The NCC's Electronic Resources Training Project, Year Three: Workshops, Topically Based Seminars, Tutorial Planning and Prototypes


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Overview of the Project

The North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources (the NCC) requests the Japan Foundation's support for the continued development of the workshops and seminars that are part of the NCC's E-Resource Training Project. The long-term objective of this project is to make comprehensive hands-on training in Japanese digital materials available to faculty and students in all parts of the country for use in teaching and research in Japanese studies. To implement this we will work with regional groups as co-sponsors for training sessions. Such groups will help us reach faculty and graduate students and provide in-kind and/or matching support. The NCC will thereby leverage the Japan Foundation's funding to the benefit of the field of Japanese studies as a whole.

This project began during FY 2004-05, Year One offered two Training the Trainers (T-3) Workshops which educated 33 librarian-instructors in the best practices for offering hands-on training to faculty and students and developed a regional training network to extend training from librarians to end-users. Year Two, when completed in March 2006, will have included 18 E-Resources Training Workshops (nearly double the number projected in our Year Two application), developed an E-Resources Webpage located on the NCC's website, and established a discussion list of librarians, end-users, and others interested in teaching and learning about electronic resources in Japanese studies.

The NCC plans four principal goals for Year Three of the NCC's E-Resource Training Project:

Background and Project Accomplishments Thus Far:

Digital resources now represent a major and growing portion of the information available for teaching and research in Japanese studies. While access to an enormous body of Japanese scholarship is now available to users via their personal computers, true "fluency" in digital materials is still quite rare, both among faculty and students at major institutions with large Japanese holdings, and even among some professional Japanese studies librarians. Because of this lag among senior specialists, budgets for the licensing of subscription databases often fail to reflect the significance of these resources. For librarians, simply keeping up with the rapid introduction of free and paid digital resources is an enormous challenge. Among the vast majority of faculty and students of Japan, and within the general public who do not have access to trained professional librarians, even basic awareness of such resources is still very low.

With the training supported by the Japan Foundation during Year One of this project the number of librarians skilled in providing training about this vast and growing repository of digital resources was greatly expanded. We have been delighted to find that the 33 librarians trained during Year One have surpassed even our best expectations in their willingness to work with the NCC and with regional co-sponsors in offering user-training workshops. In addition they have been extraordinarily collegial in developing new formats for workshops and in sharing the lesson plans and other instructional materials they have developed (both on their own and in conjunction with NCC-sponsored workshops). The materials developed through both collective and individual efforts are now being revised and re-formatted for publication on the NCC's E-Resources Webpage, which is scheduled for completion in March 2006 (and which will be continually updated thereafter).

The NCC has also found that the demand for workshops is larger than we initially estimated. Fortunately the willingness of co-sponsors to assist the NCC with workshops has been generous. This has enabled the NCC and its project co-sponsors to offer 18 workshops during 2005-06, compared to the 6-10 workshops proposed in our grant request to the Japan Foundation last year.

With this training, Japanese and East Asian studies faculty and students without access to major Japanese studies collections are beginning to learn to tap this wealth of resources. However, gaining access, learning to navigate the vast range of sites, and becoming proficient users of these resources requires specialized and personalized instruction. Keeping abreast of such resources and using them after a period of time requires further online assistance and tutorial development.

There is great demand for the kinds of materials being developed for the NCC's E-Resources Webpage, among librarians, faculty, and students alike. In addition there is a need for developing a series of simple online tutorials about major resources for the large numbers of faculty and students who cannot possibly participate in our workshops as well as for those who may need a re-fresher on how to navigate and proficiently use resources. Such basic tutorials can also be developed to introduce new materials as they become available, as well as to enhance past training and to instruct users in more advanced applications for materials introduced in the NCC's E-Resource Training Project.

Year Three Project Objectives:

Supporting the need for basic user-training in digital resources, the NCC plans to offer up to six basic and intermediate workshops in the coming year. In addition, intensive seminars focused on digital resources for specific disciplines or in differing media will be given. There is also the obvious need for online advice and the development of simple tutorials or guides to the use of such resources. The goals of Year Three of this grant will be to complete those objectives.

