JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY, ROME

Elisabetta Morani, Head LibrarianIsabella Clough Marinaro, Professor

Livia Piotto, Reference Librarian

8th AMICAL ConferenceApril 27 – 30, 2011 Beirut, Lebanon

CAMPUS FACILITIESTHE NEW TIBER CAMPUS Classrooms Student Services Tiber Lab Cafeteria

THE OLD GUARINI CAMPUSClassroomsAula MagnaLibraryComputer LabsOffices

THE GIANICOLO RESIDENCEDormsHousing officesStudy room open 24/7 (residents only)Gym

TEACHERS AND ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

13 MAJORS

• Art History• Business

Administration• Classical Studies• Communications• Economics and

Finance• English Literature• History• Humanistic Studies• International Affairs• International Business• Italian Studies• Marketing• Political Science

MULTICULTURAL FACULTY OVER 100 PROFESSORS, 85% ADJUNTS

1-2%

21% 23%

41%

Got their final degree from

STUDENTS, SPRING 2011

DEGREE-SEEKINGAGEo 29% less than 21 YRS oldo 26% 21 YRS oldo 15% 22 YRS oldo 30% over 22 YRS old

GENDER 57% FEMALE 43% MALE

PROVENANCE• 18% from international schools• 23% from US high schools• 31% from Italian high schools

• From several different countries

WORKLOAD (average): 4.5 courses

DEGREE-SEEKING

STUDENTS37%STUDY

ABROAD STUDENTS

63%

STUDY ABROADAGEo 9% less than 21 YRS oldo 63% 21 YRS oldo 25% 22 YRS oldo 3% over 22 YRS old

GENDER 71% FEMALE 29% MALE

PROVENANCE• Coming from 141 different schools• 10% come alone, the others in groups from

the same schools

• 100% US

WORKLOAD (average): 4 courses

954

75%

16%

Other countries: 9%

“Finding a space here is like finding a parking space in Rome!” Degree-seeking student

FOCUS

• Understand priorities for the project of expanding the library

• Learn more about how our students study and do research

• Foster collaboration with faculty

“HYBRID” USERS…

Still use the pen for note taking, in class assignments, outlines, highlighting, agendas and to do lists

“We love tables!!!”

…NEED TABLES

SPARTAN HOUSING…

Apartments shared by 4-6 people2 out of 18 interviewees reported not having tables at homeAverage of books held at home: 3-7

…HOMEY LIBRARY

“The Library has all what you need: computers, nice staff, two different areas, one quiet and one for study groups, not too many books. It’s homey, relaxed, all the people know each other.”

Study abroad student

“It’s small, but you study surrounded by books, and this expresses the role of the library, which is the place for the academic community. Studying is a deep personal experience, but must be shared”

Degree-seeking student

THE INTELLECTUAL HEART OF THE COMMUNITY

EACH MOOD HAS ITS OWN SPACE

RESEARCH PRACTICES

WHAT THEY ARE DOING WELL

• Meet deadlines• Adapt to times and places• Juggle travelling or working and studying• Collaborate with peers• Dialogue with Professors• Use technologies• Do internet searches

“We constantly talked, in class and via e-mail. It was a

very dynamic relationship”

“Google is the students’ best friend. After

Wikipedia, to be honest”

WHERE THEY GET STUCK

•Framing / narrowing research questions•Keyword searching•Selecting appropriate resources•Evaluating sources•Understanding plagiarism•Availing themselves of support services (tutoring labs, writing center, etc.)

•Work at the last minute, mostly at night, skipping outlines and editing

“I start with big ideas and then I lose myself”

“A source is good when it provides clear information and covers what I need [...] One source is better than using three different ones”

“I wrote my paper in one day and it was probably the weekend before we had to hand it in”

CONCLUSIONS FROM A FACULTY PERSPECTIVE

• Faculty have an almost exclusive role in guiding students’ research

• We are therefore the key to o Encouraging students to use library

resources and reference serviceso Guiding students to appropriate

support serviceso Training students in time

management and essay-writing process

o Fostering information literacy

“I believe that the library can become more appealing first of all when the professors give instruction to use the library. That’s how it would start”

SUGGESTIONS FOR ACTION

Propose Learning and Teaching Center integrating library, academic support services and faculty

The Center may start with organizing faculty development workshops on: Services, resources and research tools available in the library Embedding information literacy in course assignments Outlining a progression of discrete phases towards the final

research paper