Robin E. Miller
Graduate Students May Need Information Literacy Instruction as Much as Undergraduates
Curtin University|University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
review ofx0d conway kate 2011 prepared students postgraduate study comparison information literacy skills commencing undergraduate postgraduate studies students curtin university australian academic amp research libraries 422 121135x0d x0d abstractx0d x0d objective determine whether difference information literacy skills postgraduate undergraduate students beginning information studies program examine influence demographic characteristics information literacy skillsx0d x0d design online multiple choice questionnaire test basic information literacy skillsx0d x0d setting information studies program large university western australiax0d x0d subjects 64 information studies students responded email invitation participate online questionnaire 44 response rate responding 23 undergraduates 41 postgraduatesx0d x0d methods course two semesters online survey administered order measure student performance established standards 25 test questions aligned australian new zealand information literacy framework anziil bundy 2004 adapted version acrl information literacy standards higher education association college amp research libraries 2000 first semester survey administered 9 demographic questions asked 11 second semester participants invited respond voluntarily questionnaire via email results presented descriptive statistics comparing undergraduate postgraduate student performance results tested statistical significance author control confounding variablesx0d x0d main results postgraduate respondents scored average 77 test questionnaire undergraduates scored average 69 25 respondents previous work experience library achieved average scores 79 contrast 69 among worked library average scores undergraduates 2030 age group 81 3040 age group averaged 65 among undergraduate postgraduate students scores may indicate deficiencies information literacy skills several areas including parsing citations strategies locating specific content defining information needx0d x0d conclusion study concludes postgraduate students information literacy skills may marginally better skills undergraduates age found associated higher performance among undergraduate students variety basic information literacy skills may elude many respondents findings might prompt librarians instructors look closely gaps information literacy knowledge among students undergraduate postgraduate level