|
|
|
 |  | |
Dominika CzyżakDEDICATE in ToruńThe DEDICATE program ( Distance EDucation Information Courses with Access Through nEtwork ) belonged to a group of projects carried out within the confines of the Fourth Framework Technological Development and Research Program ( Telematics for Libraries ) that was worked out and sponsored by the 13th General Directorate for Telecommunications, Market and the European Commission Research. The project participantsThe initiator and coordinator of this project was Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg (Sweden), and the following participants, being partners in this project, took part in it: Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo (Finland), the University of Kaunas, Kowno (Lithuania), Linköping University of Technology, Linköping (Sweden), Riga Technical University Scientific Library, Riga (Lotvia), the University of Sheffield, Dept. of Information Studies, Sheffield (U.K.), the University of Tallinn, Tallinn (Estonia), the University of Veszprém, Veszprém (Hungary), as well as the International Center for Information Management (ICIMSS) attached to the Nicholas Copernicus University in Toruń. The goals of DEDICATEThe primary task of DEDICATE was to design - for each of the institutions participating in the project - cost-effective and accessible on the Internet distance education courses that would give instructions in how to access and effectively use both printed information, as well as dispersed network resources. Here are the specific goals set by the authors to the participants of the DEDICATE project:
In the first stage of the project called "Training the trainers", a course meant for testing the distance education program was run in four libraries of technical universities in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Hungary, as well as at the ICIMSS. The aim of this stage was to train the future instructors who were skillful at the network searching for information resources. The Toruń partner in this project, the International Centre for Information Management, invited the members of the staff of the University Library and Academic Grammar School, five special librarians and two IT specialists, to take part in these courses. Some researchers from the Nicholas Copernicus University, Department of Physics joined the group to assess the quality and credibility of resources, as well as their conformity with the search criteria. The distance education courseThe course lasting six months (October 1998 - February 1999) was prepared in Gothenburg and in Sheffield. It consisted of five modules, each of them was meant to last for two to four weeks. In Torun, like in the remaining insitutions, the course participants worked in two groups (3 and 4 persons) and were given instruction by tutors assigned by the project coordinator (the Torun groups were tutored by dr Nancy Fjällbrant from Chalmers University). All the materials connected with the course could be accessed on the Web sites ( educate.lib.chalmers.se/DEDICATE/dedindex.html - the project home page). Trainers, persons responsible for the smooth running of the system and the remaining course participants (from Riga, Kowno, Tallinn and Veszprém) could easily communicate with each other exclusively via the Internet (providing there were not any network failures). Each course module had its own WWW site which contained the subject, tasks and assignments to carry out, the suggested methodology of work, a list of recommended and complementary reading (whenever resources were available on the Internet, the electronic addresses were given) and finally, the expected results, i.e. what should be the content of both individual and group reports. It was envisaged that within each unit there was one heavy task, and all the team members had to show their committment in carrying it out. An individual assignment was to write an essay on IT. If there was no source material available in the library, the tutor would send it by fax or mail. The first two modules were devoted to the searching methods and evaluating the resources on a given subject. To give an example, the assignment was to search for all the information (on the subject formulated by the trainer) available in the library, in online databases, on CD-ROMs and on the Internet. The subject matter of each assignment was diversified. For example one of the teams from Torun was to search for documents dealing with the effects of the Charnobyl disaster that could be felt in Poland. The other one was to work on alternative sources of energy. While carrying out the tasks, we consulted the problems not only in the midst of our group, but also presented our dilemmas to other teams participating in the course. It was an interesting experience, showing how to look at problems from another angle, how to define or narrow them down, what more key words to use and where to search further. In the next module, the authors focused on the question of defining the core of the educational process and how, in this context, one should understand information searching as an integral part of education. There was a numerous group of lecturers and candidates for a doctor's degree among the participants, therefore the discussion was long and heated. The problems students face because they often do not know how to pass on to librarians the results of their searches since they are not familiar with the research methodology were given much attention. During practical lessons, the role of a librarian who would know how to give a helping hand with the information resources in every situation was emphasized. When the theoretical preparations were over , it was possible to proceed to the last two experimental sections that focused on the practical use of the experiences gained. A distance education project on information searching tailored to the needs and abilities of a given institution was to be a measureable effect of the DEDICATE course. Each of the groups was assigned a task to compile a virtual guide in such a way as to make it easier for students to access freely the available information resources and to collect the source material. The results of the work of the Torun groups can be seen at the site: www.bu.uni.torun.pl/dedi/projekt.html FOCUSFOCUS is a user-friendly (both for the administrator and the users) conferencing software. It is an integral part of the DEDICATE program that was designed for passing on the tasks during the course, everyday personal contacts with tutors, as well as off-the-record talks with all the course participants. This was in fact the core of the program. It was the only chance of keeping in contact, of "remote talking". No wonder it was FOCUS that was one of the most frequently visited sites of the DEDICATE program., and scrolling the list of in-coming messages took up a lot of time. There were definitely different topics of discussion, separately the problems directly connected with the course or supplementing it (for example discussing distance education - how this method is being applied now in different countries), tasks and essays (as well as their evaluation given by the person in charge of the group). An exceptional part of FOCUS was a café, a place for off-the-record messages, where people could meet and talk (although FOCUS was not meant for a synchronous communication, it often happened that messages used to come in almost simultaneously, thus forming an impression of a real talk) about important historical events -for example celebrating national anniversaries in different countries- the weather conditions or recipes. It was not only an excellent opportunity of making acquaintances, submitting a request (for example to supply a document that was needed), but also of brushing up one's English, which was the "language of instruction" of DEDICATE. Into-InfoThe third part of the DEDICATE program (apart from the course and FOCUS) was a system of a number of programs collecting both text files (materials for the course participants, guides and consultations on methodology for those who carry on searches, information on the kind and characteristic features of resources) and some links to the selected resources in the area of the sciences. It is a kind of a start-up, a starting point for practicing. This is the place where one can find some methodological hints on how to search for information, define the criteria for evaluating resources, and how to elaborate on one's own searches. We hope that DEDICATE will not only be a form of cooperation between libraries in western and eastern Europe, but will primarily serve as a model for organizing virtual distance education courses in the field of information literacy, and the now participating institutions will develop and improve user-education programs in a networked environment. Translated by: Michalina Byra | ||
 | |  |
| EBIB special edition | |