Welcome Aboard!
First Stop, Do the Work:
The Integration of a First-Year LibGuide into Blackboard to Cultivate Racial Justice Conversations
Brie Baumert, Information Literacy Scholar
Syracuse University Libraries
Introduction
SEM 100 is a six-week course delivered to first-year and transfer students in
their first semester that seeks to create thought-provoking discourse on
topics related to race, identity, inclusion, and social equity. The SEM 100
LibGuide was created for the Spring 2021 semester as a way for the
Syracuse University Libraries to support SEM 100 in their Diversity, Equity,
and Inclusion work. After hearing firsthand from faculty who had designed
the course that there was a need for a LibGuide, Kelly Delevan, the
Information Literacy Librarian, invited me to work on this project.
As a result of a year of racial reckoning in the United States, important
conversations happening in and outside of the classroom, and my passion
for social justice, I felt compelled to work on this project. The LibGuide
seeks to support students in SEM100 by connecting them to library
resources relevant to the course content, including cultural competency,
intersectionality, privilege, oppressions and microaggressions, and anti-
racism. With each of these racial justice topics, an entire page is dedicated
to definitions, infographics, relevant videos, and resources on the topic in
various mediums (books, podcasts, articles, websites, films), recognizing
that all students have different learning preferences. The hope is that
students and facilitators will be able to reference and use these resources in
classroom dialogue and/or for self-education. This LibGuide was also the
first to be integrated directly into a Blackboard course at Syracuse
University.
With the creation of this LibGuide, I collaborated with and received
feedback from many stakeholders, including the SEM 100 facilitators; the
Syracuse University Libraries Diversity & Inclusion Team; the subject
librarian for African American Studies and Gender, and LGBT & Women’s
Studies; and Program Coordinators from the Office of First-Year and Transfer
Programs.
The homepage of the SEM 100 LibGuide
SEM 100 LibGuide: Anti-Racism Page Blackboard Results
This page of the SEM 100 LibGuide features definitional and
background information on anti-racism and provides
suggestions of resources in the forms of books, videos, films,
articles, podcasts, websites, and TV series for further learning.
All resources were chosen intentionally and with oversight and
suggestions from diverse collaborators. While just a starting
point, these resources seek to supplement in-class learning and
discussions of racial justice and systemic oppression and racism.
In Spring 2021, Syracuse University ran three make-up sections of SEM 100
with approximately 18 students per section. This was a great opportunity to
pilot the LibGuide integration into Blackboard. All three sections had access
to the SEM 100 LibGuide through the addition of Springshare’s LTI tool to
Blackboard, allowing the LibGuide to be embedded into a Blackboard course
for seamless student use. As of April 28th, 2021, the LibGuide had a total of
1,038 views, with 70+ clicks coming directly from Blackboard.
Results:
This data shows that due to the Blackboard integration, the LibGuide was
able to reach more users. The data also shows that many users clicked
beyond the first page of the guide.
Students Reached:
While the exact number of SEM 100 students reached is unclear, the
LibGuide was clicked at least 70 times directly from Blackboard. It is likely
that most of the students visited the LibGuide directly from their Blackboard
course, and some more than once.
Next Steps:
SEM 100 will debut as an expanded semester-long course entitled FYS 100.
The LibGuide was been recommended to be included in the new course and
will be rolled out to all first-year and incoming students in Fall 2021,
recognizing the impact of such a guide. We will continue to monitor
statistics and assess usage throughout the next academic year.
References
SEM 100 LibGuide Link:
https://researchguides.library.syr.
edu/sem100
Contact:
Brie Baumert
glbaumer@syr.edu