john cabot university, rome elisabetta morani, head librarian isabella clough marinaro, professor...
TRANSCRIPT
JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY, ROME
Elisabetta Morani, Head LibrarianIsabella Clough Marinaro, Professor
Livia Piotto, Reference Librarian
8th AMICAL ConferenceApril 27 – 30, 2011 Beirut, Lebanon
CAMPUS FACILITIESTHE NEW TIBER CAMPUS Classrooms Student Services Tiber Lab Cafeteria
THE OLD GUARINI CAMPUSClassroomsAula MagnaLibraryComputer LabsOffices
THE GIANICOLO RESIDENCEDormsHousing officesStudy room open 24/7 (residents only)Gym
TEACHERS AND ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
13 MAJORS
• Art History• Business
Administration• Classical Studies• Communications• Economics and
Finance• English Literature• History• Humanistic Studies• International Affairs• International Business• Italian Studies• Marketing• Political Science
MULTICULTURAL FACULTY OVER 100 PROFESSORS, 85% ADJUNTS
1-2%
21% 23%
41%
Got their final degree from
STUDENTS, SPRING 2011
DEGREE-SEEKINGAGEo 29% less than 21 YRS oldo 26% 21 YRS oldo 15% 22 YRS oldo 30% over 22 YRS old
GENDER 57% FEMALE 43% MALE
PROVENANCE• 18% from international schools• 23% from US high schools• 31% from Italian high schools
• From several different countries
WORKLOAD (average): 4.5 courses
DEGREE-SEEKING
STUDENTS37%STUDY
ABROAD STUDENTS
63%
STUDY ABROADAGEo 9% less than 21 YRS oldo 63% 21 YRS oldo 25% 22 YRS oldo 3% over 22 YRS old
GENDER 71% FEMALE 29% MALE
PROVENANCE• Coming from 141 different schools• 10% come alone, the others in groups from
the same schools
• 100% US
WORKLOAD (average): 4 courses
954
75%
16%
Other countries: 9%
“Finding a space here is like finding a parking space in Rome!” Degree-seeking student
FOCUS
• Understand priorities for the project of expanding the library
• Learn more about how our students study and do research
• Foster collaboration with faculty
“HYBRID” USERS…
Still use the pen for note taking, in class assignments, outlines, highlighting, agendas and to do lists
“We love tables!!!”
…NEED TABLES
SPARTAN HOUSING…
Apartments shared by 4-6 people2 out of 18 interviewees reported not having tables at homeAverage of books held at home: 3-7
…HOMEY LIBRARY
“The Library has all what you need: computers, nice staff, two different areas, one quiet and one for study groups, not too many books. It’s homey, relaxed, all the people know each other.”
Study abroad student
“It’s small, but you study surrounded by books, and this expresses the role of the library, which is the place for the academic community. Studying is a deep personal experience, but must be shared”
Degree-seeking student
THE INTELLECTUAL HEART OF THE COMMUNITY
EACH MOOD HAS ITS OWN SPACE
RESEARCH PRACTICES
WHAT THEY ARE DOING WELL
• Meet deadlines• Adapt to times and places• Juggle travelling or working and studying• Collaborate with peers• Dialogue with Professors• Use technologies• Do internet searches
“We constantly talked, in class and via e-mail. It was a
very dynamic relationship”
“Google is the students’ best friend. After
Wikipedia, to be honest”
WHERE THEY GET STUCK
•Framing / narrowing research questions•Keyword searching•Selecting appropriate resources•Evaluating sources•Understanding plagiarism•Availing themselves of support services (tutoring labs, writing center, etc.)
•Work at the last minute, mostly at night, skipping outlines and editing
“I start with big ideas and then I lose myself”
“A source is good when it provides clear information and covers what I need [...] One source is better than using three different ones”
“I wrote my paper in one day and it was probably the weekend before we had to hand it in”
CONCLUSIONS FROM A FACULTY PERSPECTIVE
• Faculty have an almost exclusive role in guiding students’ research
• We are therefore the key to o Encouraging students to use library
resources and reference serviceso Guiding students to appropriate
support serviceso Training students in time
management and essay-writing process
o Fostering information literacy
“I believe that the library can become more appealing first of all when the professors give instruction to use the library. That’s how it would start”
SUGGESTIONS FOR ACTION
Propose Learning and Teaching Center integrating library, academic support services and faculty
The Center may start with organizing faculty development workshops on: Services, resources and research tools available in the library Embedding information literacy in course assignments Outlining a progression of discrete phases towards the final
research paper