Education for Information Literacy Instruction: A Global Perspective Heidi Julien
Information literacy instruction is a core activity in academic libraries, and an increasingly important focus in public libraries. To explore the degree to which professional librarians are trained for this work, the curricula at ninety-three schools of library and information science around the world were examined using content analysis of the schools' Web pages. A majority of the schools appear to offer no course in information literacy instruction. In existing courses, a range of topics was included: instructional strategies (pedagogy), program planning and implementation, assessing instruction, learning theory, instructional design, basic information literacy concepts, outcomes evaluation, needs assessment, and Web-based instruction strategies. Only one school in the world makes its instructional course core (required) for the training of its graduate librarians. These results reveal inadequate formal preparation for professional librarians doing instructional work. It is hoped that the results may provide some guidance to curriculum development in the area of instruction, by assisting programs to address the core competency of instructional skills in their graduates.
Introduction Information literacy instruction, having emerged in the 1990s from more traditional "bibliographic instruction" or "user education" activities, has become a core service in academic libraries, and an increasingly important focus in public and other types of libraries.' "Information literacy" is defined by the Association of College and Research Libraries as "the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information."'2 We live in a time when many library users and non-users believe that they are indeed "information literate," simply because they make extensive use of the Internet. Sadly, this confidence is often misplaced. Information overload, misinformation, and complex information retrieval systems, in addition to people's natural inclination to be satisfied with conveniently accessible information, regardless of its accuracy or reliability, combine to challenge most claims of competence in information skills. As a group, librarians are an outstanding exception, having made information access and evaluation core to their professional skill set. As a result, librarians have long played a role in training their clients in the skills needed to independently find, retrieve, analyze, and use information effectively and efficiently. 210
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About the Author Heidi Julienis an Associate Professor in the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta (
[email protected]). Ms. received 11/04; accepted 07/05; revised 07/05.
In the academic library context, many positions in public service require some involvement in instructional activities, very often in front-line delivery of instruction. One recent study found that all position advertisements posted in the 1990s for academic reference librarians mentioned instructional duties. 3 Instruction is now truly a core professional activity for librarians. Although public libraries are less obviously focused on information literacy instruction, this activity has gained prominence, especially at an informal level, as public libraries have become one of the few public institutions offering Internet access to citizens in North America. As a consequence of the growing importance of information literacy instruction, then, preparing MLIS graduates for instructional work demands increasing attention within our MLIS curricula; we need to develop our graduates' skills in pedagogy, instructional planning, understanding learning theories and assessing learning outcomes. Currently only one North American library/information science (LIS) school includes instruction as a dedicated core course (the Information School, University of Washington), and the last published analysis of instructional courses suggests that only about half of all North American LIS schools offer an elective in instruction. 4 The degree to which attention to information literacy instruction occurs in North American LIS schools requires a current and thorough analysis. Additionally, we lack evidence for attention to instructional issues within curricula at a global level. This paper addresses these gaps by presenting a content analysis of curricula at LIS schools internationally, i.e., in North America and globally. The need for training of librarians to do instructional work is increasingly apparent. 5 In 1998 Kilcullen suggested that librarians need to know what constitutes information literacy and critical thinking skills, understand learning and motivation theories, be familiar with instructional planning, and know about and use different instructional techniques. 6 While some students in our graduate programs enter with backgrounds in education, most do not. Where will these graduates gain instructional expertise? Certainly many will gain on-the-job experience as they find themselves in positions where they are expected to provide a range of instruction for clients. Most universities and colleges offer some sort of teaching workshops, which could be attended by librarians. Certificates and diplomas in adult education are another potential source of instructional training. In addition, neophytes will turn to the literature, and to their more experienced colleagues, to seek advice via listservs or workshops. There can be no
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question, however, that proficiency also requires more formal training. 7 Experience, instinct, professional reading, attendance at professional development workshops, and advice from one's peers are all necessary for the development of professional expertise, but all these must rest on a deeper foundation of theoretical understanding. Effective teaching is based on a set of learned concepts and skills, and instructors ought not to be expected to teach simply because they have subject expertise. It is this demonstrated need for training of MLIS graduates that motivated the current study.
