Information Literacy Efforts Benchmarks, 2013

Primary Research Group has published Information Literacy Efforts Benchmarks, 2013 Edition, ISBN 157440-14-5

The 115 page study presents data from 60 colleges and universities about their academic library and institutional information literacy efforts.  The study helps librarians and others to answer questions such as:  What are staffing and staff time use trends in information literacy? How many more, or fewer students, will take information literacy oriented classes and sessions this year as compared to last year?  What software packages are favored for producing info literacy tutorials? How do instructors rate the information literacy skills of their students, before an after training? What is the role of information literacy testing? What about trends in information literacy assistance to faculty?  What is the role of information literacy presentations at student orientations? What is the relationship like between library information literacy faculty and key academic departments? What percentage of colleges have formal information literacy requirements and what are these requirements? This is just a small sample of topic coverage.

Just a few of the study’s many findings are that:

•       41.67% of college libraries in the sample participate in some kind of orientation or information literacy training class designed especially for online or distance learning students.

•       Just 5% of survey participants feel that upper college administrators consider information literacy a high priority.

•       29.4% of four year colleges in the sample use student standardized test results to assess the performance results of information literacy instructors.

•       12.5% of community colleges in the sample require an information literacy exam for graduation.

•       A third of the research universities in the sample have ever administered a test to assess student capacity to use the online library catalog.

•       Nearly two thirds of librarians sampled consider their students to be very unskilled in the use of eBook collections.

•       About 39% of colleges in the sample with less than 2,500 students enrolled offer librarians faculty status.

•       For research universities, library sessions in student orientation last a mean of only 12 minutes.

•       25% of the private colleges in the sample plan to increase their investment over the next three years in equipment and space used for information literacy efforts.

Data in the report is broken out by size and types of college, by enrollment level and by number of information literacy classes or sessions given.  A pdf version of the study is currently available from Primary Research Group Inc.  For further information view our website a www.PrimaryResearch.com.