Becoming an Andragogical Librarian: Using Library Instruction as a Tool to Combat Library Anxiety and Empower Adult Learners

Andragogy refers to theory specific to teaching adults, as opposed to pedagogy, which refers to the teaching methodologies used to instruct children. Popularized by adult educator Malcolm Knowles, andragogy relies on 5 basic tenants: adult learners are self-directed, they possess life experience that informs their learning, they possess a desire to actively participate in the learning process, their learning needs to be relevant to their lives, and they are highly motivated to learn. A review of the literature in library science (specifically library instruction) and adult education aims to arm librarians with a working knowledge of andragogy. This is an especially important undertaking as adult learners are becoming a much larger student demographic at colleges and universities around the world, and the specific needs, characteristics, and anxieties of adult learners are often overlooked. Instruction librarians’ most valuable tool for working with adult learners is bibliographic instruction. Effectively designed sessions can alleviate the library anxiety of adult learners and empower them to become better students.     

Flipping the Classroom in Freshman English Library Instruction: A Comparison Study of a Flipped Class Versus a Traditional Lecture Method

A problem that Instruction Librarians often grapple with is the lack of time that is necessary to deliver, and assess, proper library instruction to students so the students grasp the Information Literacy concepts that are delivered especially in one or two instruction sessions. This article examines using the flipped classroom model in English library instruction classes where the works cited page of students final paper was assessed according to a rubric designed to assess the Authority, Timeliness, and Variety of the sources cited. The study compared results of flipped classroom sections against traditional lecture method classes with mixed results.     

Using the Flipped Classroom Model in Your Library Instruction Course

In the flipped classroom model, the pedagogical paradigm is reversed and the students learn the class lesson at home and do homework in class. Although much of the focus of the flipped model has been on the secondary education level, this model could be a viable way to teach library instruction sessions to college-level students as well as a way to preserve scarce class time. This article examines a project that was done at LIU Post, where an instructor of the Library Competency Workshop course flipped the classroom and compared test results to sections where the class was run in a traditional lecture classroom model as well as the experiences on how the instructor flipped the classroom.     

Using iPads to Facilitate Library Instruction Sessions in a SCALE-UP Classroom

This study details a trial in which three undergraduate library instruction sessions were conducted on a class set of iPads in a SCALE-UP classroom. The iPads suggested strong potential as replacements for desktop computers and demonstrated support for key active learning approaches: instant polling, content sharing, and navigation of Webpages and databases. The SCALE-UP classroom has made notable contributions in promoting undergraduate learning, and its advantages were found to be applicable to library instruction. The pedagogy that the space is designed to reinforce, collaborative learning segments interspersed with lecture components, seemed to promote student engagement in library instruction sessions.     

高职院校图书馆在线信息素质教育的调查与分析——以100所示范性高职院校为例

文章通过对国内100所示范性高职院校图书馆的OILI进行网络调查,分析了高职图书馆OILI开展的现状,指出了目前高职图书馆OILI中存在的各种问题,并提出了相应的建议。     

Tailoring Library Instruction for Non-Science Majors Taking Hybrid and Online Science Classes: Student Perceptions of Information Literacy in the Virtual Environment

An instruction librarian and a biology professor at a small, urban commuter college campus worked together to provide research instruction to non-science majors in selected hybrid and online biological sciences classes. They collaboratively designed in-class and online learning tools, as well as homework assignments aimed at developing non-science majors’ information literacy skills. Through an array of innovative technologies and pedagogical models (including online screencasts, Twitter conversations, and embedded librarianship), they sought to engage non-science majors in the scientific discourse and to encourage them to access and assess reputable online science materials. This study explores the efficacy of their pedagogical partnership.     

