Cori Wilhelm: And it looks like that's working so welcome everybody Thank you so much for signing up and showing up for our first spotlight on C libraries.
Cori Wilhelm: today's session is creating and scaling and embedded library and program using blackboard to disseminate resources and collaborate and remote setting.
Cori Wilhelm: And we're joined by Joel dela Rosa and Jacqueline coffee Scott of erie CC who have an awesome embedded librarianship program that they're going to share with us, and I would just I guess I haven't asked yet.
Cori Wilhelm: Joel would you prefer for questions just pop them in the chat and we'll address them afterwards, or people to raise hands.
Jewel De La Rosa: We can do the chat we've left time we want to really facilitate a conversation after our presentation and we have created a pad lead as well that we're going to use to ask some questions and.
Jewel De La Rosa: Foster discussion so if we could put the questions in the chat as we go along, and then we can get all we get to all of it at the end.
Cori Wilhelm: yeah okay yeah that sounds that sounds awesome.
Cori Wilhelm: yeah we're hoping that this is a little bit more of an informal conversation than a you know more formal webinar training, where we can learn from each other and see what other senior folks are doing so with that I will let you take over the screen share.
Cori Wilhelm: Sure, and i'll probably stop my video while you're speaking just to.
Cori Wilhelm: Save bandwidth but.
Jewel De La Rosa: OK OK i'm going to share my screen now, so we have a brief presentation that if some of you may have joined us we did a Sunni live presentation in June.
Jewel De La Rosa: we're going to cover kind of the basics of what we consider to be an embedded librarian program how it got started what it looks like now.
Jewel De La Rosa: And jackie's then going to be speaking on things that we've done.
Jewel De La Rosa: To make it more sustainable and effective and then we really do really want to hear from all of you have whether or not you have one at your institution, if you do, how is it going if you don't.
Jewel De La Rosa: Why not and kind of talk about the future of what this is going to look like when we all move to bright space and any changes that might come into play that so i'm really interested in hearing about that if you've.
Jewel De La Rosa: had any discussions with your distance learning department.
Jewel De La Rosa: Okay, so let me share my screen.
Jewel De La Rosa: Again i'm Joel dela Rosa.
Jewel De La Rosa: And my colleague Jackie is going to be taking over on the second part of this presentation.
Jewel De La Rosa: are embedded librarian program assists with instruction within blackboard a librarian is assigned to a specific blackboard course to assist students within that course.
Jewel De La Rosa: We collaborate with faculty in determining what the needs are for that specific course so.
Jewel De La Rosa: For the most part, when we are embedded we're embedded from the first week of the Semester through the end of the Semester.
Jewel De La Rosa: There are some situations where we might only be embedded for a certain period of time.
Jewel De La Rosa: say in the middle of the Semester if there's a large research paper, but most of the time, we are embedded for the entire semester.
Jewel De La Rosa: Obviously it gets a lot busier around that research paper time but this allows us to get in beginning of the Semester plug in the resources that we're putting in check out the syllabus check out the assignments.
Jewel De La Rosa: participate in discussion boards and things like that to get to know the students and what their needs are.
Jewel De La Rosa: This ability to have these frequent interactions with students enable them to get a better understanding of what we have to provide to them, it gives them a personal.
Jewel De La Rosa: connection with the library, and we see that this often results in better utilized scholarly sources in their papers.
Jewel De La Rosa: it's been a great resource for us to collaborate with faculty prior to this most of our interactions were kind of one shot instruction sessions.
Jewel De La Rosa: We would see the students wants and then not really be able to follow through on what their needs, were after that it's really given us a great kind of door into a lot of the departments and access to students.
Jewel De La Rosa: So this is the started as a pilot project back in 2014 it's crazy that that was eight years ago.
Jewel De La Rosa: But that's basically when I began at suny erie as a full time librarian and I started this as a pilot project for the first semester, it was myself and one willing English faculty Member actually had another campus so we at suny erie if you're not familiar have a three campus system.
Jewel De La Rosa: which does make it tricky to really collaborate across the three campuses and interact together, but this was one English faculty member that was ready and willing to try this out.
Jewel De La Rosa: So I was embedded in her class for one semester, and once we saw that this was successful we start to facilitate meetings with distance learning to establish a specific library enroll in blackboard so that this could be expanded on.
Jewel De La Rosa: And these.
Jewel De La Rosa: role this role was then put forward in front of our college senate for approval and fall of 2015.
Jewel De La Rosa: And there is a training that all faculty have to go through to be blackboard certified and that was added to Librarians as well, so if a librarian wanted to be embedded they had to go through hours of blackboard certification training order to do that.
Jewel De La Rosa: And the documented library enroll at that time was established.
Jewel De La Rosa: With these abilities were able to build edit copy and delete content.
Jewel De La Rosa: send messages emails create message groups participate in forums, we are obviously not able to grade assignments or accents student grades that's.
Jewel De La Rosa: That was the largest concern that faculty had there was a lot of faculty hesitancy in the beginning, because they weren't really sure how they felt about having another faculty Member access their course.
Jewel De La Rosa: But once that was shown that we wouldn't be able to access student grades that kind of hesitancy lessened.
Jewel De La Rosa: In 2016 we started offering an all free campus and it's growing kind of slowly each semester, since then fall of 2019 which we all know, was the first the last semester before things changed for all of us.
Jewel De La Rosa: We had 26 courses managed by seven Librarians across three campuses we went to fully remote in the middle of spring of 2020 and that doubled to 52 courses.
Jewel De La Rosa: The following fall, we were still remote and that increased to 84 courses with 16 embedded Librarians so we saw this really huge.
Jewel De La Rosa: Growth, not only the number of Librarians that were participating, but the number of courses that took us on as embedded which was really exciting for me to go from one.
Jewel De La Rosa: To them at four but then the question began how, how is the sustainable, you know how are we going to be able to keep this going and offer a great service i'm.
