Repurposing Zotero for sustainable assessment and scalable modified embedding

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to describe a new application of Zotero, a citation management system, for embedded librarianship and assessment. It explores student reception of this approach and maps Zotero’s capacities to represent citations to learning outcomes and information literacy frames that instruction librarians assess.

Design/methodology/approach

The librarian worked with a course using Zotero group libraries for collaborative work, used Zotero to communicate with students and assess their information literacy skills and surveyed the students to determine their perception of librarian participation via Zotero.

Findings

Using Zotero’s features made it possible to formatively and summatively assess student work quickly, and students were receptive to librarian participation via Zotero.

Practical implications

This suggests that librarians facing difficulty embedding in online courses or those seeking to assess student work may wish to explore Zotero as a sustainable solution to both challenges.

Originality/value

This paper posits a solution to common challenges for online embedded librarianship and suggests a new technique for assessing student information literacy in a context that supports information literacy.

Citation

Kuglitsch, R.Z. (2015), "Repurposing Zotero for sustainable assessment and scalable modified embedding", Reference Services Review, Vol. 43 No. 1, pp. 68-80. https://doi.org/10.1108/RSR-08-2014-0034