Breaking News

Library workshops improve availability

By Annie Vangsnes

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

KU Libraries’ Instructional Services will extend its availability for students this fall to better fit students’ schedules during busy times of the semester.

Instructional Services offers technology workshops throughout the semester, but students can stop by its office on the fourth floor of Anschutz Library when they have questions. IT trainer Gretchen Anderson said that the office was usually occupied between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. but that getting help was hit or miss because staff could be out teaching classes.

Jennifer Church-Duran, assistant dean for user services, said extending hours and creating new, more visible help locations could solve this problem. Possible library sites would be its office in Anschutz, the library’s service desks or in a computer classroom, she said.

“We hope that by arranging for more coverage and opportunities for in-the-moment assistance, we will ensure students get help when they need it the most, successfully completing their assignments and learning new technology skills,” Church-Duran said.

The workshops provide training for staff, faculty and students in common Microsoft programs and other academic programs such as EndNote.

Andrew Quellette, Princeton graduate student, attended a PowerPoint workshop Wednesday morning. He said it was the sixth or seventh workshop he had attended in the last two years.

“The instructors are very insightful,” Quellette said. “It’s easier for me to learn from a hands-on lecture instead of reading a tutorial.”

Church-Duran said most students didn’t take advantage of the workshops because they didn’t plan ahead for a three-hour workshop. She said more students dropped by the office when they needed help because they didn’t realize they needed help until they were in the middle of the project.

She said she also thought many students liked to figure things out on their own first. She said if they couldn’t figure it out or if they ran out of time, instructional services was a good backup solution.

“I think it is because they are so busy with classes and university life that they wait until it is time to turn in their work and they run into questions or problems,” Kim Glover, technology trainer, said in an email.

Glover said the most common questions were about Microsoft Word formatting and PowerPoint presentations, and less frequent were questions about creating charts and formulas in Excel. She said she noticed that the last two weeks of every semester were always the busiest, especially finals week. Church-Duran said she noticed a pattern around midterms week as well.

Church-Duran said they would use existing staff and mabye rearrange workloads to provide the new service. She said Instructional Services wanted to be available to students in the peak times when they needed help.

— — Edited by Kristen Liszewski

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