1. Growing Embedded Librarians Like Kudzu:
How a Popular Program Got Out of Hand
and the Collaboration That Saved It
Mark Coltrain
eLearning Librarian
Central Piedmont Community College
17 October 2013
2. Background
• Piloted Embedded Program 2009-2010 to
meet growing “Virtual Campus”
• Good timing b/c in 2010-11:
– Physical enrollment peaked
– Virtual became largest “campus” of 7
• Since 2009-10:
– Physical headcount: -8%
– Virtual headcount: +15%
3. What Does Embedded Mean
@ CPCC?
• Class partner as “information experts”
• LMS: Blackboard, Moodle
• Toolkit
– Libguides (“Research Guides”)
– Panopto
– Screencast-o-matic/Jing
– Google+/WebEx
4.
5.
6. A Closer Look
• Campus ranked by headcount + embedded
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Virtual
Central
Levine
Cato
Merancas
Harper
Harris
0 f/t
5 f/t, 1 p/t
2 f/t
1 f/t
1 f/t, 1 p/t
1 f/t
1 f/t
• Embedded class prep & upkeep can be more time
consuming than one-shot instruction classes
• In-person instruction classes still require substantial
prep time
7. Did It Work?
• Fall 2009: 1 librarian + 1 course
• Spring 2013: 9 librarians + 65 courses
• Bottom line:
We couldn’t keep up with
demand!
8. Enter…
The Embedded Extension Service!
• How did it start?
– Original idea was to start big; iDeals
• 1 library : 1 library school
• 100% online
• Meetings!
– CPCC & UNCG
9. What Next?
• Website (Wordpress)
– Commercial
• Identify Classes & Find Faculty Partners
– Business and Communication
• Identify Interns
– Application (Google Form)
– Interview (Skype)
10. What Next? - Pt. 2
• How best to teach interns?
– Blackboard
• Tutorials
• Readings
• Discussion Boards
– Springshare Trainings
– Weekly Meetings
– Appointments, as needed
15. The Future?
• Short Term
– Tweaks based on pilot
– More interns!
• Long Term
– Start to build network with other NC & SC
community colleges and library schools
16. Parting Thought
Our secret ingredient is cultivating
strong relationships allows things to
grow organically, almost on their
own, like kudzu…
These figures are based on curriculum students only (no CCE and Basic Skills)!Granted, many of those students we see online, we also see in person but still…Scale: Central Campus is largest campus with 2012-13 curriculum headcount of 15,782; Virtual Campus has 2012-13 curriculum headcount of 18,351As of fall 2013, CPCC offers 27 fully online degree, diploma and certificate academic programs w/ 1,064 total online classesCurriculum headcount is down overall since 2010-11 by 2%. As of 12-13 it is 28,858.
Part-time librarians are usually not candidates but that is changingOut of 18 f/t librarians & 9 p/t librarians, only 9 f/t & 2 p/t teach across campuses. In spring 2013, those 11 people taught over 200 library instruction classes.Other librarian duties…