Objective # 1: Building on the experience gained during 2005-06, we will offer a limited number of basic workshops at an introductory or intermediate level to help faculty, students, and librarians learn about resources and develop basic skills in their proficient use. Most of these will be cosponsored with institutions hosting stand-alone workshops for users from throughout their region. Others may be offered at the Japan and East Asian sections of larger scholarly associations such as the American Historical Association, the American Political Science Association, the American Anthropological Association, the Modern Language Association, or the American Sociological Association. The NCC will also continue to work with the Association of Teachers of Japanese (ATJ), the Japan Art History Forum, and with regional graduate student conferences to develop appropriate workshop formats.

Objective # 2: The NCC proposes to offer up to four full-day or weekend seminars on digital resources for research and teaching in specific topics and in response to demand for more specialized training on those resources. The four seminars currently under discussion are a) in the fields of Japanese and East Asian legal studies (confirmed with Cornell University in cooperation with legal specialists from the University of Washington's Gallagher Law Library); b) in the fields of Medicine and Science (confirmed with the Library of Congress's Division of Science and Technology in cooperation with the Japan Science and Technology Agency); c) the Visual and Fine Arts of Japan with special emphasis on image databases (tentatively planned for Yale University); and d) in social science resources for the study of contemporary Japan (planned at Harvard University in co-sponsorship with the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies).

Objective # 3: During Year Two, an extensive E-Resources Webpage is being developed that includes a range of lesson plans, an archive of user-guides, and links to relevant Internet sites. The lesson plans are linked to the Association of College and Research Library's (ACRL's) Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education and to Project SAILS (Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills). Year Three will continue the expansion of the E-Resources Webpage to include new materials and lesson plans following the framework established during the current year. These together will assist in developing a comprehensive series of information literacy instruction materials for the fields of Japanese and East Asian studies

Objective # 4: To research and develop a small number of basic prototypes for online tutorials using one of the recently developed tutorial-building software technologies. The tutorials will be based on workshops and seminars offered during 2005-2007 and those tutorials will be made available on the NCC's E-Resources Webpage. During Year Three the NCC will also research the costs, logistics, human resources, and potential funders required for developing a comprehensive set of tutorials that might be used for lesson plans developed through the NCC's E-Resource Training Project, in conjunction with other projects, and/or for the introduction of new materials as they become available. These tutorials will be designed to assist users in continuing to develop their computer and linguistic fluency in the use of digital resources in Japanese studies and to advance information literacy within the field.

A final decision on the number and content of tutorials to be developed or co-developed has not been determined but those currently being planned include:

Given the success of the workshops offered by the NCC during the current fiscal year and the individual workshops presented by the 33 T-3 trained instructors, positive word of mouth is already strong for this project. Once notification of funding is received, providing it is granted, the NCC will again announce the programs broadly via electronic and print media in the field. These efforts will also further raise awareness among faculty of the ease with which digital materials can be incorporated into their teaching and can greatly expand their research capabilities without leaving their home campuses.

Expected Results:

The NCC's E-Resource Training Project will continue to improve access for faculty and students to hands-on training in the navigation and skilled use of electronic resources for teaching and research; will expand the number of online lesson plans for instruction in these resources; and will make available new tutorials to provide ongoing instruction and refreshers for users of digital resources in the field. The project will provide ongoing support to both users and librarian-instructors through the web-based materials being developed. These include the integrated online resources linking lesson plans with updated and expanded tutorials previously created for the AskEASL Guides and through the new tutorials specifically being developed for this project.

The ultimate goal of this project is to promote greater use of digital resources by Japanese studies faculty and students at all levels of higher education and in all areas of study. Because this project makes use of both a flexible regional approach to offering workshops and the creation of internet-based materials, it will be especially valuable to those working in smaller and more isolated institutions throughout the US, and thus will greatly expand the impact of the Japan Foundation's investment in this project.