Learning to Love Your Discovery Tool: Strategies for Integrating a Discovery Tool in Face-To-Face,Synchronous, and Asynchronous Instruction

Some librarians embrace discovery tools while others refuse to use them. This lack of consensus can have consequences for student learning when there is inconsistent use, especially in large-scale instruction programs. The authors surveyed academic librarians whose institutions have a discovery tool and who teach information literacy classes in order to identify barriers to using them and to develop strategies to effectively integrate them into instruction. The authors used the survey results and recent studies on the research habits of undergraduates to propose strategies for integrating the discovery tool at the programmatic level in a more meaningful and sustainable way.     

A Purposeful Collaboration: Using a Library Course Enhancement Grant Program to Enrich ESL Instruction

Developing a meaningful collaboration with teaching faculty to enhance courses can be a challenge for information professionals as they struggle to move away from the one-shot classroom lecture model. The Association of College & Research Libraries encourages the use of mini grants for this purpose. These incentives can jump-start partnerships in a needed area, such as English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction. The article describes The Ohio State University Libraries Course Enhancement Grant Program and its positive impact on a subject librarian and ESL instructor teaching collaboratively in a composition course, with an analysis of students’ assessment of course objectives and outcomes.     

Combined Use of Online Tutorials and Hands-On Group Exercises in Bibliographic Instruction for Pharmacy Students

This study describes the new blended learning methodology implemented in a Drug Literature Evaluation course for pharmacy students that involves combined use of online tutorials and in-class group exercises. Assignment grades earned by 909 students enrolled in the course before and after the new methods were implemented (2008–2010) were studied to measure student performance. Course evaluations were analyzed in order to ascertain students’ perceptions. The hybrid approach used to deliver the course content allowed students to perform at the same level as traditional didactic teaching. Students’ evaluations reported a positive educational experience and favorable perceptions of the new course design.     

Fostering Student Engagement and Collaboration with the Library: Student Creation of LibGuides as a Research Assignment

This article describes a project using a student-created LibGuide in conjunction with a literature review assignment for a research course. This collaborative project between a librarian and a professor of International Education was designed and implemented as an avenue for teaching information literacy and to encourage use of library resources. The methodology for the assignment is presented, and the results of the project are discussed in terms of the final products and student reviews. Implications for the use of student-created LibGuides in academic institutions and future directions for this project are presented.     

Evolution of a Culture of Assessment: Developing a Mixed-Methods Approach for Evaluating Library Instruction

Assessment has become more of a priority for libraries across the country in the last decade. Using the instruction program as a case study, the authors detail the history of assessment development during the past ten years at Mercer University. Along with the university's culture of assessment, institutional-, library-, and program-level assessment are discussed, including how information is communicated across these levels. The authors also share an evolving multifaceted assessment plan for a traditional library instruction program, including methods such as attitude surveys, peer observation, and authentic assessment. In addition to past assessment, future directions are considered.     

The Implementation of an Independent and Self-Paced Online Library Orientation for Freshman Students and the Use of Sakai as a Quiz Management System (QMS)

The Brooklyn College Library's Reference Unit developed the Library's Online Orientation Program (LOOP) to provide freshman students with an entirely online, independent, flexible, and self-paced introduction to the library's resources and services. The implementation of the LOOP gave the reference librarians much-needed time to focus their teaching on classes that require research. The LOOP includes an assessment component that was created and is managed using Sakai. Sakai was found to be effective in creating and managing the assessment, with minimal ongoing maintenance required. Reference librarians with serious time constraints can look to this model as an alternative to in-person library orientation sessions. Since very little has been written about the use of Sakai as a means of creating and managing online assessment, its benefits and drawbacks are outlined.     

Combining History of Medicine and Library Instruction: An Innovative Approach to Teaching Database Searching to Medical Students

Library faculty members at the Health Sciences Library at the LSU Health Shreveport campus offer a database searching class for third-year medical students during their surgery rotation. For a number of years, students completed “ten-minute clinical challenges,” but the instructors decided to replace the clinical challenges with innovative exercises using The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus to emphasize concepts learned. The Surgical Papyrus is an online resource that is part of the National Library of Medicine's “Turning the Pages” digital initiative. In addition, vintage surgical instruments and historic books are displayed in the classroom to enhance the learning experience.     

