Remediation in the Undergraduate Library

Teaching information literacy requires reference to and use of computers. Computer literacy, defined as the ability to skillfully use computers and their programs to perform a variety of learning and information-based tasks, focuses on improving one's performance with the technology itself. How...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:College & undergraduate libraries 2002-12, Vol.9 (2), p.47-59
Main Author: Lascar, Claudia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic libraries
Computer literacy
computer use
ethnicity
Freshmen
gender differences
Information literacy
Libraries
Students
survey
User needs
User training
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Summary:Teaching information literacy requires reference to and use of computers. Computer literacy, defined as the ability to skillfully use computers and their programs to perform a variety of learning and information-based tasks, focuses on improving one's performance with the technology itself. However, the widely varying computer skills of entering students may go largely unnoticed by instructors, and could impact the successful integration and absorption of information literary instruction. This study addresses two questions with regard to a diverse population of first-time freshmen entering an urban college. Are first-time freshmen ready to learn information literacy skills, or do they require computer literacy instruction first? Secondarily, do their age, ethnicity and gender contribute at all to our understanding of their computer literacy? Survey results of this study suggest that some first-time freshmen may lack sufficient computer literacy to effectively be successful at college. Consequently, these students require remedial computer classes as a prerequisite to information literacy instruction.
ISSN:1069-1316
1545-2530
DOI:10.1300/J106v09n02_06