Librarians are conducting instruction sessions outside the traditional classroom setting using online tutorials with increasing frequency. Online tutorials seem like an obvious solution to meet the growing need for instruction to users in a time when resources are shrinking. Can librarians effectively teach library skills using an online tutorial?…

Presents and compares results from two surveys of basic library skills administered to first-year and upperclass students at Johns Hopkins University (Maryland). The relationship of test scores to library visits and to self-ratings for library skills are discussed, and copies of the surveys are included. (Contains 12 references.) (LRW)

Discussion of changes in academic library instruction needed for teaching Internet access to electronic databases focuses on a study at the University of Connecticut that compared differences in effectiveness between an online, real-time hands-on class with an eclectic format that combined lecture and a hands-on component. (Author/LRW)