Effective

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Effective ExcitingInformation Literacy
outreach efforts for international ESL students

• John Hickok, MLIS, MA
• Coordinator of Library Instruction
• ESL Librarian
• California State University, Fullerton

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First session (1 ½ hours)A 3-fold plan for
outreaching to international ESL students
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Introduction Demographics

• 2007-8 International students in the U.S.-- over
  HALF A MILLION!
• http//opendoors.iienetwork.org/?p131590
• 2006 10.8 MILLION K-12 school children (20)
  coming from a non-English speaking home
• http//nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2008/section1
  /indicator07.asp

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Introduction Demographics
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Introduction Demographics
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Cal State Fullerton, 2008

• 54

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Library/Research Skills

• What kind of library/Research (Information
  Literacy) skills do these students arrive at
  universities with?
• From my 10 years of observations a lacking
  in these skills among International ESL students

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Yes, but dont homegrown, English-speaking U.S.
students likewise lack I.L. skills???
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Of course. However

• Extra challenges
• English unfamiliarity
• Culture shock
• Different academic system (e.g. little
  independent Research)
• Limited experience with libraries/ librarians due
  to different library conditions in their home
  countries

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Sowhat to do?How to outreach to these
students?
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3-fold plan

• 1.Do background research about your intl/ESL
  students countries/cultures namely, educational
  library aspects.
• 2. Prepare custom outreach guides (online, but
  print too) for these students
• 3. Outreach to them, by going to them! (to their
  clubs, ESL classes, parties, etc.)

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BackgroundResearch
1.
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1a. Read the professional literature on
educational aspects

• e.g. Teaching and Learning in Korean
  Classrooms, Asia Pacific Education
  Review, v4 n2 p140-150 2003

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1b. Read the professional literature on foreign
library conditions

• e.g. Information Literacy in Chinese Higher
  Education, Library Trends 51 no2 210-17
  Fall 2002

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1c. Consult campus cultural experts

• Chicano Resource Center director
• Asian or Asian-American Studies faculty
• Education faculty (Compar. Intl. Educ.)
• School/public librarians of local ethnic areas
• ?Intl Education or ESL Dept. Director
• ?Ethnic faculty/staff themselves!
• (younger/more recent better)

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1d. Query the students themselves(pre-contact)

• Administer a IL survey to them via their ESL
  teacher, the Intl Office director, their student
  club advisor, etc.

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1e. And finallyestablish contacts with
libraries at foreign universities that send many
of your Intl students

• an atypical way of doing this

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Travel!
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What?! You expect us to go to those lengths?!
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What?! You expect us to go to those lengths?!
NO
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• If you like to travel, then sure, write a
  research travel grantor if on a vacation, visit
  academic libraries then.
• But even if you dont travel, you can still make
  contacts and do this virtually.

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How virtually?

• 1. Identify demographics at your librarywhat
  country is most heavily represented?
• 2. Check with your universitys Intl Relations
  office and Intl Exchange office to see what
  partnerships you have

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• 3. Then contact those universities libraries
  from their websites.
• (English is the de facto international
  language, so Web pages in English are
  increasingly commonwith email contacts and
  bilingual staff)

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CSUF Fudan partnership
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Nanjing University
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(No Transcript)
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An optional nice touch

• If you have a campus colleague who is bilingual,
  sending your intro letter bilingually is great!

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(No Transcript)
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Another optional nice touch

• Webcam with them!
• MSN, Yahoo IM, Skype are already very used
  overseas.
• Then you can show them things, and vica versa!

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For exampleCSUFs Cambodian Club
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Network with them!

• Learn about their library conditions
  instruction programs (if any)
• Share with them your instruction programsand
  offer to link to your librarys homepage (or
  special page for them)

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Some of my in-person networking
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Some of my in-person networking
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Some of my in-person networking
Indonesia
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Some of my in-person networking
Philippines
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Some of my in-person networking
Malaysia
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Some of my in-person networking
Thailand
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Some of my in-person networking
Myanmar
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Some of my in-person networking
Laos
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Some of my in-person networking
Cambodia
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Some of my in-person networking
Vietnam
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Some of my in-person networking
China
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Some of my in-person networking
Mongolia
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Some of my in-person networking
Korea
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Some of my in-person networking
Japan
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Some of my in-person networking
Taiwan
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The resulting benefits?

• You learn more about what kind of library
  conditions/services exist at certain universities
• (CAUTION dont stereotype the whole country
  from your 1 university)

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Both are China!
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The resulting benefits?

• They learn about your library, and can better
  prepare their study-abroad students on what to
  expect

And you might even meet them, in-person!
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Vietnam Librarian visit
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2.
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Prepare custom outreach guides (print online)
for these students
2.

• Introduce them to some initial similarities/differ
  ences between their home libraries and here-
• Present library resources on their country, to
  get them excited to come!

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Print brochures
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Print brochures
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Print brochures (bilingual)
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Print brochuresDefine unfamiliar terms!

• Circulation

air fan?

• ILL

sick?

• Citation

traffic ticket?

• ERIC

another librarian?
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Print brochures can also be informal
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Online guides

• Get them excited about all the resources in the
  library about their country (books, periodicals,
  videos, databases, etc.)
• Include links to their home library and home
  online catalog!

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Online guides
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Online guides

• Books!

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Online guides

• videos!

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Online guides

• periodicals!

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Online guide

• maps!

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3.
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Outreach to them, by going to them! (their
clubs, ESL classes, parties, etc.)
3.

• Make it fun! Youre not going to give them a
  library lectureyoure going to celebrate their
  country!
• Then you can weave in info about the library and
  I.L. elements

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Spring 2007 Outreach

• Indonesian club
• Cambodian club
• Vietnamese club
• Korean students (ESL classes)
• Thai party

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Sample advertising to them
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Even if you havent traveled

• You can still make it fun appealing!
• Title it, for example
• Cool things about Japan in the Library or
• German libraries partnering with us!

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Make it appealing!
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Add some incentives!

• Popcorn Give-aways
• Cultural treats

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But dont forget the I.L.

• Have handouts about the library
• Include the URL to your Web guide

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Now its your turn

• Do the same at your library!