ATG Interviews Jared Oates

Co-Founder and COO of Niche Academy

By Tom Gilson (Associate Editor, Against the Grain) <gilsont@cofc.edu>

and Katina Strauch (Editor, Against the Grain) <kstrauch@comcast.net>

ATG: Jared, for those of our readers who might be unaware, can you tell us what Niche Academy is all about?

JO: Sure, Niche Academy is a learning management system that delivers training for very specific audiences. We create training packages that include a delivery platform so that learners can immediately begin to use the training where and when they need it. In the context of academic libraries, we’ve created high-quality info lit instruction and database introductions with a student audience in mind. The Niche Academy platform lets academic librarians customize this training and deliver it as an assignment in the campus LMS, or embedded in the library’s website, or within a LibGuides page, or even right inside an EBSCO discovery interface, for example. Wherever it’s delivered, the teaching librarian retains the ability to interact with student learners and report on learning outcomes. Having solid evidence of learning outcomes helps those librarians highlight their direct contributions to student success.

ATG: What level of input do librarians have in customizing the final instruction package? Do they play an active role in helping create the instruction? If so, how?

JO: Librarians have full control of the final instruction package. They choose which training to present and how to organize it. They can customize the tutorials Niche Academy provides by inserting their own training elements like lessons, quizzes, and activities. They can also copy and adapt the training Niche Academy provides so it always feels like it’s coming from a local librarian. Both the Niche Academy platform and the training are completely white labeled, so it always feels local. We’ve also taken pains to keep the platform clean and simple so there’s very little learning curve involved in creating your own training. Librarian input and feedback are also the primary driver behind the training Niche Academy creates. Our content development queue is prioritized based on requests from our customers.

ATG: Although you now work with numerous academic libraries, we understand that Niche Academy started working with public libraries. Can you tell us about those initial efforts?

JO: Niche Academy’s founder, Jeromy Wilson, and I had both worked with libraries at SirsiDynix for many years. Our idea spark with public libraries began with a frustration we heard at almost every library we visited: they were spending a lot of money on eResources, but usage of those resources was disappointing. As we studied the problem, we realized that usage was low because public awareness was low and there were also technical barriers patrons consistently encountered. We experimented with social media tools and signage solutions that didn’t move the needle much on the awareness problem, but finally found two things that really made a difference:

1. Training all public facing staff, not just a few eResource “experts,” how to introduce people to the eResources and match the resources with patron needs and interests. 2. Embedding appealing intro videos right within the library website. For the technical barriers, the most impactful solution we found was to offer always-available video tutorials in obvious places on the website and then keep those tutorials up to date. The tutorials needed to give people enough information to have a satisfying first experience with the resource. A good first experience makes it likely they’ll come back. I think the eResource problem helped us see how the combination of a learning delivery platform with training content for a specific audience can solve real-world problems. We’ve been pleased with the results. We’ve seen libraries struggle with marketing and promotion efforts for years only to see marginal single digit percentage point gains in usage. We’ve seen those same libraries begin using the Niche Academy process and realize 70% overall usage gains in their first year. So that’s how we started with public libraries. As time has gone on, we’ve added a lot of professional development for librarians. Lots of libraries also use the platform now to deliver storytimes and other programs online. But we started with eResources.

ATG: What gave you the inspiration to expand your offerings to academic libraries? In what ways did you see Niche Academy enhancing academic library instruction?

JO: It started in a similar way with a pervasive problem we saw as we listened to academic librarians: job security and job satisfaction seemed to be on the decline. The most common issues behind the decline seemed to be budget cuts and increased workload occasioned by departing colleagues. Credentialed librarians are being asked to wear more hats and it’s often hard to communicate the value of their work. We saw that we could save time for library instructors by creating ready-made tutorials on core information literacy topics as well as regularly maintained introductions to research databases. Using the Niche Academy platform to deliver that instruction, librarians can then spend a greater portion of their time actually giving feedback to individual students. They also have better measures of learning outcomes, which make it easier to communicate their contribution to student success. They can show, for example, how students in a specific class now demonstrate mastery of concepts like “causation vs. correlation,” or skills like how to use appropriate in-text citations.

