1) The University of Southern California's Leavey Library received 1.4 million visits last year, illustrating how a library can become integral to campus life if designed with an understanding of Net Gen students' needs. 2) There is a disconnect between the culture of traditional library organizations and that of Net Gen students. Libraries emphasize access to information but do not support student creation of new information or multimedia environments preferred by Net Gen students. 3) Net Gen students perceive the open web as their information universe, not the library. They prefer simple search engines like Google over navigating complex library databases and sites. Libraries must make their resources more accessible and integrate them into students' online environments.

1. NET By Joan K. Lippincott GENERATION
STUDENTS &
LIBRARIES
Reprinted by permission of the author, from Educating the Net Generation, ed. Diana G. Oblinger and James L. Oblinger
(Boulder, Colo.: EDUCAUSE, 2005), available in electronic form on the EDUCAUSE Web site: <http://www.educause.
edu/educatingthenetgen/>.
Introduction Even prior to ubiquitous use of the In- This chapter will explore how libraries
The University of Southern Califor- ternet, libraries were using technology might better adapt to the needs of Net
nia’s Leavey Library logged 1.4 million for access to scholarly databases, for Gen students in a number of specific
visits last year.1 That remarkable statis- circulation systems, and for online cat- areas.
tic illustrates how much a library can alogs. With the explosion of Internet Libraries and digital information
become part of campus life if it is de- technology, libraries incorporated a resources can play a critical role in the
signed with genuine understanding of wide array of digital content resources education of today’s students. Li-
the needs of Net Generation (Net Gen) into their offerings; updated the net- braries license access to electronic
students. This understanding relates work, wiring, and wireless infrastruc- journals, which provide key readings
not just to the physical facility of the li- tures of their buildings; and designed in many courses, and set up electronic
brary but to all of the things that a new virtual and in-person services. reserve systems to facilitate easy use of
library encompasses: content, access, However, technology has resulted in materials. Libraries are an important
enduring collections, and services. Li- more modernization than transforma- resource for assignments that encour-
braries have been adjusting their col- tion. There is an apparent disconnect age students to go beyond the course
lections, services, and environments to between the culture of library organi- syllabus. They provide access to the
the digital world for at least 20 years. zations and that of Net Gen students. marketplace of ideas that is a hallmark
of American higher education. Since
Joan K. Lippincott is the associate executive director of the Coalition for Networked Infor- much of the learning in higher educa-
mation, a joint project of the Association of Research Libraries and EDUCAUSE. tion institutions takes place outside
56 EDUCAUSE r e v i e w March/April 2005 © 2005 Joan K. Lippincott

2. the classroom, libraries can be one im- organization context rather than in a Gen students’ reliance on visual cues
portant venue for such learning. The user-centered mode. Libraries empha- in using the Internet and build Web
library can play a critical role in learn- size access to information but gener- pages that are more visually oriented.
ing directly related to courses, such as ally do not have facilities, software, or
writing a paper, and processes related support for student creation of new in- The Library Versus the Web
to lifelong learning, such as gathering formation products. All of these dis- Net Gen students clearly perceive the
information on political candidates in connects can be remedied if appropri- open space of the World Wide Web as
order to make informed choices in an ate attention is paid to the style of Net their information universe. This is in
upcoming election. Libraries provide Gen students. opposition to the worldview of librari-
collections, organized information, ans and many faculty, who perceive the
systems that promote access, and in- Access to and Use of library as the locus of information rele-
person and virtual assistance to en- Information Resources vant to academic work. Students usu-
courage students to pursue their edu- When students use a wide array of in- ally approach their research without
cation beyond the classroom. formation resources that they seek out regard to the library’s structure or the
It is difficult to generalize, but this on their own, they can enrich their way that the library segments different
chapter will use some characteristics of learning through exploration of topics resources into different areas of its Web
the Net Gen student that have been de- of interest. However, with the vast re- site. Library Web sites often reflect an
scribed by a number of researchers.2 sources of the Web available, students organizational view of the library (for
Given that this generation of college must first make choices about how to example, how to access the reference
students has grown up with computers access information and then which in- department or online catalog); they do
and video games, the students have be- formation resources to use in their not do a particularly good job of aggre-
come accustomed to multimedia envi- gating content on a particular subject
ronments: figuring things out for area. Students usually prefer the global
themselves without consulting manu- Since students searching of Google to more sophisti-
als; working in groups; and multitask- often find library- cated but more time-consuming
ing. These qualities differ from those sponsored resources searching provided by the library,
found in traditional library environ- where students must make separate
ments, which, by and large, are text- difficult to figure out searches of the online catalog and every
based, require learning the system on their own, they database of potential interest, after first
from experts (librarians), were con- prefer to use the identifying which databases might be
structed for individual use, and as- simplistic but relevant. In addition, not all searches of
sume that work progresses in a logical, library catalogs or databases yield full-
linear fashion. responsive Google. text materials, and Net Gen students
What are some of the major discon- want not just speedy answers, but full
nects between many of today’s aca- explorations and assignments. In- gratification of their information re-
demic libraries and Net Gen students? creasingly, students use Web search quests on the spot, if possible.
