A Librarian's Niche

This was a very interesting article, and I think underscores the need for librarians to really market our niche in information management. It is not that students can't find what they want (though many times it is and they don't realize it), but that they find so much they don't know how to parse the good from the bad. Critical thinking and resource evaluation are critical skills that we as librarians need to be focusing on in our work with students.

Amplify’d from http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/communityacademiclibraries/887833-265/survey_finds_students_often_use.html.csp?goback=%2Egde_1825084_news_406138424

Survey Finds Students Often Use Library Resources, But Not Services

A new report released this month from Project Information Literacy at the University of Washington (UW), "Truth Be Told: How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age," [PDF] finds that many higher-ed students struggle with sorting through the vast amounts of information available when doing research, but they tend not to ask librarians for assistance. Indeed, to keep the research process as simple as possible, many appear to fall back on predictable routines that may not produce the best results.

The report's authors, Alison Head and Michael Eisenberg, recommended that academic librarians emphasize teaching research strategies to students, rather than simply helping to find sources for a particular assignment. Read more at www.libraryjournal.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bv999