Library user education: examining its past, projecting its future - The Library and Undergraduate Education

Library Trends, Fall, 1995 by Virginia M. Tiefel

INTRODUCTION

Dramatic changes in technology and society are having a considerable impact on libraries and their instruction programs. These changes have created an urgency to teach users how to become more effective, efficient, and independent in their information searching. In response to this, the goals of library user education have expanded from teaching tools to teaching concepts and from library instruction to information literacy and lifelong learning.

The Gateway to Information, developed by the Ohio State University (OSU) Library, is one response to the current issues and problems and those foreseen in the future of libraries and information. The Gateway to Information was designed to help undergraduate and graduate students identify, find, evaluate, and select the most useful information for their needs without help screens or handouts. The Gateway guides users in applying search strategy concepts and critical thinking to their information seeking.

Under development since 1987, The Gateway to Information has been continuously evaluated by users; revisions have been made based on the results of more than 7,000 evaluations. The Gateway is available on most public terminals in the OSU library system. It will soon be accessible via the Internet and will integrate the sources of the Internet into its narrative. The information explosion has hastened the need for development of expert systems like this.

The unthinkable has become a reality. Libraries are being challenged as not relevant or necessary to the future of information. Current news and library literature specifically are replete with information and questions about the future of libraries. There has even been some speculation that the physical library may continue to exist but only as a sort of dinosaur museum.

If libraries do have a future, in what direction does it lie? Does library user education have a place in that future? Technology, economic factors, and changes in the educational system are major factors in what is being termed a "revolution" in libraries. One prediction about the future of libraries is that budget cuts will force the elimination of such "new" programs as library user education. In reality, the direction of information and libraries points to more emphasis on library user education. Also, when examined in the light of history, library user education is not a new service but a very old service predating even reference service.

How have libraries and librarians responded to the prediction of the death of libraries? In many ways their response has been impressive. In a steady stream of progress, libraries have developed and expanded programs to meet the changing needs of library users. Prominent among these is the library user education program. This is an examination of that steady progress and the move by librarians to prepare users for the continuing expansion of information. The Gateway to Information, developed at The Ohio State University Libraries, is described as one example of how libraries and librarians are responding to the demands of the future.

To put library user education in perspective requires a look at its past and present status. Is library user education an important activity? What programs and problems can be traced through its history? What are the content, teaching methods, evaluation studies, and problems of current programs? What has been the impact of these programs? What does the future hold for library user education? How are the factors of change affecting libraries and library user education? How can librarians respond to these changes? The Gateway to Information is offered as one response to, and portent of, the future. To explore these issues, a definition and outline of the objectives of library user education is needed.

Definition of Library User Education

Broadly defined, library user education (also called library instruction) teaches users how to make the most effective use of the library system. At OSU, user education encompasses all activity undertaken to help students become efficient users of information--i.e., how to identify the information need and then how to find, evaluate, and select the best information to meet that need. Activities to achieve that goal include orientation sessions, workshops, handouts, and course-related and course-integrated instruction. The term "library user education" has more recently been broadened to include the concept of information literacy, which will be defined later.

Objectives of Library User Education

Objectives for library instruction were established as early as 1881 when Otis Hall Robinson called for clarification of instructional goals at the American Library Association conference. He wanted purposeful instruction. As relevant today as they were a hundred years ago, three important objectives were cited:

1. Students need to "develop the art of discrimination" to be

able to judge the value of books to develop critical judgment;

2. Students need to become independent learners--to teach