Librarianship is one of a limited number of disciplines that deliberately learn and practice the art of the interview. For engineering librarians, this gives expertise and a role in teaching professional skills that are increasingly expected in the engineering profession. The reference interview and design interview have many similarities. Some…

As part of the University of Rhode Island Libraries' "Comprehensive Plan for Information Literacy," a three-credit class in the skills and concepts of information literacy was first offered in the fall of 1999. More than 1,000 undergraduate students have taken the class since that time. A pre-test was given at the beginning of each semester,…

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…

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?…

This paper criticizes the checklist model approach (authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, coverage) to teaching undergraduates how to evaluate Web sites. The checklist model rests on faulty assumptions about the nature of information available through the Web, mistaken beliefs about student evaluation skills, and an exaggerated sense of…

Results of a preliminary experiment indicate that online computer-assisted instruction covering objective information is equal to or superior to traditional methods of training new student library workers. While it costs essentially the same, it frees staff members for other duties. (Author/RAA)

Presents comments by faculty members asked to introduce new colleagues to how they and their students use library services and materials. Three approaches to the incorporation of bibliographic instruction into science courses are outlined: a research paper importance and citation rate exercise; a library resource location exercise; and the library…

Experience at the reference desk motivated this librarian to redesign a library skills course to meet the basic and practical needs of undergraduates. Activity-based rather than conceptual, this "crash library survival course" resulted in increased student success and enthusiasm. (EA)

Difficult to teach and learn, information literacy is a set of skills and knowledge that must be mastered through practice. Advances in the learning sciences reveal that students are not receptacles for wisdom deposits. They decide what they will learn. Problem-based learning exploits that insight. It calls for faculty/librarian collaborations.…

The effectiveness of an experientially designed library instruction presentation was compared to a lecture format by assessing the library skills and attitudes toward libraries and librarians of 50 freshman and sophomore students enrolled in educational psychology and human development courses before and after instruction. One group of…

Describes a pilot in which bibliographic instruction sessions were conducted entirely in French for students majoring in French, as a means of enhancing their skills and demonstrating an application of the language to other fields. The results of tests of instructional effectiveness are discussed and recommendations for designing such programs are…

The Bibliographic Instruction Committee of the Wichita State (Kansas) University Libraries recommended changes to improve the current bibliographic instruction program for lower division undergraduates. The shortcomings of the current program, one class period in a required English course, were analyzed; and suggestions were made to improve the…

Faculty often overestimate the scholarly communication experiences, critical-thinking abilities, and information-seeking skills of the undergraduates to whom they assign papers. A stratified methodology is suggested for teaching information retrieval skills in the classroom. A strong curriculum-integrated approach could ease the burden on students…