The most common one is students’ de- engines such as Google to locate infor- Recent surveys exploring college
pendence on Google or similar search mation resources rather than seek out student use of the Web versus the li-
engines for discovery of information library online catalogs or databases of brary confirm the commonly held per-
resources rather than consultation of scholarly journal articles. Many faculty ception of faculty and librarians that
library Web pages, catalogs, and data- express concern that students do not students’ primary sources of informa-
bases as the main source of access. know how to adequately evaluate the tion for coursework are resources
Since students often find library- quality of information resources found found on the Web and that most stu-
sponsored resources difficult to figure on the Web, and librarians share this dents use a search engine such as
out on their own, and they are seldom concern. Libraries need to find ways to Google as their first point of entry to
exposed to or interested in formal in- make their information access systems information rather than searching the
struction in information literacy, they more approachable by students, inte- library Web site or catalog.3 Several
prefer to use the simplistic but respon- grate guides to quality resources into campus studies also examined where
sive Google. Another disconnect is that course pages, and find ways to increase students gather information for a
digital library resources often reside their presence in general Web search paper or an assignment. One study at
outside the environment that is fre- engines. Newly emerging services such Colorado State University yielded in-
quently the digital home of students’ as Google Scholar are providing access formation that 58 percent of freshmen
coursework, namely, the course man- to more library resources in the gen- used Google or a comparable search
agement system, or CMS. Library ser- eral Internet environment. Libraries engine first, while only 23 percent
vices are often presented in the library also need to be more cognizant of Net started with a database or index.4
March/April 2005 EDUCAUSE r e v i e w 57

3. The world of information is large table example is AgNIC (http://www. on Web pages and often relied on
and complex. There are no easy an- agnic.org), serving the field of agricul- graphics and visual cues to interpret
swers to providing simplified searching ture. Some libraries are developing the relevance of such pages.9 Libraries
to the wealth of electronic information mechanisms to link subject pathfind- and information service providers gen-
resources produced by a wide range of ers into course management systems erally do not design their resources
publishers using different structures for every course at the institution. with such criteria in mind. Incorporat-
and vocabularies. Students may per- This useful strategy brings the infor- ing students on design teams and giv-
ceive that librarians have developed mation to the place where students ing them the go-ahead to reenvision
systems that are complex and make will be actively engaged in academic the way the library displays its re-
sense to information professionals but work. Librarians at the University of sources would be a useful method of
are too difficult to use without being an Rochester looked for new ways to developing information that resonates
expert.5 However, as new generations bring quality subject resources to the better with Net Gen students.
