Recently Blended? Customized Portals to Library Resources & Services for Online and Blended Programs

This presentation will describe the creation of the customized library resources and services portal for the development and implementation of the cross-institutional and cross-departmental blended pilot graduate programs at Long Island University, a private institution in New York, with a focus on the collaboration between the Library Resources Team and the Nursing programs. The presentation provides an overview of the Long Island University's Web Learning Project (WLP), with a focus on the creation of the WLP Library Resources and Services Portal. It features collaboration of the WLP library resources team and individual programs to develop systematic and customized library resources and services to support the curricular needs of the blended programs. In particular, the presentation also features the development of the program-orientated Nursing-related library resources and services, as well as specific resources such as tutorials and assessment tools specifically geared towards Nursing faculty and students in the blended graduate programs. Implementation and utilization of the customized Nursing WLP Library Resources and Services Portal by the Nursing programs provides concrete feedback and evidence of how the library portal is being utilized to support teaching and learning in a blended environment. A team approach and close partnership between library faculty and teaching faculty are critical to the success of this project. Topics covered in this session will include challenges and opportunities facing the project team in creating a cross-institutional library portal specific to the WLP pilots, the design concepts, the selection of relevant resources and services, and practical issues associated with a multi-campus, multi-library institutional structure. Other topics of discussion include the integration of the WLP Library Resources and Services Portal with course management systems as well as streamlining the resources and services available on the websites of campus libraries. In addition, the presentation will also include discussions on the decision process, lessons learned and future plans. Two key project team leads from the WLP Library resources team and the Nursing graduate programs will deliver the presentation. Presentation Goals: Participants will be able to: 1. Gain an understanding of the needs of faculty and students through collaboration. 2. Design a portal for library services that is customized to the teaching and learning needs of faculty and students in specific disciplines and/or programs in the online and blended environments. 3. Implement strategies to encourage the use of customized portals to library services. 4. Assess the use of customized portals to library services.