Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Library
University of California, Berkeley

July 16, 2010

Jeffery Loo
Chemical Informatics Librarian
jloo@berkeley.edu
http://jeffloo.com/berkeley

We made online instructional videos for PubChem, a free database of the biological activities of small molecules developed by NCBI at the National Institutes of Health.

The videos are modular with each one addressing research problems and tasks in chemical informatics. This arrangement encourages remixing, reuse, and sharing that can be tailored to different learning needs. The videos are stored in and delivered through YouTube - a popular, video-sharing website that offers social media features for commenting, voting, and video sharing.

This pilot project demonstrates that online video development is not cost prohibitive when using software and services that are free, open source, readily available at academic libraries, or cost five dollars.

We hope online videos for library instruction will raise the library’s visibility and communicate our value. The videos may facilitate patron engagement and library use in a number of ways:

• they provide anytime, anywhere access;
• they may meet expectations that educational content and research resources are online-accessible (Horrigan, 2006; Rainie, 2009);
• they facilitate self-directed learning at a pace and in an environment suitable for different learning styles (Wieling and Hofman, 2010); and
• they showcase the library’s role in research and instructional support (Schonfeld and Housewright, 2010).

We had three goals for developing these videos.

1.  Follow principles of effective instruction by:

• facilitating problem-based learning through the examination of research problems and their solutions
• enhancing learning and retention by outlining learning objectives, helping learners find appropriate content for the task at hand, and providing lesson reviews
• developing modular units that can be combined to address different learning needs
• using audio, video, and text content to accommodate different learning styles
• sustaining viewers’ attention through short videos

2.  Use social media to:

• distribute videos to a large audience base via different platforms - such as mobile phones, mobile computers, televisions, and desktops
• enable viewers to evaluate and comment upon the instructional videos - thus providing metrics for instructional assessment
• facilitate remixing, reuse, and sharing of instructional videos by viewers, other academic librarians, and instructors

3.  Minimize costs by:

• using software that are free, open source, readily available at academic libraries, or low cost
• employing free video storage and distribution systems

Here is a sample video:

All 12 videos are available by:

• visiting our library website
• visiting UC Berkeley’s library guides
• searching Google
• searching YouTube

While online videos offer advantages with efficiency and engagement, they cannot substitute the rich interaction of in-person, classroom instruction.

Advantages of online videos (relative to in-person, classroom instruction)

• Potentially more responsive to learning needs due to individual control of the pace and timing of learning
• Greater reach to patrons locally and globally
• While initial costs are higher, ongoing time commitment and financial costs are lower
• Fewer geographic and scheduling constraints
• May meet patrons’ technology expectations and need for timely assistance

Disadvantages of online videos (relative to in-person, classroom instruction)

• Requires more time for initial preparation
• Less interactive, with no real-time tailoring to learning needs
• Might not forge a personal connection with patrons
• Fewer opportunities to assess students’ learning and respond to their questions

We have not conducted an evaluation of this pilot project yet. For details about our experiences, please contact Jeffery Loo - jloo@berkeley.edu

We created online videos for library instruction at low cost using software that was free, readily available at academic libraries, or cost five dollars.

Because the videos are modular and address specific research tasks, they can be remixed and tailored to different learning needs.

By storing them in YouTube, they are viewable on multiple platforms (e.g., mobile phones, desktops, televisions) and they leverage social media for video sharing and instructional assessment through voting and commenting.

Horrigan, J. (2006, November 20). The Internet as a Resource for News and Information about Science. Retrieved July 17, 2010, from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2006/The-Internet-as-a-Resource-for-News-and-Information-about-Science.aspx

Rainie, L. (2009, November 20). The New Information Ecology. Retrieved July 17, 2010, from http://pewinternet.org/Presentations/2009/51-The-New-Information-Ecology.aspx

Schonfeld, R. C., & Housewright, R. (2010). Faculty Survey 2009: Key Strategic Insights for Libraries, Publishers, and Societies. New York: ITHAKA.

Wieling, M., & Hofman, W. (2010). The impact of online video lecture recordings and automated feedback on student performance. Computers & Education, 54(4), 992-998.