Spring 2004

Messages from MARS

February 2004

From the Chair

The 2003-2004 ALA year is shaping up as a great year for RUSA and for MARS. As chair, I've spent a fair amount of time working with the MARS leadership and the leaders of MOUSS to assist in the process of splitting MOUSS into STARS (Section to Transform Access and Resource Sharing) and the Reference Services Section.

The section review processes for MARS and MOUSS coincided. As MOUSS was striving to better define itself, questions about the distinctions between MARS and other RUSA sections came to the fore. Discussions and outreach have smoothed the transition, with the distinctive focus of MARS -- reference service using cutting edge technology -- still clearly defined.

A happy outcome of the discussions is a proposal for a joint MARS-Reference Services Section preconference at ALA Annual 2005 in Chicago on virtual reference services. Laura Probst and Lisa Horowitz will be co-chairing the preconference planning committee, on behalf of MARS and the Reference Services Section, respectively.

MARS Best has continued an outstanding tradition of identifying the most worthy free reference websites. The editors of _RUSQ_ anticipate the MARS Best list each year and have taken to reserving space for this stellar compilation. One of the final tasks which LeiLani Freund performed as the outgoing MARS chair was to appoint a task force to examine the feasibility of an equivalent MARS venture to examine, test, dissect, and anoint the best fee/subscription-based reference sites, perhaps on an annual basis. I am looking forward to the report of the task force, as I am sure many of you are.

MARS will mount, as usual, several outstanding programs at Annual 2004 in Orlando this June. Please read further in this issue of Messages from MARS for reports on the Chair's Program and from the committees which are producing other programs.

The ALA Website . . . is improving. The MARS portion of the website, under the tender ministrations of Jian Liu, is rapidly improving. A task force on the (re)organization of the MARS Website will be formed during late February with a mandate to improve the functionality of the Website and the findability of our peculiarly Martian documents and products.

Anyone interested in an opportunity to participate in MARS activities is strongly encouraged to use the MARS Volunteer form. http://www.ala.org/ala/rusa/rusaourassoc/rusavolunteers/marsonlinecommittee.htm

George S. Porter
MARS chair, 2003-2004
george@library.caltech.edu

MARS Annual Conference Program

This program will examine the past, present, and future of web-based reference services/collections, such as the Internet Public Library, Librarians' Index to the Internet, and others. The session will also explore the impact these services have had on reference services and how they are used by reference librarians. With the growth of virtual reference and increased use of web-based information sources, these collections are vital to reference librarians as current awareness sources, as working collections, and as collection development tools.

Guiding us are three speakers who helped shape and continue to influence reference services on the Web:

• Joseph Janes, Associate Professor, Information School, University of Washington and "Internet Librarian" columnist for American Libraries
  
• Susan McGlamery, 24/7 Reference Project Director
  
• Karen G. Schneider, Director, Librarians Index to the Internet
  

MARS 2004 Program Planning Committee
Alesia McManus, chair
Marty Courtois, Natalie McDonough, George Porter, and Amy Tracy Wells

Submitted by Martin Courtois

Publications Committee

Ann E. Robinson

MARS Best of Free Reference Websites Committee

Nominating Committee 2004 Report

CHAIR:
Mary Pagliero Popp
Colleen Seale

SECRETARY:
Lesley A. Bell
Henry A. (Alan) Stewart

MEMBER-AT-LARGE:
José A. Aguiñaga
Rosemary L. Meszaros

The statements of concern of these candidates can be found at:

http://www.ala.org/ala/rusa/rusaourassoc/rusasections/mars/marssection/2004candidates.htm

I would like to thank those who have generously agreed to run, and to thank my fellow Nominating Committee members, Kathleen Kern and Carole Pilkinton, for their hard work.

Bill McHugh, Chair, MARS Nominating 2004

Virtual Reference Discussion Group

The next VRDG will take place in Orlando, FL. Discussion ideas are welcome as we plan. Please send ideas to Lisa Horowitz and Jana Ronan. We look forward to seeing you there!

Kathleen Kern

Management of Electronic Reference Services Committee

MARS Midwinter Committee Report

1. Has the expansion of technology into reference services blurred the distinctions between "machine-assisted" reference and other reference activities to the point where distinctions between MARS and MOUSS are less clear?
2. How can the two sections address concerns about duplication of efforts and duplication of
   areas of responsibility?

