Curriculum based information literacy skills for first year undergraduate students

This case study centres on the information literacy program for first year undergraduate students at the University of Wollongong Library. The university has one central library servicing an eftsu student population of approximately 9,100. In 1995, 3,000 of these are commencing undergraduates. In global terms this is a small university and, mainly due to physical restrictions of~e campus, it is not predicted to grow above 10,700 eftsu by the year 2000. Therefore, the impact of student numbers on the provision of service will not dramatically change in the near future. The library has always provided bibliographic instruction, either basic orientation to the library or detailed classes on the use of specific reference tools. During the 1980s, it would be fair to say that most of these sessions were conducted with little reference to the academic curriculum and usually consisted of a one hour, content based lesson, with a low level of active participation by students. In a minor way, classes were linked to the overall subject content of the student's courses.