Supporting OurStudents as TheyStudy Abroad

F R A N C I S M A R I O N U N I V E R S I T Y

In the fall of 2011, Francis Marion University’s new Study Abroad Coordinator and the newest reference librarian began a collaboration. The goal was to leverage the library’s resources to help students prepare for and feel more confident before going abroad.

To support students, the library decided to provide:1. Research support, 2. General information about studying abroad, &3. Specific country information.

Three chosen methods were:1. Acquisition of print travel guides,2. Construction of electronic guides, &3. In-person meeting with the students.

Why Support Study Abroad?Study abroad is the future:

“Colleges increasingly emphasize study abroad as a means to create the global citizen... without internationalizing our campuses, North American colleges and universities are in danger of failing to prepare our graduates for the globalWorld” (Cohen, 2010)

But it needs support:“[F]oreign study students have a myriad of information needs. Drawing on their own broad understanding of information, librarians can assist.” (White, 2009)

The library’s support is unexpected:“Notably absent in the study-abroad higher education literature is mention of the potential role of the home institution library in supporting the research needs of study-abroad programs.” (Kutner, 2010)

Respectable amount of traffic to Electronic Research Guides…

Direct contact with patrons = increased usage

I consider this program to be an initial success. Qualitative feedback illustrates that students & faculty were very impressed, while quantitative usage stats were good for a first semester. For the minimal expense of few travel guides, the Rogers Library reached out to our student patrons, demonstrated our value, and strengthened the campus community.

• Talk to the students as they get back.

• Meet with students before they leave next year.

• Add a new service: electronic document delivery for Ecuador program.

• Add country guides for Japan & Australia.

Tammy Ivinstivins@fmarion.edu • 843-661-4677

PO Box 100547, Florence, South Carolina 29502www.fmarion.edu

Cohen, S. F., & Burkhardt, A. (2010). Even an Ocean Away: Developing Skype-based Refer-ence for Students Studying Abroad. Reference Services Review, 38(2), 264-273. doi:10.1108/00907321011045025

Connell, V. (2009). Getting to Know the Neighbors: Library Support for Study Abroad Programs. Library Philosophy and Practice,.

Kendrot, N. J. (2011). Academic Library Support for Study Abroad Students. A Master’s Paper for the M.S. in L.S degree. School of information & Library Science, Uni-versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved from http://dc.lib.unc.edu/s_papers/?CISOROOT=/s_papers

Kutner, L. (2010). Study-Abroad Programs as Information Producers: An Expanding Role for Support of Our Students Studying Abroad. Journal of Library Administration, 50, 767-778. doi:10.1080/01930826.2010.488962

Kutner, L. (2009). Think Locally, Act Globally: Understanding Home Institution Library Engage-ment among Study- Abroad Students. College & Research Libraries, (June), 158-177.

White, A. C., Ye, Y., & Guccione, M. (2009). Study Abroad Students: Designing Library Services to Meet Their Needs Study Abroad Students: Designing Library. Journal of Library Administration, 49, 187-196. doi:10.1080/0193082080231297

Works Consulted

What’s Next?

Conclusions

Introduction 2. Provide general information about traveling abroad

Challenge: Quick  Fix: Longterm  Fix:

Missed  the  opportunity  to  meet  with  students  in-­‐

person.

“Met”  the  students  digitally  through  email.

Increase  communica:on  with  study  abroad  coordinator  next  

year.

Print  travel  guides  didn’t  arrive  in  :me.

Increased  the  number  of  web  travel  guide  links.

Order  new  guides  at  least  3  months  before  students  leave  

campus.

1. Support student research while abroad

3. Offer specific country information

ResultsEnthusiastic feedback from faculty and students

Rolling With the Punches… what went wrong in the first year

I just wanted to say thank you SO much for creating this resource for

International Students. I am so excited to go abroad . . . but definitely feel more at ease knowing I have this connection to you and the electronic resources even though I won’t be at FMU.

- Study abroad student

This Libguide is BRILLIANT! And I couldn’t have done any-

thing like it in a million years.

- Teaching faculty member

Tammy IvinsThe World is Theirs: