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Title A needs analysis for information literacy provision for research: a case study in University College Dublin
Author(s) Patterson, Avril
PublicationDate 2009-03-31
This item'srecord/moreinformation
http://hdl.handle.net/10197/2779
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NEEDS ANALYSIS FOR INFORMATION
LITERACY PROVISION FOR RESEARCH:
A CASE STUDY IN UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE DUBLIN
LILAC 2009
Avril Patterson, University College Dublin
LILAC 2009
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Outline
• Introduction
• Case Study
• Methodology
• Findings
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Findings
• Analysis
• Recommendations
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Background
• National Development Plan 2007-2013
• Government aim – double PhD output by 2013
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Restructuring of Graduate / PhD training
• Fourth Level Ireland
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University College Dublin – James Joyce
Library
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University College Dublin
• Largest of Ireland’s 7 universities
• Academic restructuring 2004/05
- 5 Colleges ; 35 Schools
• 2,000 Research students
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• 2,000 Research students
• Structured PhD programme 2006
• Research and Professional Development Plans
(RPDPs) introduced 2007
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• IL implicit rather than explicit in Irish
Universities Association’s skills statement
• Students’ IL level or needs unknown to IL
providers
Challenges to Information Literacy (IL)
Provision
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Risk of over-rated evaluation through self
assessment
• Focus of IL in HE is on undergraduate needs
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Research Objectives
• Clearly identify target audience & its needs
• Provide a base line from which resource
requirements can be determined
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
requirements can be determined
• Inform design of relevant programmes
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Research Questions
• What are the IL competencies of incoming research students?
• Are there different requirements for different disciplines?
• Are they predicated by student profile?
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Are they predicated by student profile?
• Do current programmes meet requirements?
• How can this study inform future development?
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Case Study
• Literature Review
• Research-Practice gap
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Multi-faceted research tool facilitated by
Evidence Based Librarianship & Information
Practice (EBLIP)
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EBLIP
• “promotes the integration of user-reported,
practitioner-observed and research-derived
evidence as an explicit basis for decision
making” (Booth, 2006)
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making” (Booth, 2006)
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Case Study’s Limitations
EBLIP process truncated –
Implementation tasks outside scope
- Application
- Performance evaluation
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- Performance evaluation
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Methodology
• Survey Questionnaire
• Information Behaviour Observation
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Focus Group
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Survey Questionnaire
• Built on published research in the field
• Four components:
– Personal profile
– Self assessment
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– Self assessment
– Diagnostic tool
– Free text
• Online administration
• Purposive sampling
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IL Assessment
Adaptation of two published assessment tools:
• Checklist used at Loughborough University
(Stubbings & Franklin, 2005) – self assessment
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
(Stubbings & Franklin, 2005) – self assessment
based on confidence levels
• London Metropolitan University’s Applied
Information Research (AIR) programme
(Andretta, 2005) – diagnostic test
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Information Behaviour Observation
• Theoretical framework - Kuhlthau’s Information
Search Process (ISP)
• Identification of “zone of intervention”
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• Identification of “zone of intervention”
• Non participative observation in IL workshops
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IL Workshop
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Focus Group
Purpose: to elicit response to current IL
programmes
Themes :
• Format
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Format
• Content
• Delivery
• Logistics (location, dates, times)
• Other
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Research Findings
• Survey Questionnaire
– Personal Profiles
– Previous Library Induction
– Self Assessment
– Diagnostic Questionnaire
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
– Diagnostic Questionnaire
• Information Behaviour Observation
• Focus Group Findings
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Programme
Programme
14%
8%
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
78%
PhD
Research Masters
Others
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Postgraduate Status
88% 93%77%
12% 7%23%
20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
Part time
Full time
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
0%10%20%
All r
espo
ndan
ts
PhD
Res
earc
h M
aste
rs
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Gender
Gender
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
55%
45% Female
Male
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Age
Age
5580
100
120
Total
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
31
2016 15
2
24
24
14
3
21
44
30
18
4
0
20
40
60
<25 25-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+
Total
Male
Female
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Postgraduate Profile
• Irish graduates 72%
• Previous postgraduate qualification 56%
– Of this 65% achieved in Ireland
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– Of this 65% achieved in Ireland
• English not first language 22%
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Previous Library Instruction
• Experienced by 62%
• Library tours and presentations most common
• 16% had engaged in interactive workshops
• Online tutorials used by 10%
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Online tutorials used by 10%
• Integrated and timetabled for 17%
• Credit bearing for 7%
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Self Assessment
Questions ranged from basic to complex
Included :
• Resource selection
• Information retrieval
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• Information retrieval
• Information management
• Ethical use
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Findings – Self Assessment
• Marked difference in confidence levels of PhD
and Research Masters students
• Previous postgraduate experience did not
equate with higher confidence levels
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Gender a significant variable
• Age also significant
• In general, discipline not significant, but further
investigation is required.
