By using the Library’s online research databases, customers can access hundreds of periodicals, encyclopedia volumes, primary sources, business development tools, test preparation resources, and even language courses without having to set foot in the library. However, not all the database interfaces are intuitive to the average person, and we don’t want our customers to lose the expertise and instruction of library professionals when using a digital library interface. That is why the Library created a suite of video screencasted tutorials to teach customers how to use our databases more effectively. In addition to helping our remote customer by providing database instruction, our tutorials allow library staff to close a reference interview by saying, "I know you might forget some of the techniques we've discussed for searching when you try this on your own. Here's a link to a video tutorial that can reiterate what we talked about. And should you have additional questions after that, please know you can always contact us for further information." Closing a reference transaction with these additional resources provides a greater probability that customers will be empowered to search effectively on their own in the future.

We began by analyzing which of our databases were most heavily used by our customers and which were most difficult to use. We asked our reference librarian database experts to determine the most frequently asked questions by customers regarding database interfaces. Staff were trained on screencasting including best content practices and technical software specifications. Our first tutorial instructed customers on using our business contact database, explaining how to search the database and suggesting ways in which they could leverage the information to gain competitive intelligence for their small businesses. This tutorial was uploaded to YouTube and a link was provided on the database description page. Eventually, more tutorials were added for various databases.

Within a year of implementing the program, our eight staff-produced videos had received over 1,200 views. Access to this sort of library instruction means our customers can learn to leverage our library resources remotely and at any time - further promoting the library as a 24/7 service.