This 110-page report gives highly detailed data from 36 colleges and universities about the types of open access materials used in information literacy and other library science instruction. The study presents detailed data on use of library special collections in info literacy, and the use of open access library science texts, open access journals, TED talks and other videos, as well as open access sites sponsored by colleges and universities. The report also includes data on the use of open access interactive online resources, and open access directories, among other sources.
The study gives highly product specific data, pinpointing use for information literacy and other library science study assets such as Google Scholar, Merlot, OER Commons, the Open Syllabus Project and many other resources. The study also looks at the use of various open access library science journals and university digital repositories, as well as eBook resources such as the Gutenberg Project, the Internet Archive, the Digital Public Library of American and HathiTrust, among others. The study also provides data on info literacy and other lib science use of technologies such as open access audio books, virtual reality, smartphone apps and interactive tutorials.
Survey participants list their favorite resources, often providing specific references and URL’s for key info literacy concepts and resources Some subject covered include: plagiarism, source credibility determination, peer review, open access, citation development, research paper organization, database use, fact checking, licensing, Wikipedia use and many other areas.
Data in the report is broken down my many personal and institutional variables, including but not limited to size and Carnegie class of institution, and age and gender of the survey respondent.
Just a few of this report’s many findings are that:
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41.67% of respondents had used a university or academic library association YouTube channel in their information literacy or library science education efforts.
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50% of survey participants had used OER Commons in their information literacy efforts.
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Nearly 62% of survey participants from private colleges had used resources from HathiTrust in their information literacy efforts.
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14.29% of survey respondents in small colleges with fewer than 2,000.