Jewel De La Rosa: Typically, as an embedded librarian we're not just plugging content into blackboard we are the contact person for that course so if it does have a seated component, we are usually the instructor than teaching those students in person.
Jewel De La Rosa: Students will make appointments with us, one on one to work on their assignments, as well as the upkeep of any discussion board or content in blackboard so it really is a personal relationship, and it can be very difficult to sustain that if you're in a very large number of courses.
Jewel De La Rosa: So in the beginning this was targeted really to English courses, this is grown to ot dietetic technology theatre, etc.
Jewel De La Rosa: Most of our Librarians now are blackboard trained and in blackboard we've noticed that are those one shot library instruction sessions have kind of decreased.
Jewel De La Rosa: As the embedded library and program has increased, a lot of that might also have to do with the pandemic and the way that we changed our mode of instruction.
Jewel De La Rosa: And, but this really was a gift to us that we had this program in place when we went remote, it allows us as Librarians to remain relevant and vital.
Jewel De La Rosa: So far there have been no layoffs to our staff, there is a hiring freeze, so it has if lost a lot through attrition.
Jewel De La Rosa: But we've really been able to remain relevant and continue to participate and instruction and be vital to our institution, because we had this service already there provided, and it was really growing at that time.
Jewel De La Rosa: So obviously this is created challenges, though, if you've doubled or kind of tripled your load in this program and not doubled or tripled your staffing that made it challenging we have Librarians in my slideshow I have it embedded in as many as 10 i'm currently in 13 classes, a semester.
Jewel De La Rosa: there's been a difficulty in having consistent service across the three campuses collaborating and communicating between all of us at three campuses, and so we really realized that we had to do something to to help us help ourselves and make this more efficient process.
Jewel De La Rosa: So this is where Jackie I really, really speed talks to that, but that's good, because we have a lot of time shot, this is where jackie's going to discuss what we did to solve that growth issue i'm going to stop sharing my screen so that Jackie can share hers.
Jewel De La Rosa: And let me see here, stop the share.
Jewel De La Rosa: Okay.
Jewel De La Rosa: you're on jack.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Okay.
Jackie Coffey Scott: So i'm going to share my screen.
Jackie Coffey Scott: And my.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Blocking my.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Present mode, so we decided that we needed to create a content repository.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Again, not, not only because we were.
Jackie Coffey Scott: spread across three campuses but, once we get to this slide.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Once we went remote being able to communicate with one another on a regular basis, became became even more of a challenge, so we did meet.
Jackie Coffey Scott: At that time, I think it was even maybe a little bit before the pandemic started, we did meet with Librarians from all three campuses to try to figure out how we wanted to do this content sharing, so that we weren't recreating the wheel every single time.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Someone was embedded in a class and also there are classes that are taught at you know all three campuses so it just made it easier in that way, so again, we were not.
Jackie Coffey Scott: redoing the same work over and over we created that repository in blackboard I am going to show you what blackboard looks like on what our blackboard looks like.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Right now, not only because I want you to see how we created the repository but also, I think I remember from the last one, we presented at suny la a lot of people wanted to see what types of things we put into the blackboard course.
Jackie Coffey Scott: So we did tap the Librarians who had the most experience teaching specific classes, whether it be because they had been doing it in those one shot library instruction classes and they had a relationship.
Jackie Coffey Scott: With an instructor or we did have, for a period of time we had a liaison program so there were some relationships between Librarians through those knees on programs.
Jackie Coffey Scott: So we were assigned and we already had content, whether it was again those in person classes, or we had already started being embedded in classes so specific Librarians were assigned.
Jackie Coffey Scott: To specific classes or content areas and then one one of us, and it was me was assigned to set up the framework that i'm about to show you so that people could then plug in their information into the blackboard.
Jackie Coffey Scott: So i'm actually gonna drop out of the share on or not share, but the presentation we're going to go into the blackboard So this is the frame.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Of what our blackboard report the library repository looks like and again i'm not going to get into the repository side of it so much I just I do think that it's good to show you what what we put in them.
Jackie Coffey Scott: But these are all of the different classes, that we are currently that we currently have different embedded classes and i'm going to show you one of mine, because i'm the most familiar with it.
Jackie Coffey Scott: I I really only have two areas that I focus on i'm in the medical office assisting embedded program and then i'm also not occupational therapy so i'm going to go into the occupational therapy.
Jackie Coffey Scott: We did create it so that there's one for each class in case one librarian does get sort of overwhelmed with the number of classes that they're taking this way they have something if there's anything very specific to a class or the the assignment that the Professor has.
Jackie Coffey Scott: And i'm going to go with just go into go to one on one, so the types of things that we put in here um it varies from librarian to librarian it doesn't mean that.
Jackie Coffey Scott: If somebody did decide to use content from another another person's class that they couldn't add their own information in there there's no.
Jackie Coffey Scott: it's not that any of this is set in stone and that people can't create and make things their own, but this is mine I usually have a greeting swear I explained when i'm here and I.
Jackie Coffey Scott: have my contact information there's an embarrassing picture of myself I also usually do some type of a video just introducing myself.
Jackie Coffey Scott: going over basics of the library resources every semester is a little bit different during the pandemic I did engage in a lot of online instruction, so I did get to speak with students.
Jackie Coffey Scott: During a class, but this semester, things have been different, I think, as things have changed, where we're having more.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Online more classes taught online, they are not engaging at least the classes that i'm teaching embedded and they're not engaging me as much with regard to to instruction, so I did create several tutorials to kind of give students a you know, an overview of the library sources.
Jackie Coffey Scott: because everybody needs some things a little bit differently so this way they can watch a brief tutorial on library resources.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Students are able to schedule appointments with me and that's both in person and via webex so the cal does have a link a way to access my calendar so students can schedule appointments I, and then I linked to a lot of different library resources, I have a link to the library website.
