Information skills training in support of a joint electronic library in Glasgow: the GAELS Project approach to library courseware development

The GAELS Project is a two-year project funded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) strategic change initiative, which promotes collaborative information services to engineering researchers at Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities. This paper examines the role of user education in this process. We use arguments against the effectiveness of library skills education and evaluative methods learned from human-computer interface design as a means of improving information skills training and as part of a general reflection on user education and library services. Such an approach shows how networked learning materials can be an effective tool for promoting a collaborative library service across the Glasgow Metropolitan Area Network.