ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

Bibliographic Instruction: Establishing Library Skills Proficiency in a Teacher Education Program

For success in the teacher education program, and later in teaching careers, a basic knowledge of library and reference skills is essential. In “What Do Student Teachers Know about Libraries?” Jerry Walker¹ makes the following observations:

“Today’s library holds information packaged in multi-media containers. It is a place where information is stored and retrieved with mechanical efficiency. It is a place where librarians are not only library science specialists knowledgeable in the specific location of materials, but also subject matter specialists knowledgeable in the structure of their disciplines. It is a place where teachers go to seek materials and guidance as part of their preparations for teaching. The size and complexity of the modern school library demand special skills and knowledge from the teacher who would use it effectively, and those who prepare teachers must share the responsibility for providing those skills and knowledge.”

According to the article, Walker surveyed student teachers in Illinois and Oregon to determine the adequacy of their library skills. His conclusion was that institutions responsible for training these students were failing to prepare them to use a modern library.

In April of 1981, questions were used from the Walker survey to test students enrolled in the Department of Education at Idaho State University. Nineteen students in Ed. 101 (Introduction to American Education) and twenty students from Ed. 401 (Philosophy of Education) were included in the survey. Both classes are required for graduation from the teacher education program. Only one student in the ISU survey had taken, at the college level, an introductory class in the use of the library. An examination of the results of the surveys indicates that in almost all areas tested, the ISU students were less adequately prepared than students in the Walker survey. Also, the Ed. 401 students performed at only a slightly higher level than the Ed. 101 students.

Walker recommended that prospective students should have at least one course in library science in order to acquaint them with library service and resources, new developments in library aids, and practices. It was not, however, the purpose of the ISU proposal to suggest that all students entering the teacher education program be required to take such a course. Rather, it seemed more appropriate to recommend that, prior to the time students were admitted to the teacher education program, they be required to take a standardized library skills test such as Feagley’s Library Orientation Test for College Freshmen. This test, according to Lubans,“ is the one most frequently used by universities and colleges for such screening purposes. Those not performing at an acceptable level would then be required to develop improved library skills prior to their admission to the teacher education program. The level of proficiency was determined by comparing the ISU sample to the norms identified in the Feagley test.

For those individuals who did need to upgrade skills in this area, the following options were provided:

1. Students may elect to enroll in L.S. 121 (Introduction to Library Use—2 credits) prior to admission to the teacher education program. With a grade of C or above, students would meet the library skills requirement. This option would not create a burden for most students since this course can be used to fulfill part of their secondary and elementary education requirements.

2. Students are provided with a programmed workbook specifically designed to be used in the ISU library. This program would be administered by the Library Science Coordinator in the Department of Education.

The workbook used is based on those developed in libraries at the University of Colorado, University of California at Los Angeles, and Boise State University. Fourteen units of instruction include information about the card catalog, indexes and abstracts, documents collection, basic reference sources, and services offered by the library. Students complete this program in the library at their own pace, which usually requires 12-15 hours of work. Each workbook has a set of unique questions so that students cannot copy from each other.

It is believed that the new procedure will help assure that students in the teacher education program perform at higher levels in their course work, their student teaching experience, and later in the classroom as regular teachers. It is not too much to ask that teachers graduating with education degrees be able to use books,periodicals, and other materials in school libraries in a competent manner.—George K. Sheppard.

Editor’s Note: George K. Sheppard is professor of education at the Idaho State University‚ Pocatello.

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APPLICANTS SOUGHT FOR ACRL/NEH WORKSHOPS

The Association of College and Research Libraries has been awarded a grant of $62,423 to conduct workshops for academic librarians. The twoday workshops will be held in the Southwest the week of February 21, 1983, and in the Midwest during the week of April 4, 1983. These workshops follow the success of the first two ACRL/NEH workshops on humanities programming for academic librarians which were held on the east and west coasts (see C&RL News‚ May 1982, pp. 169-72).

