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Library Instruction Committee: Barbara Francis The Library Instruction Committee has evaluated the existing library instruction program at the University of Florida during 1992. This evaluation has been structured in three main sections: I. Determination of characteristics of the user community
at UF, and UF’s general education and degree requirements. Assessment
of how present library instruction fits the user community and the educational
requirements. The Committee chose these evaluation strategies based on the literature so that a variety of approaches would be used for a complete evaluation. These approaches are summarized in the ALA publication Evaluating Bibliographic Instruction : a Handbook as follows: (1) objectives-based evaluation, involving assessment of student attainment of pre-established goals; (2) response evaluation, involving description of program processes and outcomes according to values of key people; (3) decision-oriented evaluation or needs-based assessment, involving collection and analysis of information; (4) goal-free evaluation, involving collection and analysis of information related to actual results rather than pre-established objectives; (5) naturalistic evaluation, making use of case study, anthropological and sociological methods to comprehensively describe program processes and results; and (6) professional judgment, involving assessment of programs on the basis of normative and comparative standards. The three strategies used encompass all of these approaches. Each of the three evaluation strategies and results will be described below. The Library Instruction Committee begins its evaluation process by assessing characteristics of faculty, staff, and students at UF, and characteristics of UF’s general education and degree requirements. We used several University publications for facts:
Then to assess how our present library instruction offerings fit the user community and the general education and degree requirements, we examined our listing of present library instruction and interviewed librarians who teach to determine if there is instruction in required courses, what proportion of students in various subject areas are being reached, and whether any programs reach all of any groups of users (e.g. all freshmen). The UF Libraries serve a diverse clientele consisting of approximately 35000 students, 3900 faculty, and staff. See Table I for a summary of faces for students and faculty, Table II for characteristics of the student body, and Table III for characteristics of the faculty. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences serves as the gateway college for entering freshmen and other students, and provides for their general education. The General Education Program allows students to take courses ant the 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000 level, and allows them to complete general education requirements at any time in their undergraduate experience. Students mush take at least 45 credits in general education, spread through Composition, Literature and the Arts, Historical and Philosophical Studies, International Studies and Diversity, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Mathematical Science, and Physical and Biological Sciences. Specific general education course requirements for each college and for professional schools are outlined in the undergraduate catalog. General Education courses are listed with other offerings under each Department in the undergraduate catalog and are designed by a letter code to show which general education requirement they fulfill. During the general education requirements students must follow the so-called Gordon Rule for communication and computation skills training. As part of this, students complete, with grades of C or higher, 12 hours in designated courses involving substantial writing. This requirement can be met by taking at least 12 hours from certain courses in Composition, Literature and the Arts, Historical and Philosophical Studies, International Studies and Diversity, and Social and Behavioral Sciences. Each current Schedule of Courses shows a letter code “E” designating which courses these are. A particular course may satisfy the communications skills requirement one term but not another, depending on who is teaching it and how they want to teach it. The only courses which satisfy the communication requirement every term are ENC 1101 and 1102. CLEP (College Level Examination Program) credit may not be used to satisfy the communication skills requirement. However, transfer students may satisfy the communication requirement with courses they took at the college they transferred from. In addition to communication skills courses, students must complete, with grades of C or higher, 6 credit hours of courses involving computational skills. Three of these hours must be in mathematics, and 3 may be in mathematics, statistics, or computer science, or a few other choices. Each current Schedule of Courses has a letter code “M” designating those courses which satisfy the computation requirement. Three hours of mathematics may be exempt for students having CLEP credit. Each college specifies admission requirements, both for those students who have taken their lower division courses at UF and for those who are transferring from other schools. Undergraduate degrees are conferred on those who meet the requirements of their college and department curriculum , general communication and computation skills requirements, and certain other requirements of residence, attendance, etc. as stated in the Undergraduate Catalog. Required undergraduate courses vary with different colleges and departments. In some instances there are one or two courses required of all majors, and in some instances majors elect courses from a longer list. Some of these required courses are very large because they are also required for other major, e.g. the Physics and Chemistry introductory sequences. Graduate degree requirements vary, but involve independent mastery of a field of knowledge and the successful pursuit of research. Specific requirements are stated in the Graduate