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This investigation examines experiences with and perceptions of information reported by first-year college students whose level of information literacy skill is known. Participants were identified as having either proficient or below-proficient information literacy skills based on an objective test of their abilities. Interviews were performed outside of a classroom or library context and were equally interested in imposed (school assignments) and self-generated (personal) information seeking. The study uses a phenomenographic approach to collect, categorize, and analyze transcripts from seventy-seven interviews. The resulting categories of description illustrate how conceptions of information mask and minimize the need for individuals to attain information literacy skills, the primacy of the Internet and people as information resources, limited interest in information quality, and differences in experience with and perceptions of information when imposed and self-generated contexts are compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Over the course of three years, an educational intervention was developed to teach information literacy (IL) skills, change perceptions of IL, and to recalibrate self views of the abilities of first year college students who demonstrate below proficient information literacy skills. The intervention is a modular workshop designed around the three-step analyze, search, evaluate (ASE) model of information literacy, which is easy to remember, easy to adapt to multiple instructional situations, and can provide a foundation for building information literacy skills. Summative evaluation of the intervention demonstrates that students who attend the workshop see an increase in skills and awareness of information literacy as a skill set. Increases in skills, however, were not sufficient to move participants into the proficient range. While workshop participants were able to reassess preworkshop skills, skills gained in the workshop did not result in recalibrated self-views of ability. Like the development of skills, the recalibration of self-assessments may require multiple exposures to information literacy instruction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article describes the design and development of an educational intervention intended to improve information literacy skills based on research with first-year college students. The intervention was developed over the course of a three-year period, during which time grant funding was received from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), supporting the collection of research data on the learning needs of first-year college students who scored below proficient on a standardized information literacy test. A variety of empirical methods including tests, surveys, interviews, and focus groups were used to collect data. The resulting intervention is a modular session that can be used as a stand-alone presentation or incorporated into other information literacy interventions. The design of the intervention stresses three main research goals: orientation to information literacy as a skill set, improved ability to self assess skills, and the acquisition of at least one skill that demonstrates the utility of instruction. At the heart of the intervention is the three-step Analyze, Search, Evaluate (ASE) process model of information literacy, which is easy to remember, easy to adapt to multiple instructional situations, and can provide a foundation for building additional information literacy skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study replicates a previous study based on work in psychology, which demonstrates that students who score as below proficient in information literacy (IL) skills have a miscalibrated self-view of their ability. Simply stated, these students tend to believe that they have above-average IL skills, when, in fact, an objective test of their ability indicates that they are below-proficient in terms of their actual skills. This investigation was part of an Institute of Museum and Library Services-funded project and includes demographic data about participants, their scores on an objective test of their information literacy skills, and self-estimates of their ability. Findings support previous research that indicates many students come to college without proficient IL skills, that students with below-proficient IL skills have inflated views of their ability, and that this miscalibration can also be expressed by students who test as proficient. Implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]