Intentional Librarian-Student Interactions during COVID-19: A Clear Bridge to Developing First-Year Student Information Literacy Skills

As part of a research study to examine first-year college students' preparation for college-level research, students at six U.S. institutions of higher education were surveyed in the spring semester of 2021. The pandemic continued to affect the delivery of information literacy (IL) instruction...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of Information Literacy Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 144 - 165
Main Authors Dalal, Heather A, Charles, Leslin H, Dempsey, Megan, Berg, Cara, Bushby, Rebecca D, Dalrymple, Joan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published CILIP Information Literacy Group 01.06.2022
Subjects
Academic Libraries
Access to Information
Asynchronous Communication
College Freshmen
Computer Mediated Communication
COVID-19
Distance Education
Electronic Learning
Help Seeking
Information Literacy
Information Seeking
Interaction
Librarians
Library Instruction
Library Materials
Library Services
Pandemics
Skill Development
Synchronous Communication
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Summary:As part of a research study to examine first-year college students' preparation for college-level research, students at six U.S. institutions of higher education were surveyed in the spring semester of 2021. The pandemic continued to affect the delivery of information literacy (IL) instruction and library services across the United States throughout the 2020-2021 academic year. When students completed this survey in April and May of 2021, the majority of instructional services were offered in synchronous and asynchronous remote formats. The students' engagement with librarians and librarian-created instructional resources were captured via the survey and analysed to determine whether students were able to leverage these interactions and materials despite the remote contexts. Students who did not interact with an academic librarian were less likely to use library resources, had more problems accessing information, and felt more overwhelmed by the quantity of resources and services offered by the library. Results show that intentional student-librarian interactions are a bridge to the acquisition and development of knowledge practices and dispositions of the ACRL "Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education." The findings suggest considerations for moving forward when it comes to communicating with students and delivering IL support in academic libraries around the world as countries emerge from pandemic conditions.