the erial project: ethnographic research in illinois academic libraries andrew asher, lead project...
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The ERIAL Project: Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries
Andrew Asher, Lead Project Anthropologist
Lynda Duke, Academic Outreach Librarian,
Illinois Wesleyan University
Dave Green, Associate University Librarian for Collections and Information Services, Northeastern Illinois University
Introduction
Library Services and Technology Act grant, $377,000
Two years
Five institutions / 27 people
Research Question
What do students actually do when they are assigned a research project for one of their class assignments and what are the expectations of students, faculty and librarians of each other with regard to this assignment?
Dr. Nancy Foster, University of Rochester,
Project Consultant
Dr. Andrew Asher
Resident Anthropologist
Illinois Wesleyan University
Northeastern Illinois University
Susan Miller
Resident Anthropologist
University of Illinois at Springfield
University of Illinois at ChicagoDePaul University
The ERIAL Project: Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries
Dr. Andrew Asher, Lead
Research Anthropologist
Dave Green
ERIAL Project Manager
Susan Miller
Resident AnthropologistNorthern Libraries
Coordinating Team
Central Libraries
ERIAL Participating Universities IWU UIS DePaul UIC NEIU
Location Bloomington Springfield Chicago Chicago Chicago
Environment Residential Residential Urban Urban Commuter/Urban
Public/Private Private Public Private Public Public
Type Liberal Arts Liberal Arts/Professional
Catholic-Affiliated
Research Hispanic-Serving
TotalEnrollment
2125 4711 24,352 25,835 12,320
UndergraduateEnrollment
2125 2889 15,782 15,665 10,114
Graduate Enrollment
0 1822 8570 10170 2206
IWU UIS DePaul UIC NEIU
Enrollment
Full-time 99% 62% 81% 92% 56%
Part-time 1% 38% 19% 8% 44%
Age
24 and Under 100% 55% 79% 87% 54%
Age 25 and over
0 45% 20% 13% 35%
Unknown 11%
Gender Ratio
Male 41% 44% 45% 47% 42%
Female 59% 56% 55% 53% 56%
Race/Ethnicity
Black/African American
6% 12% 8% 9% 10%
Hispanic/Latino(a) 3% 3% 12% 17% 30%
White/Caucasian 76% 74% 57% 45% 41%
Asian 4% 3% 8% 23% 11%
Unknown 5% 6% 11% 5% 7%
InternationalStudents
6% 1% 0% 1% 0%
TransferStudents
27 661 1534 1447 1127
ERIAL Graduation/Retention Rates
IWU UIS DePaul UIC NEIU
Graduation Rate 83% 57% 64% 48% 18%
Transfer Out Rate
No data No data 25% No data 33%
Retention Rate 90% 67% 85% 78% 64%
(first year, fulltime students)
ERIAL Research Participants IWU UIS DePaul UIC NEIU Total
Librarian Interview 9 5 10 12 12 48
Faculty Interview 15 15 14 15 15 74
Student Interview 30 34 30 18 29 141
Student Photo Journal 12 10 10 8 10 50
Student Mapping Diaries 24 N/A N/A N/A 10 34
Students in Web Design Workshops 30 N/A N/A N/A 24 54
Faculty in Web Design Workshops 18 N/A N/A N/A 20 38
Research Process 30 N/A 10 9 10 59
Student Cognitive Mapping 44 23 37 N/A 30 134
Research Paper Retrospective Interview 9 N/A N/A N/A N/A 9
Total 221 87 111 62 160 641
Cognitive Map Mapping Diary
Students' View of ResearchAn inability to correctly read citationsLittle or no understanding of cataloging
systems No organized search strategies beyond
"Google-style" any word, anywhere searchesPoor abilities in locating and evaluating
resources (of all types).
ExamplesOn a 2009 information literacy test, only 14.5%
of IWU freshmen could correctly identify four citations. 42% answered 0 or 1 question correctly.
“Apparently you don’t have much on Rock and Roll.”
No information on “All-American girls professional baseball league.”
General ObservationsTechnological solutions might allow more
instructional focus on conceptsHowever, these solutions are unlikely to
effectively address students' conceptual deficiencies.
Easier information access and more robust search capabilities compound students’ research difficulties.
Addressing the students' instructional needs requires broad educational and curricular solutions in which the library can be a key player.
Students Fail to Utilize LibrariansVery few students seek help from librarians. Librarians invisible in academic world-view of IWU students Students do not view that librarians as possessing
disciplinary expertise.
“I always assume librarians are busy doing library stuff and it’s just not the first thing that pops into my head when I think of a librarian, like helping with papers or paper writing.”
The confusion about what librarians do hinders students from asking questions and obtaining the help they need.
“I don’t know where the librarians here are. There’s someone that sits at the information desk, and I don’t know if he’s a librarian. . . But I would never go to their office and knock on their door and say, ‘help me out’ which just makes me feel bad.”
Student/Librarian RelationshipsStudents worry about being judged for
asking "stupid" questions. Students who had developed a relationship
with a librarian reported high levels of satisfaction with the help provided
Students who participated in instruction sessions with a librarian had markedly better research skills than those who had not
“I understand that [librarians] are not magicians or something, but sometimes they seem like it.”
The Role of Professors Professors often play a key role in brokering this
relationship between students and librarians.
Students view professors as experts, and when the professor specifically recommends a librarian they highly value this advice.
Professors act as gatekeepers who mediate when and how students get in touch with librarian as they are working on research assignments.
Given librarians' structural placement as marginal to students' academic world, librarians can not effectively address these needs without active participation from teaching faculty.
IWU Project Goals
Understand students’ research processes
Role academic libraries and librarians play
Adjust library resources and services
Changes Implemented / Planned Library / faculty relationships
Teaching Information literacy / research skills
Website / tools of scholarship
Student assistant training
Library Space
Outreach activities
Project Management, Logistics and Collaboration
Before the beginning…
Collaborationamong Libraries
Collaborationamong 5 ERIAL Libraries
Collaborationamong ERIAL Participants on Research
LogisticsCentralized Administrative Structure
LogisticsCommunication Structure
Phone 4 Meetings per month
29 Regularly Scheduled Meetings Each Month
Logistics Communication Structure
Communication as neededBaseCamp by 37 SignalsDropboxPhone X
Logistics Communication Structure
Communication tool not utilized
X
Project ManagementERIAL Administration
ERIAL Research
ERIAL Local Projects
The ERIAL Project: Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries
For more information:www.iwu.edu/library/ERIAL
A. Asher: [email protected]. Duke: [email protected]. Green: [email protected]