Jackie Coffey Scott: there's nothing particularly wrong with the way that things are set up on on Sunni areas website, but I will say that there are a couple of steps that students have to take in order to find it so I try and make it pretty easy for them to find it within the blackboard.
Jackie Coffey Scott: We do have a Sunni Uri library YouTube channel so again I I curate based on whatever the assignment is for the class I curate a collection of different library YouTube.
Jackie Coffey Scott: videos for that that relate to the assignment, so I make sure that they have access to those in case they you know you know again everybody.
Jackie Coffey Scott: needs to access information in different ways, so I try to give them both the the script, so to speak, and then also the tutorials I also linked to our live guide so that they can see what you know the different types very specific to this.
Jackie Coffey Scott: subject area all the different resources that we have within the library.
Jackie Coffey Scott: That are against specific to this subject area and.
Jackie Coffey Scott: I did link to an e book as well, and then also to set some citation sources.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Another nice thing, and this would be very particular to the repository is it's a nice way to keep track of class related content.
Jackie Coffey Scott: i'm concerned about this, as we make the shift to bright space, I hope I that I need to make sure that I have copies of all of this, but I have all of my instruction materials that are used in the past, my PowerPoint presentations any post instruction questions or.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Assessments or anything like that that i've done with them um it's a nice place to sort of store those away as well.
Jackie Coffey Scott: So that's what it looks like in blackboard so that's what my, that is what my class looks like in blackboard for any of the classes that i'm embedded in but it's also how its organized and I keep track of it within the repository as well.
Jackie Coffey Scott: back into the PowerPoint presentation.
Jackie Coffey Scott: created a situation on my screen again.
Jackie Coffey Scott: actually going to go all the way to.
Jackie Coffey Scott: eat your outlook so.
Jackie Coffey Scott: As far as the growth we expect that it will continue to grow each semester, I mean we've already seen a big jump even with coming back in person, it continues to seem to catch on, I think, as things trend more and more towards classes being online.
Jackie Coffey Scott: And as more and more teachers and professors use us.
Jackie Coffey Scott: It probably is going to continue to grow as jewel status that's probably going to be constraints to what by our availability.
Jackie Coffey Scott: But I think with the repository and the ability to not have to reinvent the wheel all the time we've managed to keep that from becoming too overwhelming, and I think that.
Jackie Coffey Scott: As a person who's been embedded in the library and as an embedded librarian for a long time, it is a really rewarding.
Jackie Coffey Scott: it's a rewarding experience I actually have found that I need more one on one with students through this through this process, and which has been really helpful.
Jackie Coffey Scott: With regard to the future and an assessment Julian I were actually discussing this just before we were meeting.
Jackie Coffey Scott: It continues to be our hope that we are able to include a formal assessment of this program that's not part of our instruction assessment so those are sort of hopes and dreams for the future.
Jackie Coffey Scott: But.
Jackie Coffey Scott: that's pretty much it that's that's it for my piece of the.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Of the presentation.
Jewel De La Rosa: yeah I don't know i'm really interested, I mean we started this program because.
Jewel De La Rosa: When I first started, here we it's crazy to think of how much has changed for all of us in the last 10 years right.
Jewel De La Rosa: We had students still coming to check out tella course tella courses on I think i'm.
Jewel De La Rosa: on DVD and we really had no instruction for online students for library for library instruction and that's really, what was the impetus for this have are we offering the same.
Jewel De La Rosa: Assistance to our online students, that we are for our in person and just like all of us have gone to.
Jewel De La Rosa: Virtual reference you know we're doing in person reference in virtual reference, this is an example another example now we're doing in person instruction and virtual instruction.
Jewel De La Rosa: we're teaching in our classroom and we're teaching in blackboard it's kind of like we're duplicating your efforts, but how, how is that sustainable when so many of us, I know have kind of dwindling staff and dwindling resources.
Jewel De La Rosa: And so I really Jackie are really interested in trying to discuss don't have this be more of a casual conversation, of how is it at your institution.
Jewel De La Rosa: Are you having the same types of challenges, do you have a similar program and also with the move to bright space, I had a meeting last week with our distance learning.
Jewel De La Rosa: director about that transition and about the library enroll in bright space they've just started getting access to it so it's still.
Jewel De La Rosa: kind of uncertain as to what that's going to look like, but we discussed that there is a Sunni, there is a library enroll in bright space, and we are discussing whether or not we're going to stick with that role they said that it is a non cascading role, so we would have to do the.
Jewel De La Rosa: adding an embedded liberating the same kind of process that we have now, but we're kind of thinking of do we want to do want to transition that into a cascading role where we would be.
Jewel De La Rosa: assigned to specific units, so if I were English I would have access to all of the English courses so there's that kind of discussion of will this program evolve.
Jewel De La Rosa: In a much different direction, because of the new environment, or are we going to do it the same way, one thing that we didn't mention is the process, how we do it here.
Jewel De La Rosa: In instructor we have a liaison at each campus who leads embedded in terms of assigning Librarians but it's all done through our distance learning department so it's kind of.
Jewel De La Rosa: A lot of extra work the Faculty will reach out to one of us discussed wanting them to better librarian they have to put a ticket in thrower distance learning department.
Jewel De La Rosa: And then the distance learning department context the liaison that that campus to get the name of WHO to assign so.
Jewel De La Rosa: faculty are not able to assign Librarians on their own and Librarians cannot assign themselves to a class still really managed by distance learning.
Jewel De La Rosa: So that's another thing i'm really interested to see if who who does have an embedded lebron and how is it managed to their school so i've been talking too much, but we have.
Jewel De La Rosa: A pamphlet link here and a qr code that we would love to open up, we have a few questions in it that I can share the screen on to really start the discussion.
Jewel De La Rosa: And we'd love to hear from all of you have whether you have a program how's it going if you don't might not and just opened up to discussion for us all to share.
