CSUN Freshmen Information Competence, Fall 2007 Summary

Abstract

At the beginning of the fall 2007 semester, 582 freshmen enrolled in all 27 sections of University 100 were asked to complete an online knowledge-based survey of information competence skills, which were based on the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education [http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm]. Four hundred and one surveys were returned, for a response rate of 69%. The majority of the University 100 students (54.4%) did not have formal library instruction prior to coming to CSUN, yet 51.4% felt that their information competence skills were good to excellent. However, as summarized in the table above, only an average of 56% of the questions were answered correctly, with some basic skills testing well-below average. Clearly, with some exceptions, such as understanding plagiarism, critically evaluating Internet resources, recognizing Boolean logic, and using the library catalog to find books, freshmen do not come to CSUN well prepared to undertake assignments requiring basic library research skills.