The Collaborative Access to Resources and Knowledge Through Partnerships

Transcription

1 "!# $%&(')* +,'-./0+, $76 892&:"6;<3 The Power of Partnerships: Spanning the Digital Divide for Teacher Mem Stahley Abstract It all began with a handshake between two visionary Florida college presidents in Leaders at Brevard Community College (BCC) and the University of Central Florida (UCF) recognized the benefits that partnering could bring to their institutions and the students those institutions serve. Since that time, rapid growth and Florida legislative recommendations, for articulation agreements have prompted expanded 2+2 partnership initiatives with community colleges throughout the central Florida area. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the collaborative and partnership strategies in place at the Community College/University joint-use library to provide resource access and support for our teacher education curriculum. As the interactive presentation demonstrates, resources and educational access are enhanced through combined community college and university library faculty expertise, and the optimization of digital capital at partnership locations. As a result, our teacher education students have consistent access to academic support materials throughout their undergraduate and graduate programs of study regardless of where they complete their coursework. The presentation includes handouts and live access to a list of librarian-evaluated community college and university, teacher education-oriented web sites. Introduction Partnership agreements are an effective means for providing higher education access. For many years, 2+2 articulation agreements have afforded community college associate degree graduates unfettered state university admission to complete programs of study, and a four-year degree. In Brevard County, it all began with a handshake between two visionary Florida college presidents in At Brevard Community College (BCC) and the University of Central Florida (UCF), leaders recognized the benefits that partnering could bring to both of their institutions and the students they serve. Since that time, rapid growth and Florida legislative recommendations, for articulation Mem Stahley is Associate Campus Director and Head of Partnership Library Services, University of Central Florida, Brevard Campus; mstahley@mail.ucf.edu. April 10 13, 2003, Charlotte, North Carolina

2 agreements have prompted expanded 2+2 partnership initiatives with community colleges throughout the 11-county central Florida area. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the collaborative and partnership strategies in place at the BCC-UCF joint-use library to provide resource access and support for our teacher education curriculum. To provide students convenient, positive learning experiences and opportunities, the community college makes every effort to develop a fully articulated curriculum designed to guarantee a seamless transition to junior status at the university. Once accepted into the college of education, the university offers a wide range of mentoring, guidance, and cohort services to enable students to match their career goals and natural aptitudes to a specialization area such as elementary or exceptional education. Each institution keeps students informed of timelines for program completion, and affords access to realistic course loads and schedules tailored to meet their needs. Spanning the Digital Divide Convenient efficient program models, realistic course loads, mentoring, and schedules tailored to meet the needs of students are essential to their success. Academic information, i.e., electronic access to student services and to academic and library resources, is also crucial. Particularly in our teacher education program, many of our students reside outside the Orlando metropolitan area in Brevard County where they maintain employment and families. Brevard is a 72-mile, geographically elongated area, where the preponderance of our education students resides in the Cocoa and Palm Bay areas. A large part of our commitment to high quality education rests, therefore, on developing technological tools and staff training to provide convenient remote access to multiple information services. The following portion of this paper will examine online resources at the community college and the university that afford access to Internet and proprietary databases, education websites, library catalogs, and help services. As BCC students begin their coursework in pursuit of the associate of arts degree, their best option for electronic research access is the BCC Learning Resource Centers (LRC) home page, a site brimming with useful information including links to style guides, and Figure 1. Brevard Community College Learning Resource Centers Home Page. full-text and citation databases accessible to any user equipped with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) (see Figure 1). The site and supporting links present not only LRC catalogs and proprietary database gateways, there are also countless tutorials and guidance services tailored to meet any research need. For example, the BCC LRC home page includes a menu of access including library services and research help options. Clicking on the library services option opens a comprehensive menu of information access. The general information option includes guidance for using both the community college (LINCC) and the university (WebLUIS) online catalogs. The circulation menu affords access to the standard outline of lending services and policies, such as acquiring a library card and renewing materials. Computer resources, telecourses, and faculty and staff listings assist users in finding useful information related to PC access, library related distance learning opportunities, and community college policy. Users clicking on the research help option open a gateway to information guides, tutorials and course offerings. BCC library guide pages provide a comprehensive how-to listing of databases such as Academic Search Premier and FirstSearch. Of particular interest to students is the full-text access to articles offered by both database services. Even more desirable are viable URLs and Internet search guides. These are found in the guides section by clicking on BCC/UCF Internet addresses or Internet research. In addition, many specialized Internet addresses are included in specific research areas, i.e., communications, literary criticism, grammar and writing, and speech, designed to support the ACRL Eleventh National Conference