Catalog. As with undergraduate majors, some departments have one or two courses which all graduate students are required to take, and some do not. Faculty are involved in teaching, research, and related activities, for which they may use library resources. During 1990-91, there were more than 1800 faculty who were awarded research grants. There is no organized program of library instruction which reaches each student or faculty member. However, some groups are being reached. (1) Beginning in 1992, the Libraries provide information to all freshman students who attend the Preview orientation program before they begin school. (2) Tours, LUIS training, CD-ROM training, and other training sessions, are offered regularly to the university community, but these are not highly attended. (3) Handouts, brochures, posters, point-of-use instructions, and displays are provided at all library locations. (4) Graduate students beginning their thesis or dissertation are targeted for library research sessions in the workshop sponsored by Office of Instructional Resources, but turnout is small. (5) A “welcome” speech and handouts about the library are provided in packets for new faculty. (6) Assistants, and library instruction is given to the new TAs who will be teaching basic English Composition 1101 and 1102. (7) A library newsletter which is sent to all faculty on the main campus highlights library services and collections. A similar newsletter is sent from Health Science Center Library to the Health Science Center community. (8) Special tours and orientations are scheduled upon request for area school and community groups. In addition to the general instruction above, several library units provide instruction as shown below. The AFA Library was the principal library for 2040 undergraduate and graduate majors in 1990-91. About 10-20% of these students receive library tours and introduction to resources instruction. The one area for which more library instruction is provided is Building Construction, in which approximately 25% of undergraduate majors receive library instruction consisting of an orientation/tour, resources of AFA, search strategies and techniques, major indexes, etc. No program reaches all students. The Documents Department in Library West and the Map Library provide library sessions in several academic classes. Education Library was the principal library for 1685 majors in 1990-91, and during that period 148 students were reached with Education Library instruction. Some sections of some required courses receive library instruction on a regular basis, but this is different each year. All pro-teach master’s candidates on secondary education get a library tour and instruction session. Health Science Center Library was the principal library for 3176 students in 1990-91, and during that year the library conducted 138 sessions reaching 1277 people. Of these, 111 sessions were for 988 Health Science Center students, the remainder being for faculty, staff, or non-UF or non-Health Science Center students. The sessions included instruction on LUIS, relevant indexes, and hands-on sessions on MEDLINE or CINAHL for 100% of the incoming medical and nursing students. 100% of the first year dental students received a brief orientation with 80% also having tours and LUIS instruction. 100% of the incoming pharmacy students went on guided tours of the Library. 70% of the veterinary medicine incoming students received tours, and instruction on LUIS and indexes with a demonstration of MEDLINE. 100% of the incoming students in 5 of the 6 departments in health related professions had instruction including demonstrations or hands-on sessions on CINAHL and LUIS, and instruction on relevant indexes. Library West was the principal library for 11,589 majors in humanities and social sciences in 1990-91, and during this time approximately 1180 people were reached with HSSS instruction sessions. Many sections of basic English Composition 1101 and 1102 are provided library orientation and help with library assignments during class sessions. Subject specialists conduct advanced sessions in Journalism, Geography, History, Business, Anthropology, Sociology, Health Education, Political Science, Literature and Languages, and Counseling. The Legal Information Center served as the principal library for approximately 1200 students in 1990-91, and during that year approximately 400 were reached in instructional sessions by librarians. All Law students are required to take two courses (Legal Research and Writing, and Appellate Advocacy) which, although they are taught by special staff rather than librarians, do have a research component for which they make use of the library. Marston Science Library served as principal library for 8270 undergraduate and graduate majors in 1990-91, and during that year 1087 people were reached in MSL instructional sessions. Approximately 1300 science and engineering faculty are served, and during 1990-91 approximately 60 faculty attended a faculty reception or MSL Seminar series presentation. Several subject areas regularly receive an introduction to the library for all new graduate students. There is a Chemistry Literature course, taught by librarians, which is supposed to be required for all incoming Chemistry graduate students who did not take a similar course as an undergraduate, and for all undergraduate Chemistry majors who are getting an American Chemical Society certified degree. Aerospace Engineering majors are reached through orientation and online demonstration in a required junior-level course. Music Library was the principal library for 180 undergraduate and graduate majors in 1990-91, of which about 70, or 39%, were reached through Music Library instruction. In addition, it serves many students taking music appreciation and other music courses for non-majors, and approximately 1200 of these students were given library instruction 1990-91. There is no established means of teaching all majors. (Charts Omitted: The Library Instruction Committee chose four sample objectives
for library instruction. There were selected after consideration of
the ACRL Model Statement and those from several academic libraries.
