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This Guide accompanies the Help your Students Become Skilled Online Researchers Fall 2016 workshop, co-sponsored by CELT and the Library.

Do your students have trouble using research tools beyond Google? In this 30-minute workshop, Susan Vega García, Associate Professor, Parks Library, will help you discover how to introduce students to the actual research tools professionals in your field use, how researchers can use the new library Guides for research, and how you can embed a virtual librarian in your course to help students learn how to become skilled online researchers.

ISU Library staff collaborated with the Ithaka group to conduct a survey in 2015 regarding faculty attitudes and practices toward libraries, information access, scholarly communication issues, instruction, and opinions toward graduate student research skills and undergraduate instruction.

Approximately 487 ISU faculty responded to the survey.  General demographics showed the majority of respondents were male (59%), tenured (56%), primarily taught face-to-face courses (86%), and represented all ISU colleges, with the largest percentage (39%) coming from LAS.

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   57% of respondents strongly agreed that their undergraduate students "have poor skills related to locating and evaluating scholarly information"

   So who's responsible for teaching research skills?  For undergraduates, only 25% of respondents strongly agreed it was THEIR responsibility, yet only 30% of them strongly agreed that it was LIBRARIANS' responsibility.  For graduate students, 65%-83% of respondents strongly agreed they bear high levels of responsibility, yet 88% also agreed-strongly agreed that grad students themselves were principally responsible for developing their own research skills.

  Only 43% of respondents had ever referred graduate students to consult with a librarian.  

   Grad student capabilities to locate academic sources were rated favorably:  89% agreed - strongly agreed.

   Only 29% strongly agreed grad student proficiency levels were excellent in evaluating sources, with 53% indicating adequate evaluation proficiency levels.

   Only 32% strongly agreed that librarians "contribute significantly" to helping respondent's students develop their research skills.  Similar results for graduate students: only 22%-32% strongly agreed that librarians contributed significantly in helping grad students locate scholarly resources or develop their research skills.

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