3 J K L M NOLPNQMRPST LPUKVẄ UX"Y#Ẅ R$T%T&VT(Z)S*K L[,VZV-S.R\0[,V]V3^L Q4NP5J L$R7_K LP `9^&a"_;RS<V3NT Table 1. Library Resources Available from the BCC Library Homepage Link Title Access To Comments Hyperlink to Resource General Information Find a Book LINCCSearch Florida Community College System. Library Services An Internet catalog of all books, journals, and media owned by BCC and Florida s other community colleges. Find a Book WebLUIS Circulation Florida State University System. Internet catalog for state university resources; searchable by institution. Obtaining a Library Card BCC library card form. Includes instructions, contact information, and interactive, online form. cardrequest.html myaccount See what you checked out, renew books. Internet access to currently borrowed and requested items and personal information. Checking Out Materials Who is eligible, checkout time period, fines. Detailed information for library use. Computer Resources What s Available? BCC Computer Labs information. Faculty / Staff Information BCC Faculty Handbook BCC policy and background information. Lab procedures and schedules by campus. A user manual designed for faculty. BCC Policy Manual Guides College wide policy, strategic plan, catalog and operations. An array of curriculum support materials on the Internet. Comprehensive PDF format. Designed to help with course research. Research Help policy_manual/ Tutorials (BILT) Series of library instruction tutorials. Eight modules. bilthome.htm Credit Courses Instruction for Internet research. Earn credit while learning research skills. April 10 13, 2003, Charlotte, North Carolina

4 b?cadceef.g$hi-c-j Table 1. Library Resources Available from the BCC Library Homepage (continued) Link Title Access To Comments Hyperlink to Resource BCC Library Guides BCC/UCF Internet Addresses A list of Internet addresses for BCC and UCF students /staff/ faculty. Relevant BCC and UCF web sites for catalogs and databases. InternetAddresses.html Grammar and Writing Help, guides, and style manual for writers. A guide that contains links to grammar and writing resources, tutorials and online workshops at various Internet sites. resources in PDF format. A guide to finding education resources on the Internet. It also includes instructions on how to use ERIC. Internet Research Tips for effective Internet searching in PDF format. A basic Internet research guide. InternetResearchTips.pdf U.S. Department of Wide range of education information. U.S. Government sponsored. Research National Center for Statistics Database of statistics, tables, figures and fast facts. From the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing education data. Florida Department of Comprehensive statewide education information and news. Sponsored by the Florida Department of. Searching, Evaluating, Documenting Online guide to Internet research. Includes style guide information. Internet Research Tips ACRL Eleventh National Conference

5 k l m n opmqornsqtu mqvlwẍ vy"z#ẍ s$u%u&wu({)t*l m,w{w-t.s}0,w~w3m r4oq5k m$s7 l mq 9& " ;st<w3ou associate of arts degree curriculum. For students aiming toward careers as educators, the education resources tutorial affords access to a guide to finding resources on the Internet. The guide includes the United States and Florida Departments of, Brevard County public schools, and ERIC, the educational resources information center, to name only a few. Table 1 illustrates an overview of community college library resources. Once students make the transition to their upper division studies, the knowledge, skills and experience gained from using the BCC LRC provides the foundation for utilizing the University of Central Florida library and information services. Community college students participating in transfer orientation sessions at UCF Cocoa can get library access information from participating library faculty. Community college students who have used the joint-use library are often familiar with university resources, but until they are officially enrolled, they are electronically prohibited from accessing proprietary services. Once accepted by the University, the countless resources of UCF libraries are easily accessible via the Internet. The size and complexity of the available databases makes searching them slightly less intuitive and user-friendly than searching the BCC LRC. Still search guides and user assistance are generously sprinkled throughout the system. In addition, like the BCC system, UCF licensed information is protected and accessible only by UCF students, faculty, and staff. Several levels of system entry are available, ranging from baseline ISP access, for book catalogs and non-proprietary databases, such as ERIC, to proxy access to most information and services, to full-blown, comprehensive access to every database and service via the university s network and Pegasus server. The UCF Library homepage, library.ucf.edu/, is the starting point for education resources access (see Figure 2). Corresponding to BCC s LRC pages, the UCF library pages list a hierarchical index of resources beginning with book catalogs and WebLUIS services. Next is a link to journal articles and databases. Clicking on the journal articles and databases link takes the researcher to a tabbed listing of 18 subject-specific resources links beginning with popular databases and ending with social sciences databases (see Figure 3). Clicking on the education tab takes the researcher to a hot-linked listing of full-text and citation databases designed to fill the research needs of students and educators. Major resource groups include standard research tools such as Abstracts, ERIC, and the Professional Development Collection for articles; MediaSleuth and the Children s Literature Comprehensive Database, for books media and other material; Middle Search Plus and Primary Search, for children s publications; and access to a wide variety of educational psychology, physical education, and library education databases and references. At BCC s Cocoa and Palm Bay partnership campuses, UCF offers a range of graduate and undergraduate programs. Our education students may specialize Figure 2. University of Central Florida Library Home Page. Figure 3. UCF Sources for Articles and Other Information. April 10 13, 2003, Charlotte, North Carolina