of information products are developed, attention of students. They recog- To summarize, Net Gen access ser-
producers and system developers nized that “undergraduate students’ vices will:
should try to address the information- mental model is one focused on
seeking habits of Net Gen students. Li- courses and coursework, rather than ■ Continue to integrate library infor-
braries and the global service provider disciplines.” Therefore, they devel- mation into Google or other popu-
OCLC are working with Google so that oped a mechanism to incorporate lar access mechanisms
information from peer-reviewed jour- pathfinders into every course at the ■ Offer simplified and graphic ways
nals, books, theses, and other academic institution using the course manage- for students to approach subject
resources can be accessed through the ment system.7 searches
Google Scholar search service. This is a ■ Integrate subject guides or path-
step in the right direction, taking li- Students relied finders into CMS or other locations
brary resources to where students want heavily on information conducive to use
to find them.6 Libraries also need to in- ■ Integrate searching of “open” Web
tegrate more multimedia resources into displayed in graphic resources and materials owned or
their searchable content; this type of form on Web pages licensed by the library
digital content is becoming increas- and often relied on
ingly important to Net Gen students, graphics and visual Library and Information Services
who may wish to study an audio Librarians often take great pride in the
recording of political speeches and in- cues to interpret personalized information services they
corporate segments into a term project the relevance of offer to their constituencies and the
as well as access books and journals on such pages. classes they teach to incorporate infor-
the topic. However, libraries typically mation literacy into the academic cur-
incorporate information objects into Both students and faculty believe riculum. While many of today’s Net Gen
their catalogs only when those re- that the library is doing a poor job with students have grown up with technol-
sources are owned or licensed by the li- helping them discern which Web re- ogy, they do not necessarily have the req-
brary. Is this still a relevant strategy in a sources are suitable for academic uisite knowledge or skills to use technol-
world of global access to information work.8 Libraries are addressing this ogy and digital information in ways
via the Internet? concern by developing portals to cata- appropriate to the academy. Librarians
logs, licensed databases, and Web sites should persist in their efforts to find
Locating Quality Digital Information that would meet the kinds of criteria ways to help students learn about digital
Providing mechanisms for informa- used in building academic library col- information, including important pol-
tion seekers from academe to locate lections and by working with such icy issues in this arena, such as privacy
quality information resources in a projects as Google Scholar. and intellectual property. They should
particular subject area is also a chal- consider updating some of their meth-
lenge for libraries—a very important Incorporating Visual Cues ods for teaching students, incorporating
one. Many academic libraries provide Designing Web pages that are respon- gaming technology, or developing more
“library guides” or pathfinders to sive to Net Gen students’ style would visually oriented instruction aids, for ex-
quality information resources, avail- also help guide students to appropriate ample. One-on-one services offered
able through the library Web site, but content or help them when they have electronically should be tailored to stu-
typically they are not heavily used. A problems with searches. A study of dents’ characteristics, such as their
limited number of subject disciplines high school students’ Web searching propensity to work late hours and use a
have developed coordinated Web revealed that students relied heavily on variety of technologies, including lap-
guides to information resources; a no- information displayed in graphic form tops and cell phones.
58 EDUCAUSE r e v i e w March/April 2005

4. Fluency with Technology ency in information technology,” brarians are working in partnership to
and Information Literacy which incorporates both information incorporate information literacy skills
Are Net Gen students already so tech- technology and literacy skills. The re- and undergraduate research into large-
nology literate and information savvy port’s authors divided skills into three enrollment courses with the goal of as-
that they have no need for instruction categories: foundational concepts, sisting students in developing skills
or personal assistance in using tech- contemporary skills, and intellectual that will serve them throughout their
nology and library and information re- capabilities. They recommended that coursework at the institution.14
sources? We know that Net Gen stu- each university’s subject area curricu-
dents come to campus having played lum develop ways to incorporate in- Delivering Service with Style
hours of video games, having spent struction in these topics; however, they Information and technology literacy
much of their spare time surfing the lamented that this is not currently the represents a content area in Net Gen
Net and instant messaging their case.11 The Association of College and students’ education that has not been
friends, and having used multiple elec- Research Libraries (ACRL), a division fully addressed. Separate but related is
tronic devices simultaneously. On the of the American Library Association, the “style” issue of how best to deliver
other hand, we hear complaints from has also developed guidelines for in- this educational content and provide
faculty that students use inappropriate formation literacy, but they have not information and technology services
sources from the Web to support their been widely implemented by universi- to Net Gen students. Net Gen students
ideas in term papers instead of peer- ties.12 Technology and information lit- work in information environments,
reviewed academic resources; that eracy are generally perceived to be “li- and a very important one in college is
they submit multimedia projects that brary” or “IT” problems, not overall the course management system. Li-
are superficial and full of glitz, not sub- curricular issues. braries should develop tutorials, exer-
stance10—and that they no longer read, cises, and guides that can readily be
period. Libraries should embedded in course materials within
When students graduate, their fac- explore blogs as a course management systems, and
ulty in graduate degree programs and some are already doing this.15 They can
their employers expect that they will mechanism for develop games to teach these skills;
have a facility with technology and students to exchange TILT, the Texas Information Literacy
with digital information that the older information on Tutorial (http://tilt.lib.utsystem.edu/),
generations do not have. New office re- valuable information developed by The University of Texas
cruits are often hired because of their at Austin libraries, is an early example.
