Student Information Search Skills and Help AcquisitionDifferences Across Three Faculties

Linda BedwellReference & Instruction LibrarianDalhousie UniversityNova Scotia, Canada

Dalhousie SOSA Majors-Killam Library Student Study•Partnership with 4th-yr class of Sociology

and Social Anthropology Majors•Students (Majors) co-designed and

conducted the studies•Provided a student-perspective

•Positive impact on participation rate and quality of data?

•Participant Observation (Space)•Learning Commons Computer

Workstation Survey (Space/facilities)•Website Focus Groups (Online presence)•Interview Survey (Learning/research

behaviours)

Studies Performed at Killam Library2009-10 Academic Year

Purpose of Interview Survey•Simply: To learn more about students in

the faculties served by the Killam Library▫Information seeking behaviours▫Search skills acquisition▫Help acquisition▫Impact of librarian-led instruction

(knowledge/confidence)•Measure impact of IL efforts and align

services with student work habits

Methodology•Semi-structured interview•15-17 questions•Interviewers (Majors) positioned in

‘neutral’ locations on campus – not the library

•“Toonie for your time” – incentive•Data analysis – Excel and SPSS (SOSA

prof.)

Interview Survey – Feb 3rd & 16th, 2010•97 respondents

▫36 Arts & SS▫19 Management▫23 Science▫5 Arts & SS and Science

▫64 Undergraduate; 19 Graduate▫56% Female, 44% Male

In-Class Library InstructionQ: We are interested in how you have

learned to find the books, journal articles, etc. you may need to complete your assignments. Have you received instruction on this during any of your classes here at Dal?(yes/no)

Q: Who provided this instruction?(someone from the library/professor/TA)

In-Class Library Instruction

Arts and SS Management Science0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

TA-led Professor-led Librarian-led Received Library Instruction

Other Learning MethodsQ: How else have you learned how to find

information/sources?(open-ended)

Other Learning Methods

self-ta

ught

friend

s

profes

sor/TA

library

staff

library

website

intern

et

online

instr

uction

prev.

instru

ction

no ne

ed0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

Arts and SSManagementScience

Who Students go to for HelpQ: Who do you go to for help with finding

information/sources?(open-ended)

Who Students go to for Help

library staff professor/TA friends internet no one, n/a0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

Arts and SSManagementScience

How Students Find InformationQ: How do you approach finding

information to complete assignments?(open-ended)

How Students Find Information

datab

ases

nova

net

Google

/int. s

earch

library

website

prowler

Google

Scho

lar

prof/c

ourse

mat'

l

subjec

t guid

es

bibliog

raphy

wikiped

ia0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

Arts and SSManagementScience

Help Seeking MethodsQ: Have you sought help from the

Dalhousie library in person, online, and/or through email? (Select all that apply: in person, online, email, never.)

Help Seeking Methods

Self-Reported Knowledge ScaleQ: Where would you place yourself on a

scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being you know very little about how to find the sources you may need and 10 being you know everything you need to know about how to find the sources you may need?

Self-Reported Knowledge Scale

Arts and SS Management Science3

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

7

7.5

8

8.5

no library staff-led inst.library staff-led inst.

Conclusion•Different approaches for different faculties

▫Empower Arts and Social Sciences to help/teach each other

▫Partner with Mgmt and Science faculty to co-teach/co-produce online tutorials, etc.

•Should better support self-teaching•Students’ confidence increase with

librarian-led instruction – this should encourage additional outreach methods

Questions?

Thank you!

Linda BedwellReference & Instruction LibrarianDalhousie Killam LibraryLBedwell@dal.ca