6 ƒ? A C E.ˆ$ Š- - F ig u r e 4. U C F O n lin e R e so u r ces fo r E d u ca tio n. in early childhood, counselor, elementary, or exceptional education among other programs. Within the education page header is a link to an array of user guides, resources and annotated webliographies for education courses at (see Figure 4). The guides list is organized alphabetically, and reflecting the curriculum, includes links to specialization resource guides for general education, exceptional education, and counselor education. Specialization resources, e.g., counselor education links provide a full overview of book, journal and World Wide Web sources for each area. Each area precedes a companion webliography link to websites dedicated to general education, exceptional, and counselor education resources. Some of the most useful educational resources links appear in Table 2. All of the guides are worth examining. Another useful resource for student educators and teachers is found at the university s curriculum materials center (CMC) at (see Figure 5). Indexed from the library s home page, or linked from the resources lists, the CMC page outlines informational and service offering information for local and remote users. The CMC page includes a listing of electronic journals and an extensive and irresistible listing of education links for teachers and for kids. For kids, areas of interest topics range from activities and games, and books and authors, to U.S. government sites, museums, and web pages authored by kids. Most of the sites are colorful, and clearly designed to appeal to children of all ages. As with all web sites, personal preference tends toward.org,.gov, and.edu domains. For children, NASA, PBS, ALA, and the White House present a host of access that includes multimedia offerings and activities, and information for every trend and taste without the bother of commercial promotions. At.com domains, publishers such as Scholastic and Random House also have sites designed to appeal to the mind, the eye, and the ear of the child. For teachers, even more sites are available for teaching and learning. Content areas, such as art, early childhood, language arts, math, and physical education are represented, as well as educational standards, sites, and discussion topics, including drugs and careers. A list of CMC links appears in Table 2. Conclusion Partnership power springs from boundary spanning and interinstitutional sharing and cooperation between and among entities, departments and individuals. For students of education using the BCC/UCF joint-use library, the power of partnership derives from the technology of remote access and institutional investment in electronic and traditional resources, as well as in our students willingness to seek, explore, and evaluate their rich variety. Partnership power also lies in the Figure 5. UCF Curriculum Materials Center. ACRL Eleventh National Conference

7 Œ Ž Ž Ž š" # $ % & (œ) * Ž, œ -. ž0, Ÿ 3Ž 4 5Œ Ž$ 7 Ž 9 & " ; < 3 Table 2. Resources Available from the UCF Library Homepage. Link Title Access To Comments Hyperlink to Resource Databases, online journals, and indexes Includes description for education topics. and access needs. cation.htm User Guides A list of 19 user guides, resources, and subject webliographies. Includes guides for using ERIC, Music Index, and PsychInfo. Guides.htm Resources Book catalog by classification range and subject databases, indexes, and WWW sources. Includes description and access needs, and links to citing resources /edfresources.htm Webliography Comprehensive access listing of 28 sites, including curriculum and instruction, elementary education and middle school, technology in K-12, mathematics and science, and multicultural education. Most sites include annotation. An excellent tool for all education research. ebsites/education_webliography.htm Counselor Resources Book catalog by classification range and subject databases, indexes, and WWW sources for counselor education. Includes description and access needs and links to citing resources. seledres.htm Counselor Webliography Access listing of 21 counselor educationoriented sites, including mental measurements. Includes psychological association links. selweb.htm Exceptional Resources Book catalog by classification range and subject databases, indexes, and WWW sources for exceptional education. Includes description and access needs and links to citing resources. ptionalresources.htm Exceptional Webliography Access listing of 31 links to topics relating to exceptional education. Includes specific sites for disabilities; also sites for gifted and early childhood. pedweb.htm Internet Tools Music Webliography Hot linked listing to research resources for searching and evaluation of Internet sites, and an annotated list of popular and meta, image, and education search engines. Also includes children s search engines and a site for search engine comparison and evaluation. Comprehensive access listing of 25 music education-related sites, including church music, American music, composers, ethnomusicology and world music. An irresistible gateway to everything you always wanted to know about Internet searching but did not know how to ask. Includes sites for lyrics and public domain music /internet_tools.htm cwebliography.htm Psychology Subject Guide Comprehensive listing of 13 psychology guides, including access to online journals, texts, APA resources, directories and associations. Many sites are annotated and include resources at other universities. hology_subject_guide.htm Note:.com usually designates a pay-for-access commercial site. Look for.edu,.gov, or.org sites. April 10 13, 2003, Charlotte, North Carolina

8 ? A C E. $ª«- - knowledge management skill and expertise of our library faculty and staff, who design, organize, evaluate, and mount online information guides and resources. Clearly, in the beginning, the power of partnership found its source in the visionary leaders of BCC and UCF who, more than 30 years ago, saw the significant and long-term value of a handshake and a commitment to higher education. ACRL Eleventh National Conference