Many instruction librarians teach students that the URL extension .gov is one sign of a reliable, authoritative Internet source. This is true in many cases, but there are other very important reasons that government information deserves a larger place in information literacy sessions. It offers a clear example of several concepts students must…

Digital games and simulations are receiving considerable notice within the library and information science (LIS) community. This study adds to the depth of knowledge in this area by providing research on the likelihood a hypothetical digital game delivery method for library instruction achieves sufficient adoption to justify its development.…

This study found that there were statistically significant differences in citation use and grades between students who took a library credit course and students who did not. The results of independent samples t-tests indicated that the student group that took a library credit course cited more scholarly resources, produced fewer incomplete…

A usability study was undertaken at Penn State University to explore how students search the library's online catalog after they have received library instruction. In 2004, eight first-year students received library instruction and were subsequently recruited for the study. Participants were recorded using the online catalog, and a think-aloud…

Presents five papers from the American Library Association's June 27, 1992, conference session, "The Right to Know: Will Changing Our Instruction Methods Empower the Public," in which panelists debate the design and impact of bibliographic instruction and the provision of reference services in academic and high school libraries. (EA)

With the advent of No Child Left Behind, Adequate Yearly Progress, and school budget cuts, school librarians have had to become more data driven than ever before. Thinking in terms of student learning and achievement has brought about an interest in evidence-based practice (EBP). In this article, the authors discuss three steps to understanding…

The Elmer E. Rasmuson Library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has a long history of supporting distance education through state-of-the-art, remote access services. Harsh climate conditions (heavy snowfall and icing, high winds, and extreme temperatures), rugged terrain, limited road and telephone systems, and permafrost that prevents the…

About a decade ago, a team of librarians and technologists at the University of Texas at Austin began development on a Web-based tutorial for undergraduate students. The tutorial used a range of technologies--HTML, Flash, javascript--to create four modules that emphasized information literacy concepts by using a mix of text, images, interactive…

This article describes the formation and content of a required library and information research course for graduate and professional students enrolled in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Master of Arts degree program at Western Washington University. The course was created as a result of library assessment, student feedback, and faculty…

Augustana (located in Camrose, Alberta, Canada, and formerly known as Augustana University College) is an undergraduate liberal arts and sciences faculty of the University of Alberta with an enrollment of approximately 1,100 students. The fall of 2001 marked the inception of for-credit discipline-specific information literacy (IL) course offerings…

School library media center scheduling, particularly the fixed versus flexible scheduling controversy, continues to be debated in spite of decades of advocacy for flexible scheduling. According to van Deusen (1999), flexible scheduling is "a plan wherein classes meet for instruction in the library resource center when they have a specific need…

Working with first-year students at Purdue University, the author, a composition instructor, joined efforts with librarian Alexius Smith-Macklin to explore the efficacy of a collaborative approach to freshman writing instruction at the university level. Combining expertise from the Purdue programs of English education, theory and cultural studies,…

In the digital era online tutorials remain especially popular for providing information literacy instruction to undergraduates. This paper provides three approaches for assessing learning from a web-based tutorial. First, a general assessment focuses on patron surveys, usage statistics, and interlibrary loan requests for library-owned materials to…

A three-year study at the University of Alabama compared a traditional lecture method for teaching library research skills with a course-integrated, computer-enhanced approach by assessing each method's impact on the quality of bibliographies from engineering students' term papers. In four of the five semesters, no significant differences were…

Studies suggest that course-integrated information literacy instruction is an effective way to enhance the quality of student research. However, many political science professors are unfamiliar with the growing information literacy movement in higher education today, with strategies for integrating information literacy into their courses and…