Activity #1 Comparing College Libraries
Objective
Students will increase their knowledge of similarities and differences between academic libraries.
Procedure
1. Have students view the video clip entitled Welcome to Academic Libraries as a way of getting an overview of the services offered by academic libraries.
2. Have students link to Compare College Libraries. This section of the site provides fact sheets for a handful of Ohio college and university libraries (more are on the way…). Although the examples used are from Ohio libraries, services are typical of those offered at colleges and universities across the United States.
3. Ask students to work in pairs and pick fact sheets for two institutions.
4. The students should read through the fact sheets and complete the following worksheet to compare the two libraries. Worksheet for comparing college libraries.
5. Help students look for similarities (for example, that students can go to the Reference Desk for help or that students can get to resources from off campus) or differences (charges for printing, number of branch libraries, or name of the online catalog) between the two libraries.
6. Ask students to compile a list of three to five questions that they would like to know about library services or research support that were not answered by the fact sheets.
7. Have students go to the actual Web site for the college or university library to see if they can find the answers to those questions.
8. Ask students to report their findings -- comparing library services and finding the answers to their questions.
Alternative Activities
1. If you don't have Internet access in your class, print off the fact sheets in advance and follow steps 3, 4, and 8 above.
2. To go beyond the Ohio college links on the Transitioning to College site, encourage students to look at the library Web pages for a college or university to which they are thinking of applying. Have them complete the worksheet for comparing college libraries for two libraries of their choice. Ask students to report on their findings in class or through a written summary.
3. Tell students to go to the main Web site for two colleges or universities to which they are thinking of applying. Give them the assignment of trying to find resources available for First Year students (orientation, special programs, learning communities, etc.). Have students summarize and report in groups in order to make comparisons across institutions.
4. Use the academic library Web sites as part of a Web site evaluation activity (see activity #3). As a class, come up with the students' choices for the top 5 library Web sites. Use the Contact Us form on the Transitioning to College Web site if you would like to forward the top 5 lists to the site's editors. Librarians find it very useful to hear from students directly and your class will receive confirmation that the informaiton has been received.