Information Literacy Programs in the Digital Age: Educating College and University Students Online (review)

Designing effective and relevant library instruction is essential in any academic library setting—whether it is delivered face-to-face or online. In their book, Information Literacy Programs in the Digital Age: Educating College and University Students Online, Alice Daugherty and Michael F. Russo, both librarians at Louisiana State University, highlight the development, implementation, and assessment of current online information literacy programs.

Recognizing that there is no standard model, Daugherty and Russo set out to showcase a spectrum of online programs across 24 chapters, identifying programs aimed at incoming/transfer students, discipline-specific students, and graduate students. Written by librarians at liberal arts colleges, research universities, and community colleges in North America, these practical, first-hand accounts are organized into three broad categories: information literacy credit courses and programs, information literacy instruction embedded into discipline courses and programs, and information literacy instruction tutorials (general and specific). The fact that the chapters are distributed unevenly across these categories may reveal prevailing trends in the design of online instruction. For example, the tutorials category contains 13 robust chapters, whereas the embedded category contains merely three.

Each essay is easy to digest and conforms to a basic outline; headings such as Rationale, Development, Content, Instruction, Program Assessment, and Lessons Learned are utilized and provide readers with opportunities for quick comparison across essays. Useful curriculum materials, including sample rubrics, student/ faculty feedback forms, quizzes, assignment prompts, and a curriculum map are included and can be easily tailored to meet individual needs. Screenshots and URLs to online tutorials are also supplied for later referral.

Although the lack of an index prohibits quick topic look-ups, three themes emerge from the essays in the book. First, content management systems (CMS) are an obvious medium for online instruction delivery because most distance education (and face-to-face) courses are conducted via them. Over one-third of the essay authors report utilizing their institution's CMS. Whether designing for-credit information literacy courses, working collaboratively with department faculty, or creating Web-based as well as multimedia tutorials, integrating library curriculum content into the CMS ensures that online students have access to instruction and help at their point of need.

Second, assessment is crucial for the continued development of an online information literacy program. Student surveys and open-ended questions remain popular; however, the authors stress tying their assessment practices directly to the learning outcomes they established. Barbara J. D'Angelo collects and evaluates electronic portfolios. Red Wassenich incorporates pre/posttests within her library's "Info Game" tutorial and reviews students' final research papers against a rubric she created. Kelly Rhodes McBride and Deborah A. Murphy et al. conducted usability testing on their redesigned tutorials. Finally, keeping content current and accurate is important, especially as library resources and services change, as well as the tools used to construct the content.

Daugherty and Russo maintain that this volume will be "useful to those just now contemplating an online program for their institution" (ix), yet the variety of program examples offered, in addition to the thoughtful reflections of their individual strengths and weaknesses, make this book truly valuable to instruction librarians wishing to enhance their existing online library instruction programs.