Self -Views of Information
Seeking Skills:
Undergraduates’ Understanding of What It
Means to be Information Literate
Melissa Gross & Don Latham
OCLC/ALISE Research Project
Overview
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Background
Study design
Research questions
Participants
Data collection
Results
Implications
Future research
Background
• Information literacy (IL) skills are crucial in today’s
society
– Information Power, ACRL’s IL Competency Standards
• Competency theory (Kruger & Dunning, 1999) suggests
that non-proficient individuals are less likely than
proficient students to be able to self-assess their skill set
accurately.
– Previous research suggests that competency theory applies in
the domain of IL (Gross & Latham, 2007).
• Bruce (1997) studied how educators in higher ed
understand IL
– Very little research has been done into how undergraduates
understand IL and their own IL skills
Study Design
• Participants were recruited from the
freshman class at FSU.
• Semi-structured interviews were
conducted with participants.
• Information literacy measured using the
Information Literacy Test (ILT) developed
at James Madison University (n.d.).
Research Questions
I.
Perceptions of information literacy
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What are freshmen’s understandings of what IL is?
Do freshmen’s conceptions of IL vary for self-generated and
imposed information seeking?
What knowledge base do freshmen see as necessary to become
information literate?
What skills do freshmen see as necessary to be a competent
information seeker?
How do freshmen define successful information seeking?
Research Questions (cont.)
II. Perceptions of attaining information
literacy
• How have freshmen learned what they know about IL?
• Are freshmen ideas about learning IL different for self-generated
and imposed information seeking?
• How do freshmen think that the knowledge base necessary for IL is
best achieved?
• How do freshmen think that the skills necessary for IL are best
achieved?
Research Questions (cont.)
III. Self-views of information literacy
• How do freshmen describe themselves in terms of their IL
competency?
• Do freshmen’s self-views of their own information seeking vary for
self-generated and imposed information needs?
• How do freshmen assess their own knowledge base as regards IL?
• How do freshmen assess their own skill levels as regards IL?
• How do freshmen’s self-assessments of IL compare to their scores
on a standardized test of information literacy?
Participants
• Second-semester freshmen at Florida
State University
• Recruited via an email solicitation
• Targeted freshmen in the top 10% and
bottom 10% as identified by admissions
criteria:
– High school GPA &
– ACT / adjusted SAT score
Demographics
• Total of 20 participants
• Gender
– 15 (75%) females
– 5 (25%) males
• Age
– Almost all were 18 or 19 years of age
Demographics (cont.)
• Segment
– Top 10%:
– Bottom 10%:
17 (85%)
3 (15%)
• Majors
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STEM
8
Business/Economics
5
Music
3
Humanities
3
Education
2
Undecided
1
Note: 2 people were double majoring
Incentives
• Students were given a $30 gift card to the
university bookstore for participating in the
interview.
• They were given a $20 gift card for taking
the ILT.
• Students were told that those who scored
in the top 15% on the ILT would be eligible
for a drawing to receive one of two $50 gift
cards.
Data Collection: ILT
• Computer-based test
• Provides individual scores
• Measures information literacy, based on
the ACRL Competency Standards (ICT
measures both information & computer
literacy.)
• Has been validated and tested for
reliability
ILT Response Time Analysis
• Performed by researchers at JMU
• Looks at the time spent on each question posed
by the ILT by the individual respondent
• Compares time spent to benchmarks
determined for each question concerning the
minimum time it takes a person to answer it, if it
is fully read and responded to
• Our results indicate that students spent a
reasonable amount of time on each question
Interviews
• Semi-structured interviews
• Each was 45 to 60 minutes.
• Both researchers were present during the
interview--one asked the questions; the other
took notes.
• The interviews were recorded and later
transcribed by a graduate assistant.
• Both researchers coded the interviews and then
compared their coding.
• Analysis used constant comparative method.
Results
ILT scores
Interview data
Interpreting ILT Scores
(Wise, Cameron, Yang & Davis, n.d.)
• 65 questions on the test
• 60 questions count; 5 are questions in
development
• > 53 = Advanced
• 39-53 = Proficient
• < 39 = Non-proficient
Results: ILT Scores
Overall, these students have “proficient”
information literacy skills
• One student scored as advanced, with a
score of 54.
• One student scored as non-proficient, with a
score of 38.