Methods The publicly available Web pages of schools worldwide with programs that graduate librarians (with graduate degrees only) were analyzed in October 2004, using a content analysis method to articulate the range and depth of courses focusing on information literacy instruction. A number of sampling frames were used to identify schools of library and information studies. The list of "World List of Departments and Schools of Information Studies, Information Management, Information Systems, etc.," available on InformationR.net (http://informationr.net/wl/), provided a significant proportion of schools. Other sources used were: the Royal School of Library and Information Science Library (http://www.db.dk/dbi/internet/ schools.htm), the Australian Library and Information Association Web site (http://www.alia.org.au/education/courses/librarianship.html), the American Library Association Web site (http://www.ala.org/ala/acrlbucket/is/ isconmmittees/webpages/educationa/libraryschools.htm and http://www. ala. org/ala/accreditationb/LISDIR2004.pdf), and the Web site of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (U.K.) (http://www.cilip.org.uk/default.cilip). Schools were included in the sample only when the school Web site was available in the English language, and when sufficient information was available on the Web site that it could be discerned whether or not an instructional course was offered (this parameter was necessary in order to conduct the research, but meant that many international LIS schools could not be included in the analysis, because their Web sites were so limited). Another parameter was that the course was relatively current, i.e., was currently offered or offered within the previous twenty-four months. One obvious drawback of this method is that the datais limited to information found on Web sites, a limitation of the Westbrook study as well; 8 no doubt a more thorough analysis could include study of actual syllabi made available by course instructors. No distinction was made between courses that used the range of labels currently attached to instruction (e.g., "information literacy", "user education", "bibliographic instruction"), because although there are conceptual differences between them, the terms are often used interchangeably in practice, both within library education and among practitioners. 9 Additionally, although instruction may be included as one topic among many in basic (and core) reference courses, those instances were not recorded, since the depth of
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treatment of instruction is, under those circumstances, necessarily cursory. These parameters match closely those established by Westbrook in her study.10
Where course descriptions or syllabi were publicly available on the Web, these were analyzed for topical content. Variables analyzed include: whether a dedicated course is available in the program, whether an available course is core (required) or elective, and an articulation of the content of any courses in "instruction". Content analysis categories for course topics were developed inductively, from the wording provided in the publicly accessible Web materials, and grouped into conceptually consistent units. Results Using the parameters established for inclusion in the data set, data from 93 schools of library and information studies were gathered. A majority of the schools (51.6%, n = 48) appear to offer no course in information literacy instruction. Five of the remaining sample offer an instructional course focused on the needs of school library media specialists only. For those 45 schools offering an instructional course, syllabi or course descriptions were analyzed (11 schools did not make a syllabus publicly available on the Web). The instructional courses were found to include a range of topics: instructional strategies (pedagogy), program planning and implementation, assessing instruction, learning theory, instructional design, basic information literacy concepts, outcomes evaluation, needs assessment, and Web-based instruction strategies (Table 1). The majority of courses in the sample included the top five topics. However, from an educationalist's point of view, the (potential) omission of basic information literacy concepts, outcomes evaluation, needs assessment and Web-based strategies seems extraordinary. Some LIS schools included all the listed topics in their instructional course, including those at Dominican University, Indiana University, Wayne State University, Rutgers University, the University of Texas at Austin, Dalhousie University, and the Table 1 Topics Covered in Course Syllabi (n = 45) Included (%) Unable to Determine (%) Instructional Strategies Program Planning Assessing Instruction Learning Theory Instructional Design IL Concepts Outcomes Evaluation Needs Assessment Web-based Strategies
73.3 71.1 66.7 64.4 62.2 46.7 46.7 35.6 31.1
20.0 24.4 26.7 24.4 31.1 44.4 48.9 57.8 53.3
