Information Literacy and Library Science

Kasi Nelson
University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida

KEYWORDS information literacy, library sciences, student research strategies, embedded librarians, student attitudes towards research Information literacy is a set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information. It is an important tool in regard to student research methods. Library Science involves the inclusion of interdisciplinary studies as a valuable tool for research. Information literacy training at a young age to students is an idea shared by nearly every researcher involved in library science. However, there are many students whose methods of research are incorrect and inefficient. This article explores why students are so under prepared in higher education for conducting research, what they are being taught in high school and how it translates into their upper level classes, publicizing the efforts to meet student needs in a virtual environment.

INTRODUCTION Information literacy is a set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information. This is an important tool in regard to student research methods. Library Science involves the inclusion of interdisciplinary studies as a valuable tool for research. There is a gap that needs to be filled, on the topic of information science and literacy and in that regard the effect that education and training have on students researching skills. My research will publicize the efforts desired to meet student needs in a virtual environment. This article will also discuss why students are so under prepared in higher education for conducting research, what they are being taught in high school and how it translates into their upper level coursework. The general conversation within these sources is that while there is an overwhelming dependence among undergraduate students on popular search engines such as Google.com for gathering research information (Advik; Finch; Bush), it is vital to educate them on information literacy (McCaslin; Moran). More specifically, the focus is on the relevancy of the library system to students in the new age of technology as they conduct research. Many of these authors agree that information literacy is important in context of the library system, however, it is not prevalent in curriculum, and therefore librarians must strive with professors and faculty to bring in information literacy to the frontlines and away from the margin (OBrien; Roberts). For the purpose of my research, my concentrations for finding resources began with information science as well as student research, in order to focus closely on the way libraries influence a students choice method for research. I soon expanded my search to include library effectiveness, and found information to be more widely available in regard

to information science education. LITERATURE REVIEW Providing information literacy training at a young age to students is an idea shared by almost every researcher involved in library science. Having information literacy is vital as students demonstrate the ability to form a research question and use information legally and ethically. Many of these authors agree that information literacy is important in the context of the library system. However, there are so many students whose methods of research are considered incorrect and inefficient by university level standard. P.J. Fortuin, author of "Educating Students to Cross Boundaries between Disciplines and Cultures and between Theory and Practice" describes and defends the innovative approach of forcing students to cross the boundary of topical and disciplinary for more creative and informative research. This is in conversation of why students should be educated on the information science resources available to them, in order to produce more quality and educated work. Therefore librarians must strive with professors and faculty to bring in information literacy to the frontlines of curriculum. Students are entering college unprepared with information literacy skills needed for quality work; embedded librarian Kelly Heider joins other researchers in that agreement. Her argument is an in depth study of how a successful librarian at universities can ease this transition for the students. The point being made is that "students are entering college without the information literacy skills they need to produce quality work, and faculty are frustrated because students use Google as their source for scholarly research" (Heider,114). In addition, there is a focus on the way information literacy education is presented, "too often, information literacy instruction is presented as a set of procedures for

locating a hypothetical resource in the library" (Heider,116). Another argument is that it is the role of the librarian to provide the resources to understand information literacy. Intervention with information literacy instruction focusing on appropriate reference and scholarly resources would improve students level of information literacy skills (Appleton,212). Many other authors argue this same case, that widely educated librarians will have a better effect in aiding research (Dewey; Heider). As a step towards advancement of information literacy, many higher education institutions now employ information literacy strategies in order to ensure that progress and developments are made in this field, especially in the delivery of such skills to students (Appleton,192) Library Science is an interdisciplinary field that applies the practice of information technology, education, and other areas to libraries that hold information resources. Library Science involves the inclusion of interdisciplinary studies as a valuable tool for research. Information literacy librarians have become more mainstream as libraries seek to emphasize having the best research strategies and practices in finding resources. Specifically, Library and Information Science programs are offering more courses on information literacy to meet the increasing demand, known as Access Services (Heider,110-21). The acknowledgement is that this instruction benefits the students who are using that same library for research (McCaslin,486). One study (Finch) measures the use of the virtual libraries by different parties and as a result suggests that more tutorials should be given for self-sufficient customers. Students use the library to do research, but with the advancement of technology, the function of libraries has changed. No longer are books the primary source for information