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Findings – Information Selection &
Retrieval
• Use of catalogue to find books
• Finding reference material
• Locating journal articles
• Selection of appropriate databases
Confident
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Selection of appropriate databases
• Identifying existing research
• Search strategies
• Use of citation indexes
Not confident
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Locating Theses
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Co
nfi
den
ce
No Familiarity
Not Confident
Fairly Confident
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
PhD Research Masters Other
Programme
Confident
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Findings – Information Environment
• Lack of awareness of “invisible colleges”
• High confidence levels in use of internet and
search engines
• Lower confidence rates in use of subject
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Lower confidence rates in use of subject
gateways
• Lack of familiarity in setting up alerts to keep
current
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Findings – Information Handling & Use
• High confidence levels in ethical use and
avoidance of plagiarism
• Confidence in saving/exporting/e-mailing
references
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• Confidence in creating a bibliography
• Low confidence levels in use of bibliographic
management tools
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Diagnostic Questionnaire
Multiple choice questions
• Searching skills
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• Evaluation skills
• Referencing skills
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Findings - Diagnostic Questionnaire
• Some lack of knowledge in how internet worked
• Lack of knowledge of Boolean operators (31%)
• Lack of knowledge of interlibrary loan services
(36%)
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
(36%)
• Lack of knowledge of subject portals (40%)
• High expectations of access to e-journals (47%)
• Some difficulty in referencing skills
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Preferred method of IL provision
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%C
on
fid
ence
Other
Information skills integrated in course work
Interactive workshops covering specific resources / skills
Presentations throughout the year
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
0%
10%
20%
30%
Full-time Part-time Other
Progamme
Library tours on demand
More printed guides to the library
More web based information
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Findings – Information Behaviour
Observation
Concept of building a search strategy
underdeveloped. Areas of difficulty:
• Identification and conceptualisation of search
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• Identification and conceptualisation of search
terms
• Use of synonyms
• Boolean operators
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Findings – Information Behaviour
Observation (Continued)
• Generic search skills did not transfer
• Unfamiliarity with library terms
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Need for assistance in establishing criteria for
database selection observed
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Model of the Information Search Process
Carol Collier Kuhlthau Information Search Process Rutgers University
Tasks Initiation Selection Exploration Formulation Collection Presentation————————————————————————————————————————————→Feelings uncertainly optimism confusion/ clarity sense of satisfaction or(affective) frustration/ direction/ disappointment
doubt confidence
Thoughts vague———————————————→focused(cognitive) ————————————————→
increased interest
Actions seeking relevant information——————————-→seeking pertinent information(physical) exploring documenting
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Findings – Focus Group
• Postgraduate research cohort not homogeneous
with a standard IL
• Varying levels an issue in workshops
• Suggested problem based approach centred on
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Suggested problem based approach centred on
student’s own research useful
• Workshop descriptors and learning outcomes
should be clearly articulated
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Findings - Focus Group (Continued)
• Less coverage could result in greater confidence
• Discipline specific approach favoured
• Link with Schools’ Research modules desirable
• Underestimation of complexity of e-resources
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Underestimation of complexity of e-resources
• Assumption of abilities
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Comparative Analysis
Research Student Needs Analysis Survey (RSNA),
University of Leeds, 2005-2006 (Newton, 2007)
• Lack of confidence in tracing research
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Lack of confidence in tracing research
• Low confidence in finding theses
• Use of Boolean operators
• Use of bibliographic management tools
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Summary of Analysis
• Identified gap between IL levels sufficient for
taught courses and for research
• Need for attention in formulation of search
strategies
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Variation in level of IL acumen
• Consistent difference in findings between
Research Masters & PhD students
• ICT/IL relationship
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Recommendations for practice
• Ensure “top down” approach to IL provision
• Ensure disciplinary variation is understood
• Adopt theory of adult learning
• Use literature review process
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Use literature review process
• If possible allow students to use their own
research for interactive work
• Include concepts of ISP model
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Recommendations for practice
(Continued)
• Develop longitudinal evaluation processes
• Keep current
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Offer what is feasible and sustainable
• Seek possible funding for research and support
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Objectives Achieved
• Established research students’ perceptions of
their IL
• Identified areas where guidance and
intervention could benefit
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Highlighted importance of collaboration
• Alignment from taught programmes to research
recognised
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Next Steps
Complete EBLIP framework, i.e.
• Apply the results
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
• Evaluate performance
• Explore further possible domain differences
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References
• Andretta, S. (2005) Information Literacy: a
practitioner’s guide. Oxford : Chandos.
• Booth, A. (2006) “Counting what counts:
performance measurement and evidence-based
practice” Performance Measurement and
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
practice” Performance Measurement and
Metrics, 7 (2) : 63-74
• Kuhlthau, C. C. “Model of the Information Search
Process”
(http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kuhlthau/recent_
presentations/isic/isic_presentation.ppt)
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References
• Newton, A. (2007) “Reaching out to research
students: information literacy in context”. In
Connor, Elizabeth (ed.) Evidence-based
Librarianship: Case studies and active
learning exercises. Oxford : Chandos, pp. 119-
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
learning exercises. Oxford : Chandos, pp. 119-
140.
• Stubbings, R., Franklin, G. (2005) “More to life
than google – a journey for PhD students”.
Journal of eLiteracy, 2 : 93-103
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To conclude :
“Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject
ourselves, or we know where we can find
information upon it”
Avril Patterson LILAC 2009
Samuel Johnson (1709-84)