Building the Library Starter Kit: Developing New Technologies for Instruction

Abstract

Each fall thousands of new students arrive at the University of California at Santa Cruz; the library’s goal is to ensure that each new user has the basic skills to find, evaluate, and use information resources from print, online, and Internet‐based sources. But in fact many orientation programs, online classes, and printed documentation the library provides may not be available when and where students need them. The bibliographic instruction program had to evolve to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse user population with varying learning styles. The World Wide Web offered a new medium to address this need. With help from a combination of grants and student developers, a WWW resource called the “Library Starter Kit” was developed. Already, Murphy notes, it is being used in a variety of instructional settings by librarians and faculty and as an outreach tool for local schools, colleges, and community members.