• 18/20 students scored as proficient, with
scores between 39 and 53.
Results: ILT Scores (cont.)
Score
# of
Participants
1 (5%)
Advanced
48 - 53
10 (50%)
Proficient
42 - 47
8 (40%)
Proficient
38
1 (5%)
Nonproficient
54
Level
Perceptions of information literacy
• Students were unfamiliar with the term
“information literacy”
• Students see information seeking as
comprised of thinking and learning skills,
more than as computer or library skills
– Understanding/stating the question
– Ability to assess information quality
– Ability to match sources to questions
• Success is finding what you need to know
Self-generated versus imposed
information seeking
Imposed = constrained
• Limited number of
acceptable resource
types can be used
• Deadline/due date
• Need to develop an
interest if it isn’t naturally
there (if you can)
Self-generated = open
• A wealth of resource
types available (but fewer
sources tend to be used)
• You decide when you are
done
• Motivated by “genuine
interest” even if that
interest is casual
Use of others in information seeking
• All but one respondent said they sought
help from others
• All but three said others sought help from
them
• Help took three forms
– Informants (when you want the answer)
– Agents (When you want someone to find the
answer for you)
– Instructors (When you want to be taught
something)
Perceptions of attaining
information literacy
• How they know what they know
– Most see themselves as “self taught”
– Many credit a parent (mostly mom)
– Formal training, if it occurs tends to take place
in elementary school
• New skills are best learned
– As they are needed
– Face-to-face, one-on-one
– Comfortable environment
– Chance to practice
Self-views of
information literacy
• Confident about their ability, but don’t feel
that they know/do anything special
• Most recognize that ability varies among
their cohort at school
• They see computer skills and information
seeking as activities they have been
engaged in over the course of their life and
have adapted to “naturally”
Implications…
• Previous academic success is a fairly
good predictor of performance on the ILT
among this group of respondents.
– However, 45% of our study group scored as
either low proficient (below 80%) or nonproficient (below 65%).
– Excellent students are not necessarily highly
proficient in IL.
Implications (cont.)…
• Students are unlikely to receive (or at least to remember
receiving) IL instruction beyond elementary school.
– What can be done to insure that IL skill development is
incorporated throughout all school levels? And across the
curriculum?
• Students like learning IL skills on their own and with their
peers.
– How can we design instruction that incorporates both individual,
self-paced, and collaborative learning?
Implications (cont.)…
• Students claim to know that the web contains not totally
reliable resources (not good enough for “serious” school
assignments). But they are likely to use the web for their
own information seeking, even in important matters like
choosing a college, planning a trip, or making a decision
about a purchase.
– How can we exploit the natural motivation that comes from selfgenerated information seeking and connect that to the
exploration of databases and other resources beyond the web?
Implications (cont.)…
• The term “information literacy” is unlikely to resonate
with students. So how can we talk about IL?
– Most do recognize the basic skills that we call IL. Is that a place
to start?
• Many assume that everyone their age has these skills.
– Can this be leveraged toward building motivation into IL
instruction?
• Students recognize the importance of technical skills, but
they don’t necessarily prefer technology-mediated
instruction (such as web modules, podcasts, etc.).
– What does this mean for distance ed and virtual help?
Future Research
• Identifying the non-proficient
• Developing a model of the user view of
information literacy
• Moving from understanding to intervening
and establishing a minimum skill level for
non-proficient students
References
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Bruce, C. (1997). The seven faces of information literacy. Australia: Auslib
Press Pty Ltd.
Gross, M. (2005). The impact of low-level skills on information seeking
behavior: Implications of competency theory for research and practice.
Reference and User Services Quarterly, 45, 54-62.
Gross, M. & Latham, D. (2007). Attaining information literacy: An
investigation of the relationship between skill level, self-estimates of skill,
and library anxiety. Library and Information Science Research, 29, 332353.
James Madison University. (n.d.). The Information Literacy Test. Retrieved
December 12, 2005 from
http://www.jmu.edu/assessment/wm_library/ILT.pdf
Kruger, J. & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: How
difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated selfassessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 1121-1134.
Wise, S.L., Cameron, L., Yang, S., & Davis, S. (n.d.). Information literacy
test. Test development and administration manual. James Madison
University.
Thank you.
Melissa Gross
Don Latham
mgross@ci.fsu.edu
latham@ci.fsu.edu