Library skills and
information literacy
at Iceland University
of Education
Birgir Björnsson
Reference librarian
The Learning Centre
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
Iceland University of Education
Number of students 2300
 2000 students at undergraduate level
 300 students at graduate level
 Faculty and staff members 230

Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
2
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
Iceland University of Education

Department of Undergraduate Studies
Developmental Therapy/Social Pedagogy
Early Childhood Education
Primary and Lower Secondary Education
Recreational and Social Activity Studies
Sports and Physical Education
Teacher Certification
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
3
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
Iceland University of Education

Department of Graduate Studies
Courses for professionals in education
Courses for professionals in
developmental therapy/social pedagogy
Diploma in Education
M.Ed. In Education
Doctoral programme in Education
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
4
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
Iceland University of Education
 Students
at IUE
Female 82%
Male 18%
Distance education students 59%
Regular students 41%
Students mean age 35 years
Age range 19 – 70 years of age
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
5
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
Students as active producers/users of information
 Survey spring 2005
578 students participated
Participation in the survey 24.4%
 Survey spring 2007
441 students participated
Participation in the survey 20%
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
6
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
Students as active producers/users of information
How do the students use
the Internet (2005)?
Play online games 21%
Write blog 22%
Use Skype 26%
Publish a web site 28%
Sending/receiving SMS 64%
Sending/receiving e-mails 99%
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
7
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
Students as active producers/users of information
How do the students use
the Internet (2005)?
Watch movies online 7%
Download music online 15%
Watch television online 17%
Listen to music online 21%
Listen to radio online 22%
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
8
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
Students as active producers/users of information
How do the students use
the Internet (2005)?
Search for goods and services 75,5%
Search for scholarly sources 98,5%
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
9
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
The student´s self-perception
I am good in searching Gegnir,
the union catalog of Icelandic libraries
50
45
45
38
40
Percentage (%)
35
28
30
25
20
15
20,5
18,5
15
12
12
7
10
5
4
0
Highly agree Rather agree
Neither/nor
Rather
disagree
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
Highly
disagree
10
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
The student´s self-perception
My knowledge about where to search for
scholarly sources on the Internet is:
60
52 52
Percentage (%)
50
40
29 31
30
20
10
10
8,5 9
7
0,5 1
0
Very good
Rather good
Neither/nor
Rather little
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
Very little
11
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
The student´s self-perception
My knowledge on planning
searches on the internet is:
45
41
40
36
35,5 35
Percentage (%)
35
30
25
19
20
16
15
10
7
5,5
2,5 2,5
5
0
Very good
Rather good
Neither/nor
Rather little
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
Very little
12
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
The student´s self-perception
I do search the Internet
systematically for sources
45
42
39
40
34,5
Percentage (%)
35
31,5
30
25
20
15
17
12 11
11
10
5
0,5 1,5
0
Highly agree Rather agree
Neither/nor
Rather
disagree
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
Highly
disagree
13
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
The student´s self-perception
I do believe that good knowledge on
how to search the Internet is desirable
70
62 62
60
Percentage (%)
50
40
32,530,5
30
20
10
4,5
6
0,5 1,5
0,5
0
0
Highly agree Rather agree
Neither/nor
Rather
disagree
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
Highly
disagree
14
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
The student as a consumer
I search with Gegnir,
the union catalogue of Icelandic libraries
40
36
35
32
34
28,5
Percentage (%)
30
26
22,5
25
20
15
10
10
5
3
5
3
0
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Less than
monthly
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
Never
15
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
The student as a consumer
When searching the Internet
for sources I use:
120
97
Percentage (%)
100
87
73
80
60
67
54
35
40
40
36
26
20
0
Gegnir - union
catalogue of
Icelandic libraries
Hvar.is - portal to
electronic
databases
Databases
Search engines
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
Mass media
16
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
The student as a consumer
I have used
the following search engines (2005):
Ask Jeeves 8,5%
Google 97%
Leit.is 93%
MSN 13,5%
Yahoo 62%
Meta search engines 1- 4,5%
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
17
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
The student´s actual knowledge
When using Gegnir: Can you define your search
only to search whithin the library of IUE?
60
52
Percentage (%)
50
40
44,5
48,5
36
30
20
12
7
10
0
Yes
No
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
Don´t know
18
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
The student´s actual knowledge

Can you find everything on the Internet
by using Google (2005)?
Yes 14%
No 47%
Don´t know 39 %
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
19
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
The student´s actual knowledge

Are articles found in ProQuest
all in full text (2005)?
Yes 0,5%
No 25%
Don´t know 74,5%
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
20
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
The student´s actual knowledge

Is the following search string an
example of narrowed search (2005)?
education AND curriculum
Yes 24%
No 12,5%
Don´t know 63,5%
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
21
Library skills and information literacy at Iceland University of Education
The librarian´s headache!
So what is new?
What is next?
Birgir Björnsson - Nordisk sommerskole
2007
22