Effective Practices in Academic and Research Librarianship

Browse Practices

Practice 2003-8
Institution Name	North Carolina State University
Participating Library Name	D.H. Hill Library
Library Type	University
Submittor	Katherine Dexter Willis, Librarian for Education, Communication and Psychology, katherine_dexter@ncsu.edu , 919-513-0304
Address	NCSU Libraries Research and Information Services Department 2205 Hillsborough Street Box 7111 Raleigh, NC 27695-7111
URL	http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/risd/staff/kdexter/adultlearners.html
Title	Library Services and Adult Returning Students
Program Summary	This practice suggests a framework for providing instruction to adult returning students -- in this instance, defined as students age 30 and older, many of whom are attending school part-time and/or returning after some time away. Also discussed are issues to consider when providing reference assistance or planning services that are tied to improving the information literacy skills of adult learners. The practice places a focus on being flexible, patient, responsive, reassuring, empathetic, and enthusiastic. In addition, it stresses the importance of providing information in an incremental, contextualized manner that involves the adult learners and draws on their experiences and knowledge. The goal of the practice is to be learner-centered in thought and approach, and practical and direct in action and implementation of library services to adult learners. One helpful step in developing services to adult returning students is to conduct a general assessment of the population on an institutional level and see if there are specific programmatic or departmental connections that would be useful to pursue. Most institutions gather general demographic data about students, and in many cases, this is done at a departmental or unit level. If there are specific programs or departments that have a high number of adult returning students, that can be very helpful information when developing services and planning outreach activities. Specific strategies for working with adult returning students in an academic library setting: Provide hands-on instruction that is informal in tone and has a practical focus. Information should be provided in an incremental, step-by-step manner and should be accompanied by very detailed handouts and online guides. Providing instruction that involves small group work as well as active, experiential, or contextual learning can also be helpful. A focus on brevity, a high degree of relevance, and maintaining an awareness of a variety of learning styles are key instructional elements when working with adult learners. Promoting active student participation through open communication is very important, as it can lead to ongoing consultation and dialogue with individual students as they progress through their academic career. Possible service ideas when working with adult returning students include: providing brief information literacy & technical skill orientations; designing customized, in-depth 'research skill development' seminar series; developing a list of information literacy & technical competencies; implementing a research mentoring program; and creating bibliographies on popular topics. At North Carolina State University, instruction for adult returning students is typically conducted in two ways: in a classroom setting that is connected to a specific department or discipline, or on an individual basis. In a classroom setting, librarians frequently provide instruction to classes that include both traditional and non-traditional students. In some programs, particular classes may be primarily made up of non-traditional students. As an example, the department of Adult and Community College Education [ACCE] in the College of Education at North Carolina State University primarily serves the working professional and has a high percentage of adult returning students. In addition, all students in the department are working towards graduate degrees; there are no undergraduate level classes offered by ACCE. As a result, many classes in ACCE meet in the evenings to accommodate the work schedules of students and are primarily made up of non-traditional students. When working with these particular classes, instruction is tailored to meet the needs of adult returning students. To supplement this instruction, other library services and activities are offered to the ACCE department that support the needs of adult returning students: library orientations are offered to all new ACCE graduate students, information literacy and technical competencies have been established for ACCE students, and individual assistance to students is offered. In this way, appropriate library services and instruction have been developed based on the structure and focus of a particular academic program. Providing individual assistance to adult returning students upon request is an important aspect of the services provided by the NCSU Libraries. This occurs primarily through services such as open office hours, individual research consultation appointments, and literature searching. Office hours offered by librarians are often held in the locations where the students take most of their classes, instead of at the library, in order to make the librarian more directly available to students. The need or opportunity for providing office hours is again often programmatically based. Individual research consultation appointments are scheduled upon request, and they are marketed primarily though instruction sessions and interpersonal communication with patrons. In addition, the NCSU Libraries offers a literature search service called SearchAssist, which allows patrons to work with a librarian to create an appropriate research plan and then gather resources for research projects. SearchAssist helps patrons be more efficient during the research process, which is likely one of the primary reasons adult returning students are active users of this service.
