Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Embedding library utilization in an online Nursing Program through faculty-librarian collaboration

This presentation shares how two Georgia Southern University faculty collaborated to provide information literacy and library support to undergraduate and postgraduate nursing students. The two authors developed a two-phase project to explore and refine a framework for integrating the librarian as an instructor into an online course. This presentation focuses on the first phase of the project, explaining the structure and processes we developed and measuring tools within this framework. The outcomes will be used to inform the second phase of the project where the framework will be tested within a research context. The background to the problem is likely common to all in academia. The faculty member for an online undergraduate and post-graduate Nursing course included the library as a resource in Folio (Desire2Learn Course Management Software). The assumption was that students would utilize these resources in preparing their projects. It was evident the students do not utilize the library and depend on their digital media to access the information. Scrutiny of the assignments indicated students may have the ability to access the information but lack the skills to assess the quality and strength of the evidence within these resources. Health Professionals are expected to advise patients on making informed choices based on best practice, while accreditation and federal agencies demand cost-effectiveness and efficiency based on scientific evidence. To improve students’ information literacy skills, this project embedded a health sciences librarian into the online courses.