2019 Charleston Library Conference

How do we provide point-of-need support to users as they navigate library databases? For years instruction and technical service librarians have struggled to answer this question. While important and significant strides have been made in creating e-learning content to support database exploration, these materials often remained buried under 2-3 clicks on the library website or in a research guide. This presentation will highlight Utah State University’s Online Learning Librarian’s journey to develop and embed database tutorials in several Ebscohost databases to provide point-of-need support to users both when and where they are.
The presenter will share the unique user testing methods utilized to develop the tutorials, observations from users regarding research, database navigation and tutorial design, and the process for embedding tutorials within the databases.

While the literature focusing on the importance creating relevant tutorials and integrating them at the point of need is in abundance, this session is unique as it offers strategies for embedding database tutorials directly where users encounter issues – the database itself - that they can access when they need it. Furthermore, this presentation offers suggestions on what users expect from a tutorial of this nature. This presentation is relevant to librarians who wish to develop and embed tutorials at their own institutions. Attendees will be asked to engage with each other throughout the session by engaging in Think-Pair-Shares and a brainstorming session at the end of the presentation on other opportunities to bring library help directly to our users at their point of need.