John has been the Engineering Librarian at the University of Toledo since 2001. He is the library liaison for the entire College of Engineering. Previously he was employed as a librarian in an environmental engineering firm in Toledo, OH. His main research interests are information literacy and engineering librarianship. He served as Director of the Engineering Libraries Division of ASEE from 2016-2018.
This descriptive study analyzes results from an 18-item survey that assessed students' usage and perceptions of library reference services at a comprehensive public metropolitan university. Among 235 surveys completed between November 2016 and January 2017, the majority of respondents represented the "Generation Z" population of college students, 18 to 24 years of age. Quantitative and qualitative findings revealed patterns of reference service usage, perceptions of librarians, and barriers and facilitators to seeking help from a librarian. These findings can inform decision making to improve marketing and outreach to students regarding general reference services, reference models, and liaison roles.
This paper reports on the findings of a national survey of the library services available at Engineering News Record's Top 500 Designs Firms. In mid-October 2002, a survey was mailed to all 500 firms. The survey was in two parts. One part was to be completed by a principal in the firm. The second part was to be completed by the degreed librarian (holding a Masters in Library Science or its equivalent) if the firm employed one. The findings indicated that 74.4 percent of responding design firms do not employ a degreed librarian. In 79 percent of those firms, engineers obtain information on their own. This situation, along with other results, seems to suggest that more information literacy instruction may need to be included in the engineering curriculum.
This paper reports on the findings of a national survey of the library services available at Engineering News Record's Top 500 Designs Firms. In mid‐October 2002, a survey was mailed to all 500 firms. The survey was in two parts. One part was to be completed by a principal in the firm. The second part was to be completed by the degreed librarian (holding a Masters in Library Science or its equivalent) if the firm employed one. The findings indicated that 74.4 percent of responding design firms do not employ a degreed librarian. In 79 percent of those firms, engineers obtain information on their own. This situation, along with other results, seems to suggest that more information literacy instruction may need to be included in the engineering curriculum.
This paper describes the implementation and the results of an online project-based learning (PBL) pedagogy in an advanced fluid mechanics course in a mechanical engineering technology program. This work is a close collaboration between engineering and education faculty and the engineering librarian, and aligns with the new research areas identified by the National Engineering Education Research Colloquies and the ABET Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Technology Programs Criterion 3 (student outcomes, SLO 1 to 5) and Criterion 5 (curriculum, discipline specific content C, D and E). Students were required to work in teams to design and dimension a heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) duct system, a real-world expression of engineering thinking. Students applied information literacy skills to identify relevant engineering codes and standards, such as ASHRAE, and used previously learned content knowledge from various courses to finalize the project. The PBL exercise was chosen as a culminating experience and in support of engineering competencies development. The results showed improvements in the flow of air in ducts content knowledge, professional communication skills, and the ability to collaborate as part of a team, including improving one's ability to work with other students on assignments, listening to the ideas of others, learning from the ideas of others, and evaluating the ideas of others. The students unanimously agreed that the project improved their heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) knowledge beyond the classroom as well as their information seeking skills. Based on the students end of semester course evaluation, this PBL exercise improved their readiness for the workforce.
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