Cori Wilhelm: Thanks Jackie and are you able to paste that in the chat.
Jackie Coffey Scott: i'm going to stop sharing and I will paste it in the chat.
Jackie Coffey Scott: just give me a moment.
Theresa Zahor: I have a question can you can you hear me.
Theresa Zahor: Yes, hi i'm treated as a open bar miguel's takeout I have a question about the assignments and scheduling I guess my question we take it back further is do your.
Theresa Zahor: Teaching library and slash embedded Librarians do reference desk hours on campus governance committees publishing that kind of thing, because we have a very small staff, here we taught we actually find the.
Theresa Zahor: i've been a pilot of an embedded with criminal justice course of many years several years ago.
Theresa Zahor: It was okay it didn't take off, for various reasons, with other disciplines because we're simultaneous tenuously doing and information literacy assessment program with English one, on one so.
Theresa Zahor: For a lot of different reasons, but one of my biggest issues is staffing and then My other question is how, in the world assistance, because of the staffing issues and other responsibilities, I was distance learning managed to schedule.
Theresa Zahor: Librarians you know I mean like real give an example, we have six Librarians here, they all do teaching they'll do reference, they will do governance committees and other.
Theresa Zahor: and publishing and so forth in presentations all for tenure and continuing beyond tenure, I just have not been able to see our way to schedule.
Theresa Zahor: People for the amount of information literacy course request and, yes, we have moved online where we hadn't been doing somebody before we had all one shot in person.
Theresa Zahor: Then we schedule, but now we have two sessions information literacy assessment English one to one now we're looking then we moved online for Colvin now we're split between both of you know so it's like I can't even imagine how I would schedule this with our current staff.
Jewel De La Rosa: yeah it's.
Theresa Zahor: Freezing anytime soon.
Jewel De La Rosa: Oh yeah we we are we're working at a reduced Stephen level, now we.
Jewel De La Rosa: have fewer full time and for your part time Librarians and we did a year ago, or two years ago.
Jewel De La Rosa: And it is sometimes feels like one more thing that we're doing, but everything, as you know, is one more thing that we're doing and I find that.
Jewel De La Rosa: Now that we've been doing this for as many years as we've been doing it, we can do it in a very efficient way and so anytime that we spend embedding these videos tutorials.
Jewel De La Rosa: guides within blackboard that might be less time that, then, is being requested of us at the reference desk or to teach a class so.
Jewel De La Rosa: The more students, that we can reach via blackboard with these resources than those students.
Jewel De La Rosa: You know, are able to do research on their own and some capacities and so that they're not then coming up to the reference desk and ask them questions we all do staff, the reference desk we have started to reduce the number of hours that we're staffing the physical reference desk.
Jewel De La Rosa: Because we're trying to work with the staff that we have and the need for that, but we are offering the virtual chat service and still staffing the reference desk every day and doing in person instruction.
Jewel De La Rosa: Once this program is up and running, though the time commitment is is pretty minimal.
Jewel De La Rosa: Until you get to really when that research paper is do you will get a few students that want to book an appointment with you are have a lot of questions during that time crunch period.
Jewel De La Rosa: But it's really no more than you would have if you didn't have an embedded librarian program I think that we would have more of that need if we didn't have this program because those same students would be coming to book appointments with us or come to the reference desk.
Jewel De La Rosa: But we wouldn't have the background knowledge of that assignment of the Faculty instructor expectations you don't I mean so.
Theresa Zahor: yeah I actually see great value in this I just think I need to figure out how to organize it.
Theresa Zahor: yeah I also looked at jackie's on her core filters or whatever, and she had are available hours nine to 337 I got my gosh how are you are you available.
Theresa Zahor: Nine to 333 days a week for questions and queries related to this ah so but yeah I see great value, and I can see where you're going with it.
Theresa Zahor: One of our issues yeah actually funny you just mentioned that with the assignment that's come to light.
Theresa Zahor: Really recently that will get a student welcome to the library having attended and I have class in person online and expect the library and his desk know exactly what they're talking about so that that is a recent more recent issue for us but yeah yeah.
Jewel De La Rosa: yeah I mean jackie's availabilities because she's here part time and those are those are her total hours in the.
library.
Jewel De La Rosa: Usually, when I put mine in for a specific class I might you know carve out an hour to on specific days.
Jewel De La Rosa: kind of like an office our situation it's not an all day but those expectations have to be spelled out right, I clearly right in my.
Jewel De La Rosa: greeting to the students that don't email me on a Friday night at nine o'clock because i'm not going to be, you know, responding to this is not a 24 hour, seven days a week service.
Jewel De La Rosa: That they really have to give themselves time and just lay out what those expectations are and what your commitment is to this class from the beginning.
Jewel De La Rosa: That seems a lot, but you know, I will say like we said we started this in 2014 and there were a lot of obstacles to go around, and it was overwhelming at first.
Jewel De La Rosa: The biggest challenge was getting faculty on board getting other Librarians on board, because we're all stretched really thin and convincing people to do something new and to take on more work is hard.
Jewel De La Rosa: But I think that now that we all have, and I think a lot of people kind of were forced to during the pandemic of jumping on board on this.
Jewel De La Rosa: it's easy to see the value once you're doing it and and how much time you really do save by doing it and how many students, we can reach that we weren't able to reach before and really build those relationships with faculty that we wouldn't normally have it's.
Theresa Zahor: really important terms of issues yeah I think it may be an opportunity for me to resurrected here with the migration to bite space, I think, possibly.
Theresa Zahor: So that's that's.
Theresa Zahor: possibly have just to get something else I was going to ask you, oh.
Theresa Zahor: Now I forget I forget what it is i'll think of it later okay something about number of students, we have still it's really amazing we kind of thought that maybe we could, at one point.
Theresa Zahor: cut back on reference hours it's not happening because we have we're commuter school with 910 thousand students and they are active.
