Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Reference Services Review

Volume

39

Issue

4

Publication Date

11-2011

First Page

686

Last Page

702

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to explore both instruction librarians' attitudes on teaching and how they identify themselves as teachers. Particular attention is to be paid to teaching librarians' views on the effectiveness of two types of instruction models: for-credit courses and course-integrated library instruction.

Design/methodology/approach – To investigate librarians' attitudes towards these two models, a survey was constructed targeting librarians who teach information literacy (IL).

Findings – The results indicate that there is an important relationship between the IL instruction model employed and feelings towards campus politics, perceived effectiveness of IL models, and librarians' self-identification as teachers.

Research limitations/implications – The survey was sent to list-servs whose readership includes high percentages of teaching librarians and received 276 responses. This is by no means an exhaustive study. The research is intended to be exploratory and to delve more deeply than the past editorials and blog posts on the issue of comparing for-credit and course-integrated instruction.

Practical implications – This study can help librarians gain a better understanding of how information literacy models impact librarian perceptions of themselves and their role on campus.

Originality/value – The authors seek to transform a discussion that has occurred mostly informally (in blog posts, on list-servs, and in conversations) into a formal investigation of librarians' attitudes towards the two models.

Comments

Publisher's version is available here with subscription options for non-subscribers. Full text of the author's post print is available for download.

Download

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.