The purposes of the workshops are:

•to acquaint librarians with the value and potential impact of humanities programs on the library’s program of service;

•to demonstrate how these programs will promote greater use of the library’s humanities holdings;

•to demonstrate how innovative public programs are designed and produced;

•to encourage librarians to make an assessment of their humanities holdings with a view to developing program themes;

•to assist librarians to take preliminary steps in preparing a proposal with particular emphasis toward the solicitation of cost-sharing from either local funding sources or private philanthropy; and •to explain the particular goals and objectives of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the work funded by each of the other NEH divisions.

Applications are sought from librarians wishing to participate in these workshops. Preference will be given to teams of one librarian/one faculty humanist from each institution. Fifty applicants (25 teams) will be accepted for each workshop.

Participants will be selected based on the following criteria:

1. Demonstrated interest in programming beyond the immediate academic community.

2. Ability to assess the library’s humanities holdings and to identify potential topics for humanities programs.

3. Interest in learning how to develop innovative methods of programming to stimulate interest in the humanities in the general adult public.

Participants will be provided with lodging and meals at the workshop site and a travel subsidy of up to $150. Applications must be made on project application forms, available by calling the ACRL office at (312) 944-6780, or writing to ACRL NEH Project, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. The deadline for completed applications is December 10, 1982, for the Southwestern workshop, and January 28, 1983, for the Midwestern workshop.

Project director is Julie Carroll Virgo, ACRL’s executive director. Peggy O’Donnell will serve as the program consultant. ■ ■

BI LIAISON UPDATE

In my role as the new ACRL Bibliographic Instruction Liaison Project officer, a little less than a year remains to accomplish the responsibilities established for this program: attempting to educate faculty and administrators about bibliographic instruction through contact with scholarly organizations, and helping ACRL members coordinate activities relating to the furtherance of BI as a basic library service.

Annual meetings and conferences of professional associations offer the most opportune route to communicate our message and publicize our potential contributions. Providing bibliographic instruction-related sessions and presentations at these meetings is the main goal of the BI Liaison Project, so I am pleased to report on these current and forthcoming activities:

•At the annual American Sociological Association meeting in September, University of Mississippi teaching faculty member Vaughan Grisham presented a slide/tape program and workshop entitled “Library User Skills.”

•In December, at the 1982 Modern Language Association Convention, William Miller, head of the Michigan State University Reference Library, will present a special session on “Computer Databases in Academic Libraries: Implications for Teachers and Scholars of Language and Literature.” Also conducting the session are Eileen M. Mackesy, director for the MLA Center for Bibliographical Services, Maureen Pastine, director of the San Jose State University Library, and William N. Hughes, professor of German at Michigan State University. The presentation will examine the pedagogical and scholarly implications of the new computer databases available in libraries.

•Also in December at the Annual Conference of the American Historical Association, Charles D’Aniello, associate librarian at SUNY-Buffalo, and David Allen, librarian at SUNY-Stony Brook, will report on “Historians, Bibliographic Training, and Library Careers.”

•Scheduled for April, 1983, at the meeting of the Organization of American Historians, D'Aniello; Jane Rosenberg, program associate at the Council on Library Resources; Melvin Tucker, associate professor of history at SUNY-Buffalo; and Robert P. Swierenga, professor of history at Kent State University, will speak on “Using Tomorrow’s Research Library: Research Teaching and Training.” Recent publications of interest to this project include J.E. Evans, Janell Rudolph, and Sharon Mader (all librarians at Memphis State University), “The Sociology Student and the Information Process,” in the ASA Teaching Newsletter, Vol. 7, No. 3, for July, 1982.—Carolyn Kirkendall Director‚ LOEX Clearinghouse„ and ACRL BI Liaison Project Officer‚ Eastern Michigan University‚ Ypsilanti, Michigan. ■■

Notes

1. Jerry L. Walker, “What Do Student Teachers Know about Libraries?” School Libraries 16 (Winter 1967): 17-18, 23.
2. John Lubans, ed., Educating the Library User (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1974).