Untitled-6 MTV to the Rescue 211 dial classes in math and English, and �the four campuses in the Los Angeles area ha[ve] the largest percentage of unpre- pared college freshmen.�1 Also, though CSULB is by no means the largest uni- versity in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, many entering freshmen come from smaller environments and express intimi- dation at the sheer size of the campus (more than 26,000 students), let alone the six-story library with its million-plus volumes. This uneasiness with library skills could be attributed, at least partially, to the fact that the number of libraries and librarians in California elementary and high schools has dropped steadily as a result of the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978: California now ranks fiftieth among the states in expenditures and staffing for public school libraries.2 In- creasing numbers of public schools have MTV to the Rescue: Changing Library Attitudes through Video Eileen Wakiji and Joy Thomas Freshmen from small environments often are intimidated by a large campus and a large library. Knowledge about and respect for libraries and confidence in librarians are considered essential to overcoming student reluctance to make effective use of either. Students at a large public university were surveyed about library use and attitudes; 78 per- cent of the respondents were freshmen. Of the 1,879 respondents, 61.8 percent watched an eight-minute video, which was found to influ- ence positively their self-projected future use of libraries as well as their attitudes about libraries and librarians. Comparisons also were drawn to faculty attitudes on the same campus. magine this scene: Two fresh- men enter their university li- brary for the first time with an assignment to write a five-page paper with at least ten references. Clueless as to how to begin and awed by the size of the library compared to their high school library, they wander in frus- tration until they chance upon someone about their age shelving books. They stop to ask for help, and the student assistant suggests they use. . . . From interactions at the reference desk and during library instruction, Califor- nia State University, Long Beach (CSULB) librarians concluded that entering stu- dents have less understanding of basic library skills than did students in years past. This observation was supported by a report in the Los Angeles Times that about half of entering California State University (CSU) freshmen require reme- Eileen Wakiji is a Senior Assistant Librarian in the University Library at California State University, Long Beach; e-mail: eileen@lib.csulb.edu. Joy Thomas is a Librarian in the University Library at California State University, Long Beach; e-mail:joy@lib.csulb.edu. 211 212 College & Research Libraries May 1997 no library and even those that have a li- brary often have no librarian. Until very recently, many California public librar- ies, staggering under terrible financial deficits, were reducing hours or closing doors altogether.3 Therefore, the univer- sity�s new students have had less chance to use libraries than did their predeces- sors and a greater likelihood of encoun- tering libraries with inadequate re- sources. Something was needed to help acclimatize incoming students to aca- demic libraries and librarians. Background In 1993 the University Library was awarded a $10,000 grant from CSULB�s Departmental Incentive Award Program to enhance library instruction. The first step of this enhancement was to produce a freshman orientation video to replace the one made in 1981. The older video, twenty-eight minutes long, had won an award from the New York Film Institute, but of course after fifteen years, it no longer presented the state-of-the-art li- brary, nor was it produced in a manner that could be expected to capture the at- tention of Generation X. Student knowledge about and respect for libraries and confidence in librarians were considered essential to overcoming their reluctance to make effective use of either. Therefore, the purpose of the new video was to encourage a positive view of libraries and to increase student com- fort with doing research. Videos are an effective means of improving student at- titudes toward the library,4 as opposed to such traditional methods as self-paced workbooks which, a 1991 study demon- strated, do little to improve student atti- tudes toward libraries and librarians.5 A team of CSULB librarians worked with a professional scriptwriter and the university�s media production staff to create an eight-minute video entitled Liberspace,6 which was completed in 1994. The team followed the advice of an au- thor who recommends that videos �con- centrate primarily on students, . . . dem- onstrate practice or use of library re- sources, . . . portray an atmosphere that is comfortable, . . . [and] portray re- ward.