Information Literacy and the Library

Should the library have the primary responsibility for information literacy education? This question is deceptively simple, but its answer proves more complex. There are several reasons to argue that information literacy should be provided by the library and taught by librarians, but perhaps we would be better served in considering collaboration between teaching and library faculty.

Librarians possess well-developed information searching skills and a greater knowledge of the library's collections than other faculty members.
Hosting information literacy instruction sessions, particularly those connected with orientation or first-year experience workshops, in the library will bring more students to the library. This can work to reduce the student anxiety that results from a lack of familiarity with the library and its staff as discussed in Kuh, Boruff-Jones & Mark (2007).
By coming into contact with librarians early in the educational process, students will more quickly come to understand where to go for help with library resources and research questions.

Additional Considerations:

Faculty and librarian collaboration may result in more effective information literacy training.
Kuh, Boruff-Jones & Mark (2007), in the essay "Engaging Students in the First College Year: Why Academic Librarians Matter,"¹ argue that course activities created through librarian and classroom faculty collaboration may be more effective in teaching information literacy skills than those offered independently by either librarians or faculty.

Additional Information

Home Defining Information Literacy The Non-Information Explosion The Benefits of Information Literacy Summing It Up References

¹Kuh, G.D., Boruff-Jones, P.D., & Mark, A.E. (2007). Engaging students in the first college year: why academic librarians matter. In L. Hardesty (Ed.), The role of the library in the first college year (monograph no. 45 pp. 17-24). Columbia, SC: National resource center for the first-year experience and students in transition.