Niche Academy

Niche Academy’s collection of tutorials features patron-focused library content, including database and some information literacy topic tutorials, but the majority of Niche Academy-created content appears to be for library staff and management (e.g.“Basic Book Repairs,” “Interviewing Skills for Managers”). 

Niche Academy’s greatest strength for community colleges are their how-to videos for online academic tools and databases, with an emphasis on major vendors. At the time of this writing, there were 48 videos/tutorials for different EBSCO tools, 50 for Gale, and 11 for ProQuest, but smaller vendors or those with a smaller product pool seem to be left out (e.g. OneSearch/Ex Libris, Films On Demand, Salem Press, ABC-CLIO, Swank). Some tutorials might not be accurate for your specific library or current subscription model; for example, the Kanopy tutorial appears targeted towards public libraries with its collection description and language, as well as instructions on how to link your account to your library card--most academic libraries no longer use library cards and accounts are validated through SSO.

Niche Academy boasts that their vendor tutorials are regularly updated to make sure that all content is up-to-date, but all showed the same “last updated” date at the time of this writing, making it difficult to determine if specific content had actually been updated, or if it was just a system-wide update. That being said, EBSCO product videos did reflect recent EBSCO interface changes.

As mentioned, a large portion of the content in Niche Academy is for internal professional development (PD) training for library professionals and paraprofessionals, though some PD content may be able to be tweaked to better apply to other academic professionals. PD content covers subjects such as library management, interpersonal workplace skills, and safety. Libraries can use the Niche platform to create and host asynchronous professional development content from recorded webinars and use built-in administrative features to generate automatically awarded certificates of achievement that list the professional development hours completed. Libraries can also use the Niche platform to create internal teams that can be assigned specific tutorials to complete, such as for student workers.

Niche Academy tutorials present easy-to-follow videos for adult learners of different levels. The complexity of the language used depends on the complexity of the topic or content presented, e.g. a standalone video providing an overview of Flipster vs. a more extensive tutorial describing the concept of confirmation bias. Tutorials are currently only available in English, but some videos offer the option of auto-generated Spanish subtitles. English subtitles are not auto-generated and appear to be accurate. 

Access to all Niche Academy-created content is included in the platform subscription, as is the majority of user-created content. Tutorials are listed on a “Market,” where they can be searched for and then added to one of the user library’s local “Academies,” which are curatorial spaces used to organize and deliver training to specific campus audiences (i.e. faculty and staff). Tutorials added to Academies can be edited locally by users with administrative accounts to add or hide content for their users.

The tutorials created by Niche Academy-affiliated libraries on the Niche Academy Market vary in robustness and quality. While Niche-created tutorials are appropriately generic and appealing for reuse, most libraries will not be interested in reusing another library’s content without some customization.

Niche Academy tutorials can be used to introduce first-time college students and new library users to a wide variety of topics and tools to help prepare them for doing research and using the library. Topics range from nuts-and-bolts of using a library, such as using call numbers (both Dewey and LC), to topics addressing more complex information literacy topics like visual literacy across disciplines. There are relatively few information literacy-related tutorials authored by Niche, but a series titled Research Essentials contains 16 different tutorials covering topics such as authoring research questions, in-text citations, and peer review. There are some noticeable gaps in Niche Academy’s information literacy content: for example, there are no tutorials or videos about fake news, misinformation/disinformation, or AI.

The level of depth of Niche Academy tutorials has a range depending on the topic. An introductory database tutorial might consist of 2-3 short videos (under two minutes each), followed by a 2-3 multiple choice question quiz to gauge the user’s understanding, while a tutorial on an information literacy topic might include longer videos and short activities which can later be evaluated by administrative users. Libraries also have access to the tools necessary to create their own library-specific tutorials and can add custom content including video, audio, activities, polls, knowledge checks, surveys, and tests. Existing tutorials can also be copied and customized. There is a small learning curve to using these creator tools, but overall they are intuitive and easy to use and navigate.

Niche Academy is somewhat affordable and priced competitively compared to other information literacy module subscriptions. Priced by FTE bands on an annual subscription.

Accessing Niche Academy as a user is an easy experience on the student side, with clear and simple page navigation, mobile responsiveness, and animated videos with high-quality audio. An appealing aspect of this product is the ability to make resources completely open, meaning that content does not require any log-in, SSO, or third party verification for students or patrons to access.

Niche content is delivered by libraries to users via self-defined “Academies,” which are separate learning spaces for different audiences or user groups. As of this writing, three academies are included with the base subscription, and additional academies may be requested. Tutorials can be placed in different academies to create discrete libraries that address the needs of different groups. For example, a library might have a Canvas academy containing LMS-friendly reusable tutorials, a public academy that does not require a login, and a professional development academy for faculty and staff. Tutorials added to academies can also be organized into and displayed within categories that are defined by administrative users.

Some features could be improved on the administrator side. Niche currently offers over 600 of their own tutorials, but the process of finding the right content for your library can be challenging. There is an option to filter by “Niche Owned” content, and a separate filter to limit by subject area, but there is no way to combine any filtering features, meaning it’s impossible to do a search for Niche-owned content on a specific subject. There is also no way to filter by library type, audience/user type, or to limit searches to only content that is available for remixing. 