Evaluation:

The importance of regular evaluation and re-evaluation of this project cannot be underestimated and such efforts must be an ongoing and integral part of any successful initiative. During Year One, the NCC received and reviewed evaluations from our 33 T-3 trainees following their initial digital information literacy training and also from the T-3 instructors regarding future efforts. During Year Two, T-3 trained instructors have given us evaluations of the workshop formats and venues, and have made suggestions on how to improve materials and/or coordinate regional workshops. Individual faculty, students, and librarians who have taken part in the regional workshops have been asked to complete detailed evaluations that yield statistical data on their backgrounds, home institutions, and specialties. Trainees have been asked to comment on the content of the workshop instruction; on the instructor's performance; and on the equipment and technology available for instruction. Those trained have also been asked to make suggestions for future workshop venues and to comment on their personal needs for future training and for ongoing instructional-support.

Future evaluations will build upon the evaluation instruments developed during the first two years of this project and will be revised as the body of resources taught changes and as the focus or format of the workshops is adapted to different user-groups, disciplinary methodologies, and venues of instruction.

Methods of Operation:

During FY 2006-07 the NCC will offer up to six regional E-Resource Training Workshops in co-sponsorship with institutions, regional projects, and disciplinary groups. These workshops will be focused on the basics of a range of teaching, research, and disciplinary needs, and will be taught for groups with varying degrees of Japanese language skill and computer familiarity. Each workshop will again be co-taught by a team of two instructors using and expanding upon the growing library of lesson plans begun at the T-3 Workshops. The E-Resource Training Workshops will be jointly coordinated by the NCC and hosting institutions.

A number of groups have already contacted the NCC with interest in co-sponsoring such workshops. Initial contact has been made by SUNY Buffalo about an introductory workshop there for faculty and students in the region, and by the Japan Studies Association of Canada for a workshop on free digital resources for isolated scholars, the lesson plans and tutorials for which will be of great benefit to faculty and students throughout North America. To have maximum flexibility in offering workshops and to be able to respond to new requests, our goal is to keep the remaining slots open until nearer the beginning of the grant year.

Planning for the topically focused seminars has been underway for sometime. Cornell University and its Clarke East Asian Law Program began discussions with the NCC in 2004 about offering a seminar on databases for study and research on Japanese and East Asian law. That workshop will be coordinated by Beth Katzoff, Head of Public Service for Cornell's Asian Collections. In addition two lecturers have already agreed to participate; Robert Britt and William McCloy of the University of Washington's Gallagher Law Library's East Asian Law Department. This workshop is planned for the fall of the 2006-07 academic year.

The seminar on digital resources on Japanese science, technology, and medicine will include a series of programs focused on specific databases for different areas of research. It will be organized by the Library of Congress's Division of Science and Technology led by Tomoko Steen of that division in cooperation with staff of LC's Asian Division. Mr. Takao Hosoe, Executive Director of the Japan Science and Technology Agency, has agreed to take part in the session focused on JST resources. (Please see the attached letters from collaborators.)

Two other seminars, one on digital resources and image databases in Japanese visual and fine arts, and one on social sciences databases and other electronic resources for social sciences research on Japan, also tentatively planned. The fine and visual arts seminar will likely take place at Yale University in conjunction with its Council on East Asian Studies. The venue for the seminar on digital resources and databases in Japanese social sciences will likely be Harvard University, in conjunction with the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies and its Documentation Center on Contemporary Japan. Specialists on social science research and developers of databases from Hitotsubashi University have been invited to participate and others may also be invited from Japan and/or the US.

Appropriate specialists to provide instruction on digital resources for each of those seminars will be invited from the US and/or Japan to team teach with librarian-instructors trained during Year One, providing continuing professional development for T-3 Trainees and sharing knowledge gained through the T-3 Workshops with specialists in Japan. The number of participants in the seminars will be limited by the number of computer terminals available in digital classrooms. Application will be on a competitive basis; open to faculty, graduate students, and librarians.