Internet skill and are given projects resources they find for Simulations such as Environmental
that exploit their technology and in- particular course Detectives (http://cms.mit.edu/games/
formation skills, developed during assignments. education/Handheld/Intro.htm) can
their college years. incorporate information-seeking skills
In addition, today’s college gradu- At Southwestern University, a team into the game, reinforcing Net Gen stu-
ates live in a world where it is impor- of IT professionals, librarians, and fac- dents’ interest in figuring things out
tant to understand key information ulty developed a student survey based and working in groups. Libraries
policy issues. Intellectual property, on both the National Academies’ flu- should explore blogs as a mechanism
privacy, and First Amendment issues ency with information technology for students to exchange information
are fundamental to operating as an in- principles and the ACRL Information on valuable information resources
formed citizen in today’s information Literacy Competency Standards. Their they find for particular course assign-
society and directly affect the work of findings revealed that while students ments. Blogs sponsored by the library
individuals who create, as well as use, rated themselves highly in their ability might be particularly effective for
networked information. to find information on the Internet, graduate students beginning their dis-
While Net Gen students generally they recognized that they floundered sertations and needing advice from
can multitask, learn systems without when they attempted to find materials peers and information professionals
consulting manuals, and surf the Web, appropriate for their research and on locating materials for their litera-
they lack technology and information wasted much time in the process. The ture reviews.
skills appropriate for academic work. students also expressed a desire for An emerging area of literacy is the
Higher education institutions do not more technology applications to be in- need for students to increase their flu-
integrate or package technology and tegrated into their courses. 13 This ency with representing their knowl-
digital information skills instruction model is being explored through a edge in the digital, multimedia world.
into the mainstream curriculum. Mellon Foundation–sponsored proj- George Lucas stated that students need
A National Academies report de- ect at the University of California, to learn a “language of screens” in
scribed a model set of skills for “flu- Berkeley, where selected faculty and li- order to be effective communicators
60 EDUCAUSE r e v i e w March/April 2005

5. today.16 The Visible Knowledge Proj- but complex chat software rather than mation literacy class sessions for fear
ect, in which university faculty are the simpler systems typically used by that the response might overwhelm
working with multimedia content and Net Gen students. Librarians might their capabilities. Instead, the service
developing assessment mechanisms to need to change their mindset of em- was not heavily used.18 They did collect
measure the effectiveness of their in- ploying the most sophisticated soft- some responses as to why students took
struction, is also working on guidelines ware that enables features they believe advantage of the service, and conven-
to assist faculty in evaluating student could provide improved service, such ience was the main reason. One student
multimedia projects.17 While Net Gen as permitting the librarian to demon- reinforced why this type of service has
students often prefer creating a multi- strate a search or review an informa- appeal to the multitasking Net Gen stu-
media project rather than a term paper tion resource in one window while dents by replying that he had used the
that is entirely text, they need assis- chatting with the student in another, in service instead of phoning the library
tance in understanding how to repre- preference for software that students so that he could continue working and
sent their knowledge in a form that is are more likely to use. browsing while waiting for an answer
appropriate for academic work, just as In one study where a library did use from the librarian.
they need to learn to write in a way that standard AOL Instant Messenger soft-
meets the standards of the academy. ware, other roadblocks to student Visual, Interactive Services
adoption were put into place. The li- Students also like self-service, inter-
Reference Services brarians noted in their report on the active Web sites, and it is surprising
Although libraries have offered e-mail service that they did not staff it during that libraries haven’t developed visual
reference services for a number of late-night hours when students were representations of their services that
years, they were slow to adopt chat and most likely to use the service and that students could explore. A survey by
sometimes developed sophisticated they did not market the service in infor- OCLC found that one of students’ top
62 EDUCAUSE r e v i e w March/April 2005

6. suggestions for libraries was to offer light a “resource of the week,” to better about the implementation of those ser-
interactive maps, study tips, and publicize information content that vices. Making use of the imagination,
guides.19 An example of that type of could likely assist students in their as- creativity, technical skills, and perspec-
environment is a Web site developed signments. They could use customized tives of Net Gen students is the best
by the British Museum as a “student’s mouse pads to advertise URLs for se- way to ensure that new services will be
room” for an exhibit of Mughal, India, lected information resources. responsive to both their needs and
an ancient civilization.20 Students see Libraries also need to think about their style.
