This study was designed to inform the renaming of a credit-bearing information literacy course. Researchers surveyed librarians to gather existing information literacy course titles. They also surveyed and held focus groups with students to learn what students consider when choosing electives, to understand how well the researchers' current…

When talking about collection development, few school librarians think about databases. Databases provide learners with a one-stop shop for cross-curricular, up-to-date, vetted information in a structured and easy-to-manipulate format for class projects. To be successful learners, students need to know how to use a database to find the information…

EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) has been heavily used by UMUC students since its implementation in fall 2011, but experience has shown that it is not always the most appropriate source for satisfying students' information needs and that they often need assistance in understanding how the tool works and how to use it effectively. UMUC librarians have…

Extensive engagement with current academic sources is expected of all psychology undergraduates. Thirty-eight undergraduate psychology students took part in a series of focus group discussions of their information-searching experiences and skills. The majority of students had not been required to engage with any form of information searching while…

This study identifies the development of information search expertise of 12 beginning research students (six in education and six in engineering) who were provided with a set of systematic search training sessions over a period of one year. The study adopts a longitudinal approach in investigating whether there were different stages in the…

Surveys the literature on the teaching of bibliographic search strategies to college students, emphasizing the areas of instructional content and teaching methods. (FM)

This handbook is designed as an introduction to the process of library research in the field of education. To illustrate the process, a sample topic is developed from a broad concept through a well-developed topic for a research paper. Following an overview of a successful research strategy, the chapters are organized in the order of a typical…

Discusses programed instruction as a technique for teaching the fundamentals of monographic searching on the OCLC database, the method used in developing the instructional text, the series of validation tests conducted, and some suggestions for future research. (Author/FM)

Designed to be used in an English course at the University of Houston, this library skills workbook includes lessons and multiple-choice exercises on the following topics: (1) a floor plan of the main university library; (2) catalog records; (3) catalog access points; (4) using the catalogs; (5) locating books; (6) encyclopedias; (7) dictionaries;…

This workbook is intended to teach education students information about basic library resources and information gathering techniques that are important in conducting educational research or writing a research paper. Most chapters are in the form of assignments which require students to use the reference materials for a specific purpose. Chapter 1…

As libraries automate their collections and mount online public access catalogs (OPACs), they face special challenges in educating patrons to use these electronic systems effectively and efficiently. Because users are less familiar with the concept and arrangement of an OPAC than with a card catalog, less successful searches commonly occur.…

This guide is designed to introduce students to the California State University at Long Beach Library. The first chapter discusses how to start searching for information--types of information sources, search strategy, choosing a topic and finding preliminary information, encyclopedias, and dictionaries. Topics related to catalogs and computers are…

This project designed to teach library and thinking skills to grade 7 students emphasized the importance of metacognition. Students were asked to choose a research topic and to prepare and evaluate daily research strategies. Allotment of time for planning and reflecting on strategies was considered crucial to the project. (MES)

Presents a template for teaching traditional library research and one for incorporating the Web. Highlights include the differences between directories and search engines; devising search strategies; creating search terms; how to choose search engines; evaluating online resources; helpful Web sites; and how to read URLs to evaluate a Web site's…

This handbook is a guide to doing business research in a university library. Following library location and orientation information, the first section discusses the research paper, i.e., thinking about the topic and planning a research strategy, the flow of information over time, and evaluating sources. Finding and using books, journal articles,…