because libraries increasingly incorporate technology such as internet data and media outlets; this has led to the convergence of many areas within information science. These resources provide greater access to knowledge electronically, which has drastically changed users interaction with the library system. Because library and information science is an interdisciplinary study, there is a "close relationship with the fields of education, computer science, health and medicine, among others" (Prebor 257). Research was conducted at a university in Canada on the research strategies and information behaviors among students. This was done because there is a current argument that the authors found that claims students are "lazy" or simply do not care about the task at hand. The research observes the habits of undergraduate students while conducting research and brought to light the opinions on students from the opposite side of information science by quoting those who declare students lazy and uncaring, and provides information that may state otherwise and understands how the mind of students work while conducting research (OBrien). The role as a librarian is vital to many students who need help discovering information and becoming information literate. Since students and researchers do rely so heavily on educated and scholarly articles for sources, it is a librarians role to be of assistance in the field of information science. More specifically, the author expresses the need for librarians to become "embedded" and to have unlimited knowledge in interdisciplinary fields, which will benefit that many types of research that people rely on her aid in (Dewey). This goes along with many conversations about the role of librarians and the need for sufficient help to keep a successful information science field relevant.

METHODOLOGY For the purpose of my research, my concentrations for finding resources began with information science as well as student research, in order to focus closely on the way libraries influence a students choice method for research. I soon expanded my search to include library effectiveness, and found information to be more widely available in regard to information science education. My focus is on the relevancy of the library system to students in the new age of technology as they conduct research, and why students are so under prepared in higher education for conducting research, what they are being taught in high school and how it translates into their upper level classes. I conducted a survey with 30 random students to find out how much they are really being taught in high school, and whether they believe it is affecting them as they continue their education. I created a survey and allowed students to access it online. I designed all of the questions to specifically attain information on their current information literacy skills, based on the answers they gave. In the consent form, I included this excerpt: Information literacy is a set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information. It is an important tool in regard to student research methods. Providing information literacy training at a young age to students is an idea shared by many researchers involved in library science. The goal of this research is to gather information on students knowledge of library services, information technology, and information literacy. Your participation in this survey will be helpful in gathering data in these areas. Please note that your participation in this study is completely voluntary. If you decide not to participate, there will be no negative consequences. If you do participate, you may choose to stop at any time or you may decide to not answer any specific question. Your answers are entirely confidential and no personal information will be asked of you. If you have any questions you may contact me: Kasi Nelson kasin@knights.ucf.edu The students who took this survey were within five years of high school, meaning this survey targeted kids specifically in the age of prevalent technology. It was important to

me to make sure I surveyed students not only still in high school, to acknowledge the current situation of what they are being taught about information literacy and research methods, but also students who are now struggling in ENC 1102 and equivalent courses because they were not properly educated at a younger age. I did not want to include research on adults because I believe that the focus needs to specially address students in the current age. These students are in the era of technology, and are being trained at earlier and younger ages how to use computers, learning from smart boards, therefore information literacy and technology should be just as important. RESULTS The first question I asked was just to get the idea of the types of students that would be participating in the survey. The results show a variety of ages, but the majority had taken English Composition 2.

Chart #1 I found it useful to ask the students what their primary source for research, regardless of age and level of education. I wanted to find out whether students were aware

of the sources available. As expected, more students used search engines such as Google or online articles combined than journal and scholarly articles. This information suggests that student research skills are not as educated as desired.

Chart #2 The next question I asked was In high school English courses, were you ever taken by your teacher to the library and introduced to the online databases? This was the first question asked to test information literacy, starting in high school. The results say that 48% were taken to the library, but more than that, 52% were not introduced in high school to the databases.

Chart #3 I found this relatable to my research question because it showed that students were not getting the exposure and education of information literacy needed at the early age to be

successful in higher education. Next, I wanted to find out whether students felt prepared for college based on a quoted opinion from researcher Kelly Heider. The results proved what I expected, that Students are entering college unprepared with information literacy skills needed for quality work.

