Student perceptions of information literacy: insights for librarians Available to Purchase

To determine what kinds of services are appropriate and necessary for first‐year college students, it is useful to first understand how students acquire and use information during the beginning of their college lives. Questions based on the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education were used in interviews with students in order to better understand the kinds of information first‐year students at Virginia Tech needed, and how they acquired it during their first semester at college. Students were questioned about their information use during fall semester 2000, using both e‐mail questioning and face‐to‐face interviews. The data collected provided insights into how students acquire and use information, and resulted in suggestions that are being used in revising and improving library services for this population.