The role of the community college reference librarian in promoting and teaching information literacy

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which reference librarians of the 28 Florida community colleges are educationally prepared to teach and promote information literacy.; A survey instrument (questionnaire) was designed and distributed to 110 reference librarians in the 28 Florida community colleges; a total of 74 (76.2%) were returned and 69 (62.7%) were usable. Using the Likert-type scale, respondents indicated strength and weakness of abilities and preparedness to teach and promote information literacy. The data were tabulated using SPSS.; Forty-nine (71.0%) of the respondents were females, 18 (26.1%) were males (two, 3%, did not indicate gender), and 83% of the librarians were 41 years or older. Sixty-one percent (61%) of the male librarians had 15 years or less experience, while 73% of females had 16 or more years of experience. Eighty-seven percent of the librarians had a master's degree in Library Science, 3% had an advanced master's/specialist degree, and 3% had their doctorate. Four percent (4%) had a subject master's degree only. Three percent (3%) had a subject master's degree and certification in Library Science or either a subject master's degree and a master's degree in Library Science. While 96% of the librarians use the new technology on their job, only 31% of the libraries have a computing lab within the library for student use.; The findings of this study included the following: (1) Ninety percent (90%) of the librarians indicated that they were well-prepared for the skills of locating sources, using periodicals, indexes, reference sources, and performing reference queries. (2) Eighty percent (80%) of the librarians indicated that they were well-prepared to use manual and online catalogs, CD-ROM databases, knew search strategy skills, selected appropriate access points, and worked effectively with diverse patrons. (3) Seventy percent (70%) of the librarians indicated that they were well-prepared for communication, thinking and cognitive skills, and met the needs of target user groups. (4) They were least prepared to work with Internet, Interactive Video, Hypercard/Hypertext, and tape-loaded databases. (5) They perceived themselves as lacking in the skills of measurement and evaluation, teaching methodologies, budgeting and planning, management, instructional design, and the use of online databases.