This Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) kit on Bibliographic Instruction (BI) in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) examines current developments as well as anticipated trends based on a SPEC telephone survey of 25 ARL libraries with active BI programs. Two themes which ran through the mid-1985 interviews were the use of new…

This library skills program, which is offered by Slippery Rock State College (Pennsylvania) as part of its Vacation College program, was developed for adults who have been out of school many years. The vacation college concept of leisure and life long learning emphasizes the learning of recreational activities, along with more practical and…

Findings, observations, and recommendations resulting from a study of existing library instruction programs in secondary schools throughout Massachusetts are presented. Thirty-one school systems identified as feeder schools for the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and eight smaller schools were visited to collect information which would…

Describes courses at a small liberal arts college in which faculty and librarians work together to instruct undergraduates in the use of the library. Topics covered in each course and types of teaching methods and assignments used are discussed. (CLB)

This essay addresses the serious problem for bibliographic instruction programs posed by teaching faculty who possess few skills in library research. Discussion covers faculty and student experience with bibliographic research, the bookish professor and other myths, difficulties of library instruction, and implications for future planning.…

Describes the restructuring of Pepperdine University library's freshman seminar library instruction because students were not acquiring needed library and information literacy skills due to too much material being presented in too short a time with no hands-on experience. Explains the use of independent Web-based instruction in addition to…

Describes a library instruction program at the University of Illinois that consists of a narrowly focused one-shot lecture, complemented by a series of library activities that can be completed independently by students. The reasons for revising the program, the variety of instructional approaches and media used, and the effectiveness of the…

Discusses programs developed at the Andrews University (Michigan) library to help international students develop library skills. Bibliographic instruction workshops and English Language Institute classes are described; and guidelines for successful workshops are suggested, including hands-on experience, targeting individual needs, publicity, and…

A survey of graduate students indicated that respondents have not retained information searching skills. Undergraduate research assignments are examined in order to identify what college students need to know. School library media programs should create opportunities for learners to go beyond the mechanics of searching and reporting to practice…

A task force developed to examine solutions to declining student enrollments and student retention problems, recommended that the University of Oregon Library System develop library courses that address discipline-specific information needs in several library intensive courses, especially in journalism, management, psychology, and women's studies.…

East Carolina University, Greenville (North Carolina) uses a semester hour credit course as its method of teaching library-research skills to freshmen. The course is required of all new students and is designed to introduce them to the academic library. The usefulness of the course was studied through an exploration of attitude changes among 110…

This study of the impact of high school library media skills instruction on the college bound student was designed to determine whether high school students have learned sufficient library skills to enable them to use an academic library successfully upon entering college. A library awareness test was administered to first-semester students in…

In response to requests from the University of Alberta Department of Computing Services for PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations) applications in structured learning situations, a program for computer-assisted bibliographic instruction (BI) was developed. The program is divided into the following six units: (1) Introduction;…

Today, more than ever, non-traditional college students are seeking power over their lives through education. However, unwilling to spend time learning how to find required information, non-traditional students often gather and process only limited amounts of information, thus isolating themselves from the power they seek and sealing their fate as…

This work is designed to help introduce students in the Master of Public Administration program at Auburn University to the major types of research material that are available in the Ralph Brown Draughon Library. The exercise simulates a typical research process by posing a series of questions about a specific issue in the public administration…