Ever wonder what impact credit-bearing library instruction has on students?  Two faculty librarians surveyed over 2100 currently-matriculating LSU students in order to measure the effects of information literacy instruction provided through LIS 1001 (Research Methods and Materials).   Associate Librarians Alice Daugherty and Michael Russo wanted to know:

1. Do students use the information literacy skills and resources taught in LIS 1001 in other courses?
2. Do students use information literacy skills in their personal lives?
3. Do students retain the research skills and information taught in LIS 1001?

In short, the answers to all three questions are yes, yes, and yes.

Daugherty and Russo also determined that 83% of the students had to complete some type of research project (usually for Mass Communication or English courses), and 76% of respondents said they used LIS skills, such as database searching, Boolean Operators, and physical navigation of the library.  Interestingly, Lexis Nexis was the database of choice at 52% and Academic Search Complete was second, with 19% of responses.

Daugherty and Russo will present their findings at this year’s American Library Association’s Annual Conference in New Orleans. The poster session will be at Table 14 on Saturday June 25th, 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

And their work has recently been published:

Daugherty, A.L. & Russo, M.F. (2011). An assessment of the lasting effects of a stand-alone information literacy course: The students’ perspective. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2011.04.006

The full article is available: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0099133311000747