Chart #4

Finally, I asked the students to rate themselves based on what they thought their professor would give them. The results show that none thought themselves thoroughly skilled in information literacy. For the most part, on a scale of very limited to very strong, the ratings stayed within average. An increase in information literacy among these students would raise all aspects of the areas. I chose these specific areas of research because they are the most impacted fields of a research project.

Chart #5 DISCUSSION Based on the research and survey I conducted, the conclusion I have drawn is that the transition can be eased for students if there was a better education system for information literacy. Since nearly half of the students surveyed claimed they would not or did not enter higher level education with the knowledge needed to be successful, as shown in chart 4, the evidence shows that there needs to be a better implemented program for educating these students while at a young age. Students are being taught in high school that Google and online articles are sufficient sources of information (see chart 2). This article explored why students are so under prepared in higher education for conducting research. The reason is because educators in the secondary level are not properly preparing students to conduct research. They allow these students to use sources of information that are not scholarly, and many do not even introduce them to databases for the journal articles and published research. This leads to the students not being information literate, and the students assume that Google and Wikipedia are acceptable to use for sources. This under prepares them for higher education, which is unfair for educators to allow to happen.

Additionally, the role of a librarian is vital to many students who need scholarly information. Since students and researchers do rely so heavily on this information for research, it is a librarians role to be of assistance in the field of information science. What students are being taught in high school and in introductory classes will set the tone for the remainder of the students path of education and at a young age, they deserve to be taught the proper way to conduct research. Teachers need to provide that information literacy by taking these students to the library, and showing them how to use a library database and find scholarly information. Using this information will increase the knowledge of how research benefits from other research material and properly training them will also increase the use of source material and correctly filling the gap in a conversation David McCaslin is Head of Access Services at Social Science and Seeley G. Mudd Libraries at Yale

University. He proposes in his article, "Access Services Education in Library and Information Science Programs" a course that centers its teachings on Access Services in Library Science programs. His argument, tying into my research, is that there needs to be more courses on instruction and information literacy to meet the growing demand (486). Through this education, it will benefit the students who are then taught by the same librarians. CONCLUSION As students get into their upper level education, after being education on the importance of proper research, they will know how to utilize information literacy and library science, and the transition will be smoother. While there is an overwhelming dependence among undergraduate students on popular search engines such as Google.com for gathering research information (Advik; Finch; Bush), it is vital to educate them on

information literacy (McCaslin; Moran).

REFERENCES Appleton, Leo. "Lollipop for Learning Resources: Information Literacy Staff Training with Further Education." Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 42.3 (2010): 191-98. ERIC. Web. 6 Mar. 2011. Avdic, Anders, and Anders Eklund. Searching Reference Databases: What Students Experience and What Teachers Believe That Students Experience. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 42.4 (2010): 224-35. ERIC. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. Dewey, Barbara. "The Embedded Librarian: Strategic Campus Collaborations." Resource Sharing & Information Networks 17.1-2 (2005): 5-17. ERIC. Web. 16 Mar. 2011 Finch, Jannette. "Measuring Effectiveness in a Virtual Library." Journal of Web Librarianship 4 (2010): 63-78. ERIC. Web. 5 Mar. 2011. Heider, Kelly. "Ten Tips for Implementing a Successful Embedded Librarian Program." Public Services Quarterly 6 (2009): 110-21. ERIC. Web. 5 Mar. 2011. McCaslin, David. "Access Services Education in Library and Information Science Programs." Journal of Access Services 6 (2009): 485-96. ERIC. Web. 4 Mar. 2011. Moran, Anthony. "New Middle Schools for New Futures." Middle School Journal 40.5 (2009): 6-10. ERIC. Web. 5 Mar. 2011. Obrien, H., and S. Symons. "The Information Behaviors and Preferences of Undergraduate Students." Research Strategies 20.4 (2005): 409-23. ERIC. Web. 16 Mar. 2011. Prebor, Gila. Analysis of the Interdisciplinary Nature of Library and Information Science. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 42.4 (2010): 256-67. Sage Publications, 11 Oct. 2010. ERIC. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. Whitehurst, Angela P. "Information Literacy and Global Readiness: Library Involvement Can Make a World of Difference." Behavioral and Social Sciences Librarian 29 (2010): 207-32. ERIC. Web. 5 Mar. 2011.