This applied dissertation study utilized the 2007 version of Stufflebeam’s Context Input Process Product Evaluation Model to evaluate the library training program for graduate psychology students at a not-for-profit university in south Florida. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the library training to determine the extent to which desired institutional outcomes and students’ needs were being met. During the 2007-2008 academic year, students received library training by completing an online tutorial known as the e-train module in their first year of study at the university. Data from 14 interviews conducted with librarians, faculty, and students; 100 graded etrain modules; student responses to an online library questionnaire regarding the e-train module; a document containing background information about the library training program for psychology students; and a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools library training report were reviewed and analyzed during the course of the study. Results indicated that the library training needed significant modifications, and students were not acquiring essential library skills. The institution’s librarians and faculty were also dissatisfied with the library training. Based on the study findings, recommendations for changes were provided to the school of psychology and the library. Recommended changes included developing more interactive training that incorporated multimedia elements and integrating library training into the psychology curriculum. In addition, library activities should be tied to specific assignments, and students should receive library training that builds sequentially and developmentally throughout the course of their programs. Study findings played a significant role in the implementation of changes planned for the library training for the following 2008-2009 academic year.

The children's taunt "Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers" gives new credence to the information search process at the elementary school level. Children keep what they find, claim it as their own, and accept information without discernment or critique. This study examines the effectiveness of teaching information literacy skills through three different approaches. The first curricular approach uses direct instruction to teach children how to do research using the Florida Research Process FINDS Model. The second approach pairs the FINDS Model with a unit of study that is related to classroom curriculum. The third approach examines the FINDS Model in conjunction with project learning, a constructivist model based on student interest. One hundred twenty- eight third grade students attending a public elementary school in Southwest Florida during the 2008-2009 school year participated in the study. A mixed-methods research approach was used to gather data. Quantitative data was collected with an information literacy pre and post test, and an anonymous media lessons" survey about student preferences. Qualitative data were gathered through a review of student work samples and student interviews. Statistically significant gains were found between the pre to post test scores for all three groups, however no statistically significant differences were found among groups. Although quantitative data did not reveal differences among the treatment groups, qualitative findings revealed that the group taught research skills through the connection to classroom curriculum approach performed better. Thus the findings of this study support existing research which proposes that the best practice for teaching research skills to young children is through a connection to classroom curriculum.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between selected basic library skills and the use of the library by freshman community college students, and to determine or evaluate the extent to which the use of the library by such students is related to or influenced by the level of their library skills. The population utilized in this study was the total enrollment of freshman students beginning their second semester of study at two typical Texas rural community colleges, namely Cooke County College at Gainesville, Texas, and Grayson County College at Sherman, Texas. Data regarding library skills were obtained through the use of a standardized test instrument, A Library Orientation Test for College Freshmen. Data regarding library use, relevant demographic traits, and selected control variables (age, sex, hours worked, self-perceived library skills, school attended, a measure of intelligence, marital status, and major course of study) were obtained through the use of a specially prepared questionnaire instrument. Through the use of generalized scattergrams with both present study and pilot study data a possible simple linear relationship was found to obtain between library skills and library use in both instances. Bivariate Spearman correlations were then computed for all variables considered in the present study. Those variables showing a strength greater than 0.10 were "promoted" to Pearson correlation values and utilized as input for a multiple linear regression analysis. A conjectural model was constructed from the output of the multiple linear regression analysis which suggested that, if the direction of influence is ignored, the relative importance of the variables utilized in this procedure would be, from most important to least important, tested library skills, hours worked other than attending school, age, and self-perceived library skills.

This study is designed to reveal whether students acquire the domains and levels of library skills discussed in a learning library skills theory after participating in an online library instruction tutorial. The acquisition of the library skills is demonstrated through a review of the scores on online tutorial quizzes, responses to a library skills questionnaire, and bibliographies of course research papers. Additional areas to be studied are the characteristics of the participants enrolled in traditional and online courses at a community college and the possible influence of these characteristics on the demonstrated learning of library skills. Multiple measurement methods, identified through assessment of library instruction literature, are used to verify the effectiveness of the library skills theory and to strengthen the validity and reliability of the study results.