The platform lets librarians deliver this instruction through the campus LMS as an assignment within a regular academic course. Being able to offer library instruction this way is a key tool to building relationships with teaching faculty in other departments. Those faculty generally want to spend their instruction time on their own subject matter instead of research skills. Niche Academy tutorial packages help librarians come to the relationship with something valuable to offer that doesn’t require class time or add instructional overhead. The training package also includes templates and best practices training to help librarians build relationships across departments.

ATG: While Niche Academy’s instruction is delivered online, are there examples where libraries are using it in combination with in-person teaching and creating a hybrid form of library instruction? If so, what does that look like?

JO: Yes, one great example of hybrid training is the traditional “one-shot” session that’s often part of a first-year experience. We have libraries that offer research essentials instruction online about things like authoring research questions, better search techniques, and in-text citations. That lets them use their in-person time to build relationships, answer questions, or give a physical tour of the library. Another example is with makerspaces. We have libraries that require a general makerspace certification to be completed online. That makes in-person time much more effective because they can focus on equipment training that’s best done handson without worrying about the “rules of the road” stuff that’s already been covered.

ATG: Increased interactivity with students and faculty seems to be a key advantage of using Niche Academy software for libraries. Can you give us examples of how your academic library clients have used Niche Academy to increase such interactivity? What impact, if any, has this increased interactivity had on the library’s role on campus? Again, can you cite specific examples?

JO: Most online library instruction is currently not interactive. It’s a YouTube video, or content on a web page, or a LibGuide. When you introduce interactive elements like quizzes, response prompts, activities, or discussions, you give a skilled librarian insight into the progress of individual students and the opportunity to offer feedback. It takes relevant reference conversations directly to students, wherever they are. The impact of librarians (and by extension, the library) on student success becomes obvious and measurable. Troy University is a good example of this pattern. The library provides detailed instruction on using APA citations that is part of a specific graduate-level program. The instruction includes a series of quizzes that allow students to achieve and demonstrate mastery of this skill. The library is thereby solving an important problem for the program and saving time for faculty in that other department.

ATG: In a case like this, how does the librarian provide feedback to students? Is it primarily via quizzes? Or are there other tools that enhance librarian — student interactivity?

JO: Quizzes, response prompts, knowledge checks and activities are all examples of feedback mechanisms within Niche Academy. Our feedback mechanisms are based on the concepts of “formative” and “summative” assessment. A summative assessment helps a student evaluate their mastery at the end of an instructional session. A formative assessment is part of the flow of instruction and helps to reinforce concepts or identify gaps in understanding. Some examples: a librarian might email a student in response to a knowledge check or quiz to clarify a question the student missed in the quiz. A librarian might also send a student an email when a response prompt indicated misunderstanding of a concept. An “activitiy” in the Niche Academy platform provides a mechanism for a library instructor to accept or reject with feedback something a student has submitted for review

ATG: It seems to us that Niche Academy would have application for libraries in their own staff training programs. Are we on target? Are academic libraries using Niche Academy for staff training? If so, how?

JO: Yes, interestingly, staff training was actually the first use of Niche Academy in an academic library context. Utah State University used Niche Academy to train the student employees who operated their Borrower Automated Retrieval Network, the “BARN.” The staff training offerings on Niche Academy have expanded over the years and now include training series on topics like grant writing and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

ATG: On your website you claim that you are “helping to build the future of online resources and e-learning.” From your perspective what does that future look like and how do you see Niche Academy partnering with academic libraries to make that future a reality?

JO: In general terms, we see academic libraries shifting from a collections focus to a focus on services. Information literacy instruction is a service that has a big impact on student success and librarians are uniquely positioned to provide that service. We see ourselves giving librarians tools like interactive tutorials, reports, and LMS integrations that extend their reach and highlight the value of their expertise. We also see budget tightening as a trend that will extend into the foreseeable future. This means more student and paraprofessional employees and fewer trained librarians to service the student population. Niche Academy helps trained librarians get more value out of the time they spend and have better measures of their impact. We also help student and paraprofessional library staff to become more capable. In the reality we’re working towards, there may be fewer academic librarians, but they will be more highly valued within the institution. Library collections may have a smaller footprint overall, but the perception will grow of the library as a welcoming and inviting space and the beating heart of a scholarly institution.