Systematic reviews and other forms of knowledge synthesis are increasingly common in the social sciences, including in business and management research. We surveyed academic business librarians to determine the extent of their involvement, in any capacity, in knowledge syntheses. Of 71 eligible responses, 30 percent were involved in supporting…

Higher education institutions strive to turn out graduates that are well-rounded, engaged, and civic-minded individuals no matter their discipline or major. The authors believe that more can be done to ensure that this goal is attained. To address this issue, two librarians designed a learner-centered course that embraced the uncertainty found in…

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) poses challenges as well as opportunities for anyone or anything dealing with digital technologies, including libraries. Libraries and librarians have a twofold challenge in that they simultaneously must consider AI applications in library operations as well as AI skills and knowledge as part of…

Librarians struggle with using the Framework for Information Literacy (ACRL, 2015) to guide information literacy instruction (Downey, 2016; Hess, 2015; Stevens & Tieman, 2017). Infusing theoretical concepts is difficult in an applied discipline like information literacy and library science (Chang & Chen, 2015; Downey, 2016; Hess, 2015;…

To address the growing problem of misinformation, librarians often focus on approaches tied to the frame "Authority Is Constructed and Contextual" from the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. The Framework, however, encompasses a much wider range of skills,…

In a politically and digitally polarized environment, identifying and evaluating fake news is more difficult than ever before. Librarians who have been teaching information and media literacy skills for decades understand the role we can and must play in this environment.

Information literacy studies have shown that college students use a variety of information sources to perform research and commonly choose Internet sources over traditional library sources. Studies have also shown that students do not appear to understand the information quality issues concerning Internet information sources and may lack the…

Boolean logic can be a difficult concept for first-year, introductory students to grasp. This paper compares the results of Boolean and natural language searching across several databases with searches created from student research questions. Performance differences between databases varied. Overall, natural search language is at least as good as…

This article examines the association among inquiry, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and school librarians. It explains the significance of asking questions, and describes the characteristics of the questions that are central to inquiry learning. The role of school librarians in inquiry learning and the implementation of CCSS is also…

We test whether and how well the presence of an embedded librarian improves the quality of student research. Students in introductory-level courses tend to have very low levels of research skills and experience. Though faculty are frustrated by this lack of skills, both students and faculty tend to have only a peripheral knowledge of the role…

The authors of this paper investigated the level of information communication technology-related (ICT) information literacy (IL) skills of librarians in Nigerian Colleges of Education (COE) in order to discover the challenges they face in acquiring these skills. A descriptive survey method was adopted using a questionnaire. Study participants…

Librarians seek opportunities to improve outreach to faculty and promote shared interests in information literacy. A comprehensive review of syllabi for all undergraduate courses offered during one academic term examined course-level learning outcomes and graded assignments to see how well they aligned with the five Association of College and…

It is always a pleasure to stumble upon a discussion about library topics as they become mainstream issues. Some of the satisfaction is simply validation, knowing that the work librarians are doing has implications that extend beyond the library's four walls. But usually the author is excited that the rest of the world finally "gets it." Last…

This paper reports on a professional development initiative that targeted teams of teachers and librarians working with high school students on strengthening an inquiry approach to capstone projects. While much has been written about student-focused models for information search and use, little has been reported on how training for the…

Graduating preservice teachers were surveyed regarding their knowledge of information literacy concepts, the pedagogy of information literacy, and the role of the teacher librarian and school library programs. The preservice teachers felt poorly prepared to teach information literacy to pupils, had a limited array of information skills, and held a…