Information Online 2001 exhibition and conference

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Working Online III

Information Literacy Made Ezy

Sarah Bishop

Charles Sturt University Library

Glenda Henderson

UNILINC Limited

Abstract

This paper discusses the development of web-ezy and its implementation at Charles Sturt University (CSU). CSU is a leading provider of distance education with a commitment to flexible online delivery. the library offers many online resources and services to a diverse student body, most studying externally. The dilemma for the library has been how to best impart library and information skills in an online environment. The solution - web-ezy - an Australian product developed collaboratively by UNILINC Limited and CSU and marketed by web-ezy Solutions. The web-ezy software provides a shell for creating customised web-based library and information skills programs. This version is based on CSU library's web pages, CSU's web Catalogue and Ovid electronic databases

A dramatic shift of focus in the delivery of educational programs is underway. The familiar paradigm of the monolithic institution delivering face to face instruction to a body of on-campus students has given way to an environment in which students studying electronically may well outnumber their on-campus counterparts.

Ever-growing numbers of distance education programs available across the entire educational spectrum are relying on the range of activities that fall into the realm of 'flexible delivery', the underlying principle of which has been defined by Alan Bundy as 'to make learning place, time and mode independent'. [1] In this context also, Alfred Bork, Professor Emeritus of Information and Computer Science and Physics at the university of California, Irvine, speculating on the nature of education in the 21^st century, concludes: 'Learning will be a much more individualised and interactive process; computer-based learning material will adapt to the needs and pace of each individual student, through distance learning for large numbers of students.' [2]

In an educational environment that increasingly emphasises the use of technology to achieve specific learning outcomes, it is timely to reflect on the role of library and information skills training programs in supporting this process.

Background to the web-Ezy software

The geography of Australia, with its vast distances between population centres, has encouraged the growth and spread of distance education programs. Charles Sturt University, with its 3 major campuses situated in regional centres in New South Wales, has long been committed to the provision of education to remote students. As a result, the university has emerged as a leader in embracing online learning. the library has been involved in this process from the start and has been concerned to offer support for these programs in the form of information literacy skills training.

A conversation between UNILINC's executive director, Rona Wade, and Garry Hall, the then Director of Charles Sturt University's Bathurst campus library, led to the genesis of the web-ezy software. Both recognised the difficulties inherent in software development and the level of resources and coordination necessary for success in this area, which made one-off development prohibitively expensive. Added to this was the fact that many libraries across Australia were considering how best to deliver information literacy programs, all covering much the same material, within their own institutions.

The idea of a shell that could be used and re-used was born. The UNILINC Board resolved to fund the development and Charles Sturt University agreed to make Garry Hall available to the project.

In recognition of the complexities involved in the development of an interactive web-based training environment, in mid 1999 a team was assembled which reflected the skills required. These included

Subject knowledge
Instructional design expertise
Graphic design skills
Programming skills
Writing skills
Legal expertise
Project management skills

A new company, web-ezy Solutions Pty Ltd., was set up as a wholly owned subsidiary of UNILINC Limited to develop and market the software.

Design Principles

The web-ezy software constitutes a shell that can be used to develop a customised, interactive, web-based library and information skills program.

The design of web-ezy is modular, thereby enabling the user to undertake the training needed for a particular task without having to work through a linear program. This modularity also allows the program to be structured according to need. There is not a single web-ezy program. Various combinations of modules can be used according to local requirements and preferences

One of the hallmarks of the web-ezy software is its high level of interactivity. The development team was firmly of the view that interactive programs providing continuous feedback create a favourable and effective learning environment, thereby contributing to learner motivation and allowing for assessment of student understanding. This is precisely the view of Nancy Dewald in a recent article entitled Web-based library instruction: what is good pedagogy?[3]

Feedback is instant and continuous and is achieved in a number of ways. Extensive use of javascript enables a very high level of interactivity without the need for plug-ins of any kind. Users of the program proceed through a series of activities using a mixture of mouseovers, radio buttons and submission of data as they acquire particular skills. Each type of activity produces a response appropriate to the nature and requirement of the task performed. These range from simple information provided in response to a mouseover to feedback on the relevance of particular documents to specific assignment questions.

A structured learning approach is pivotal to the design of the web-ezy software. Each discrete module presents an overview of the coverage of that module and the skills to be acquired. The user is then stepped through the particular activities, receiving feedback as appropriate. This provides a high level of self-assessment as the program is worked through. At the end of each module is a re-statement of the skills learned and an opportunity to undertake a multiple-choice quiz. Users are also encouraged to provide e-mail feedback on the program to their own institution.