As in the past, upon receipt of the grant the NCC will post notices on H-Japan, Eastlib, Japan Art History Forum (JAHF), Easianth, and other Japan and East Asian-focused discussion groups to announce the offering of more E-Resource Training Workshops and to promote the opportunities for teaching and research that such training can provide. Ads will also be taken out in the AAS Newsletter and other appropriate publications to advertise the freely available resources developed through this project. The NCC's goal is to offer a geographical and topical distribution of workshops and seminars and every effort will be made to maximize such distribution.

Organizing Institution and Key Individuals and their Merits:

The principal organizer of the E-Resource Training Project is the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources (NCC) which was founded in 1991 to coordinate, develop, and locate funding for projects to improve access to Japanese materials in all formats; to promote cooperative development of Japanese collections; to provide education to Japanese studies librarians and users in the field; to gather and disseminate recommendations and to articulate the collective needs of librarians, scholars, and others in relation to information resources; and to expand collaborations with and to advise funding agencies in developing relevant and valuable materials and programs.

In-kind and matching support for these programs has been given or will be sought from the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University, Yale University's Council on East Asian Studies, Cornell University's Clarke Program on East Asian Law, the Library of Congress, the Northeast Asia Council of the AAS, and other public and private co-sponsors of workshops and seminars.

To the extent co-sponsors are currently arranged, letters are included from individuals representing those organizations expressing their willingness to support workshops or seminars, and/or to assist in the development of tutorials and other materials associated with this project.

Assisting the NCC with these projects are NCC Council and Committee Members Toshie Marra, Sachie Noguchi, Kristina Troost, Tokiko Bazzell, Sharon Domier, Emily Werrell, Michael Smitka, and Frank Chance. The NCC will draw also upon the expertise of other participants in committees and collaborative projects to make greater use of digital resources. These include;

NCC's E-Resource Training Project Year Three Planning Phase

Summer-Fall 2005 Ongoing E-Resources Training Workshops and Webpage development
August-Sept 2005 Electronic Discussion of Year hree Priorities
September 16, 2005 NCC Working Meeting Discussion and Recommendations for Year Three
Fall 2005 Ongoing review of workshop evaluations
October 2005 Grant Writing for FY 2006-07 Japan Foundation request
November 1, 2005 Year Three Application Due at Japan Foundation
Winter 2005-06 Ongoing E-Resource Training Workshops and Webpage development
March 31, 2006 Launch of the NCC's E-Resources Webpage

The NCC's E-Resource Training Project Planned Schedule for fiscal year 2006-07

April 1, 2006 Grant year begins (if funding is received)
April 2006 Japan Foundation funding announced and advertised in appropriate professional newsletters, posted on the NCC's web site, and sent to major electronic mailing lists used by Japanese studies librarians and scholars of Japan and East Asia
April 4-8, 2006 Year Three Planning Meetings in conjunction with 2006 AAS:
Wide publicity of the Project at AAS
Meet with AAS Council on Conferences
Meet with AAS Board Members
Meetings with relevant NCC Committees
Meetings with potential site coordinators
CEAL-related Meetings on project
April 7, 2006 NCC Open Meeting in conjunction with the 2006 AAS Annual Meeting, Special presentations will be made on the E-Resource Training Project, suggestions will be sought about possible workshop and seminar venues, and librarian-instructors will be enlisted to help develop tutorials.
Spring 2006 Final Reports to Japan Foundation and other funders on Year Two
Spring 2006 Up to 2 E-Resources Workshops offered at locations TBD
Fall 2006 Workshop at the Japanese Studies Association of Canada
Fall 2006 Regional Workshop at SUNY Buffalo (tentative)
Fall 2006 Seminar on Japanese and East Asian Law at Cornell University
Fall 2006 Seminar Series on Science, Technology, and Medicine at LC (date TBD)
Winter 2007 Up to 2 E-Resources Workshops offered at locations TBD
Winter 2007 Up to 2 Topical Seminars (tentatively at Yale and Harvard)
March 22-25, 2007 AAS Annual Meeting in Boston
At 2007 AAS Possible Roundtable on providing E-Resource Training
March 25, 2007 Possible post-AAS workshop of seminar
March 31, 2007 End of Year Three (pending funding)