Theresa Zahor: actively use a library regular basis and it's not just traditional reference question they ask is everything, because we are one of the only places.
Theresa Zahor: Open on campus after 430 every day so it's a little crazy so so yeah we have not been able to reduce anything any reference hours any way, shape or form so yeah I have to try to figure this out yeah but interesting Africa, the other question later, thank you.
Okay.
Cori Wilhelm: It looks like we have a handle on denny.
Cori Wilhelm: To do a question.
Jenny Farquhar (she/her): Yes, thank you i'll turn my camera on here um i'm at Suffolk county Community College on long island, I think this is just fantastic and i've been trying to.
Jenny Farquhar (she/her): get our college to be more invested in the online classes and more embedded i've also been trained in blackboard you know because I teach a library research class, so I do get that.
Jenny Farquhar (she/her): The time commitment it shrinks as you develop this you know, in the same way that if you're teaching an online class, I do have a couple of really specific questions, though, how do, how do you do outreach to the Faculty to get them on board.
Jenny Farquhar (she/her): To have you embedded in their class and is it mandatory for all of your Librarians to be involved in this i'm especially wondering about the adjuncts because we have many, many adjuncts.
Jenny Farquhar (she/her): way more than full time Librarians.
Jewel De La Rosa: yeah it's not mandatory, and I will say that was one of the initial challenges, because there would be Librarians who are really on board.
Jewel De La Rosa: And would have a large load of embedded classes and other Librarians who never participated at all that would be frustrating, I think that.
Jewel De La Rosa: As our staffing level has shrunk and our online courses have increased, you know, since the pandemic i'm at this point, I believe.
Jewel De La Rosa: You know i'd say 90% are embedded just because the need has grown to that point but definitely a few years ago, it was not, it was not that that way at all um, the more we do it, the more the easier it is to get people on board.
Jewel De La Rosa: In terms of promotion to faculty we've done presentations at you know every year prior to a semester we have.
Jewel De La Rosa: professional development day across all three campuses they now call it convocation day so we've done presentations on that and do a breakout sessions for faculty we've worked with our.
Jewel De La Rosa: Center for professional development, to do presentations for faculty we have a page on our website that discusses embedded librarian and how to put the ticket in.
Jewel De La Rosa: A lot of it is word of mouth, though, what what we've really seen is that once we have a faculty Member on with an embedded librarian they never leave so you know so we're really only gaining more every year.
Jewel De La Rosa: We do have one of our one of our our goals for our unit is to have at least 50% of all of English.
Jewel De La Rosa: With an embedded librarian um it's difficult because they're like there's just like there's no requirement for.
Jewel De La Rosa: us as library and faculty members to be met there's no requirement within that unit to have embedded but it's a goal that we have, because we want to be able to offer consistent instruction across that entire unit.
Jewel De La Rosa: And we're pretty close to meeting and, if not already meeting it so we haven't had to have a requirement is just through the years and again this has been eight years.
Jewel De La Rosa: of working on this it's gotten to be that it kind of has been promoting itself and we've been able to get more people on board, just because they see the value in it, you just have to be patient.
Jewel De La Rosa: And yeah you know it's be patient.
Jenny Farquhar (she/her): Just one more question, we have a you know training that the our faculty have to go through in order to teach in blackboard and it will be the same once we migrate to great space.
Jenny Farquhar (she/her): Do you have like I could for see having a library and be a part of that training like give a presentation on one day of the training about how they can use embedded librarianship do you do that.
Jewel De La Rosa: not really.
Jewel De La Rosa: i'm not sure how it's going to work going forward we're in the preliminary steps of.
Jewel De La Rosa: learning what rights based is going to look like I don't know what our role will be in.
Jewel De La Rosa: Because when we transition to blackboard we didn't have embedded library I don't know what types of training we don't know what types of training are going to really be offered yet or whatever, will be in that.
Jewel De La Rosa: But we really look for any sort of opportunity to reach faculty and and to promote all of our services because.
Jewel De La Rosa: it's really hard to get the word out about what we're here for and and what support we provide to the College in general, not just with embedded, but we want to get our names and faces and services out as much as possible, wherever we can on campus so thank you yeah.
Jackie Coffey Scott: I would also add that I mentioned briefly that we had a liaison program that was.
Jackie Coffey Scott: started, I think it was started before the pandemic or it was during I can't exactly remember where it was it was a it was a thing that I mean I don't want to say that it's not still happening, but it was talked about and.
Jackie Coffey Scott: That really for me with the coursework that i'm in that ability to reach out to faculty to to the department heads and say we're here.
Jackie Coffey Scott: You know these are the services that we offer I sent you know, an email, most of us did just say, stating that this was available, that was a nice step in and those you know.
Jackie Coffey Scott: I have sort of a background in health sciences librarianship so I was a very easy way to inroad and then from there now i'm embedded in all the ot classes and one of the professors has really.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Within our medical assisting program to so anybody who works at a college, where there are a liaison that's a really easy way to market this as well, even if it is a little bit of a it's sort of was a little.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Our liaison program was a little interesting i'll just leave it at that.
Theresa Zahor: yeah it's been this is Terry again it's pretty interesting with our liaison program we've had some really good success with certain things I want, we have new resources new databases or evil so whatever video collection.
Theresa Zahor: When it comes to information literacy, we always promote that through the liaison Program.
Theresa Zahor: I have not promoted embedded because we're not together with it, yet to there, but it could be a venue for us as well, I have a question about the term length, do you.
Theresa Zahor: um and I know you mentioned you generally start with giving us faster to the end.
Theresa Zahor: What we were really thinking due to a size of our staff and availability was for the point in time, research paper type approach on.
Theresa Zahor: Do you find that as successful is not the right word but define that as valuable i'm doing like a two week time originally when I came up with the concept of years ago.