an office-style room that they can ex- new services using mobile technology To summarize, Net Gen informa-
plore by clicking on components such such as cell phones. They might allow tion services will:
as a globe, file cabinets, book shelves, students to reserve group study rooms
and so forth. They are then led to mu- and be alerted to availability via their ■ Use students on teams that design
seum resources including an atlas and cell phones, send simple text-message new services and environments
primary resources from the museum’s queries to library catalogs or databases, ■ Integrate services into course man-
collections on the Mughal period. This or check library hours via text messag- agement systems
type of model could be used for a li- ing. Such services might be particu- ■ Explore services for mobile devices
brary reference room and its resources. larly valuable for students who live off ■ Represent services and instruction
Libraries could add value to key campus. visually and in multimedia modes
pages of their Web sites by including How will we conceive and design ■ Focus on partnership models
interactive tutorials on how to find in- these new services? Librarians should ■ Emphasize how to evaluate infor-
formation or how to judge quality in- consult with students in the design mation resources
formation resources. Libraries could phase of services and incorporate stu- ■ Emphasize information policy
use part of their home page to high- dents on teams that make decisions issues
March/April 2005 EDUCAUSE r e v i e w 63

7. Environments work on workstations configured for environment, a celebration of technol-
Although technology has transformed individual or group work, develop ogy, and an invitation to communicate.
many campuses, physical spaces re- multimedia projects, and get advice One editor wrote, after interviewing an
main important in most higher educa- from reference librarians. Adjacent to architect who had designed a vibrant
tion institutions. The library offers a the information commons are multi- new library at the University of Nevada
venue where academic work can be media classrooms and a computer lab Las Vegas, “…try to think of your li-
carried out in a social context. As li- with support by Information Technol- brary as an environment rather than a
braries renovate facilities to incorpo- ogy staff. The Indiana University infor- facility—a place of interaction, learn-
rate technology, they are also making mation commons, developed jointly by ing, and experiencing rather than a
them more suitable for student group the library and IT and situated on the place for storage and equipment.”21
work, informal socializing, and ubiq- first floor of the library, incorporates Library physical spaces continue to
uitous computing. Information Com- single and multiuser workstation areas, be valued places for building commu-
mons often provide space, worksta- group study rooms, and classrooms nity in colleges and universities. Impor-
tions, and software that encourage and offers a wide range of services sup- tantly, they also provide an atmosphere
both access to information and the ca- ported from a circular central desk in which social and academic interests
pability to create new information staffed by library and IT staff. can easily intersect. When students were
products. Some Information Com- While there is no one widely ac- asked what they desired in an upcoming
mons offer joint support to users from cepted definition of an information renovation of Teachers College at Co-
both the library and IT units. It is less commons, generally it is a physical lumbia University Library, they replied
common for libraries to rethink their space, not always in the library, that that they wanted “a social academic ex-
virtual services to provide a better incorporates many workstations perience.”22 Libraries can promote com-
complement to their physically based munity by providing comfortable
services. Libraries have opportunities spaces for informal gatherings of stu-
to alter their marketing strategies and Libraries can dents. Many libraries are adding coffee
their use of visual representations of promote bars to their lobby areas or a building
information to encourage more and community adjacent to the library; such spaces en-
new creative uses of digital informa- courage students to continue conversa-
tion resources.
by providing tions on topics of academic interest. Li-
comfortable braries might develop new ways of
Library Physical Spaces spaces for informal promoting community among students,
As the Leavey Library at USC men- gatherings of related to course activity. For example,
tioned above demonstrates, students they may develop a message board or
will flock to library facilities that offer
students. online mechanism for students to iden-
environments conducive to Net Gen tify who else in the library building
learners. What Leavey offers are hun- equipped with software supporting a might be working on an assignment for a
dreds of workstations in configurations variety of uses, offers workspace for in- particular course if they need help from
that support both individuals and small dividuals and groups, provides com- a peer or wish to study as a group.23
groups, group study rooms where stu- fortable furniture, and has staff that
dents can work together on projects, can support activities related to access Integrating Physical and
workstations equipped with a wide to information and use of technology Virtual Environments
array of software that can be used for to develop new products. While infor- Most libraries have not yet learned
creation of new information products, mation commons are usually devel- how to effectively integrate physical
and staff with both library and informa- oped for student use, some incorpo- spaces with virtual spaces and services.
