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…

Based on a comparison of two nearly identical surveys in 2010 and 2016, this study examines the deepening practitioner concern over the use of social tagging within digital collections during the past six years. While participants reported a greater level of experience and increased use of social tagging, concerns regarding control, consistency,…

This article presents the results of a study of academic e-books that compared the metadata and search results from major academic e-book platforms. The authors collected data and performed a series of test searches designed to produce the same result regardless of platform. Testing, however, revealed metadata-related errors and significant…

The Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education calls on librarians to teach complex concepts rather than discrete skills, but many librarians have struggled with implementing such teaching. This article reports on a revised lesson for information literacy instruction in First Year Writing classes, created using Grant Wiggins and Jay…

As the use of the Ohio State University Libraries interlibrary services has increased, there have been more requests to borrow items that are already available to patrons locally, often in electronic format. Patterns relating to why patrons could not find locally available materials were identified in the record of canceled interlibrary requests…

Federated search products are becoming more and more prevalent in academic libraries. What are the implications of this phenomenon for instruction librarians? An analysis of federated search products using the "Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education" and a thorough review of the literature offer insight concerning whether…

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…

Discusses the role of consortia in academic libraries, specifically the Illinois Digital Academic Library (IDAL), and describes a study conducted by the IDAL that investigated issues surrounding full text database research including stability of content, vendor communication, embargo periods, publisher concerns, quality of content, linking and…

Describes a study at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln that compared searches in two different keyword indexes with similar content where search results were dependent on search strategy quality, search engine execution, and content. Results showed search engine execution had an impact on the number of matches and that users ignored search help…

Librarians use subject guides to introduce students to library materials. Surveys, usability tests, and usage statistics demonstrate that students do not relate well to subject guides. We suggest that library resources organized or delivered at a course level are more in line with how undergraduate students approach library research. (Contains 26…