Theresa Zahor: I was thinking well, maybe we could do, and this is working with the distance learning person at the time, maybe we could do a two week time period or something Do you see any value in that or do you really think it should be based on your experiences, the whole semester.
Jewel De La Rosa: I think it's best for the whole semester, but again, even if your embedded for the whole semester you're not really.
Jewel De La Rosa: You know you're not really contributing every day working through it every day throughout the whole semester.
Jewel De La Rosa: But I think that we have had some instructors that have wanted us for a certain period of time, I think that it's best to get us kind of on the students radar from day one.
Jewel De La Rosa: And I think that it works best when we're in right at the beginning, even if we just create a folder and put it in there, introduce ourselves.
Jewel De La Rosa: And don't then really participate until that two week period just having it within blackboard so the students are already thinking about it.
Jewel De La Rosa: know who we are and it's been you know, had some information presented to them, I think that that's more helpful, then.
Jewel De La Rosa: than waiting, but I think it really depends on what the assignment is and what the course is.
Jewel De La Rosa: we've been embedded in some classes that honestly don't really need an embedded library now for some faculty are like oh that sounds like a great word other people are doing it, let me add an embedded librarian.
Jewel De La Rosa: But they don't if they don't have a true research component and they're not their students aren't really you know required to use any of our resources were in there, you know by name only, so it really varies depending on what the needs of the class are.
Jackie Coffey Scott: I also think that um.
Jackie Coffey Scott: it's the one of the big benefits of starting from the beginning is more the communication with the Faculty Member because we do have.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Like I have good relationships with the department heads, we do have new adjunct faculty that come in on to teach courses and.
Jackie Coffey Scott: So, being in there from the very beginning, helps you to make that connection with them and it's not that it's a big time at the beginning it's not a big.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Time commitment to have those conversations, but then you and the Faculty Member are on the same page, you know exactly what they want, what their expectations are they know exactly what you are able to give to them.
Jackie Coffey Scott: I will say that there's a big you right now i'm in it like we're all in it that, right now, all of the papers.
Jackie Coffey Scott: are becoming available but luckily i'm only dealing with students right now i'm not trying to also coordinate with faculty members over it, because we've already had those discussions at the beginning of the Semester now.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Now it's mostly i'm dealing with the students, so I think probably being in it the whole time is is a better plan because it's not a huge time commitment.
Jewel De La Rosa: yeah and it is now that we have the repository and.
Jewel De La Rosa: It can be as little as.
Jewel De La Rosa: It takes five minutes right to copy the content from our repository blackboard course into the course we're embedded in it takes a few minutes to plug in your your greeting and your contact information.
Jewel De La Rosa: it's not a huge time commitment you know I can set up 10 classes within it within you know one day.
Jewel De La Rosa: because their students are not going to be contacting.
Jewel De La Rosa: You know they're not thinking oh there's a librarian and of course I better I better call them right now make an appointment.
Jewel De La Rosa: That crunch doesn't happen until they feel they're feeling crunched for their assignment and that would happen, whether or not you were in there for the whole semester or not.
Jewel De La Rosa: It looks like there are some chat questions.
Cori Wilhelm: Yes, we have a question from Christina Do you realize the lci integration within live Apps and scripture.
Jewel De La Rosa: i'm i'm not even sure I know what.
Jewel De La Rosa: I we.
Jewel De La Rosa: Go ahead.
Cori Wilhelm: is how webex can integrate into.
Cori Wilhelm: blackboard or teach well, I honestly don't know that much about it either.
Jewel De La Rosa: No scenery.
Cori Wilhelm: I say krista.
Christa DeVirgilio: Good i'm actually an old westbury we're utilizing that so it's very similar to how your.
Christa DeVirgilio: Have content in blackboard fix up the lci.
Christa DeVirgilio: kind of integrates it, whereas it's it's kind of like how you had the YouTube video embedded it's basically because we have live live guys cms we have the full version, and we have basically the whole suite of live Apps you know the lip cal and all that so.
Christa DeVirgilio: Basically, what I do we have a liaison program and we'll send out an email to we have five Librarians not many that do instruction.
Christa DeVirgilio: will send out an email once a year, or once a semester, telling them updating the departments and then one of the things that I started to do is i'll send instructions on how to add.
Christa DeVirgilio: A live guide course so usually, when we do instruction will make a course guide.
Christa DeVirgilio: And so, will give instructions on how to embed it right in their courts Shell and it's used a lot utilizing my build content and it basically.
Christa DeVirgilio: What we had to do to implement that was tell the ID the instructional designer give the lt I code and secret and I think that went all the way up to you know.
Christa DeVirgilio: suny system they had to do it and then all of a sudden, it was live, and we can see in our statistics, how many courses are using it.
Christa DeVirgilio: What they're embedding and they can do it down to a full guide one page a box content, and so the the benefit of it is they're not navigate they're not going outside of the LM s there.
Christa DeVirgilio: And then you know, based on research that that's what students want they don't want to go to a link and be taken outside they want everything in.
Christa DeVirgilio: The course Shell so.
Christa DeVirgilio: I actually I call myself embedded because there's about one professor, who is really tech logically not savvy so I.
Christa DeVirgilio: for a short period I asked our our campus ID to add me as an instructor I add, I add the guide and in the guide I have my profile, I have, I have everything about.
Christa DeVirgilio: scheduling an appointment, and so I do get after instruction I get several one on one instruction requests with those students and generally it is senior level.
Christa DeVirgilio: That I it's right in the beginning, you do instruction right in the beginning, because they're writing a thesis we get most of our instruction requests mid semester after midterms for English COMP too, because where there's a research component, but um.
Christa DeVirgilio: it's a very seamless way to to share that information so i'm intrigued that you have the repository I think that.
Christa DeVirgilio: that's a good idea for us.
Jewel De La Rosa: yeah I mean we definitely do embed content from our.
Jewel De La Rosa: Lip guides and our lip kale for appointments and you know we have spring share, and we all, you know going embedded.