The guiding principle which underlies the design of the software is deceptively simple. Individuals seek information because they need it at a particular time and for a particular reason. Accordingly, at the end of relevant modules, users are given the opportunity to use the skills they have just acquired to fulfil their information needs. So, for example, after completing the section on keyword searching in the library catalogue, users are encouraged to access the library catalogue in a live environment and complete searches appropriate to their individual information needs. The instructional designers in the web-ezy development team were of the view that this functionality provides excellent reinforcement in any training situation and constitutes a source of motivation to acquire particular skills.

Wherever practicable, the activities mirror reality. Thus, when the web-ezy software deals with searching for an item in a library catalogue, the user is required to type the call number for a particular item. This reflects a real situation - where a user records call numbers of relevant items before going to look for them on the library's shelves. In keeping with this instructional philosophy, the web-ezy software provides a Notepad facility, seen as an important feature in an interactive training environment. At any time, users can call up the Notepad and record useful information for later use.

From the outset the web-ezy software was described as a shell that generates customised programs. A key feature of its design is that the customisation is easy to achieve. Understandably, each institution requires that its own web site, catalogue and databases be taught in its information literacy programs. The web-ezy software has been designed with this requirement very much in mind.

Customisation

Customisation of the program may be minimal or extensive. As part of an institution's implementation, an intensive setup session is conducted with appropriate staff where options are outlined and discussed. The outcome of this is an agreed set of options and parameters for implementation. At a minimum these include institution badging and colour preferences, links to the institution's web site and the framework for its web catalogue and selected databases.

One of the most important features of the web-ezy software is that it is fully supported and maintained. Changes to clients' web sites, catalogue systems and so on are reflected in their web-ezy software and improved design features are regularly incorporated.

Flexibility

A cardinal design principle of the web-ezy software is flexibility.

It can be used independently and remotely wherever the appropriate equipment is available
It provides a platform for self-paced learning which can be used either as a whole or in parts to meet specific needs
It can be incorporated into and used to support traditional library reader education programs
It can be effectively integrated with the online courseware which is becoming increasingly commonplace in Australian educational institutions

Future development

There is a strong commitment to ongoing development and improvement. The web-ezy software is not static - far from it. New modules are developed as required and the existing software is monitored constantly with a view to improving functionality, adaptability and look and feel.

Plans are in train to develop a program dealing with Information Technology skills, covering such topics as standard word processing applications, to be available in the first half of 2001.

Other areas targeted for attention are the need for more sophisticated methods of assessment and ways of integrating it with student administration programs. This is a particularly important consideration for those institutions which have established formal information literacy policies.

Lori Roth, Senior Director of Academic Services and Professional Development at California State University, published a timely article in the November 1999 issue of the Library Journal, entitled Educating the Cut-and-Paste Generation,. in which she observes:

With the explosion of information generated and stored, the unregulated sprawl of the Internet, the shift from a print to an image-based culture, the development of sound and video archives, and the ease of seemingly infinite reproduction of words and pictures through the electronic media, the pitfalls for college students have multiplied geometrically. There is so much information, so much of it of doubtful quality, so accessible through so many different platforms.

This is the world in which college students now live and will live for the rest of their lives. Are universities preparing them to navigate successfully through this profusion of media? [4]

Using programs such as web-ezy enables librarians and educators to take decisive steps towards encouraging and promoting this process.

Please visit http://www.web-ezy.com

CSUWeb-Ezy

With campuses at Albury, Bathurst and Wagga Wagga, Charles Sturt University (CSU) is one of the largest providers of distance education in Australia. Over two thirds of our students are external [5]. The university's policy of flexible delivery means that most of its subjects are offered and supported online to both internal (on-campus) and external (distance students). A recent CSU survey [6] indicates a high rate of external student access to computers with Internet connections. Internal students have Internet access from university computers in the library and I.T. Computer laboratories, in addition network connections are provided for personal computers in the student residences. It is assumed that the majority of these students have at least basic Internet skills to enable them to access the university's website.

The majority of external students will not physically visit the library however they have the same learning and information literacy needs as their on-campus colleagues. The challenge for CSU library staff has been to equitably impart to distance students the skills needed to access, find and interpret information using the range of databases and other online resources on offer. the library aims to establish a base level of information literacy competency for all CSU students in applications such as Library website, Catalogue and Databases as well as addressing pedagogical issues such as topic analysis and evaluation of information.