A note about remixing: Administrative users are able to edit any tutorial added to their academies by hiding content and making additions that append to the end of the tutorial, but the editing process can be somewhat complicated and often requires workarounds. Some Niche tutorials allow users to “copy” the tutorial, meaning that a library could edit, change, and customize everything about the tutorial, but the majority of tutorials don’t allow users access to the copy feature, and there is no way to search or filter to find those that allow copying. If the copy feature were enabled for more tutorials, it would be much easier for libraries to remix and reuse content quickly and more efficiently. 

Niche maintains in its Terms of Service that you maintain ownership of all your content and it will not be resold, but it is unclear to users what the copyright implications might be for reusing and remixing content from other libraries; some display a CC license (self-added), but most do not and it does not appear that this is something that Niche provides an option to opt-in or out of when creating content. The Terms of Service reads that you “grant permission to all registered students of your courses to view your videos for their personal, non-commercial purposes…in addition to any license you may decide to grant (e.g., a Creative Commons license).” 

Libraries planning on using Niche Academy as a video and tutorial hosting tool will find robust options for creating original content, and an intuitive and easy-to-use administrative interface to build those resources. Libraries can upload videos, rich text, and audio; embed e-learning content; and add quizzes, surveys, polls, and knowledge checks throughout a tutorial. The editing process allows for an easy toggle to “student view” to see how content will look before final publication. When creating a tutorial there are also options for how information is displayed, providing control over pacing and the order in which users are required to interact with content. All tutorial content, including quizzes, surveys, etc., can be viewed and accessed by non-Niche users (no login required) and Niche-registered users alike, allowing libraries to bring information and content to a wider audience.

The Niche Academy team offers excellent support when onboarding (e.g. rep-hosted demos), and Niche sends regular update emails about upcoming webinars and newly released tutorials. The support team is fairly quick to ameliorate reported issues (fixing broken quizzes, etc.). Niche uses a ticketing system that routes questions to the support team, and responses are typically received within 24 hours.

One of the major strengths of Niche Academy is its built-in embedding tools and LMS integration. Administrators can create custom widgets for individual tutorials, categories, or entire academies that appear as buttons, images, icons, carousels, and links. These widgets can be embedded in LibGuides, A-Z Database lists, and on websites. The widget can open as a lightbox or side slider on the same page it is embedded in, or can open a new tab. See an example of Niche Academy tutorials embedded as buttons on an A-Z Database list below:

Niche Academy also offers LTI 1.3 integration into third-party LMS including Canvas, and tutorials can be embedded into assignments and offered for class credit. Tutorials are auto-graded and appear in the Canvas gradebook when added via the LTI integration, but must include graded quiz or interactive activity in order to register a grade.

The administrative setup of these tools can take some troubleshooting with Niche Academy support. For embedding, custom JavaScript (provided) must be added to your LibGuides instance or website and may need to be tweaked depending on the setup of your systems. However, their support team is highly responsive and will set up live meetings to help you work through any issues.

Niche Academy’s current VPAT was last updated 2019 and indicates full conformance at WCAG 2.0 and 2.1 Level AA. It should be noted that Niche does not monitor user-created content for accessibility. Everything in the VPAT is shown as “supports” except for 1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded), which it “partially supports” noting that “some video content on the platform is not created by Niche Academy…we don’t have control over whether this content conforms;” no videos were found in the system (Niche-created or otherwise) with an audio description. All Niche Academy-created videos include access to closed captions (not auto-generated), and display a rich text transcript on the page while the videos play. Videos and other content from Niche user tutorials did not have a consistent standard of accessibility.  

According to their privacy policy, the only personal information collected by Niche is from enrolled users is name, email address, and a password. They disclose the use cookies to: “efficiently handle user sessions, understand and save user's preferences for future visits, compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interactions in order to offer better site experiences and tools in the future.” They also use third party services  “Compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interactions…”

Niche Academy has its own analytics and tracking dashboard where administrators can view interactions with their different academies and can generate individual tutorial reports and individual user reports. It also allows for tracking the reusable content you have created so administrators can see where else their Niche content is being used and accessed. They do not offer COUNTER 5 statistics or SUSHI integration.

The tutorial “Finding the Right Sources” is a Niche Academy-created tutorial and part of their sixteen-tutorial collection Research Essentials that directly targets college library users. This brief overview gives an idea of how one of their more complex tutorials is organized and presented.

The tutorial starts with a short video and overview of objects to orient the student. It begins with a two minute video discussing the process of selecting relevant sources for a project which shows a combination of Niche cartoon characters, screenshot examples of database searches and results, and standalone slides highlighting key points. 

The video is followed by a series of open-ended questions asking students to use a library database in real time and submit their answers. During this section, each question only appears once the previous has been submitted so the student ostensibly has to actively participate in each question before moving to the next: 

1. Using a library database, type in your keywords. What keywords did you use?
2. How many results did you get? 
3. Look through your results and find two resources that match your research topic. Copy and paste the citation information below. 
4. Why did you choose these sources? 

The next video gives an overview of reading academic articles, followed again by an open-ended question that asks the student to go back and take a closer look at one of the resources they retrieved from the first section and answer the questions: “Read one of the articles you saved. What did you learn from the first pass? And what did you learn from re-reading?”

The last video is about analyzing and summarizing information from sources. It presents students with a note-taking handout with several questions designed to get students to think more deeply about their content. Students are asked to download the handout and write out their notes, then paste them into the Niche question box. 

The final activity is a five question multiple choice quiz that is automatically graded for the student.