For the most part, information landscapes such as libraries are structured, organized, created, and used by the dominant groups. These spaces may be unfamiliar territory for many students. Humour used in library orientation elicits enjoyment and helps to connect librarians and students. Low and high inference humour used during orientation can…

The article discusses the development of online tutorials to support the Academic Librarians' information literacy instruction during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. The content and development of the activities are presented in relation to information literacy (IL) standards. At the University of Northampton, the first-year students…

This article is an exploration of ways in which LIS educators can consider culture, heritage, and identity as a framework for becoming participatory agents of their teaching practices in the LIS classroom. To support this framework, this discussion introduces the research methodology, practitioner inquiry, as a meaningful approach to studying…

Public services librarians are often in the position of training patrons how to use technology. They adopt new technologies such as discovery layers, link resolvers, subject guides, virtual reference services, OPACs, content management systems, and institutional repositories to provide access to materials and facilitate collaboration, but…

The National Medical Library of Cuba is currently developing an information literacy program to train users in the use of biomedical databases. This paper describes the experience with the course "Cochrane Library: Evidence-Based Medicine," which aims to teach users how to make the best use of this database, as well as the evidence-based…

When secondary school librarians teach students digital life literacies, they help students perceive that librarians can provide support for real-life problems. The more librarians work with students, create inviting library environments, and have positive engagements with students, the more they change student perceptions of librarians in…

"Affective competence," managing the feelings and emotions that students encounter throughout the content creation/research process, is essential to academic success. Just as it is crucial for students to acquire core literacies, it is essential that they learn how to manage the anxieties and emotions that will emerge throughout all…

In January 2008, the Belk Library & Information Commons at Appalachian State University combined the Access Services staff members of the Circulation and Lower Level Service Desks with the Reference and Instruction team as part of a library-wide reorganization effort. The new team balanced what had been a staff-dominated Access Services team…

This paper describes the process whereby a university library investigated the value of its subject guides to its users. A literature review and surveys of library staff, library users and other libraries were carried out. Existing library subject guides and those of other higher education libraries were evaluated. The project team reported…

The idea that information is the building block for learning is not new. In fact, it has been a core tenet of learning theory since the study of human cognition began. What's new about learning in the twenty-first century is that various dimensions of information have changed--expanding in every conceivable way. Information is now a "24-7"…

Library customers have more remote information choices than ever before, so we must ensure that when they do come to the library, they experience a welcoming environment, a high standard of service, and receive equitable levels of service across campus. Developing a customer service program was a logical next step to reinforce the ongoing…

As library patrons move online, librarians must move instructional content online to join them. One means of educating library users is to meet them on their computers with electronic tutorials. Electronic tutorials may be used for various instructional tasks such as teaching users about the basic elements of a library catalog, pointing out the…

This article contains a teaching module on copyright compliance for higher education for faculty, staff, and administrators. The training class discusses fair use and its four factors. Those factors include purpose and characters of use, nature of the work, quantity to be borrowed, marketability of the work.

In this article, the authors discuss how the University of Rochester's two-year ethnographic study reveals what students do on campus and how the library fits in. Under Nancy Fried Foster's guidance, teams of librarians and staff conducted a two-year investigation. The goal: to improve the libraries' reference services, facilities, and web pages…

Learning communities purposefully restructure the curriculum to link together courses or course work so that students find greater coherence in what they are learning as well as increased intellectual interaction with faculty and fellow students. This article investigates where academic libraries and academic library user instruction fit in this…