CSU library has for some time been committed to online delivery of resources wherever possible and has actively sought out technology to further enhance our provision of these services. Like most others, CSU library provides web-based text instructions, handouts and guides (ours and links to other sites). We have found that, while useful these are often too wordy and abstract. To address external students' information literacy expectations at a level similar to those of their on-campus peers we need to deliver both the instruction and the interactive experience normally associated with a hands-on class. For CSU, web-ezy comes closest to addressing these needs.

Implementation

CSU was the first library to offer the full web-ezy product [7], implementing it in March 2000. Prior to its release there was some fine tuning and input from CSU library staff to fit in with the library's information literacy strategies. This involved reorganisation of some module content to better reflect the structure of our on-campus classes.

Promotion of web-ezy has been an important initiative for the CSU library as we attempted to reach students and staff at a time when there were many other activities competing for their attention. Promotion is ongoing, particularly to external students, to ensure we reach as many potential users as possible. Promotion so far has included:

An official university launch of CSUWeb-ezy in August 2000 which received front page publicity in the university's staff news publication Billboard [8]
A flashing icon on the library's Home page http://www.csu.edu.au/division/library/
Links from Library web pages to specific web-ezy modules e.g. Catalogue.
Coloured fliers sent to all academic staff and displayed in the library.
Active promotion to external students through:
- External student orientation sessions
- Library classes at residential schools
- Academic subject coordinators
- Library e-mail replies to external student queries
- Promoted by distance education library staff when dealing directly with students.
Web-ezy features on the university's Study Link webpage[9] although it is not offered as an enrolment subject.
To be included in a planned CSU Orientation subject for offer in 2001, web-ezy module/s will form part of the subject's overall introduction to study at CSU.
Becoming part of on-campus information literacy classes. web-ezy modules are gradually being incorporated into generic library classes (e.g. OVID Databases) and subject specific tutorials to form either the instructional component of the class or offered as reinforcement.

Feedback

In the period since implementation we have not formally surveyed any user groups as our efforts have been focussed on introducing web-ezy. We plan to survey users in the coming year for their comments and assessment of the product. Comments made so far by CSU library staff, academics and individual student users have been encouraging.

Academic staff members have commented positively on the flow-through of examples used in each module as reflecting an actual information seeking experience. They also like the option of jumping from a constructed web-ezy sample search into an active session where students can conduct their own topic searches.

Feedback obtained from students who undertook web-ezy's predecessor CSU Study Link subject, SSS007 - Library and Information Skills has been positive and reinforced the need for an interactive tutorial that students could return to or dip into to refresh their skills. It was pleasing to be able to offer ongoing web-ezy access to SSS007 students who, once they had completed the subject, requested continuing access to it.

CSU's distance education Librarians are particularly pleased that there is, for the first time, an instruction package which considers the needs of external students. They see CSUWeb-ezy as a backup and reinforcing tool to the e-mail and phone assistance they offer individual students.

What We Have Found

At the time of writing we have not had the benefit of a full academic year, interrupted further by a long Olympics break. As such we have not been in a position to begin to evaluate web-ezy and its impact. However the flexibility of web-ezy with its anytime, anywhere availability makes it ideal for delivery to off-campus students. Learning can occur when the need is most pressing i.e. an assignment falling due. The same just in time imperative can just as easily be applied to on-campus students who, although they may have the benefit of hands-on library classes, may not see the relevance of instruction if it is not timed to coincide with a specific information gathering task. Students often have to refresh or relearn these skills, a frequent comment at the Information Desk is 'I came to the class but I have forgotten what to do'. web-ezy is a useful adjunct to one-on-one instruction for these students. Consistency is a further benefit in that students, regardless of location or mode of study, have access to the same base of skills instruction through CSUWeb-ezy.

Although able to be used for sequential learning in that some modules build on skills learned in other modules, Web-ezy works just as effectively as a resource that can be dipped into to focus on learning a particular application or to refresh previously learned skills. Interactivity with live screens means a student can move easily from web-ezy exercises to 'live' searching for information relevant to an assignment. The degree to which web-ezy can be customised to reflect learning in the CSU environment complements the learning experience and allows us to emphasise specific CSU policies or publications. e.g. the References module uses examples based on and points students to CSU's preferred referencing style guide.[10]

Statistics have been difficult to obtain due to problems with caching, those which provide a better picture are from the second half of the year. The statistics are not wholly reliable but useful in indicating trends in web-ezy use and these reflect busy periods of external student Library use implying students make just in time use of the modules around assignment deadlines. In the table below which shows hits on First, Last and Quiz pages of each module, the August figures reflect four weeks of study activity and assignment deadlines just prior to a seven week break. September was a class-free period at CSU with no assignments due. web-ezy use during this period reflects external student use almost exclusively.

