Down with databases and dead eyes: Reimagining first-year college student instruction for real life

Abstract

At Oklahoma State University, the approach to first-year student library instruction is undergoing a dramatic shift. Rather than solely rely on traditional tours and orientation sessions that are infrequently adopted by instructors and may lack enough context to be meaningful to students, librarians are seeking to incorporate approaches that emphasize 'information life skills', social issues, and student self-reflection. By scaffolding our approaches, we are able to connect with first-year students in a variety of ways without being overly redundant. A Library House Party welcomes new students to campus and allows them to interact with peers in an informal and comfortable setting. Our first-year seminar instruction emphasizes digital delivery and incorporates a mobile group scavenger hunt that orients students to the spaces and services found in the library. They are also introduced to tutorials that emphasize Google search skills, fact-checking strategies, the social and ethical implications of information, and habits of inquiry that will help serve them as lifelong learners. Basic academic research skills are covered in Composition II. A new Residential Life Living Learning Community emphasizes service learning and information literacy, while a new 3-credit course explores in-depth the nature of information literacy in a 'post-truth' society.