When the term “ADDIE” came up for the first time during an early class meeting for EDIT 6100, I thought Dr. Clinton was referring to a beloved aunt. Alas, I confirmed the obvious: I had a lot to learn about Instructional Design. As we dug deeper into the ADDIE model, I learned to respect and appreciate the structure of the model and how it can be incorporated into the design of instruction. To some, “instructional design” may seem out of place for a librarian due to the fact that most librarians, myself included, do not have a class of their own to teach over the course of a year or a semester. That being said, these concepts can, and most certainly should, be implemented in single lessons, or “one shot sessions” as we call it in the library world.

Analysis

This is arguably the most important part of ADDIE because it directly influences and affects every aspect of the project, which ultimately plays a huge part in success or failure of the project. The tendency to rush through this initial stage (which is usually rooted in the need to meet a deadline) only heightens the importance of the Analysis phase. I have come to appreciate the notion that what we, as educators, THINK our students need and what they ACTUALLY need, aren’t always the same. This is precisely where the Analysis phase saves the day! Thinking about (and accumulating data) who the learners are, what their characteristics are, what we want or need them to do, the constraints, how to deliver the instruction, are just a few of the concepts that need to be considered before proceeding with a project. While all of this takes time, it certainly improves the overall quality of the end product and can quite often save time in the long run. More specifically, I have started collaborating with graduate faculty on implementing an needs assessment for our graduate students. We had hoped to implement the needs assessment in the Spring, but time constraints and the often lengthy IRB process prevented us from doing so. The goal now is to improve and implement the needs assessment in the Fall. The goal of this needs assessment is to determine the research needs of the graduate students and the research expectations of the graduate faculty with the ultimate goal of giving me, the Graduate Studies Librarian, the data that I need to develop appropriate instructional materials.

Evaluation

My biggest takeaway of the Evaluation phase is to do more than simply perform a formative evaluation at the end of a project. While this type of evaluation can provide valuable information, summative evaluation is critical to procuring data that can improve the project before it reaches its final form. Additionally, collecting summative data can be as formal or informal as the needs of the project require, i.e. it does not have to add a tremendous amount of work to the project. My point: as a classroom teacher during the decade or so before I became a librarian, I had plenty of experience with evaluation and assessment. Unfortunately, most of this evaluation was limited to quizzes and tests. After studying the “art” of crafting evaluation questions, I am much more cognizant of best practices and more importantly, I now understand the need to design effective evaluation and assessment. Outside of instruction-specific evaluation, I have learned to appreciate the process of gaining feedback during and after the creation of an instructional “product,” whether it be from stakeholders, Subject Matter Experts, alpha and beta testers. Again, this process takes time, but I have certainly seen that it pays off in the long run.

Professional Development

I am ashamed to admit that I have had scheduling conflicts for both IDD@UGA conferences thus far, a habit that I intend to break in August of 2016. While I may have missed the IDD@UGA conferences, my choice as an academic librarian to pursue a second Masters in this field has been validated many times over. For one, I have seen more and more “Instruction Design Librarian” positions pop up over the last year, with many more Instruction Librarian positions looking for someone with Instructional Design experience. Additionally, I have attended a number of library and graduate studies-specific conferences over the last two years and it is immediately apparent that there is a need for librarians with Instructional Design experience and degrees. In January of 2016, I became the first Graduate Studies Librarian at Middle Georgia State University, due in no small part to my decision to pursue this degree. The simple fact that all of our graduate students are fully online demanded a librarian with experience with Instructional Design and Distance Learning. Furthermore, gaining experience in this field has empowered me to reach out to faculty as more than simply a “librarian.” For the record:, I’m not belittling my profession. That being said, one thing that I have noticed is that many faculty either don’t understand the role of a librarian in the University or are too busy to utilize our services. Either way, I know have the added skill set of assisting faculty with online instruction and the ability to collaborate on more research opportunities. I’m also, for some obvious reasons, much more adept and creative with my face-to-face and online interactions with students, both one-on-one and in a class setting.