Students' Perception of the Impact of User Education on the Use of Reference Resources: An Iranian Experience

Abstract

Introduction The 21st century is the age of science. Scientific knowledge is created and communicated largely through teaching and research. University libraries are an integral part of teaching and research. Teaching and research depend upon the library, and achievements in teaching and research are not possible without the Expenses for library resources are considerable, and users should therefore be familiar with library and their applications. User education is a vital part of this process. Instruction in using reference works is an important and effective aspect of user education. Studies show that about 60% of students could not make use of reference works and that about 90% considered user education vital (Prorak, 1994: 69). Librarians can train users better and more carefully than other experts. Library user education provides a collection of skills that have a close relationship to other educational goals. Problem Statement The volume of scholarly and scientific publications is very large, with about 1,000 new books and 9,600 periodical titles published daily in the United States alone. The amount of available is too large for anyone to access all and resources. Users must be able to discriminate and select. Selection is not possible without sufficient knowledge. User education is necessary for the best use of resources. Information literacy is a major subject in the field of library user education programs. The American Library Association (ALA) defines literacy: To be literate, a person must be able to recognize when is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the needed information (Webber and Johnston, 2003). Research on user needs and abilities can strengthen literacy efforts. This study is a survey of students' familiarity with reference resources and their applications. Hypotheses The study has three hypotheses: * Most students do not know different approaches to information-seeking through reference resources. * There is a significant difference between trained students (those who have passed courses Familiarity with library and librarianship and Bibliology by library and professors) and untrained students (those who have not had any education in library and science) * Teaching a course entitled Familiarity with library and its materials is the most effective form of user education. Research Questions In this survey, we try to answer the following questions: * What is the level of students' familiarity and proficiency in using reference works? * Do students feel that user education is a necessity? * What are the best methods of user education from the student point-of-view? * Who can provide the best user education? Methodology This study is a descriptive survey. The population is all students at Qom Islamic Azad University (QIAU), which has about 6,800 students (Diploma, Bachelor, and Master of Science, and Ph.D). About 350 students were selected using the Krejcie and Morgan formula. Information was gathered using a questionnaire of 22 questions (20 short-answer and 2 open -ended). Data analysis includes descriptive statistics, mean, standard deviation, charts, and student T-test. Related Studies User education in libraries evolved at the end of the nineteenth century (Salony, 1995). Vogel (1972, quoted in Atarodi, 1996) performed the first user education study. He found that, there is always a barrier between librarians and university users (students). The library building and its different parts are barriers ... between patrons and the library. Whitaker (1976) asks two basic questions: why do some people use libraries more than others, and why is using some libraries easier than others? …