Incorporating the Internet into traditional library instruction

摘要

After conducting numerous workshops over the last 3 years, one of us (Monica King) realized that developing a methodology for creating and teaching research strategies was important. Frustrated with having to "reinvent the wheel" for every program, she decided to develop a "template" for the purpose of training and bibliographic instruction. She wanted one that not only she could use, but that other staff could use as well. King knew that teaching patrons about the library's resources with tools like the online catalog and magazine databases was important, but she also knew that, as information increasingly migrated to digitized formats and onto the Web, incorporating Internet sites and online databases was critical for effective instruction. When she became interested in incorporating Web searching into that template, King found herself facing the hurdle that many in our profession do: As Janet Balas succinctly expressed it, "librarians who search the Web frequently know that current search technologies return many irrelevant hits."(FN1) To counter this, she began collaborating with another librarian (Tony Fonseca) in order to develop a template for a training program that would allow patrons to effectively incorporate Web searching into their library research. Together, we've generated some fundamental rules for effectively using, and teaching about, Web directories and search engines. We first presented this template at the 1999 Louisiana Library Association Conference. A packed room of fellow librarians wanted to know the best methods for finding electronic information, especially on the World Wide Web, and for incorporating that information into more traditional instruction for patrons. This high turnout verified our assumption that many librarians feel uncomfortable at best with using the Internet in research strategies.