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University of Western Ontario. Only one school, at the University of Washington, makes its instructional course core (required) for the training of its graduate librarians. In the opinion of the author, a number of instructional courses included in the sample merit particular mention as outstanding examples. These include instructional courses at the LIS schools at San Jos6 State University, Indiana University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, and the University of Alberta. Of course, this judgment may partially be due to the detailed course information and syllabus accessible on the publicly available Web. Nevertheless, each of these courses does have a detailed and well-designed syllabus that covers a range of critical aspects of instruction, and each could stand as an example for a school seeking to establish an instruction course or to revise an existing course. As well, each syllabus includes key readings and Web links related to information literacy instruction, and suggests a range of effective assignments for use in instruction courses. In addition to theoretical knowledge, students in these courses gain valuable instructional experience. For example, the instructional course at the University of Albertaprovides students the opportunity to present both a professional development seminar and an instructional session, as well as practice peer-evaluation. Students at the University of Texas at Austin do a presentation, a demonstration, and lead a discussion with their peers. The instructional course at the University of Hawaii has been lauded in the research literature, particularly for its extended teaching practicum opportunities that allow students to practice their classroom learning. 1' For LIS school faculty seeking a place to start, the two most commonly assigned textbooks in the instructional courses analyzed were: Esther S. Grassian and Joan R. Kaplowitz, InformationLiteracy Instruction: Theory and Practice(New York: Neal-Schuman, 2001), and David V. Loertscher and Blanche Woolls, InformationLiteracy:A Review of the Research, 2nd edition (Hi Willow Research and Publishing, 2002).
Discussion These results may provide some guidance to curriculum development in the area of instruction, by assisting programs to address the core competency of instructional skills in their graduates. In addition, several of the results raise significant concerns about the depth of attention provided to this skill set. Apparently, on a global level, fewer than half of schools graduating librarians are providing preparation in instructional skills. Those that take on this role frequently offer instructional courses that cover a fraction of the topics that are critical to sound instructional practice on the part of librarians. These results show that (as far as it was possible to determine) fewer than half of courses offered include basic information literacy concepts, outcomes evaluation, needs assessment, or Web-based instructional strategies. The omission of needs assessment begs the question of how it is
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that librarian instructors will develop instructional objectives that will indeed meet the needs of their clients. It is no wonder that formal articulation of instructional objectives is not common in academic libraries.12 Failing to teach librarian instructors how to conduct outcomes evaluation is equally problematic, but an unsurprising finding. Previous research shows that outcomes evaluation in library instructional activities is rare.13 Naturally, these two concerns are related: sound outcomes evaluation is done with reference to instructional objectives; when librarian instructors lack an understanding of the importance of needs assessment, it follows that outcomes assessment will be equally neglected. Nevertheless, in an era of accountability and within a context in many libraries of limited resources, both financial and human, the need to demonstrate positive outcomes from all library services would appear obvious. If instructional librarians can show that their efforts are worthwhile in terms of student success, then their labors are more easily justified during budget decision-making. The elective, rather than core, status of nearly all of the courses identified was equally disheartening. If instruction is now truly core to the work of academic librarianship, and increasingly important for the work of librarians in other sectors, why do our LIS school curricula not reflect this reality? LIS school faculty would not graduate librarians who did not understand how information is organized for accessibility;- why would we think it acceptable to send new librarians into instructional roles for which they are unprepared? Do we retain a lingering belief that anybody can teach, that subject expertise is sufficient for effective training of others? If instruction is an integral part of the role for many professional librarians, and there is an obvious lack of expertise (though no lack of experience) in libraries, why is training in effective instructional methods not mandatory for all library science students? Instructional training must be strongly recommended, or given elective status in all programs purporting to graduate professional librarians. The current context indicates that for libraries, developing instructional skills in staff is left to employer-provided training or to the personal initiative of staff. How can librarians without training in effective instructional techniques be expected to plan, deliver, and evaluate their instructional efforts effectively? Would employers find this situation satisfactory for reference skills, or for collection development skills? It is inappropriate for senior library administrators to hire librarians for instructional roles who have no formalpedagogical training. This situation cannot be fair to the clients of instruction, nor can it lead to effective service delivery. Unfortunately, it also raises serious questions about librarians' professionalism.