tion technology expertise who can ad- rate centers for teaching excellence or For example, the introductory screen
dress subject-information requests and instructional technology support ser- on workstations in an information
technology hardware or software issues. vices for faculty. commons may have no description of
Many academic libraries are follow- These new types of library spaces the services or digital information
ing the Leavey Library model and are communicate a welcoming attitude to products offered there. Vassar College
transforming part of their physical Net Gen students. They are the oppo- has remedied this in their Media Clois-
space into information commons, mul- site of old-style formal reference ters (http://mediacloisters.vassar.
timedia production areas, classrooms, rooms where students were expected edu/), where entering visitors are con-
or all three. For example, the University to sit on straight wooden chairs and fronted with a brightly colored set of
of Arizona’s Learning Center has com- work individually and silently, without screens introducing student members
ponents that include a library informa- access to technology. Instead, these of the multimedia team and advertis-
tion commons where students can spaces project a comfortable, relaxed ing their areas of expertise.
64 EDUCAUSE r e v i e w March/April 2005

8. How might libraries market services students have developed all their lives 5. OCLC, op. cit.
to Net Gen students, who are often with the fruits of the academy, li- 6. See the OCLC Open WorldCat program,
<http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/pilot/default.
visual learners? One possibility is to lit- braries can offer environments that htm>, and About Google Scholar, <http://
erally project information onto the resonate with Net Gen students while scholar.google.com/scholar/about.html#about>.
walls of the information commons. In enriching their college education and 7. Brenda Reeb and Susan Gibbons, “Students, Li-
brarians, and Subject Guides: Improving a Poor
a changing display, libraries could de- lifelong learning capabilities. e Rate of Return,” Portal: Libraries and the Academy,
velop programs to project pages of vol. 4, no. 1 (January 2004), pp. 123–130, <http://
electronic journals, guides to subject References muse.jhu.edu/journals/portal_libraries_and_
1. Darren Schenck, “Super_Model,” Bibliotech USC: the_academy/toc/pla4.1.html>.
fields or topics that many students are 8. Lippincott and Kyrillidou, op. cit.
Annual Report Edition 2003 (Los Angeles: USC In-
working on during a specific week, formation Services), p. 21, <http://www.usc. 9. Raya Fidel et al., “A Visit to the Information Mall:
quality Web sites with good visual dis- edu/isd/giving/private/documents/pubs/ Web Searching Behavior of High School Stu-
bibliotech_04.pdf>. dents,” Journal of the American Society of Information
plays (for example, museum Web Science, vol. 50, no. 1 (January 1999), pp. 24–37.
2. See a variety of resources including Diana G.
sites), and student or faculty multime- Oblinger, “The Next Generation of Educational
10. Robert Zemsky and William F. Massy, Thwarted
dia information products. Such dis- Innovation: What Happened to E-Learning and Why
Engagement,” Journal of Interactive Media in Educa-
(West Chester, Penn.: The Learning Alliance at
plays would alert students to the broad tion, vol. 8 (May 2004), <http://www.jime.
the University of Pennsylvania, 2004), <http://
open.ac.uk/2004/8>; Marc Prensky, “Digital Na-
array of electronic information re- tives, Digital Immigrants,” On the Horizon, vol. 9,
www.thelearningalliance.info/Docs/Jun2004/
sources accessible through the library ThwartedInnovation.pdf>.
no. 5 (October 2001); Marc Prensky, “Digital Na-
11. National Research Council, Being Fluent with In-
and could prompt student interaction tives, Digital Immigrants, Part II: Do They Really
formation Technology (Washington, D.C.: National
Think Differently?” On the Horizon, vol. 9, no. 6
with a reference librarian to pursue (December 2001); Marc Prensky, “Overcoming
Academies Press, 1999), <http://www.nap.edu/
similar sources for their projects. catalog/6482. html>.
Educators’ Digital Immigrant Accents: A
12. Association of College and Research Libraries
To summarize, Net Gen informa- (ACRL), Information Literacy Competency Standards
tion environments will: for Higher Education (Chicago: ACRL, 2000),
<http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilcomstan. html>.
