Online Resources and Services Supplement the Library’s User Education Program

Research guides, tutorials, online instruction and personal appointments expand the Cheng Library’s User Education Program.

The main page of the Nursing Resources LibGuide, one of the most popular research guides made available through the Library’s Website.

         The Cheng Library has an active and responsive User Education Program.  All librarians participate in the instruction program, but the librarians in the Access and Information Services unit teach most of the classes.  Many librarians are well-known to faculty who contact them every semester and    coordinate instruction for classes.  More than 300 classes and 50 workshops are conducted by librarians each year.

         One growing aspect of this program is the online services component.  The Library has several means of reaching students beyond the confines of the classroom, and librarians seek opportunities to expand the instructional services offered.  Research guides, tutorials, and personal appointments conducted via email are some of the methods currently offered.

LibGuides - Research Guides

LibGuides are used by academic libraries nation-wide and even internationally.  The Cheng Library subscribes to a service delivered by a private company that provides a Web-accessible platform.  Librarians use a template to create guides customized to their style, design, purpose and audience.

These guides are multi-faceted and can contain links to databases, journals, books, ebooks, and images to name just a few.  Any electronic object can be linked or embedded in a guide.  Many of these guides are used during instruction classes and are subsequently accessed frequently by students.

At the Cheng Library, the use and popularity of the guides fluctuates over the academic year, but the nursing and public health guides are usually among the most popular.  The guide describing textbook options is always heavily used at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters.

Tutorials

Tutorials are another way the Library provides instruction remotely. The online tutorials are designed to help students to navigate library resources and to manage the research process. They are available anytime, anywhere.  Hence, they are ideal for online courses and incorporating into Blackboard course shells.

Each mini-lesson is based on actual questions or problems expressed by students at the Library.  Most tutorials take the form of short, narrated videos that help to explain the many services and materials the Library offers.  A full list of these videos can be found through the Library website, under the “Workshops & Tutorials” link.

Tony Joachim, Co-Coordinator of User Education, is responsible for developing these original tutorials.   Mr. Joachim designs each tutorial, creates the graphics, and writes and records the script.  

Online User Education

This past semester, Cara Berg, Co-Coordinator of User Education, conducted the Library’s first, synchronous online instruction session using Blackboard Collaborate.  This option of user education is ideal for online classes, and is sure to become an established alternative in the future.

We invite you to sample these varieties of online instruction modules and to contact the Cheng Library for additional assistance.  Customized guides, tutorials and instruction are just a few of the options available.  For more information, please contact Nancy Weiner, Asst. Dir. of Access and Information Services, by email at weinern@wpunj.edu and by phone at 973-720-2161.

March 10, 2015