They are adapted from the Iowa State University Library’s statement
entitled “Educational Objectives: Locating, Interpreting, and
Using Information.” The objectives are as follows: II. Students will understand systems for the organization of information. III. Students will develop the capability to retrieve information from a variety of systems and in various formats. IV. Students will develop the capability to organize and manipulate information in ways that meet their educational, professional, and personal needs. Since there is currently no overall requirement for library instruction for undergraduates at UF, an evaluation of the status quo required a pretest or survey to determine what students presently know. We based this survey instrument on several examples of self-assessment surveys in the literature, and assess questions testing a specific knowledge relating to the four objectives above. The instrument consisted of 16 questions to be administered to undergraduate students; 6 or more questions were added for testing graduate students. The structure and wording of each question and choice in the survey instrument was carefully examined and changes made to ensure that there was no indication of the preferred answer. All questions were multiple choice so that students answered on machine-readable answer sheets which were then machine-tallied by UF’s Office of Instructional Resources. We administered the survey during spring term 1992 to undergraduate students in several sections of general-education English classes which are taken by most students regardless of major. In this way, we obtained a total of 482 surveys completed by undergraduate students. This represents approximately 1.9% of all undergraduate students registered in 1992, with a confidence level of 95% and a reliability interval of + or – 5%. We then administered the survey to graduate students. Since graduate courses are usually more specialized for only one field, in order to survey graduate students in a variety of subject fields we had to use a variety of means. First we surveyed students who came to the Graduate School fee waiver office in Grinter Hall during the first week of fall term 1992. These students represented a variety of graduate levels and a variety of fields of study. Then with the help of the Graduate School, we identified some of the larger graduate-level courses and surveyed students in these courses in a variety of subject areas. In this way, we obtained a total of 293 surveys completed by graduate students registered in 1992, with a confidence level of 95% and a reliability interval of + or – 6%. The survey instruments are in Appendix I. We have added a notation of the percent of those surveyed who chose what we considered the “best” answer or the significant answers for each question. Survey results are also tallied in Appendix I. Results of the survey of undergraduate students reveals lack of knowledge about libraries and the literature in many areas. Although 98% of respondees know to look up a book in a catalog, only 85% know about LUIS specifically. Only 20% identified the correct article index for current information on a specific subject and most students did not even recognize the need to use an article index instead of the UF Libraries catalog. Self-assessment questions showed that although one-forth of the students have used a subject specialized abstract or index once or twice, only 7% use one frequently and 62% have never used one or are not sure. About half knew some facts about CD-ROM databases. Only 28% correctly identified the appropriate way to use keyboard searching on LUIS. Happily, the question asking what to do if a LUIS search retrieves no materials shows a high “correct” response rate for asking for help at the Reference Desk. This must be tempered, though, when we note that 79% responded that they would ask for help, but only 22% indicated that they actually have sought Reference Desk assistance frequently. And disappointing 10% would simply change their topic instead of asking! Only 21% of undergraduate students surveyed gave the self-assessment that they know how to use LUIS “very well”, while 74% know how “sort of” or “not at all”. Of the 482 students surveyed, 19% have had no library instruction of any kind in classes in high school, at UF, or at any other school, and 80% of those surveyed have attended no out-of-class orientation, CD-ROM training, or library class at UF. Some surprising information emerged from the library literacy
survey of graduate students. Although a healthy 89% of respondees knew
that checking LUIS might be the best way to find out whether or not
the library has a particular book in its collection only 33% of graduate
students surveyed gave the self-assessment that they know LUIS “very
well”. A very surprising low rate of 40% of grad-level surveyees
have used a subject-specific index or abstract at least once or twice.