13. Sharon Fass McEuen, “How Fluent with Infor-
■ Provide individual and group Developing library mation Technology Are Our Students?” EDU-
learning spaces content, services, and CAUSE Quarterly, vol. 24, no. 4 (2001), pp. 8–17,
<http://www.educause.edu/apps/eq/eqm01/
■ Support access to and creation of
information resources
environments that are eqm014.asp>.
14. Mellon Library/Faculty Fellowship for Under-
■ Offer staff and faculty development responsive to Net Gen graduate Research, UC Berkeley, <http://
and training students can be library.berkeley.edu/MellonInstitute>.
15. Elizabeth Pyatt and Loanne Snavely, “No Longer
■ Provide staff with a range of tech- achieved by examining Missing: Tools for Connecting the Library with
nology and information skills the Course Management System,” eLearning Dia-
■ Effectively market services to all
the characteristics of logue (March 17, 2004), <http://www.syllabus.
groups of potential users those students. com/print.asp?ID= 9094>; and Brenda Reeb and
Susan Gibbons, “Students, Librarians, and Sub-
■ Integrate physical spaces and ser- ject Guides: Improving a Poor Rate of Return,”
vices with virtual spaces and services Portal: Libraries and the Academy, vol. 4, no. 1 (Janu-
Rebuttal,” Technology Source (May/June 2003) ary 2004), pp. 123–130.
■ Build community (access Prensky’s writings at <http://www. 16. James Daly, “George Lucas: Life on the Screen,”
marcprensky.com/writing/>); Ian Jukes and EDUTOPIA, Issue 1 (September/October 2004),
Anita Dosaj, “Understanding Digital Kids (DKs): pp. 34–40, <http://www.glef.org/magazine/
Conclusion Teaching and Learning in the New Digital Land- ed1article.php?id=art_1160&issue=sept_04>.
Developing library content, services, scape,” the InfoSavvy Group, June 2004, <http:// 17. Visible Knowledge Project, <http://crossroads.
and environments that are responsive www.thecommittedsardine.net/infosavvy/ georgetown.edu/vkp/index.htm>.
education/handouts/it.pdf>; “The Next- 18. Marianne Foley, “Instant Messaging Reference
to Net Gen students can be achieved Generation Student: Report of the Microsoft in an Academic Library: A Case Study,” College
by examining the characteristics of Higher Education Leaders Symposium,” Red- and Research Libraries, vol. 63, no. 1 (January
those students and making a con- mond, Washington, June 17–18, 2003. 2002), pp. 36–45.
3. OCLC, “How Academic Librarians Can Influ- 19. OCLC, op. cit.
scious effort to address deficiencies ence Students’ Web-Based Information 20. Mughal, India, interactive room and similar
and transform the current situation in Choices,” white paper on the information habits resources available from the British Museum,
libraries. Why should libraries and li- of college students, June 2002, <http://www5. <http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/
oclc.org/downloads/community/information education/onlinelearning/home.html>.
brarians adapt their well-structured habits.pdf>; and Sarah Lippincott and Martha 21. Morrell D. Boone, “Library Design—The Archi-
organizations and systems to the Kyrillidou, “How ARL University Communities tect’s View: A Discussion with Tom Findley,” Li-
needs of students rather than insist Access Information: Highlights from brary Hi Tech, vol. 20, no. 3 (2002), pp. 392.
LIBQUAL+,” ARL: A Bimonthly Report, no. 236 22. Patricia Cohen, “Spaces for Social Study,” New
that students learn about and adapt to
(October 2004), pp. 7–8, <http://www.arl.org/ York Times, August 1, 2004.
existing library systems? The answer is newsltr/236/lqaccess. html>. 23. This idea was proposed by a participant in a
that students have grown up in and 4. Karen Kaminski, Pete Seel, and Kevin Cullen, University of Massachusetts planning workshop
“Technology Literate Students? Results from a for their proposed Learning Commons on April
will live in a society rich in technology
Survey,” EDUCAUSE Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 3 6, 2004. For more information on the Learning
and digital information. By blending (2003), pp. 34–40, <http://www.educause.edu/ Commons, see <http://www.umass.edu/
the technology skills and mindset that ir/library/pdf/eqm0336.pdf>. provost/initiatives/learningcommons/>.
66 EDUCAUSE r e v i e w March/April 2005