This article presents the results of an exploratory study asking faculty in the first-year writing program and instruction librarians about their research process focusing on results specifically related to serendipity. Steps to prepare for serendipity are highlighted as well as a model for incorporating serendipity into a first-year writing…

As the school librarian at Aliamanu Elementary School, Patty (Patricia Louis) has focused on assessment with her teachers and students as a means to improve teaching and learning. Over the years, Patty and Vi (Violet Harada) have formed a collegial mentoring relationship, and this article provides a glimpse of what both discovered about building…

Information Literacy (IL) is recognized around the world as an essential skill for the information society. The aim of the paper is to examine the various information literacy practices in university libraries in Africa, to identify the barriers facing IL programmes in Africa, and to provide suggestions on how best to improve IL practices. A…

In this article, I imagine a library that prioritizes teaching users how to find, evaluate, and use information over the traditional library public service activities of collection development, access to materials, and reference services. If I ran the library, all services would support end-user education. (Contains 1 graph and 1 note.)

This article examines the connection between ACRL information literacy standards and constructivist pedagogy. This connection is used to support use of Web 2.0 tools for information literacy instruction. Sample exercises using these tools are provided for each ACRL learning outcome, and the tools' suitability for the constructivist approach is…

The University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder) is known for strong programming in the sciences and a teaching faculty at the forefront of science education and reform. Librarians at CU-Boulder, in collaboration with science faculty, are challenged to improve undergraduate science education. Using rare, historic, and artistic works from Special…

For over thirty years, numerous studies have discussed the contradiction between the growing importance of information literacy instruction to the Library's core mission and lack of pedagogical training for new librarians. This article reviews the more recent contributions on the topic, presents a survey of New York State MLS curricula and…

Dual credit students (those enrolled for both high school and postsecondary curricular credit) benefit from library instruction classes and provide an important opportunity for academic libraries to reach out to local K-12 schools. These classes benefit high school students whose excitement and enthusiasm make them uniquely open to acquiring…

Although mentoring is widely valued and encouraged within librarianship, it has been conceived mostly as a professional relationship that occurs after one has obtained a position. Thus, mentoring among LIS students is not customary--largely because internships and field experiences are not universally required. To address this problem, the…

A librarian and faculty member collaborated on creating a library research module for students in the faculty member's college success classes to help them learn the fundamentals of information literacy. Using the assignment "My Ideal Job," the students met four or more times with the librarian in a computer classroom to learn how to do…

The United States is experiencing a socio-demographic shift in population and education. Latinos are the fastest growing segment of the population on the national level and in higher education. The Latino student population growth rate and Latino college completion rate are not reciprocal. While Latino students are the fastest growing demographic…

This paper reports on a research project that examined the test scores of students who took part in an online information literacy course. Researchers analyzed the pre- and post-test scores of students who received different types of instruction including a traditional one-shot library session and an online course. Results show that students who…

This study examined the perceptions of Connecticut librarians at the secondary and post-secondary education levels regarding Information Literacy (IL) resources and instruction at the two levels; the competencies of their high school seniors and university/college first-year students; their familiarity with their respective institutions' IL…

At the University of South Carolina Upstate, two librarians created a series of workshops to proactively prevent plagiarism. To reach distance education students, online workshops were developed in Blackboard including basic and advanced workshops for lower and upper-level courses. The workshops are intended to introduce students to the concepts…

This paper reports on an empirical study that explores the ways students approach learning to find and use information. Based on interviews with 15 education students in an Australian university, this study uses phenomenography as its methodological and theoretical basis. The study reveals that students use three main strategies for learning…