Leveraging Library Instruction in a Digital Age

Abstract

Information management is an indispensable skill in the twenty-first century because finding credible information is now more complicated than ever before. Students continue to experience difficulty locating accurate information, especially for their academic assignments. Studies reveal that a number of factors undermine students' success in locating relevant information and that personal intervention may prove to be the most efficient means of teaching this proficiency. Librarians, however, seldom have more than a class period in which to intervene. Even an hour is enough to mentor students in appropriate techniques in order to allow them to complete their assignment, if virtual support is effective. This chapter illustrates how learning objectives can effectively serve to separate classroom activities in a face-to-face environment from virtually accessed digital instruction. An assignment from a second semester composition class serves as an example of how a teacher can leverage instruction in a face-to-face environment through providing supplemental online content.