On Sunday, January 11, 2004, the MERS Committee co-sponsored with the LSS Committee a Discussion Form on "Management Tools and Privacy Issues for Electronic Reference Services," with Paul Neuhaus (Carnegie Mellon University) leading the discussion on privacy issues and Laura Probst (Penn State University) leading the discussion on management tools. Among the topics covered in the management tools portion of the discussion were how libraries manage reference services across digital and traditional reference points, the types of tools that are needed to manage those services, the use of statistical data to measure the costs and effectiveness of digital reference services, the comparability of usage statistics between digital reference and traditional reference services, and using software to improve staff efficiency.

Submitted by Laura Probst and Jane Nichols

RUSA MARS Products and Services Committee Midwinter Meeting Minutes

Open Discussion Forum

The Products and Services Committee Open Discussion Forum consisted of four parts: three presentations by courseware users, followed by a discussion for program attendees. Van Houlson, committee co-chair, introduced the forum with the question: How does courseware fit into the library's role on the academic campus?

1. The first presentation was called "Integrating Library Resources into WebCT. WebCT at California State Library: Using WebCT to Test and Teach," presented by Linda J. Goff.
   

   Goff has been using WebCT for three years at California State University, Sacramento as part of an Information Competency Project conducted by the library. The CSU project was adapted from a 1999 tutorial at Cal Poly. The software, WebCT, has been a great help in automating the test taking process at CSU, and Goff concentrates her use of WebCT on the testing mode of the software.
   

   All Communication Studies (CS) students at CSU must complete an Information Competency (IC) requirement. Approximately 10,000 students have been tested using the program established by Goff. The CSU testing program is part of a statewide assessment task force. Questions for the IC requirement have been gathered from several campuses and are mapped using ACRL standards. At CSU students have the option of testing out of the IC requirement via a pre-test if they score 80% or better. If they do not score 80% or better, they must complete the IC assignment modules to complete their CS course.
   

   WebCT was chosen by Goff because it was readily available through a campus-wide license. Its advantage to students is that it offers instant feedback to the students and it is very student-friendly.
   

   Goff commented that WebCT automatically collects test data that can be exported to Excel for further analysis. Goff uses Respondus software to write test questions, then uploads them into the WebCT program. Another advantage to using WebCT is that test questions are automatically graded by the program. This has eliminated hours of grading tests by hand.
   

   Problems with WebCT are centered on browser incompatibility issues that students encounter when logging onto the web program. Despite extensive instructions and warnings to students concerning browser issues, about 10% of all students do not check for browser compatibility before taking the CSU IC test via WebCT. Goff averages 150 student emails per semester concerning student problems with the testing process. Her goal is to reduce this number for the future.
   

   Another disadvantage of WebCT is the steep learning curve for course designers. Instructors need some knowledge of HTML when using the WebCT course design mode; however it is also possible to use an HTML editor and dump the code into a template window. The design mode is not user-friendly to faculty, so instruction and support are necessary for using the software effectively.
   

   The CSU IC test is available through the CSU Library website. Goff supplied forum attendees with guest logins and guest password information to allow them to view the IC test from a student's perspective. The first step in the testing process is a student survey. It is up to individual CS instructors to set requirement levels for pass, fail or incomplete. WebCT software provides several reporting features for collection of data that can be analyzed to improve course content.
   

2. J. Doreen Simonsen, Humanities/Fine Arts Librarian, Willamette University. "Blackboard Courseware and IDS 150: Research in the Information Age, an Information Literacy course at Willamette University."
   

   Willamette University is a small liberal arts college with 13 departments and a freshman orientation program. Simonsen has been Instructional Coordinator at Willamette University since July, 2001. She was trained in the use of Blackboard at Loyola University, New Orleans. Simonsen demonstrated both the student view and the administrator's view of Blackboard courseware for the audience.
   
   Blackboard courseware has a learning curve similar to any major software package in the Microsoft Office suite. Blackboard increases contact with online or distance students because instructors can load a variety of materials including quizzes, handouts, and other files directly into the courseware for easy student access. The software includes multiple features including pre-assessment and post-assessment tests. It also allows for instructor/student collaboration sessions online, or chat capability, with a smart board attached to these sessions. Blackboard includes lecture hall mode, which acts like a virtual classroom, as well as a discussion board feature for posting messages. Tools for students include a digital drop box, a personalized student homepage, and the ability to view their course grades online.
   