�7 Liberspace could be described as a li- brary infomercial or library MTV video. It is succinct and employs a rapid suc- cession of images, punctuated by equally fast-paced music. Rather than instruct- ing on the specifics of library use, the goal in creating Liberspace was to motivate, stimulate, and empower students, mak- ing them aware of the array of available resources and building confidence in their ability to find the information they need. Seeking guidance from a librarian is stressed. Methodology CSULB requires a one-unit course of all undergraduate students who enter the university with fewer than fifty�six se- mester units. This course, University 100 (U100), is divided into three parts: (1) the history, mission, and structure of higher education; (2) career choices and plan- ning; and (3) library skills. Whereas the first two components are presented in a classroom setting, the lack of a sufficient number of librarians to handle the aver- age 2,000-plus U100 students each semes- ter has dictated that the library module be self-instructed.8 Students are expected to read the Library Skills workbook and to complete written assignments that do not require them to have much contact with librarians. To study the effectiveness of Liberspace, the authors used primarily U100 students because of their inexperience with the CSULB campus and library. These stu- The number of libraries and librarians in California elementary and high schools has dropped steadily as a result of the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978. MTV to the Rescue 213 dents for the fall 1995 semester were di- vided into three groups. One group viewed the video in class and immedi- ately completed a ten-question survey; a smaller group took Liberspace home and returned the survey the next day; and a control group did not view the video but completed a shorter version of the sur- vey. In addition to the U100 students (who were the majority of the 1,879 re- spondents), two other groups were in- cluded: 239 transfer students undergoing orientation, who did not watch Liberspace; and 175 social work graduate students, who did. The social work students were members of one class whose professor, a long-time library supporter, had viewed and praised the video. All CSULB social work students must write a thesis, so they were expected to be relatively so- phisticated about library use. Our contact with the student subjects was too short to do both pre- and post- tests, so the authors decided to contrast the attitudes of those who viewed the video with the atti- tudes of those who did not. Of the 1,879 respondents, 61.8 percent (n = 1,162) watched the video and 38.2 percent (n = 717) did not. Previous studies have shown that en- tering freshmen find TABLE 1 Confidence of Library Ability Graduate Undergrad. Students Very confident 6.0% 10.3% Fairly confident 60.4 67.4 Not very confident 30.6 21.1 Totally lack confidence 2.5 0.5 Totals 99.5% 99.3% libraries (and perhaps librarians) in- timidating.9 The authors assumed that their study would replicate this find- ing and also that transfer and gradu- ate students would be more comfort- able with libraries and would show more confidence in their library skills. The authors expected that seeing the video would alleviate intimidation and promote better student attitudes/ opinions about libraries and librarians. A positive answer to this question would determine whether Liberspace would be used in the future. It also would provide some ammunition to help per- suade those U100 faculty who were re- sistant to giving up the old video. Results The authors found that the initial attitudes about libraries and librarians of those who watched Liberspace did not differ greatly from those who did not watch it, but viewers indicated that their future behavior would change as a result of the experience. The students in the study we r e a s u r p r i s i n g l y s e l f - c o n f i d e n t group; only 8.2 percent of undergradu- ates and 6.3 percent of graduate stu- dents indicated that they were fright- e n e d o r i n t i m i d a t e d b y l i b r a r i e s . Approximately two-thirds of respon- dents were �very� or �fairly� confident of their ability to use a library for col- lege work, a perception that contradicts TABLE 2 Self-Predicted Behavior after Video, by Class Standing (Percent Answering “True”) Graduate Undergrad. Students After watching the video: I’ll be more likely to use library 84.3% 33.7% I’ll use the library more often 