Benefits	This practice directly assists in meeting the needs of adult returning students, an important part of the constituency served by academic institutions. Adult learners currently represent about half of all students, and they have specific educational objectives that librarians can help them achieve in a very direct manner. As a result, consideration for adult learners should be addressed as a comprehensive, integrated part of library instruction and reference services. This practice provides suggestions and strategies for developing instructional and reference services that specifically address the needs of adult learners.
Costs	There are minimal financial costs involved in this practice; costs arise more in terms of staff time related to planning and implementing services and strategies that target the adult learner population. The primary long-term benefit of this practice is developing a constituency of library users with a higher level of information literacy and an increased willingness to make use of library services.
Alignment	This is a "client focused" practice designed, as stated in the NCSU Libraries' strategic plan, "to meet increasingly sophisticated information needs and demands generated by dynamic research, educational, and extension programs." Promoting the information literacy skills of adult returning students helps create "an environment that is conducive to discovery and fosters individual growth." Providing "information resources that enhance learning and discovery" for adult learners is one of the ways that the Libraries delivers "excellence in information services." For more information about the mission and vision of the NCSU Libraries, see http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/administration/newstrat_plan.html and http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/administration/mission.html.
Measurability	Data that can be gathered in support of service models directed at adult learners include instructional data (number of adult learners participating in instruction; whether or not they found the instruction useful) and reference data (number of reference questions and individual research consultations involving adult learners). Options for assessing instructional success as well as development and comprehension of information literacy skills include deliverables such as detailed research plans, written assessments of the research process (also referred to as a ‘process-folio’ or ‘I-search’ papers) and annotated bibliographies. At North Carolina State University, basic instructional data (class sessions taught by librarians) are gathered and tracked on a departmental or programmatic level. As an example, it is possible to track the number of students and classes taught by a librarian for the department of Adult and Community College Education. Departmental affiliation is also tracked in conjunction with the use of the SearchAssist service. Individual reference consultations, both by appointment and through other means such as e-mail, are tracked in a general manner but data about specific departmental affiliations is not currently gathered (although this information would be fairly straightforward to gather, and could easily be done in the future). Assessing the success of instruction, and the development of information literacy skills among adult returning students, is currently occurring only anecdotally, although in the future it would be interesting to consider how this might be implemented on a programmatic level. Measurability seems to be most effective on a more general departmental or programmatic level because due to privacy issues, it can be problematic to gather individual demographic data relating to age. Support of service models that address the unique needs of adult returning students is quantifiably justified given the number of adult learners currently enrolled in academic programs. For example, currently at North Carolina State University there are 4,170 enrolled students over the age of 30, out of a total enrollment of 27,579 (http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/UPA/). Nationally, in 1999 almost half (42.2%) of all adults age 30 and older participated in adult education (http://www.nces.ed.gov/).
Sustainability	This practice is very cost-effective and sustainable over time, as it can be integrated into existing, ongoing instruction and reference activities that are a fundamental part of academic library services. There will certainly be a time investment on the part of library staff in terms of planning, coordinating, and providing these services to adult learners. Investing in long-term support of this practice is important and viable, since adult returning students continue to be a significant segment of library users. The practice has a direct, long-term impact on adult returning students, as it helps to improve their information literacy skills over the course of their academic career.
Transferability	This practice can be effectively applied across various departments and institutions, in any unit that serves adult returning students. The basic focus of providing and developing services to meet the specific needs of adult learners can be applied in a variety of contexts.
Responsiveness	This practice targets a specific population with a specific set of information needs. Libraries increasingly serve members of this population, and this practice provides specific tools, concepts, and strategies that will enable libraries to assist adult returning students in meeting their information needs.