August 2000 - September 2000

Module	First page	Last page	Quiz	First page	Last page	Quiz
How to use Web-ezy	147	83	-	41	21	-
The library's website	112	44	21	32	16	5
Topic analysis	82	40	17	28	18	5
References	56	30	10	22	18	3
Searching the library catalogue	90	11	7	44	11	3
Keyword searching in the catalogue	31	20	9	21	17	2
Searching OVID databases	112	23	4	40	21	2
The internet	27	18	4	18	9	2
Searching the internet	51	12	5	23	11	3
Total hits	708	281	77	269	142	25

It is difficult to draw any useful conclusions from the statistics gathered to date except to note that approximately half of those who begin a module actually complete it and fewer again do the self-assessment quizzes. It is also possible to speculate that, given the time of the year, more students were using web-ezy to refresh skills previously acquired rather than learn from scratch. This may partially account for a low level of module completion. Although, since we have no comparable statistics from the first part of the year, this can only be conjecture.

We have been able to get an indication of individual user access and from this we have identified that a high percentage of hits are from external students who access web-ezy through commercial internet service providers (ISPs) or place of work. In this respect we feel we are reaching our target audience.

Keeping it simple is as much a CSU requirement as it has been the philosophy of the designers. web-ezy works with standard Internet browsers capable of supporting Javascript. There is no requirement for users to download plugins or to have any other supporting software to use it, an advantage for beginning Internet users as they can use the product even if they have only basic navigational skills. Graphics and layout are simple and effective and text on each instruction frame is used as economically as possible. In CSU's version of web-ezy we opted for a mixture of captured and live screens. The rationale behind this has been to allow for the quicker loading of captured screens so remote users don't have to connect to another host which may be slow to load on occasion.

Keeping it current is relatively easy due to the shell software. Individual modules can be changed independently and as required. Take care when planning changes such as upgrading OPAC or database platforms so that changes can be made in time in web-ezy and coincide with live implementation. Necessary changes to CSU library's web directories, just after we released CSUWeb-ezy affected many of the library's URLs. Changes needed to be made to many links in web-ezy at very short notice. Since our version of web-ezy is housed on the UNILINC server the maintenance work was carried out by web-ezy Solutions staff who managed to get it done much more quickly than we would have. This is one of the reasons why we have chosen to house CSU's web-ezy on UNILINC's server.

Security is an important aspect since web-ezy modules connect directly to CSU's subscription databases and other restricted resources. All CSU students and staff have a single, unique authentication logon for access to secure CSU sites including the web-ezy interim page where they gain access to a CSUWebezy password. This password enables students to connect to CSUWeb-ezy on the UNILINC server.

Assessment is a feature we would like to see further developed in web-ezy. Measurable assessment would enhance and enable web-ezy to be incorporated into core undergraduate subjects and/or become a stand alone information literacy subject which could be offered to all students as part of a generic skills training programme, a proposal under consideration at CSU.

Conclusion

While there are still some areas which require refinement these are relatively minor when seen in the light of the benefits web-ezy has to offer students and staff alike. The aspects which have impressed us most are:

Web-ezy's shell feature offers a great deal of flexibility. Library staff with limited funds, skills and time, do not need to reinvent the wheel and design a product from scratch. However they do have the opportunity to customise modules to suit the library's specific system and resources and web-ezy Solutions has been responsive to our suggestions and requests. The shell can be updated to accommodate on-going changes (I expect that a number of changes will have been incorporated into web-ezy modules by the time this paper is presented in January) and additional modules can be added as they become available. Functionality improvements and upgrades to shell software can and have been taken advantage of as part of the package.

Interactivity is to a greater level than we have previously been able to achieve, either on our own or from other commercially available products. For the first time we have been able to offer the same level of interactive skills training to external and internal students moving closer to CSU's goal of seamless and equitable delivery to all students. web-ezy brings us much closer to reaching that goal than we have been before.

We still have a way to go and there remain students who either do not want or cannot have access to the Internet. These students will continue to require personalised assistance from librarians. However as Australian society continues to embrace the web and domestic Internet connections increase, there are fewer 'unconnected' students each year. Products like web-ezy can enhance library service by freeing staff from some repetitive routine instruction while giving students the independence to choose where, when and what information skills they want to develop.