Page 74 - DLIS102_LIBRARY_AND_ITS_USERS

Unit 11: User Education

Literature Review Notes

An evaluation of user education literature reveals the importance of user education in academic
libraries. It is believed that improving users’ knowledge of their libraries’ collection and services
could be a motivating factor for more usage and more demands on the library.
Mews argues that training in the use of information should be part of all students’ education. There
is need for instruction in the use of libraries and information services. He sees user education as a
continuous process which should cover use of the catalogue, abstracts, bibliographies and reference
books. At the post-graduate level detailed instruction in methods of searching and formulation of
clear requests, is necessary.
Foss (1994) corroborates this by arguing that user education should be organized at different
information levels to ensure that needs of all users are met. Foss outlines these different levels
within the Fourah Bay College’s (Sierra Leone) user education programme. The first stage provides
a general introduction to the library. The next stage is concerned with more subject and bibliographic
material. The third stage of instruction would cater for the needs of advanced and research students.
While Foss (1994) basis his levels of user education on information levels, the China Ministry of
Education (1995) recommended three levels of user education based on the users educational
background. The first level is library orientation for freshmen; the second courses of bibliographic
instruction for juniors and seniors; and the third is more sophisticated user education involving the
sorting and summarizing of documentation and the studying and analyzing of information for all
graduate students.
Ford (1994) notes that in South Africa, Australia and the Netherlands issues related to information
access and use have become an increasing concern and, therefore concepts of user education and
information literacy are being incorporated in their school and higher education curriculum. She
further points out that the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
recognizes the importance of the development of information seeking skills to all members of society.
The above views indicate that user education is a continuous process which has to be performed for
all user groups. To ensure that users are equipped with efficient methods of accessing, evaluating
information from a variety of sources and synthesizing the information into a coherent whole, training
can be organized around level of difficulty of information and or users educational background.
The goal of user education should be to improve the quality of users research output and ensure
lifelong learning.

Purpose of Study

The purpose of this study is to examine how academic libraries are responding to the challenge of
teaching students information seeking skills in this rapidly changing information environment.
The following aspects of user education are examined:
1. User education planning Policies and objectives.
2. Organization and implementation of user education.
1. Co-ordination.
2. Library orientation and bibliographic instruction. Library orientation refers to the basic
introduction to the library services given to new students. This includes library tours,
library guides on the layout of the library and library registration. Bibliographic instruction
includes introduction to the use of catalogues and instruction given on the use of abstracts,
indexes, bibliographies and reference books, regardless of whether they are in print or
electronic form.

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