80.3 30.3 I’ll be sure to talk to a librarian 83.7 63.4 I know more about what’s available 82.5 60.6 I’m less intimidated by libraries 63.1 27.4 Library will be a greater part of college life 85.9 27.4 214 College & Research Libraries May 1997 the librarian�s experience at the reference desk (see tables 1 and 3). There was no correlation between the manner in which students had learned library use (or, indeed, if they had learned library use) and their confidence in their ability to use libraries for college-level work. Although Edwards at Ohio State Uni- versity found that �only one-half of the students felt more comfortable asking a librarian for help after completing the workbook,�10 the authors� study indicates that watching a short video persuaded a high percentage of students that they would be more likely to consult a librar- ian in the future and to look to the library to support their research needs. Not sur- prisingly, the influence of Liberspace was much stronger on undergraduate students (see table 2). One could argue that gradu- ate students are already using the library as much as necessary, hence their lower positive re- sponse to the video, although it is remarkable that a brief video could teach even presumably library-savvy graduate students not only something about library resources but also that it would be a good idea to consult a librar- ian when doing research. Although only a small mi- nority of students (3.8%) find li- brarians intimidating or frightening and a mere 0.9 percent (n = 16) volunteered negative written comments, most respondents did not seem to grasp the role of li- brarians in the research pro- cess until they viewed Liberspace, when an impres- sive 80.4 percent of all re- spondents indicated that they would be sure to con- sult a librarian in the future. This demonstrates the effec- tiveness of Liberspace�s mes- sage that consulting a librar- ian is beneficial. New, transfer, and graduate students showed differing attitudes toward librar- ies and librarians, but not in the linear fashion expected; that is, library enthu- siasm was very low among new students, peaked with transfer students, and dropped again among graduate students (see table 3). Given their precollege experience with libraries, it is not surprising that 21.5 percent of new students believe libraries have no impact on them; but the experi- enced students are less likely to feel that way. Although the authors were pleased to find that only small percent- ages of students expressed the expected intimidation by libraries, close to a quar- ter of respondents found libraries �un- appealing.� This sad reality, coupled with the freshman belief that libraries have no TABLE 3 Student Opinions about Libraries, by Class Standing New Transfer Graduate Students Students Students Libraries: Excite me 17.6% 39.7% 23.4% Bore me 7.9 1.7 3.4 Unappealing necessity 24.4 14.6 29.7 Scare or intimidate me 8.4 7.5 6.3 No impact on me 21.5 13.0 10.9 Other 19.5 22.2 23.4 Totals 99.3% 98.7% 97.1% TABLE 4 Frequency of Library Use Graduate Professors Undergrad. Students Daily n/a* 8.0% 0.0% Weekly or more often 38.2 38.6 50.9 Monthly 42.4 29.8 36.6 Rarely 18.7 20.8 9.7 Totals 99.3% 97.2% 97.2% *Question not asked of this group MTV to the Rescue 215 impact on them, suggests the need to ex- plore new approaches to library instruc- tion. It was interesting to compare what stu- dents said about their library habits with the habits of their professors and with what professors believe about students. A 1990 survey of CSULB faculty contrasted with the present one showed that students use the library with greater frequency than do professors11 (see tables 4 and 5). The gender breakdown of respondents varied from that of the campus as a whole. During the fall 1995 semester, women represented 55.3 percent of CSULB students and 65.2 percent of re- spondents; men represented 44.7 percent of all students but only 34.3 percent of re- spondents. It is unlikely that this dissimi- larity influenced sur- vey results. Although male and female stu- dents show-ed very little difference in at- titude toward librar- ians, their opinions about libraries and their frequency of li- brary use diverged. Female students re- ported less frequent use of the library than male students, but were both more positive about and more fearful of li- TABLE 5 Library Use by Gender Male Female Male Female Students Students Faculty Faculty Daily 9.3% 6.3% n/a* n/a* Weekly or more often 42.2 38.6 42.0 31.4 Monthly 24.1 33.8 39.8 47.0 Semester/Rarely 20.8 18.9 18.2 19.9 Totals 96.4% 97.6% 100.0% 98.3% *Question not asked of this group. braries than were males (see table 5). Faculty were fairly ac- curate in describing how students learn li- brary use, except in the category of �librarian consultation,� where faculty thought that stu- dents use this means of library instruction much more than the students themselves reported (see table 6). Faculty slightly overvalued the place of �course or part of a course� and greatly undervalued their own influence in teaching library use. In 1990 �nearly a quarter of the [CSULB professor] respondents expressed what might be called the NIMBY (not-in-my-back-yard) attitude, believing that students learned library skills . . . in another class.�12 However, more students say they were taught to use the library by a teacher or parent than by any other method. Conclusions Students today have had an entirely dif- ferent library experience from the one their faculty had in school, and faculty need to realize this. Utilizing Liberspace can help students succeed and can influ- TABLE 6 Learning to Use the Library How What professors How professors believe about students learned students learned On their own 50.0% 28.3% 26.0% Librarian consultation 12.7 28.2 18.1 Course/Part of a course 16.2 25.0 22.0 Teacher or parent n/a* n/a* 28.7 Other 16.0 17.2 n/a* Don’t know how n/a* n/a* 4.7 Totals 94.9% 98.7% 99.5% *Question not asked of this group. 216 College & Research Libraries May 1997 ence them to take maximum advantage of the library resources available. Our survey shows that after viewing this video, students will increase their fre- quency of library use and their consul- tations with librarians during research. This effect is especially strong among undergraduates but is even present among graduate students. Although students in the present study indicated that their future behavior had been strongly influenced by viewing Liberspace, it would be useful to repli- cate the study with future students, employ- ing both pre- and post-tests. This would en- able the authors to test whether attitudes also shifted after such exposure. It is difficult to say, for instance, whether the impressive 87.8 percent who found librarians �helpful� held that attitude before viewing Liberspace or had a sudden epiphany during the viewing that here was a resource they had neglected. Af- ter all, 83.5 percent of those who found li- brarians helpful also said that libraries had no effect on them one way or an- other! Our survey shows that after view- ing this video, students will increase their frequency of library use and their consultations with librarians during research. Notes 1. Elaine Woo and Nora Zamichow, �Cal State's Remedial Classes Help Chances, Students Say,� Los Angeles Times, (Mar. 27, 1996), 1, 21. 2. Barbara Brandes, The Crisis in California School Libraries (Sacramento: California State De- partment of Education, Special Studies and Evaluation Reports Unit, 1987); Frank Johnson, Public Elementary and Secondary State Aggregate Data for School Year 1990�91 and Fiscal Year 1990 (Wash- ington, D.C.: U. S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Center for Education Statistics, 1992), 30; Laurel Daunis, �Temecula: Supporting School Libraries, against the Odds,� Los Angeles Times, (Sept. 13, 1993), B4; Richard Lee Colvin, �School Libraries Shelved Amid Neglect,� Los Angeles Times, (Apr. 21, 1996), A1. 3. Liz Gibson, The Impact of 1992/93 Budget Cuts on California Public Library Service: A Report of the California State Library (Sacramento: California State Library, 1993). 4. John Lolley, �Videotape Programs,� Drexel Library Quarterly 16 (Jan. 1980): 83�102; Gertrude Jacobson and Michael Albright, �Motivation via Videotape,� Journal of Academic Librarianship 9 (Nov. 1983): 270�75; Robert C. Smith et al., �Making the Knowledge Connection: Video Based Library and Information Skills Instruction,� International Journal of Instructional Media 20, no.1 (1993): 35�42. 5. Sherri Edwards, �Effects of a Self-Paced Workbook on Students� Skills and Attitudes,� Re- search Strategies 9 (Sept. 1991): 180�88. 6. Liberspace is available for loan through LOEX and the California Clearinghouse on Library Instruction. 7. Lolley, �Video Programs,� 83�102. 8. Gerard L. Hanley and Sharon L. Olson, �Preparing Incoming Students for the University Educational Process: From the Students' Perspective and Retrospective,� Journal of the Freshman Year Experience 8 (May 1996): 47�77. 9. Constance Mellon, �Library Anxiety: A Grounded Theory and Its Development,� College & Research Libraries 47 (Mar. 1986): 160�65. 10. Edwards, �Effects of a Self-Paced Workbook,� 184�85. 11. Joy Thomas, �Faculty Attitudes and Habits Concerning Library Instruction: How Much Has Changed Since 1982?� Research Strategies 12 (fall 1994): 209�23. 12. Ibid., 216.