The Evolution of Internet Training in a Corporate Library

Summary

In the last six years, training corporate employees how to use the Internet for business purposes has changed dramatically. The emphasis has shifted primarily to the World Wide Web, and more on how to use it most effectively, rather than on just the basics of how to use it from square one. This article describes how Internet training sessions given by librarians at the National Broadcasting Company have evolved since 1995, and details the lessons of today, while looking toward the ones of tomorrow.     

行动研究：图书情报工作研究的新范式

针对目前图书情报工作研究中理论与实践脱节、理论研究者与实际工作者相分离的状况,有必要引入行动研究这种新的研究方法。图书情报工作行动研究,可以激发图书情报从业人员的主体性与创新精神,促进理论研究与实际工作的结合,改进图书情报工作的实际效果,优化服务职能,是现代图书情报从业人员职业发展的重要方式。     

深化体育院校教学改革与图书馆信息服务工作的发展对策——以广州体育学院为例

论述了2002年教育部教学改革与效果的评估与指标分析、2003年教育部关于图书馆信息服务的评估指标分析及体育院校教学改革的特点与内容，探讨广州体院教学改革与图书馆信息服务现状以反深化体育院校教学改革与图书馆信息服务工作的发展对策。     

“混合型图书馆”:新世纪图书馆的现实运行模式

混合型图书馆是传统图书馆向数字图书馆过渡的现实运行形态。运用混合型图书馆所强调的系统整合的理念和思想方法,对多样化的信息资源和用户界面进行有机集成,构架图书馆业务机构和人才队伍的新模式,有助于克服数字化信息资源与纸质型文献资源建设、管理与服务中彼此分割的弊病,提高图书馆的整体运行效率。     

We Won't Be Fooled Again: Teaching Critical Thinking via Evaluation of Hoax and Historical Revisionist Websites in a Library Credit Course

ABSTRACT

At Central Michigan University, librarians teach multiple sections of an eight-week, one-credit research skills class to hundreds of undergraduate students each semester. While the main focus of the course is to teach students how to find, use, and properly cite library resources, librarians also address critical thinking skills by designing lessons to teach World Wide Web organization and how to analyze the information found via search engines. Showing student's obvious hoax sites about “tree octopi” and “male pregnancy” introduces the concepts of critical thinking and Website analysis. Most students quickly refute the information on such sites. However, students have a more difficult time assessing social, historical, or political revisionist Web sites' validity. Contrasting those claims with evidence accepted by international courts, historians, and scientists is useful in pointing out the flaws of seemingly well documented but one-sided revisionist sites. There are dangers in exposing students to these groups via their Websites. Yet, it is important to do so in order to convey the importance of critical analysis of information. The authors discuss students' pre- and post-test (CMU's online assessment tool, the “research readiness self-assessment” [RRSA]) scores to determine whether critical thinking skills have improved.     

Just Enough of a Good Thing: Indications of Long-Term Efficacy in One-Shot Library Instruction

Website attributions were measured as one way of evaluating the efficacy of the “one-shot” library session. Survey results indicated support for single session information literacy instruction in that participants exposed to a librarian classroom visit reported that they would be significantly more likely to have used library databases, checked out a book, asked a librarian for help, and to predict that they would ask a librarian for help at a later time. Results also indicated that students who reported a classroom librarian visit may have engaged in more systematic or complex processing to evaluate websites in that they considered more attributes and took less time to make better judgments about the quality of sources.     

政府信息公开服务：公共图书馆信息服务的新领域

从探讨政府信息公开与公共图书馆服务二者关系出发,指出了目前公共图书馆尚未参与政府信息公开服务的原因。认为公共图书馆的性质及其公共服务职能。决定了公共图书馆是开展政府信息公开服务的最有利场所。提出了公共图书馆参与政府信息公开服务应采取的策略。