Librarians on You Tube: using online tutorials to teach various aspects of the information search process

Librarians spend a great deal of time working with students. This could occur on the reference desk, during an in-person consultation, or in the classroom. However, with the shift towards e-learning and a growing number of students completing research and assignments off-campus, librarians are constantly looking for new ways to reach a wider diversity of users. Librarians at Western Libraries have used various methods for reaching out to students to enhance learning. One of the newer methods involves creating online video tutorials. These short videos are created, mounted onto YouTube, and then added to the library website. Western Libraries, and the following several groups have been involved in the creation of video tutorials: the Western Libraries wide Web Tutorials Working Group, the Allyn & Betty Taylor Library’s Web Modules Group, and the D.B. Weldon Library’s Instruction Portfolio. These groups worked separately and therefore the experience in creating videos, and the look and feel of the videos themselves, differed somewhat from group to group. This has led to a greater understanding of best practices and has given Western Libraries a certain level of expertise. This paper will provide background information on the video tutorials work at Western Libraries, and will describe the various purposes for which they were created. It will also describe the various approaches used, best practices and assessment. Finally, this paper will address challenges and discuss future directions.