Client-Based Projects and the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education

The library literature contains many discussions on problem-based learning as a means of engaging students in instruction and promoting information literacy. A related but relatively unexplored opportunity is available through client-based projects. Using examples from the business education literature, library literature, and the author's experience, the author attempts to connect the consulting processes of client-based projects to information literacy competencies, specifically, the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. The correspondence in the steps reveals exceptional opportunities for librarians to simultaneously apply what they already know, stretch their own boundaries, and promote information literacy in highly-motivated students.     

Maternal Self-Efficacy: Illusory Control and Its Effect on Susceptibility to Learned Helplessness

66 mothers of 5-month-old infants participated in 2 simulated child-care tasks to examine differences in response to the performance demands of child care. Mothers first participated in a task in which they estimated their perception of control over stopping an audiotaped infant cry (illusion of control). 1 week later, they participated in another task to assess their ability to learn effective responses in stopping the cry (susceptibility to learned helplessness). Mothers with a high illusion of control differed from mothers with low or moderate illusory control by showing increased susceptibility to helplessness. Physiologically, mothers with low and moderate illusory control showed attenuated and "attentive" heart-rate responses to the impending cry, respectively. Mothers with high illusory control were "inattentive", with mothers of difficult infants in that group responding "defensively". Our data suggest that high illusion of control may be a maladaptive response to the performance demands of child care.