Page 69 - DLIS102_LIBRARY_AND_ITS_USERS

Library and its Users

Notes information seeking that is broadly applicable, comprehensive, and time saving. In addition to teaching
students how to find information, librarians now recognize the importance of teaching critical thinking
skills to enable students to evaluate and select the best information for their needs.

Impact

What has the impact of library instruction been as measured in evaluation studies? There are two
purposes for evaluation. One is to measure the effectiveness of instruction for guidance in how to
improve the program (formative evaluation). The other is to measure the effect of library instruction
on the students and their performance (summative evaluation). Most evaluation of library user
education has been formative. Librarians have tended not to focus on evaluation studies that would
demonstrate the impact of library instruction on student learning or attitude. Most evaluation studies
done in the 1970s appear to fall into one of three methods: opinion surveys, knowledge testing, and
library use observation.
The CLR/NEH program required close work with the faculty. Funded for three to five years, the
total cost was more than $2.3 million. However, a study done in the late 1970s revealed that most of
the programs no longer existed. The most common reasons for failure were staff turnover, lack of
commitment from the library and institutional administrations, poor co-operation from the faculty,
lack of adequate planning with faculty input, and insufficient evaluation studies. Involvement of
the faculty depended on stipends which ceased when the grant ended. Staff energies and staff
turnover affected programs. Other factors were lack of funding and failure by librarians to plan,
prepare, implement, and evaluate carefully their instruction programs. Gwinn (1980) concluded,
however, that programs were having a positive effect on education even though progress was slow.
Miller (1978), in his study of programs of thirteen libraries, observed that alternatives to formal
library instruction programs were point-of-use devices, expanded reference service, and written
guides which, in his opinion, were the best alternatives if they were used. Another issue is where
does the responsibility lie for developing and maintaining the user education program? Breivik
(1982) believes that a growing program needs a single person with a defined role to provide leadership
and handle the day-to-day issues. Carlson and Miller (1984) noted such problems as cost, faculty
dependency, the challenges of teaching, and the difficulty of evaluation. Other complications they
identified were the difficulty of achieving a balanced program and the inability of students to transfer
library knowledge from one course to another.
“Information literacy will be essential for the growing cadre of knowledge workers in the 21st
century” (Green and Gilberth, 1995, p. 23). Information literacy, which is now the avowed objective
of most library user education programs, is an expansion of instruction as to objectives, materials,
and methods. It has evolved in the way that instruction evolved from library orientation into
bibliographic instruction. The Think Tank II report on bibliographic instruction defined “information
literacy” as encompassing the entire world of information and seeking to prepare people to pursue
the concept of lifelong learning. Information literacy extends its objectives to teaching information-
seeking skills to all ages and at all times. It prepares people to use information effectively in any
situation. There are no boundaries for information anywhere in any format. Information literacy
may be defined as the ability to access and evaluate information effectively for problem solving and
decision making. Information literate people know how to be lifelong learners in an information
society (Rader and Coons, 1992, p. 113).
To achieve these goals, librarians and faculty will have to work closely together in developing
teaching strategies using the latest technologies. One example of the integration of information
literacy into the academic curriculum is found at Cleveland State University, where the curriculum
has been rewritten to include an information literacy component. Librarians work with the faculty
to include information literacy modules in courses. The library is implementing a comprehensive
information literacy program that will include the teaching of critical thinking skills and evaluation
of the program itself (Rader, 1990).

64 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY