Library use instruction : a model program for community college

Many college students do not realize the central role the academic library should ideally play in their education. . Community colleges in particular, in their unique role of providing both academic and technical instruction, attract many students who probably would otherwise not have gone to college. Many of these students have spent little time in their high school cr public libraries and go through their college careers without realizing how the library can serve their academic, personal, and professional information needs.

The purpose of this study was to develop a comprehensive program of instruction in library use for community college students. To develop the program I reviewed the literature of library use instruction and literature about the community college, its students, and its library/learning resources center. On the basis of this review of the literature and of my own community college teaching experience, I have proposed a four-part program, which includes library orientation for all students in the form of a videotape presentation and a library handbook; basic library skills instruction for all students in the form of a unit in the required English composition course; and in-depth, individualized instruction for highly motivated students in the form of an elective credit course in library use.

This paper discusses first the present state of the art of academic library use instruction. It then describes the community college and its library/learning resources center. Finally, it describes each aspect of the proposed program of library use instruction in general and the elective credit course in detail.