Conclusion One of the most basic methods of curricular change comes from scanning the environment to observe how a range of programs addresses particular competencies for graduates. This study moves beyond these familiar scans
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to offer a systematic analysis in the area of information literacy instruction, an increasingly significant competency. The results suggest a range of appropriate topics for courses in instruction, and highlight exemplary courses that could be used as a starting point to revise an existing course or develop a new one. LIS schools that are truly committed to preparing their MLIS graduates for professional roles in today's libraries should take notice.
Acknowledgements This work was supported by Standard Research Grant No. 410-2003-004 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Special thanks to Uju Obianuju Mollel for her expert assistance and advice.
References 1. Lynn Westbrook, "Passing the Halfway Mark: LIS Curricula Incorporating User Education Courses," JournalofEducationforLibraryandInformationScience 40, no. 2 (1999): 92-8. 2. Association of College and Research Libraries, "Information Literacy: Introduction to Information Literacy," Issues & Advocacy, http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/ acrlinfolit/infolitoverview/introtoinfolit/introinfolit.htm. (accessed November 12, 2004). 3. Beverly P. Lynch and Kimberley Robles Smith, "The Changing Nature of Work in Academic Libraries," College andResearch Libraries62, no. 5 (2001): 407-20. 4. Westbrook, "Passing the Halfway Mark." 5. Heidi Julien and Stuart Boon, "Assessing Instructional Outcomes in Canadian Academic Libraries," Library& InformationScience Research26, no. 2 (2004): 121-39; Heidi Julien and StuartBoon, "From the Front Line: Information Literacy Instruction in Canadian Academic Libraries," Reference Services Review 30, no. 2 (2002): 143-49; Heidi Julien and Lisa Given, "The Expertise Continuum: An Analysis of Librarians' Sources of Pedagogical Inspiration & Mastery," (paper presented atLibraryResearchSeminarIff,Kansas City, MO., October 14-16, 2004); Heidi Julien, "Information Literacy Instruction in Canadian Academic Libraries: Longitudinal Trends and International Comparisons," College and Research Libraries61, no. 6 (2000): 510-23; and Rebecca Albrecht and Sara Baron, "The Politics of Pedagogy: Expectations and Reality for Information Literacy in Librarianship," Journal ofLibraryAdministration 36, no.1/2 (2002): 71-96. 6. Maureen Kilkullen, '"eaching Librarians to Teach: Recommendations on What We Need to Know," Reference Services Review 26, no. 2 (1998): 7-18. 7. Julien and Given, "The Expertise Continuum." 8. Westbrook, "Passing the Halfway Mark?' 9. Julien, "Information Literacy Instruction in Canadian Academic Libraries;" and Heidi Julien, "UserEducation in New Zealand Tertiary Libraries: An International Comparison," The JournalofAcademic Librarianship24, no. 4 (1998): 301-10. 10. Westbrook, "Passing the Halfway Mark:' 11. Yvonne Nalani Meulemans and Jennifer Brown, "Educating Instruction Librarians: A Model for Library and Information Science Education," Research Strategies 18 (2001): 253-64. 12. Julien and Boon, "From the Front Line"; and Julien, "Information Literacy Instruction in Canadian Academic Libraries." 13. Julien andBoon, "From the FrontLine"; Julien, "Information Literacy Instruction in Canadian Academic Libraries"; and Heidi Julien and Gloria J. Leckie, "Bibliographic Instruction Trends in Canadian Academic Libraries," Canadian Journalof Information and LibraryScience 22, no. 2 (1997): 1-15.
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