   Blackboard allows various access levels and passwords for instructors, students, guests, and teacher assistants. As librarian, Simonsen has teacher assistant level access to all faculty led courses and offers her services and input to each instructor. Willamette University has a faculty development center on campus that teaches and assists faculty in the use of Blackboard.
   

   In the administrative module Blackboard's course builder features allow instructors to archive sessions and materials so that they can be evaluated and reused from semester to semester. Its course builder features do not require knowledge of html, and are very faculty-friendly. Blackboard uses SmartText to translate common text into a screen viewer within the course software. Blackboard's test manager module offers instructors the ability to grade tests automatically or manually. It also has several data gathering features for course assessment. Blackboard also allows for durable links to articles in other databases and handles user authentication well.
   

3. Kay Henshall, MLIS, Reference Client Manager of Tutor.com Reference Services demonstrated the Virtual Reference Toolkit with a concentration on the meeting room and material sharing features of the software package.
   

   Tutor.com's Virtual Reference Toolkit (VRT) contains a meeting room component that can be used for live interactive bibliographic instruction, or to create a virtual meeting space. The meeting room component allows for chat, the ability to push web pages or upload files such as PowerPoint presentations and Word documents. The patron or student receives web pages or other files in a frame beside the chat frame. There are two versions of the software: Interact, which allows for co-browsing of web pages, and Basic, which allows one-way page pushing.
   

   Henshall gave examples of academic programs that use the meeting room feature to support graduate nursing students and the Graduate Program at the University of Michigan. When an instructor or librarian sets up a meeting in the VRT software, a URL will be generated that can be e-mailed or posted to students with the meeting announcement. Students log on at the assigned time and participate in the online meeting - via chat - that can include a selection of web pages, slides and documents. Before the meeting begins, instructors can create a slide show and load predetermined scripted messages or web links to be used at the time of the meeting. At the end of each meeting, a summary list of web links appears in the students' chat window. A full transcript of the session is e-mailed to each participant.
   

   Once VRT software is installed at the institution, the technical considerations are mainly based on the student PC access side of the equation. VRT software works best for students with Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher and with higher speed access. Librarian considerations center on temperament and flexibility, because in a live virtual environment the session leader needs to expect the unexpected. Either Basic or Interact mode can be used depending on the ages and requirements of the students. There is also a whispering feature available to session leaders. Another feature of the VRT software called Material Sharing allows instructors to push documents to students through the browser.
   

   In addition to VRT, Tutor.com offers a "Librarians by Request" service that is available 24 hours per day. Those interested in a classroom online visit to the service can arrange for a meeting time. Prearranged online classroom meetings have the advantage of grouping all messages into a single transcript that is shared with the instructor and each member of the class.
   
   At the end of the three presentations, the forum was open to general discussion by attendees. Questions were asked of the presenters, and information exchanged by individuals using the various courseware packages. An evaluation sheet was distributed to those in the audience.
   

   The Products and Services Committee Forum was followed by a business meeting of committee members.
   

MARS Public Libraries Committee

No one from this committee attending this conference in San Diego was able to see the entire program. Charles came late to the program and he discovered it was very popular with a standing room only audience. He was not able to attend the entire program as he had to attend another program on the questions and concerns about ALA's new Web site and how to correct it. This committee will, however, try to get more information to share with the Executive Board soon, hopefully before Annual Conference in Orlando.

The committee also agreed to change the way it records programs. In the future the committee will have at least 1-2 members at the program in attendance to take notes and then send their report to the "Messages From MARS" Editor and to the MARS Secretary. The committee also agreed to have evaluation sheets available to audience members. These evaluation sheets will also help the committee and others in RUSA in creating successful programs.

NEW BUSINESS: The committee discussed creating a survey that would be made available to all librarians, not just the public librarians. This survey would ask them questions about whether or not they prefer to use Internet sources, whether they still like the traditional paper sources, or a combination of the two. We will try to keep the questions limited in number; hopefully this will lead to a possible discussion group or a tip sheet to be made available by Annual Conference 2005 in Chicago.

We also will be checking our MARS Public Libraries Committee Web site: "Internet Training and Learning: A Guide to Web Resources for Public Librarians." We will be checking the links to make sure that they are still active. Mary Louise Daneri will be handling this assignment.

Conclusion: We were very concerned about the absences of two members in San Diego. We will need their input if we expect this committee to succeed. To this date we have not heard from either member despite constant reminders of meeting dates and times from the committee chair.

Charles Jones

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