A manual for creating and sharing online library instruction

CHICAGO — Designed to be reused and shared, learning objects are digital content and assessments centered on student learning outcomes. The promise of sharing online instruction across libraries, campuses, or a consortium holds time-saving appeal. An easy to follow tutorial for creating online library instruction with learning objects, “Creating and Sharing Online Library Instruction: A How-To-Do-It Manual For Librarians,” published by ALA Neal-Schuman, is written by Joelle Pitts, Sara K. Kearns, and Heather Collins, three librarians with the New Literacies Alliance (NLA). Winner of the 2016 ACRL IS Innovation Award, NLA is an interinstitutional information literacy consortium that addresses the “new” literacies required for academic success and lifelong learning. This book:

• walks readers through creating and sharing outcome-based lessons that allow students to master skills at their own pace;
• demonstrates how to use assessment to ensure that students learn foundational research and critical thinking skills rather than simply how to use a database or discovery platform;
• sketches in the background and mission of NLA, sharing examples of successful collaboration across institutions;
• includes an assortment of NLA’s workflows, design processes, and style guides; and
• offers project planning and implementation tools, including checklists, steps, and critical questions to consider.

Pitts is Instructional Design Librarian and Associate Professor at Kansas State University Libraries. She leads NLA and is responsible for the creation of web-based learning objects and environments aimed at increasing information literacy. She has written extensively and presented at the local, national, and international levels. Kearns is Academic Services Librarian and Associate Professor at Kansas State University Libraries. While serving as department head for K-State Libraries’ Undergraduate and Community Services Departments she became a founding member of NLA. She currently serves on a multi-institutional research project to determine the impact of library instruction on the success and retention of first-year college students. She presents and publishes about student success and learning. Collins leads the Research and Learning Department at the University of Kansas Medical Center Library. A founding member of NLA, she continues to serve on the steering committee. She is a Reynolds Interprofessional Faculty Scholars Fellow and a recent interprofessional NIH grant team member.

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