1. Is library induction “Pointless”? A
quiz based approach to motivate
students and make induction
memorable
Julie Moody
Information Specialist
Plymouth University

2. Outline
• Background & Rationale
• Working group – collaboration
• Practical demo
• Evaluation - Benefits and Pitfalls
• Future developments
• Questions?

3. Library Induction
• The first meeting with
the new undergraduate
student groups during
the Welcome Week.
• Large groups in lecture
theatres
• Information overload
• Challenging to make it
effective and
memorable

4. Student Voice -Our own student
survey and research
“would have been useful if every course got an
induction at the library during freshers’ week”
“when teaching they need to make it more
interactive and fun as it was easy to get
distracted and switch off which means very little
goes in”

5. “too much information given in one session isn’t
helpful when you first start university”
“Much of the information was given to students
in the first week, with A LOT of other
information”

6. Way forward?
Wanted something that is not boring to deliver or listen
to; something to grab attention
“The unexpected is a great way to bring humor into the
classroom. The unexpected plays off the element of
surprise, which is really what comedy is all about. It
works because it startles or shocks the students to
attention. It can also be a good way of challenging the
stereotype of the librarian as a passive, calm, mild-
mannered individual” (Trefts and
Blakeslee, 2000, p.375)

7. Memorable
• Primary aim – do something unexpected
• Break the ice

8. Pointless
With these aims in mind, we developed a
“Pointless” style quiz, based on the show
broadcast on BBC1. Teams would compete to
answer library and IT questions with the aim
being to find that all important Pointless answer
that none of the 100 people questioned
beforehand knew.

9. Industrial model
• Pointless = part of face-to-face session
• 4 strands (course ready)
– Face to face welcome
– Online tutorials
– Drop in support
– Library Bite Size sessions (Lost in the library? Get
that book!)

11. Practical demo
• Let’s play Pointless!
• 3-4 Teams (1 spokesperson to give response)

12. Evaluation – Information Specialists
• Initial worry (sleepless nights)
• Some sceptical that it would work
• Worked as a team – exchanging good practice
as we went along
• Generally all had fun running the sessions
• Depended a little on the group dynamics

13. Evaluation –students

14. Student Views

15. Future plans
• Manage expectations of students - the
welcome talk is only the start. Other
opportunities to learn the basics
• Improve balance between fun and information
in the welcome talk- provide key information
and use Pointless to reinforce
• Improve collaboration with personal tutors –
engagement with follow-up activities, tracking

16. Any questions?

17. References
• Trefts, K. and Blakeslee, S. (2000) ‘Did you
hear the one about the Boolean operators?
Incorporating comedy into library instruction’
Reference Services Review, 28 (4), pp. 369-377
[online]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/009073200103597
31 (Accessed: 3/01/2014)