Even worse, 17% of graduate students surveyed have never used this kind
of research tool. Approximately half of students surveyed knew that
indexes are the best way to find information on fairly recent news events,
were familiar with the Oxford English Dictionary, and answered correctly
the question about the advantages of using CD-ROMs. As with undergraduate
students, the The results do seem very decidedly to point to an overwhelming lack of competence in library skills at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. And these results seem to agree with students’ self-assessment as reflected in questions we asked about their use of libraries and information resources. As part of the evaluation component of the Library Instruction Committee’s responsibilities, we decided to utilize a form of qualitative research known as Focus Group Interviewing. After considerable investigation of the available literature, discussion, and planning, questions were composed that would encourage discussion among the group participants along the lines we wished to investigate without leading them to a conclusion. In accordance with guidelines presented in David Stewart’s book, a script was prepared in advance. We anticipated that, after the initial prodding, discussions would flow more freely. We also felt that there was some possibility of discussions getting off the track. Again, using Stewart’s work as a guide, we defined the type of person who would be ideal as a moderator. With James Glenn’s experiences as a radio talk show and jazz show host, it was decided that he should lead the groups when possible, and that other members of the committee would act as recorders, with an audio tape machine as backup. Initial attempts to generate interest among the general University of Florida community were failures, even with advertising spots on WUFT, ads in the Independent Florida Alligator newspaper, and the promise of discount coupons for a local restaurant. Planned sessions at the J. Wayne Reitz Union went completely unattended. We then decided that perhaps a more active form of recruiting would be more fruitful, and cornered unsuspecting graduate students as they emerged from the fee -waiver registration line at Grinter Hall. Two committee members, supported with a displayed sign nearby, invited graduate students to join the groups at a spot just outside the building. Approximately one in three acquiesced. Two groups were interviewed that day; the results appear in Appendix II-2 to this report and are summarized below. Subsequently, we obtained permission to conduct two sessions for undergraduate students during the second hour of a two-hour class. Although this class was in the College of Education, these students represented a variety of majors. Results are in Appendix II-1 and summarized below. In addition to gathering information on the topics addressed by our composed questions, these focus group interviews all enabled students to discuss the University of Florida Libraries operations in a way that they felt had been denied them up to that point. Most participants had grievances or complaints which had no means of expression, and may showed a lack of awareness of what the Libraries had to offer. The members of the committee are certain that other Library groups, committees and task forces, could make good use of Focus Group Interviews to find out about the patron's perception of library operations, policies, and procedures, as well as getting a fair approximation of the degree of success with which the Library accomplishes its mission. In particular Public Services would benefit, we feel sure, from asking questions about how well their job is being done.
