ACRL Conference Presentation: “Imagine Ways to Innovate and Inspire Students to Use the Academic Library”
OCLC Research has shared an interesting and useful presentation with plenty of material to get people talking.
The complete title of the presentation is: “I Find Google a Lot Easier Than Going To the Library Website.” Imagine Ways to Innovate and Inspire Students to Use the Academic Library” and it was presented at ACRL 2013 last month.
The presenters were Lynn Silipigni Connaway (OCLC Research), Donna Lanclos (University of North Carolina, Charlotte), and Erin Hood (OCLC Research).
31 slides. Embedded below or direct from OCLC (39 slides;.pptx)
A Few Notes
- Kudos to the presenters on the title of their presentation. Google in the title of a presentation to librarians and to end users is almost always a great idea. As we talk about all of the time, marketing counts.
- Slide 15 on professors and Wikipedia. We shared a few comments on this exact topic last week.
- Slide 22 on Google ranking. I’ve heard this comment from users of all ages since Google first appeared. How Google works (and doesn’t work) is still a mystery to most. A masters degree in Google is not required by most users but a basic understanding can go a long way in saving users time (something everyone wants more of) and aggravation and at the same time can also open up a discussion about info credibility.
- As I’ve said many times (and will continue to point out) more interaction and synergy between the school library and the academic library communities could go a long way to developing more digital literate students. I continue to wonder why more isn’t being done to get both of these group doing more together. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
- Not only is the data in the report interesting and useful but we’ve heard either first hand or from colleagues some of this before. So, the research findings should also serve as a motivational tool towards the library community working towards making changes that will benefit them during and after their formal education.
See Also: New Research Shows Convenience Is a Key Factor Information-Seeking Behavior (March 20, 2013)
See Also: How Do Learners Develop Digital Literacies? (Digital Visitors/Residents Progress Report )(June 13, 2012)
See Also: List of Lynn Silipigni Connaway’s Publications (9 pages; PDF)
Filed under: Academic Libraries, Associations and Organizations, Data Files, Libraries, News, Patrons and Users, School Libraries

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.