The Future of Information Literacy in Academic Health Sciences Libraries

I have recently started working as a Graduate Assistant at an Academic Health Sciences Library in my state and have had the opportunity to sit in on various staff and department meetings, a couple of face-to-face instruction sessions, and numerous reference transactions. What I have noticed is the passion of our education and reference librarians when it comes to increasing the information literacy of our students. Our librarians are constantly plugging the library's services and thinking of new and creative ways to instruct students both online and face-to-face. This got me wondering how this passion for libraries and instruction translates over to the student population and what it means for the future of information literacy?

Currently, there are many options for students to customize certain databases, search multiple databases using a single search interface, and keep track of it all with citation management software. It is easy for students to get lost in it all and feel overwhelmed, especially if they have very little to no information literacy to begin with. It is essential, therefore for students to get some training. That is where the need for education and reference librarians comes in! I recently sat in on a "Searching for the Evidence" class at my library where students learn effective search techniques and which databases are used for finding evidence-based medical information. The class was comprised of first-year residents from the School of Medicine and, when asked about their typical search methods, a couple of the students said that they only perform searches in Google. It surprised and shocked me to learn that despite the access they have to top notch databases, they still preferred Google. Why is that? My theory is that Google feels safe to them because they lack the knowledge needed to perform effective searches in more relevant databases like PubMed or Ovid MEDLINE. By attending this class, these students will learn that not only is there life beyond Google, but they will have a much easier time finding information that is credible and useful if they know how and where to look. As databases get more complex, the need for instruction will only increase. As a result, the need for library instructors to teach the ins and out of these databases so that they are better understood by the students who use them will also increase. By providing students access to these classes, academic health sciences librarians will not only increase the information literacy of medical students, but they will also prove that the library is a valuable and necessary component to medical school education.

Which brings me to my next point. How will the faculty's perception of the library change as more and more students depend on the library for assistance in their research? I read an article recently that talked about the relationship between faculty at academic institutions and librarians and I learned that faculty members often do not view academic librarians as equals (Julien and Pecoskie, 2009). An example from the article talks about a librarian who visited a classroom for the purpose of information literacy instruction. The faculty member in charge of the class said something along the lines of "don't stress out about trying to remember everything that is said today, it is only worth 5 points of your total grade". What kind of message do you think this sends to the students? That because it's library instruction it is not as important as what your regular class instructor teaches you? That you don't need to pay attention because you can just search Google and be fine? It would be unfair of me to generalize here and say that all faculty feel this way about librarians because that is not the case. There are plenty of university faculty that very much value the work that academic librarians do and how their instruction can better the work of their students. But what worries me are the ones that don't and the potential negative impact this will have on students in the long run.

So, how can we get the "Google Generation" to see that the library is the place to start for research rather than the Google search bar? I think more and better advertising is a good start. Just the other day I was given the task of making flyers for the library's upcoming classes. I was told to print only two flyers - one gets posted inside the library's north elevator and one gets posted in the south elevator. Only two? In the elevators?! Who is going to see that? Now, in my library's defense, we do advertise these classes on the library's website. However, if students are going to Google instead of the library's website, they won't see those notifications either, now will they? How else can we reach out to the student population? Should we have faculty plug our classes to their students? Can we hand out welcome gifts to new students with a mug, posti-its, and a stuffed school mascot (all with the library's logo, of course)? Perhaps these are ideas that I can run by my new boss...

It is difficult to say what information literacy will look like in the future. I know what I want it to look like. In a perfect world, students will be just as passionate about using their library as they are for their studies. They will recognize that the library is a great place to start their research. It's okay if you don't know how to search that database, we'll teach you! We just need to spread the word. Eventually, they'll get it :)


References

Julien, H., Pecoskie, J. (2009) Librarians' experiences of the teaching role: Grounded in campus relationships. Library & Information Science Research, 31(3), 149-154.