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IL IS A GRADUATE ATTRIBUTE AT
CQUNIVERSITY

7. INFORMATION LITERACY AT
CQU LIBRARY:
That was IL then!
The traditional one hour
face to face library class
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Needing to reach students in their online environment
THIS IS IL NOW!!!!

9. So CQUniversity Library launched
LibGuides in 2007
And according to Springshare (the creator)
LibGuides are the
Most Popular Web Publishing
Platform for Libraries !!
http://www.springshare.com/libguides/

10. LibGuides: An online
product designed to help
students navigate through
the information maze!!!
Allows You (the librarian)
to create discipline,
subject, course, or topic
Guides
AND WE DID !!!!!
146 of them !!!!
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11. FIRST WE
LINKED
LIBGUIDES
ON OUR
LIBRARY
HOMEPAGE
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12. OVER TIME SOME ACADEMICS WERE HAPPY TO
ADD A LINK TO THE SPECIFIC LIBGUIDE - THUS
BEGAN OUR “MOODLE INFILTRATION” !
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13. AND IN SOME
CASES WE
MANAGED TO
INFILTRATE
MOODLE EVEN
DEEPER?
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SOME ACADEMICS LET US EMBED
SPECIFIC LIBGUIDE CONTENT INTO WEEKLY
SECTIONS IN MOODLE: E.G. HERE IN WEEK 6.

15. AND THEN !!!
SOME ACADEMICS GAVE US CARTE BLANCHE
TO CREATE VERY SPECIFIC IL ACTIVITIES
WITHIN THEIR MOODLE SITES.
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16. LIBGUIDE STATS
TOLD US THEY
WERE BEING USED
• Suggest a high use of LibGuides
• Presume product/content is serving its
purpose
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17. So with such wonderful numbers,
there must be a relationship
between LibGuides usage and
student learning!
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But how true was that picture really?
Was IL content, regardless of where
students accessed it from, actually
assisting them with their learning
outcomes?

18. Based on findings from my initial literature review
coupled with our own LibGuide statistics, I
proposed to conduct an online survey of
undergraduate CQUniversity students on their use
of LibGuides.
Study objectives:
• Information-seeking behaviour of UG students
• Specifically designed content in LibGuides
contributing to:
• IL skills development?
• Student learning outcomes?
• LibGuide Content and format – fit for
purpose?
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THE
RESEARCH
PROPOSAL

19. What did I ask students?
• typical demographic questions
• Age range, discipline, year of study & mode of study
• about their assessment tasks
• their use of content in LibGuides
• their perception of LibGuide value to their
learning
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20. HOW LOW WAS THE RESPONSE RATE
I HEAR YOU ASK ?
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21. WHAT
SORT OF
STUDENTS
TOOK THE
TIME TO
RESPOND
TO THE
SURVEY?
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Respondentsprofile…
• 34 students from FABIE
• with 21% from the school of Humanities and Communication
• 26 students from FSEH
• with 35% from the School of Health and Human Services

22. What did students say they had
the most trouble with?
• figuring out what the assessment task means = 34%
• coming up with suitable terms for databases = 39%
• critically evaluating information = 38%
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23. WHAT
SOURCES
DID THEY
USE?
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Rated 67%
Rated 85% followed closely by
course readings @ 80%
Asking a Librarian 15 %

24. So how many said they
consulted LibGuides?
YES = 69%
NO = 31%
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28. THERE WHERE SOME NEGATIVE
COMMENTS
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29. BUT BEFORE WE
DESPAIR !
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30. THERE WERE LOTS OF
GOOD THINGS TOO !
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32. IN SUMMARY…
“USING LIBGUIDES HAS
HELPED ME IMPROVE MY
RESEARCH SKILLS AND
KNOWLEDGE ABOUT USING
LIBRARY RESOURCES”
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33. LIBGUIDES:
YES STUDENTS
DO WANT FRIES
WITH THAT !
AND SOME EVEN
WANT US TO ADD
SAUCE !
AND CHICKEN
SALT TOO…
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34. LILAC 2014
THANKS SO
MUCH FOR
LISTENING
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