Fairfield U Goes Experiential

I got a sneak peak at Fairfield Beach, an instructional tool that the Fairfield U library is using this semester. I have to claim some influence since I shared my “Laguna Beach in a Library” project with one of the screenwriters. The gist of the project involves the experiential narrative -- showing how the library fits into the context of the student life, as opposed to glorifying the librarian or collections. In their video, the library is the setting, or perhaps is arguably a character itself, yet the students are the stars.

The librarians at Fairfield U put an interesting spin on it by embedding a choose-your-own-adventure approach in which the protagonist is presented with options and the audience must choose her path.

They are using the video with instruction sessions this semester. Previously they handed out maps/floor plans and talked students through the various services that the library offers. The video approach on the other hand engages the class (they make the decisions on what to do next) and it attempts to provide a more interesting delivery of the material—it also follows a romantic storyline.

The script was written over the summer by two librarians: Leslie Porter and Ramona Islam. They turned it over to the Fairfield media lab where a student (Bob Cammisa) pulled together the cast and filmed the project.

Don’t you wish you could watch it? Well it's not online—and if it’s not online then it doesn’t exist, but here is a leaked demo. (UPDATE: Fairfield asked me to remove the link to the video clip.) For an Abercrombie school like Fairfield this type of presentation works well, plus the users are the stars, not the librarians -- sorry L-team. But seriously, if you make a video, put it online so that it becomes a discovery tool—this isn’t the 90’s—everything is web-based now!

If you want more information about the Fairfield Beach video tool email the reference staff.

For more library orientation videos, see: U Dayton & UVA (also see The BC, non-library content, but same genre.)

Special thanks to Dottie Hunt, who constantly shows me why I should be using a Mac.

Comments

[Bob Cammisa]

The Library Video is online at:

http://faculty.fairfield.edu/mediacenter/library/