Instruction in special collections and archives spaces has evolved from the once ubiquitous show-and-tell sessions, but it remains reliant on the one-shot model where classes visit the reading room to work with primary source material in a standalone session. As Nicole Pagowsky points out, "One-shots are transactional; content is requested…

Library instruction is predicated on the assumption that transfer learning can take place, but how do librarians determine whether transfer is occurring? This study examines the use of reflection as a learning theory within the one-shot library instruction classroom to facilitate metacognition and transfer learning. Through the analysis of student…

Drawing from Wendy Holliday's use of metaphor to generate exploration around information literacy discourse, we pose some preliminary ideas about mapping a vaccination metaphor onto one-shots. We do so to offer another lens through which to explore the mechanisms and implications of one-shots being viewed as common-sensical and unassailable. Thus,…

If there's one thing you learn today, let it be this: keywords. Not specific keywords but the idea of them. If you whisper the correct keywords into the algorithm, you will achieve relevance. If you don't achieve relevance on the first try (which is super common), imagine you're an academic with a specialization in a super-niche disciplinary area…

This exploratory study seeks to gather preliminary information about the roles that academic librarians in the United States (US) and Canada play in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) work on their campuses. It also provides insight into how librarians at US Carnegie Research 1 (R1) classified universities and U15 Group of Canadian…

Providing library instruction, often via one-shots in someone else's classroom, may reduce feelings of agency or job control for academic instruction librarians. This study addresses potential differences in job control across core responsibilities, specifically looking at the difference between job duties overall and instruction responsibilities.…

This paper shares the results of semi-structured interviews with 30 community college librarians who have instruction duties. The interviews explored these librarians' perceptions of students' information literacy (IL) strengths and weaknesses as well as their views of students' self-perceptions. Participants believe that students are confident in…

According to a 2021 Pew Research report, over 80 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds use social media. Studies also show that higher education students use social media in both academic and everyday life. However, there is minimal research about how, or whether, librarians utilize social media in their library instruction as a source of information for…

Eight years of data from Grand Valley State University Libraries show a positive correlation between in-class library instruction and student reenrollment the following fall semester. Using consistent statistical methods over time, controlling for confounding factors, and using a large population (N>16,000 annually) and strict protocols that…

As students encounter high volumes of misinformation in online environments, cultivating critical thinking is an important goal of information literacy instruction, especially for first-year college students, who are just beginning to develop cognitive habits in their early years of postsecondary schooling. However, this study demonstrates that…

Semistructured interviews were conducted with community college students in Florida and New York, two diverse states with robust community college systems, to explore their self-perceptions of their information literacy (IL) needs. Findings indicate that students value IL in their personal lives, their academic work, and their careers, though it…

The one-shot instruction session is a dominant mode of teaching in academic libraries. While many conference presentations and articles about methods have been shared, there is little consensus about whether a single library session promotes student learning about information literacy topics. This meta-analysis gathers studies that employ…

This piece examines the parallels between one-shot library instruction and one-off equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) workshops. Library and Information Science/Studies (LIS) as a field problematically frames both information literacy and EDI as add-ons or afterthoughts to the work of library and information workers. This framing tells on…

Which modes of information literacy instruction (ILI) work best in asynchronous online courses? Recent national trends and COVID-19 have made it critical to answer this question, but there is little research comparing different modes of ILI specifically in asynchronous contexts. This multiyear study employed five different modes of ILI in…

While academic librarians have been quick to respond to the crisis of misinformation through information literacy instruction and tool development, little research exists on the extent to which they are teaching news literacy skills in the classroom. This study explores academic librarians' perspectives on misinformation and whether they are…