This guide is intended to demonstrate the process by which the Springfield Technical Community College Library creates DLOs, or Digital Learning Objects. DLO's are brief, specific, how-to videos aimed at a particular learning goal - searching a database, formatting a paper, or navigating a website, for example.
The method by which your library creates content will vary, of course. This guide isn't meant to be prescriptive; instead, it's a summary of how the STCC Library approached this particular project. Your talented librarians will possess a variety of skills, as ours do - our Collections librarian has a background in music and recording, so he was a perfect fit to narrate the original videos. Our electronic services librarian brought tech skills and did much of the early screencasting and uploading. Cross-training has occurred along the way, allowing multiple librarians to now fulfill different tasks. And we are a very small staff, consisting of five full-time librarians (including the Dean) and two part-time librarians.
Before you can begin creating DLOs, you will need to go through these initial steps:
Assemble a DLO Team
You will most likely not need every librarian to participate in DLO creation, especially if you have a large staff of librarians at your institution. Of course, this depends on how tasks are typically delegated in your library. At STCC, we have a small staff of 7 librarians, which includes two part time librarians as well as our Dean of Library Services. Five of those seven librarians comprise our DLO team, and each team member has a different focus- either primarily writing and editing scripts, recording audio, screencasting video, or handling the hosting and analytics side of things. You will likely want to have at least two people trained on each step to avoid a bottleneck in the process of creating a video. You will also likely want multiple librarians assigned to the task of periodically checking videos each month for maintenance, as this can take a lot of time.
Identify Your Goals
It is important that every member of your DLO team understands what your primary goals are for creating DLOs. Think about the learning needs of your student population. Your goals for this project may evolve over time, so make sure to periodically assess goals as a team and document this process.
Consult With Other Departments
You may wish to consult with individuals outside of the library, such as faculty, instructional designers, and system administrators.
Identify Necessary Technology
To create instructional videos, you will need a microphone, screencasting software, and a process for workflow documentation. These are practical and financial decisions which you will need to make at your institution. You will also need to make sure that everyone is properly trained on the use of any new softwares.