Jewel De La Rosa: With through the source code and things like that our systems librarian actually recently left and so some of the BAT behind the scenes technological stuff you know we don't have that we don't have him to turn to anymore so.
Jewel De La Rosa: i'm not sure how all this going to work with, with the right space, I see another question that came up is yes, we are one of the early cohorts we they're starting the summer, with within courses moving over to bright space so as Librarians though i'm not quite sure.
Jewel De La Rosa: When we will.
Jewel De La Rosa: be moving are embedded when we will have access to the first course it probably will be the fall.
Jewel De La Rosa: Because most of us are not here in the summer.
Jewel De La Rosa: So that'll be an interesting.
Jewel De La Rosa: An interesting transition but it'll be happening soon.
Cori Wilhelm: And I just want to jump in really quickly tool because Rebecca brings up a good point.
Cori Wilhelm: There is some opportunity here when we transition over and perhaps someone like krista.
Cori Wilhelm: Could partner with someone like jewel and see how we can share resources across campuses use the lci integration with the two well you know I think there's a lot of opportunity for cross campus collaboration here.
Jewel De La Rosa: yeah I would love it, I mean I would love I think that's the best part about this meeting today is just talking to everyone and seeing you know how do you do it what's working what's not working, how can we work together, because.
Jewel De La Rosa: Trying to do this as an island for so long it's you know we've been successful in some ways, but we might be making things harder for ourselves and other ways right.
Cori Wilhelm: there.
Jewel De La Rosa: might be a lot of shortcuts that we just don't know about that I would love to know about and especially with the new environment that gives us a great opportunity to to do things in a different way we'll have be forced to.
Christa DeVirgilio: i'm in.
Christa DeVirgilio: The early cohort group, too, so i'm yeah i'm trying to get into the test group on campus so um yeah i'll look to see how we can share thing.
Jewel De La Rosa: yeah that would be great.
Christa DeVirgilio: cool yeah.
Cori Wilhelm: Okay Oh, I was gonna say let's jump to Tina.
Cori Wilhelm: Because she's had her hand up, but she just don't punch your questions in the chat but you know if you want to go ahead.
Tina Kiernan: Okay i'd rather i'd rather just speak so what else the am a couple of years ago, I had piloted embedded librarian program and.
Tina Kiernan: Whatever reason it was decided not to continue at that time, but I have someone in the fall who wants to try it again and we were talking about different things, so I have like the course outline and everything.
Tina Kiernan: Which is great, but I was wondering if any of the Librarians when you're doing better library and ship.
Tina Kiernan: Are you responding to discussion posts like how active all the Librarians inside the course, or is it really waiting student to contact you with a question or concern or asking for help and then also, how do you measure.
Tina Kiernan: The fact that being embedded in the class is actually benefit as a student.
Jewel De La Rosa: I would say, the only time students want to interact with me in the discussion forum is if it's initiated by the instructor.
Jewel De La Rosa: There are some instructors that want to facilitate a discussion.
Jewel De La Rosa: they'll post specific questions, although they will require the students to interact with me whether it's you know assisting and choosing a topic or refining results if that is kind of.
Jewel De La Rosa: started from the Faculty Member then there'll be discussion other times.
Jewel De La Rosa: I don't really participate, most of the time, in the discussion forum and what i'm actually went the courses i'm in I see that that's not.
Jewel De La Rosa: Something that's unique to Librarians it seems like they're a lot of students are reluctant to participate in the discussion forum with the instructor unless it's you know required as well, so.
Jewel De La Rosa: i'd say a lot of it is emails phone calls appointments that's how students seem to prefer to.
Tina Kiernan: To discuss things when you reach out to the students, so they reach out to you they're reaching out to you.
Yes.
Tina Kiernan: yeah Okay, yes.
Jewel De La Rosa: I mean, I can send out announcements and general messages through blackboard, but when students have questions or want individual help they reach out to me.
Okay.
Tina Kiernan: And the second part, like, how do you figure out that you're making a difference that it's been working out successful right now we do a whole bunch of one shot classes, not all faculty participate, we have a bunch of fostering.
Tina Kiernan: I like when I was embedded in the class I liked it, even though I really didn't have students reaching out so much, but I like just being involved knowing what was going on and be able to help out if that came up but.
Tina Kiernan: and coming up with the class in the fall, we want to maximize the experience and perhaps grow this program.
Tina Kiernan: So the measurement measurement is very important to us.
Jewel De La Rosa: that's been a challenge that we discussed right at the end of the presentation part is that.
Jewel De La Rosa: it's really been anecdotal evidence from the instructor that this is a value, but we want to be able to to really measure that in a more meaningful way.
Jewel De La Rosa: We have an information literacy assessment that we do and we've also developed a rubric through general education committee to be able to assess.
Jewel De La Rosa: Research papers and like using this rubric and I ideally want us to start utilizing that to be able to.
Jewel De La Rosa: compare the results of students work when there isn't a better librarian compared to when there isn't we want to be able to look at ways that we can really measure this.
Jewel De La Rosa: In a better way other than just positive you know feel good moments with the Faculty and students, we need to be able to measure it but.
Jewel De La Rosa: i'm sure all of you can relate that that's been the part that's been kind of you know it hasn't been requested of us it hasn't been required and so that's the one part, that has not been fully kind of seen through yet.
Jewel De La Rosa: But it's on our list of what we really want to do.
Tina Kiernan: Okay, so it is just through feedback from the instructor right now that hey I could see that was helpful to the student.
Jewel De La Rosa: Yes, we get it really a lot of great blowing feedback from faculty members of.
Jewel De La Rosa: how they view this as valuable to the students and how what an impact it's having on.
Jewel De La Rosa: The student assignments, but we don't have anything to really quantify that concretely.
Tina Kiernan: Thank you very much.
Jewel De La Rosa: I.
Cori Wilhelm: Will jump back to the chat.
