Interactive online instruction for library research: the small academic library experience

Learning is not an electronic process. Technology has become so imbedded in library services that few college students have a memory of a pre-electronic database world of research. Nonetheless, most users experience frustration in trying to negotiate resources or retrieve focused, useful information. Technology and its partner, information literacy, equip students with the tools needed for a proactive role in their own education and for lifelong learning. Independent learners must master the ability to access, evaluate, organize, and present information from all types of sources existing in today’s information-rich society. Yet, the technological and electronic options available are overwhelming, and true information literacy goes beyond a mere knowledge of software and specific interfaces. Without professional instruction users are left in a maze unable to manage the deluge of electronic options or to evaluate the flood of information retrieved