2024-2025 Impact Report_final version

Navigating the information ecosystem can be challenging for anyone seeking quality resources, whether it is finding an academic journal article in a library database or evaluating a news source from the multitude of media options available. This can be especially true for undergraduates, who often must find, evaluate, and apply scholarly and popular sources for papers and projects while also being mindful of academic integrity standards and the appropriate use of new technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI). Information literacy (IL) instruction is aimed at addressing this important component of academic life by equipping students with the knowledge necessary to search for sources across a variety of research contexts and to bring critical thinking skills to the evaluative process. Defined by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) as “the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning,” 1 information literacy is at the heart of library pedagogy. At USD, Information Literacy, or CILT, is one of the Competencies of the undergraduate Core Curriculum. Courses flagged for CILT across the academic disciplines share three common learning outcomes related to how students explore, evaluate, and apply sources of information. But information literacy instruction by Copley Library’s subject specialists goes beyond these flagged courses. The library’s instructional programming starts by introducing key concepts to new USD students in First Year Writing (FYW) classes as well as Living Learning and Transfer Learning Community (LLC and TLC) courses. Of the 201 total instruction sessions last year, 164 were for undergraduates. Thirty-six of those sessions were courses for first year students only. Through these FYW, LLC, and TLC alone, the library reached 741 new USD students. To provide overall context for IL instruction for the first year cohort, there were 1104 first-time, first-year students admitted in Fall 2024 and 345 transfers. Roughly half that number engaged in instruction sessions with a Copley subject specialist through one of these classes, while many more learned about library resources and gained foundational research skills in other classes.

Research and Instruction Librarian Martha Adkins, subject specialist for History, Philosophy, and Theology and Religious Studies, says that requests from faculty to provide “a basic introduction to the library and our services” are typically “for LLC or TLC classes.” In these sessions, she explains that she often adapts the library’s more standardized lesson plans “to course content at varying levels.” However, as is the case with many of the library’s subject specialists, she finds that instruction requests are usually geared toward equipping students with the tools necessary to conduct research for a specific task. “Instructors will often share their assignments with me so that I can prepare a session tailored to the class content and the aspects of the assignment. [They] often share that there are one or two databases in particular that they’d like students to learn to use for the assignment, so I prepare using those, and I’ll add a database if it seems like a good fit for the assignment.” – Martha Adkins, Research and Instruction Librarian Librarians working at the public Research Assistance Desk and the online chat service frequently field follow-up questions from students. Subject specialists also meet with students in one-on-one consultation sessions for more in-depth assistance. Aside from these consultations to augment instruction sessions, the library also offers several workshops each semester on a range of topics, from learning specific citation styles like Chicago/Turabian to using citation managers such as Zotero or leveraging the power of AI tools appropriately for research. Even as AI becomes more incorporated into higher education – whether for research or in the classroom – information literacy instruction remains an important part of helping students navigate research waters successfully. Libraries have always been at the forefront of technological change, and IL instruction remains a crucial way that academic libraries contribute to a college education.

1 https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework

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