Over the past decade, information literacy has been a challenge for academic libraries in Portugal. Lately, academic library professionals all over the country have been providing a consistent foundation for both teaching sessions and guidance for students. In this article a systematic literature review is used, in an attempt “to identify, appraise and synthesize all the empirical evidence that meets pre-specified eligibility criteria to answer a given research question” (Higgins & Green, 2011). The aim is therefore to carry out a review that seeks to systematize the state of knowledge about information literacy instruction, trying to answer the research question: how is literacy instruction conducted and provided in Portugal? The objective was to achieve an overview of the practices of information literacy instructional training in a south European country. The overall contribution to the field of IL is mainly a focus on the state of the art of information literacy instruction in Portugal.

1. Reception and application of
information literacy instruction in
Portuguese academic libraries
Tatiana Sanches
Lisbon University, Institute of Education

2. Research question
• How is literacy
instruction conducted
and provided in
Portugal?

3. Objective
• To systematize the state of knowledge
regarding information literacy instruction

4. Methods
• Systematic literature review
– selection of studies available on the Internet
– a survey was performed, both in Portuguese and
English
– EBSCO HOST, B-on and RCAAP
• Conducted during the first quarter of 2013

5. Methods
• Boolean search for:
academic
libraries or
university
libraries
user education
information
literacy

6. Results
• EBSCO-Host Portal: 846 articles matching
4
academic
libraries or
university
libraries
information
literacy
user
education
+ Portugal

7. Results
• B-on Portal: 45,000 references
5
academic
libraries or
university
libraries
information
literacy
user
education
+ Portugal

8. Results
• RCAAP Portal: 154 references
11
academic
libraries or
university
libraries
information
literacy
user
education
+ Portugal

9. Selectivity criteria
• Simultaneous matching of a set of conditions:
– a specific subject (user education in information
literacy);
– the type of study and methodology (case study
analysis of a reality by observation, survey,
interviews, etc.),
– participants (users, readers, students),
– and context (university library).

10. 7 cases / libraries
• Case 1 –Minho University
• Case 2 – Algarve University
• Case 3 –Nova University of Lisbon
• Case 4 – B-on, Biblioteca do Conhecimento On-line
(B-on)
• Case 5 – Lisbon University, Faculty of Medicine
• Case 6 – Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco
• Case 7 – Lisbon University, Faculty of Psychology
and Institute of Education

11. State of the art: recommendations
• To insist on knowledge, on the
part of students, of existing
resources.
• To develop and affirm the intrinsic
value of libraries for the personal
and professional development of
its users.
• To better communicate with target
audiences.

12. State of the art: recommendations
• To actively disseminate
training.
• To understand the
multiplying effect of training.
• To affirm librarians as
promoters of educational
success.
• To integrate the content of
training in information
literacy in the curriculum.

13. IL instruction in Portugal
Information
Skills
Locating
Selecting
Evaluating
To develop
Using
Synthesizing
Presenting

14. Information Skills
• Exceptions:
– Nova University of Lisbon (Faculty of Science and
Technology Library)
– University of Lisbon (library of the Faculty of
Psychology and Institute of Education),
• Their training activities are described as including ideas
related to structuring a scientific work, to registering
information and to writing strategies.

15. Conclusions
• Role of librarians in higher education in Portugal
- investigations and studies still incipient
• Training in information literacy – information
scarce
• Suggestion - Creation of working groups, with
common aims and activities, in order to
strengthen information literacy in Portugal.