-Many students attempt to find information through LUIS, the library or librarians. -Whether or not they have previously heard the term, most students understand the term “information literacy” to mean have an ability to find and use information, and think that it is essential. -Most students have had some kind of library instruction, whether formal or informal, individual or group. -Students report mixed results of instruction; some found it effective, others thought it was ineffective. Students report better results with hands-on instruction and instruction linked to an academic class and assignment than with instruction that is more theoretical. -Students think instruction should be easily available, perhaps through more and better prepared visual materials, e.g. charts, diagrams, or maps, which don’t necessarily require a librarian mediator. -Students think instruction should be implemented through the existing framework, e.g. as a file on LUIS, UFINFO or through some print materials that is already distributed to students. -Students sometimes find physical barriers to information access, such as shelving problems, storage problems, library hours problems. -Students find the smaller branch libraries less intimidating and easier to use effectively. -Students assume that anyone they ask for help in the library is a librarian, and seem unaware that library staff members play a variety of roles in the library and have different responsibilities. The students seemed pleased to have an opportunity to discuss thee library. Although the target of our focus groups was library instruction, students seemed delighted to have the chance to rail about complaints, and occasionally compliment services. It is clear that students need some institutionalized methods of discussing library problems with librarians. The evaluation strategies we have used clearly document the need for more library instruction at the University of Florida. We recommend that a systematic program of instruction be designed for the used community at all levels, and that the instruction be an integral part of academic courses, with extensive use of hands-on instruction. We recommend that the Libraries and academic administration work together to formalize a requirement for information literacy instruction similar to the Gordon Rule. We recommend that the library instruction program be structured
to reach students several times during their education at UF, at increasingly
sophisticated levels: We recommend that the library instruction program be taught mainly by librarians who also do reference work, perhaps substituting teaching for Reference Desk hours for certain periods. At the more advanced levels, subject specialist librarians would teach. In addition, we recommend there be several librarians as instruction coordinators who would coordinate instruction within the library and all over campus, prepare instructional materials and provide support for all instructors. e) I. Surveys of Library Skills: II. Focus Group Interviews:
Your answers will be used to improve Library Instruction and enable the UF Libraries to better serve students. In some cases, there is no “right” answer. Choose what you believe is the best answer for each question. Follow instructions 4-8 on the back of the answer sheet. You do not need to put your name or social security number on the test. Most questions have four answer choices, but some have only three. Be sure to answer in the appropriate column. 1. In order to find out if the UF Libraries own a copy
of the book One Flew Over the a. Look up the book title in the card catalog. 2. Your Sociology professor has assigned a research paper
on “gang violence in U.S. cities”. Where would you look
to find up-to-date articles on this topic? 3. You are trying to find an eye-witness account of the
Challenger Space Shuttle a. Do a subject search on LUIS for books about the space
shuttle program. 4. If you needed to find a definition of the word “feminism”
along with several a. World Book Encyclopedia 5. What is an important difference between searching a
CD-ROM database and a. You can combine terms using Boolean logic (and, or,
not) when searching a CD-ROM 6. You think that the Commission appointed by the President to study issues related to AIDS has issued a report. What Library branch or department would be most likely to have a copy? a. Documents 7. Since you don’t know the exact title or author of the AIDS report in #6, how would you find its call number? a. Do a keyword search on LUIS.
a. the most current information. 9. If a LUIS search retrieves no materials what would you do next? a. Go to another library. AND NOW A FEW QUESTONS ABOUT YOU -- 10. What is your level at UF? a. freshman 11. If you are in Upper Division, in what category would you consider your major? a. sciences or engineering 12. If you have had library instruction in your classes before, where was it? (Mark as many as apply.) a. at UF 13. Have you attended any library class, CD-ROM training, or orientation in the UF Libraries (not a part of your class)? (Mark as many as apply.) a. on how to use LUIS 14. Do you know how to use LUIS? a. very well 15. Have you even used a subject-specific abstract or index when doing research in the library? a. yes, once or twice 16. Have you sought assistance at the Reference Desk in any UF Library? a. yes, once or twice Question 1: 85% or undergrads and 89% of grads answered correctly “b.” Question 2: 20% of undergrads and 20% of grads answered correctly “d.” A notable 73% of grad students answered incorrectly “b.” Question 7: 28% of undergrads and 43% of grads answered correctly “a.” Question 9: 79% of undergrads and 79% of grads answered correctly “b.” Undergrads answering the survey were 46% freshman, almost all second term; 19% were sophomores, 29% junior or seniors, and 1% had transferred to UF that term. Of the undergrads, 19% had had no library instruction at any level, 14% had had library instruction at UF, and 44% had had instruction in high school. 60% of undergrads had sought assistance at a Reference Desk at UF, and 13% never had. (Appendices I-3 and I-4 omitted)
1. How do you get information? 2. What is information literacy? 3. Have you had library instruction? 4. Was the instruction effective? |
