Library Research Skills: A Needs Assessment for Graduate Student Workshops.

Abstract

Information literacy instruction programs for graduate students can be challenging to develop. One solution is to develop non-course-based, non-mandatory library instruction programs, in order to meet the information literacy needs of as many graduate students as possible. This was the approach taken by the Taylor Library at the University of Western Ontario, as we embarked on the development of a program for students in the areas of engineering, health sciences, medicine & dentistry, and science. As a first step, we conducted a needs assessment study via focus groups and an online survey. The study looked at graduate student perceptions of their library research needs, their preferences for learning about library research, and the appropriateness of a common instruction program for students in these disciplines. We found that graduate students wanted to learn about strategies for finding information, bibliographic management tools such as RefWorks, and tools for keeping current with scholarly literature. Students preferred online instruction, although in-person workshops were also found to be valuable. Students in all four faculties identified common information literacy needs, while expressing a desire for subject-specific instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving a library workshop service: implementing change and enhancing the service based on data analysis

“…There is a substantial amount of library literature demonstrating that graduate students need workshops offered by academic libraries, and this need is not novel (Bussell et al, 2017;Critz et al, 2012;Hoffmann et al, 2008;O'Malley and Delwiche, 2012;Peacemaker and Roseberry, 2017;Rempel, 2010;Roszkowski and Reynolds, 2013;Saetnan, 2020). While graduate and postgraduate students need library workshops, academic libraries struggle with workshop attendance (Alvarez et al, 2014;Bussell et al, 2017;Critz et al, 2012;Fong et al, 2016;O'Malley and Delwiche, 2012;Peacemaker and Roseberry, 2017;Saetnan, 2020;Witherspoon and Taber, 2021).…”

“…, 2017; Critz et al. , 2012; Hoffmann et al. , 2008; O'Malley and Delwiche, 2012; Peacemaker and Roseberry, 2017; Rempel, 2010; Roszkowski and Reynolds, 2013; Saetnan, 2020).…”

A Rubric-Based Assessment of Information Literacy in Graduate Course Term Papers

“…• This effect has been widely studied [1][2][3]7]. • "In Press" references must include the name of the journal.…”

“…[5] Of the research that has been done on graduate-level IL, much of it relates to information behavior and needs, rather than instruction or assessment [6]. Several studies were found that assessed the efficacy of outreach and instruction strategies specifically for graduate students, such as workshops targeted to specific needs [7], express classes [8], and embedded consultation models [9], [10]. Citation analyses of upper-level and graduate-level literature reviews, theses, and dissertations show that as students progress up the curriculum, they tend to cite increasingly more sources, and more scholarly sources [11], [12].…”

Mapping Graduate Student Workshops to Career Readiness Frameworks

“…Universities have deployed various means to select and assess graduate workshops. Hoffman et al utilized information from surveys and focus groups to plan their series [9]. Peacemaker and Roseberry relied on a combination of their experiences as librarians in course-integrated instruction, gaps in their own knowledge, and graduate student feedback to select topics [10].…”