Study: College students rarely use librarians' expertise

excerpts from the online article:

This is one of the sobering truths these librarians, representing a group of Illinois universities, have learned over the course of a two-year, five-campus ethnographic study examining how students view and use their campus libraries: students rarely ask librarians for help, even when they need it. The idea of a librarian as an academic expert who is available to talk about assignments and hold their hands through the research process is, in fact, foreign to most students. Those who even have the word "librarian" in their vocabularies often think library staff are only good for pointing to different sections of the stacks.

The ERIAL (Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries) project -- a series of studies conducted at Illinois Wesleyan, DePaul University, and Northeastern Illinois University, and the University of Illinois's Chicago and Springfield campuses -- was a meta-exercise for the librarians in practicing the sort of deep research they champion. Instead of relying on surveys, the libraries enlisted two anthropologists, along with their own staff members, to collect data using open-ended interviews and direct observation, among other methods.  . . . .

Exploding the 'Myth of the Digital Native'

The most alarming finding in the ERIAL studies was perhaps the most predictable: when it comes to finding and evaluating sources in the Internet age, students are downright lousy.
Only seven out of 30 students whom anthropologists observed at Illinois Wesleyan "conducted what a librarian might consider a reasonably well-executed search," wrote Duke and Andrew Asher, an anthropology professor at Bucknell University, whom the Illinois consortium called in to lead the project.

Throughout the interviews, students mentioned Google 115 times -- more than twice as many times as any other database. The prevalence of Google in student research is well-documented, but the Illinois researchers found something they did not expect: students were not very good at using Google. They were basically clueless about the logic underlying how the search engine organizes and displays its results. Consequently, the students did not know how to build a search that would return good sources. (For instance, limiting a search to news articles, or querying specific databases such as Google Book Search or Google Scholar.)

. . . . . .

The goal was to generate data that, rather than being statistically significant yet shallow, would provide deep, subjective accounts of what students, librarians and professors think of the library and each other at those five institutions. The resulting papers are scheduled to be published by the American Library Association this fall, under the title: "Libraries and Student Culture: What We Now Know."

see the complete article at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2011-08-22/Study-College-students-rarely-use-librarians-expertise/50094086/1?csp=34news 

Women See Value and Benefits of College; Men Lag on Both Fronts, Survey Finds

Half of all women who have graduated from a four-year college give the U.S. higher education system excellent or good marks for the value it provides given the money spent by students and their families; only 37% of male graduates agree. In addition, women who have graduated from college are more likely than men to say their education helped them to grow both personally and intellectually. These results of a nationwide Pew Research Center survey come at a time when women surpass men by record numbers in college enrollment and completion. Full Report

The Center & Its Projects

The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take positions on policy issues. Its work is carried out by these seven projects:

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press is an independent public opinion survey research project that studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues. It is best known for regular national surveys that measure public attentiveness to major news stories, and for polling that charts trends in values and fundamental political and social attitudes

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Project for Excellence in Journalism  is a research organization that specializes in using empirical methods to evaluate and study the performance of the press.

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Pew Internet & American Life Project conducts original research that explores the impact of the internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care and civic/political life. It seeks to be an authoritative source for timely information on the internet's growth and societal impact.

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The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life launched in 2001, seeks to promote a deeper understanding of issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs. The Pew Forum conducts surveys, demographic analyses and other social science research on important aspects of religion and public life in the U.S. and around the world. It also provides a neutral venue for discussions of timely issues through roundtables and briefings.

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Pew Hispanic Center mission is to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the nation. The Center conducts social science research, including economic, demographic and public opinion studies.

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Pew Global Attitudes Project

Since it began in 2001, the Pew Global Attitudes Project has conducted a series of worldwide public opinion surveys on an array of subjects, from people's assessments of their own lives to their views on the current state of the world and important issues of the day.
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Social & Demographic Trends project studies behaviors and attitudes of Americans in key realms of their lives, including family, community, health, finance, work and leisure. The project explores these topics by combining original public opinion survey research with social, economic and demographic data analysis.

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A "Fact Tank"

Through these seven projects, the Center provides facts and data that help inform the national dialogue. Unlike many think tanks, the Center does not make policy recommendations. As the Center's President, Andrew Kohut, said when the group was launched in 2004, "It's more a 'fact tank' than a think tank. It's a new kind of Washington organization that collects information and disseminates it in an understandable and analytical way, rather than producing expert opinion on policy subjects." The Center's work is often cited by policy-makers, journalists and academics, as well as advocates from across the political spectrum.

http://pewresearch.org/about/projects/

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

The mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is to promote the "peaceful uses of nuclear sciences and technology." To accomplish this mission, IAEA staff inspect nuclear facilities, develop standards to ensure safe operation of nuclear facilities, and act as a hub for scientific and technical information on peaceful nuclear applications. IAEA, created in 1957, is an autonomous agency, but it does report to both the UN General Assembly and Security Council. Its Web site is really more detailed than it appears. It does take some searching skill, but the results are worth it.

The Publications section offers an incredible amount of detailed information on virtually every aspect of nuclear energy and ancillary subject matter. There are numerous free documents, newsletters, factsheets and FAQs, voluminous reports on numerous nuclear energy topics, and briefs that cover everything from food irradiation to the identification of radioactive sources throughout the world. There are also materials for purchase that are useful to researchers and scholars. The News Centre contains stories and multimedia features of interest to journalists and the general public. Readers can subscribe to various news feeds or follow IAEA via social networking tools to learn about new site content. Overall, an excellent resource for those interested in learning about basic to advanced nuclear energy subject matter.  ACRL's Choice August 2011 Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.

eHow.com: Trusted advice for the curious life

eHow.com:
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MovieClips.com - Movie Trailers, Previews, Clips of Old, New, and Upcoming Films

Cofounded by James and Raddon, and enhanced by an advisory board that includes a past president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, along with music/film industry executives, MOVIECLIPS.com provides free access to 12,000-plus film clips from over 2,000 films, legally licensed. The site's staff indexes clips by standard browsable characteristics such as actor, title, and genre and by more evocative concepts such as occasion, mood, and theme. Lists for browsing are arranged alphabetically and give the number of hits in the database. Users may simply click to retrieve a high-image-quality clip. The extensive browsing capabilities are in contrast to the slim search options of actor, movie, director, and dialogue. Searching retrieves individual clips along with several selections grouped by the film in which they appear. From the clip page, users may link to resources such as Amazon.com and iTunes, and also embed or share a clip through Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail. Certain clips, due to mature content, require users to log in. The Privacy Policy for MOVIECLIPS explains the information collected from registered users and how it is used. While nonregistered users can search and use the clips, the policy notes that those who do not register will not have access to all features and functionality. The Terms of Use allow the MOVIECLIPS player to be embedded in other sites for noncommercial purposes, if done in adherence with the procedures listed. Joining requires submitting an e-mail address and a password. This resource provides easy, legal access to film clips. Although the site is still small and in beta, the staff continues to develop selections and take requests from users. This resource will be useful for students and faculty alike, though exploring it is addictive. Recommended by ACRL's Choice, July 2011.