Student information literacy survey results now freely available

15 April 2013

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Credo, the provider of information skills solutions, has announced the results of an information literacy survey of over 1,500 students from more than 400 institutions worldwide.

'The students’ answers were quite revealing,' said Mike Sweet, Credo’s CEO. 'All of the questions were submitted by librarians and many addressed themes that other information skills studies have attempted to address.

'By layering librarian-suggested questions with pedagogical theories related to assessment, we were able to see exactly where students fall short in the application of information skills. We hope that these results empower librarians to help students in this key area of need.'

Among other key findings, the survey found:

  • 74 per cent of students gave 'reliability' of sources the highest importance, but 24 per cent did not value a peer-reviewed journal over a memoir as an authoritative source;
  • Just over 80 per cent of students feel prepared to conduct research, but only 16 per cent feel very prepared to do research; and
  • Though many students are aware of the wealth of resources available through the library, 69 per cent of students use open web source regularly or almost always while conducting research.

Anyone may register for a free copy, along with a paper authored by Allen McKiel, dean of library services at Western Oregon University, via www.surveymonkey.com/s/Survey_Results.

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