Cori Wilhelm: Ensure asks I had problems with student engagement using blackboard they'd be on blackboard after 9pm I reach up the next morning but wouldn't get a response, what have you done to keep our engagement.
Jewel De La Rosa: that's like the million dollar question for everything with us, I feel it's the same thing with our virtual reference and chat service will get an.
Jewel De La Rosa: email question and then we respond and never hear from the student again um that's it, I think that that, for me, is just a challenge of.
Jewel De La Rosa: A lot of information, I put out into the ether, and if it's available to the students, I hope it is but a lot of times we don't hear back it's, a challenge that I don't know what the answer to it really is Jackie do you think you have any wisdom and.
Jackie Coffey Scott: wisdom now.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Patience sometimes I think yeah I, I have a lot of because I do only work three days a week here at this job, I have a lot of students who tend to.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Try to interact with me on at times when i'm not here, which is why I do make myself available for my entire shift that i'm working here because I do find that students.
Jackie Coffey Scott: need me to be flexible in that way for them, it was actually easier during the pandemic, because I could make myself randomly available to them, and I did.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Because I really do like like working with students I don't yeah I don't really know what to do, I do I do answer those emails and then, if I don't hear from them, the next day I say they must have figured it out.
Jackie Coffey Scott: that's the best I can do yeah.
Jewel De La Rosa: I try to clarify in my introduction and anytime i'm doing instruction as well, that if a student needs an immediate answer at 2am or 9pm that that is what our 24 seven virtual chat services for, but if it's something related to this class that they want me to answer.
Jewel De La Rosa: them to contact me, you know and to not expect that answer immediately so to know that there are some things that they should if they need an answer right, then they have this service available but otherwise contact me and i'm hoping that that filters out a lot of that but.
Jewel De La Rosa: You know, honestly, there are a lot of times students message you and you never hear again, or they set up an appointment and they don't come and it's it's really frustrating but thankfully, that is.
Jewel De La Rosa: Not an everyday occurrence for every you know in student interaction, we have like that we have student interactions that are really, really supportive and rewarding.
Jewel De La Rosa: But I don't know how to I don't know how to keep that engagement engagement has been really difficult this year in general much harder than it seems like it ever has been so.
Cori Wilhelm: A couple more questions in a couple more minutes i'm clear ass Have you ever run into issues with agile turnover in the program and I think that means librarian turnover.
Jewel De La Rosa: Yes, we have multiple times, as we said, we have a hiring freeze our institution, so when someone leaves that position is not filled.
Jewel De La Rosa: This happened last semester we had a part time liberating leave in the middle of the Semester and.
Jewel De La Rosa: All of her courses I then had assigned to me the nice thing is, though, with the repository I didn't have to start a new rate, I could I could add from that.
Jewel De La Rosa: I could reintroduce myself to the instructor and to the students and really pick up where the other librarian left off, but that is.
Jewel De La Rosa: You know just because of how we're working now that has happened, a number of times but we've been able to do it pretty much seamlessly because of the repository that we have.
Cori Wilhelm: And Jenny ask is it just for a synchronous online courses, or do you offer for synchronous courses that also use blackboard.
Jewel De La Rosa: Are you saying something Jackie.
Jackie Coffey Scott: Yes, I knew I was.
Jackie Coffey Scott: We do both.
Jackie Coffey Scott: I mean, I think it's different I know that one of our Librarians here has some live wizard tutorials that are great where you know those are just available for the students to do.
Jackie Coffey Scott: You know I think they are assigned by the instructor and then they're just available to it's part of an assignment and they do it.
Jackie Coffey Scott: And the librarian doesn't have to worry about a specific time and place or anything like that, and then most of mine are synchronous where there is either.
Jackie Coffey Scott: A lot of well mostly during the pandemic, where I was actually meeting with them to do virtual instruction and then.
Jackie Coffey Scott: yeah it's it's it's it's both really.
Jewel De La Rosa: yeah and in terms of synchronous as and seated courses that what that's referring to to um so synchronous online or synchronous ED courses we provide it to any course that has a blackboard component so.
Jewel De La Rosa: A large number of our courses are actually in person seated courses, we are the embedded librarian in blackboard and then most of the time, we also then teach.
Jewel De La Rosa: In person instruction.
Jewel De La Rosa: To those same students, and that is, to me, the most rewarding and the most ideal situation.
Jewel De La Rosa: i'm in a few in 100 courses like that, right now, I just taught them in person last week and it's really nice to be able to have those students in person and introduce yourself show them in blackboard where.
Jewel De La Rosa: Your folder is where all those resources are be able to to see them in person and point to where those resources are in line, I think that that is kind of the most ideal situation.
Jewel De La Rosa: But obviously that's not 100% sustainable and every single class for us with our limited staffing, but I find that to be the most rewarding because you're going into it, you know, having your presence in both places, and I think that that's been great.
Cori Wilhelm: Right, I think we probably need to wrap up and let people.
Cori Wilhelm: They just saw this, but thank you so much for an awesome presentation.
Jewel De La Rosa: There was a few winners hoping for a.
Cori Wilhelm: conversation.
Cori Wilhelm: And hearing for different folks on different campuses so thank you, that was awesome.
Jewel De La Rosa: yeah and thanks corey and if anyone has any questions and wants to follow up you know for sure reach out to us, I love talking about embedded and talk about it all the time, so if anyone wants any help or wants to share ideas just contact us.
Cori Wilhelm: Okay, and I just put the next spotlight in our chat.
Cori Wilhelm: it'll be may 3 and will feature Sunni can libertarians about a student Advisory Board.
Cori Wilhelm: But i'll post, the link and more information on the block great.
Cori Wilhelm: Thank you so much Thank you so much, everyone for attending Thank you Julian dechy.
Cori Wilhelm: For every presentation.
Theresa Zahor: Thanks, thank you, thank you.