Dear All

Firstly I'd like to thank everyone who responded to my request for
information, reading through the messages it is clear that there are many
different approaches to induction and it has given us some food for thought.
Following is a brief summary of the replies I received. If anyone would
like more information on anything specific raised in the summary then
please get in touch and if possible I'll elaborate further.
With best wishes and hoping that all your induction programmes go well,
Wendy


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In total there were 29 respondents, of these 11 libraries do still give
physical tours of varying length. Reasons given for continuing this
approach included:
-  students get a feel for the building
-  it is possible to physically show students for eg. the Information
Desk / catalogue terminals, more likely to remember
  where things are
-  provides a chance to show users that library staff are approachable
-  lecturers advocated physical tour
-  visible to academic departments, seen as integral part of the induction
process

The number of tours provided varied considerably, in part due to the
differing sizes of the libraries in which respondents work. A number of
larger libraries run tours for 2-4 weeks, with tours throughout the day at
either 15 or 30-minute intervals. Tours on average last 30 minutes and are
more to provide orientation than copious amounts of information. Staffing
of tours varies, in some institutions subject librarians are responsible
(where tours are arranged by department), in others library staff from all
levels are drafted in to take tours.  One university is considering the use
of postgraduates to staff the undergraduate tours, with library staff
concentrating on leading postgraduate tours. The optimum number of students
attending each tour appears to be set at the 10-15 mark, this is enforced
by library staff turning away people who try to ‘tag on’ explaining that
there will be later opportunities to join a tour.

The remainder of those replying, (18) do not provide traditional staffed
tours of the library building. Reasons given for this included:
-  disruptive to other students
-  ineffective use of staff time
-  people on tour drifted off
-  ‘logistical nightmare’
-  impractical (trailing around building)
-  not very effective as students do not take anything in having arrived at
induction saturation point.

A variety of methods are employed as alternatives to the physical tour.
Those mentioned included:
-  Presentations (often using PowerPoint / photos of the library) in
classrooms / lecture theatres. These are usually done by department.
-  Self-guided tours - using leaflets which follow numbered stages in the
library each of which has a marked information point.
-  Virtual tours on library web pages, made interactive by including a
quiz. One institution had abandoned this approach after finding that the
changes which had to be incorporated each year made it too labour intensive.
-  Videos - often used in conjunction with a presentation. Again one
respondent had stopped using video as it was found to date quickly. Another
who uses video acknowledged that they were only able to do this due to the
enthusiastic co-operation of the media department.
-  Multi-media show - used in conjunction with a physical tour.
-  Interactive skills sessions. It was felt that these fulfilled students’
immediate needs more successfully than providing a tour / presentation.
-  Walkman tours - issued from the service counter.
-  Joint events held with other departments, eg. IT, Careers, Media in 1
large room with stalls set up for students to visit. This has been combined
with a brief introductory presentation and question/answer session.

One of the key advantages associated specifically with self-guided, virtual
& Walkman tours was that they could be used throughout the year. Those
starting outside the September / October window as well as part-time /
distance learning students were thus provided for.

From the responses I received it is clear that many other libraries are
also re-assessing their induction provision. The variety of methods
currently used would appear to show that there is no definite consensus on
the 'best' way to give induction; political and logistical factors as well
as the preferences of senior management would all appear to contribute to
the look of the final induction programme.
--------------------------------------------------
Wendy Lynwood
Assistant Librarian
British Library of Political & Economic Science
10 Portugal Street
LONDON
WC2A 2HD

Tel: 020 7955 6915
Fax: 020 7955 7454
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