The impact of collaboration between faculty and librarians to improve student information literacy skills at an urban community college

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of collaboration between faculty and librarians on the improvements of the information literacy skills of students at an urban community college. Participants were faculty, librarians, and students at an urban community college.;The investigation was undertaken in two parts. Part one was a series of surveys to determine the (a) participating library staff members' (n = 20) assessment of students' information literacy skills, (b) participating library staff members' (n = 20) assessment of faculty member's information literacy skills; (c) faculty member's assessment of the student's information literacy skills; and (d) the extent to which faculty members used information literacy in their classroom instruction.;The second part of the study consisted of an action research design with non-equivalent groups consisting of three control and three treatment groups of freshmen English classes for a total of 129 students. The treatment groups were given four weeks of information literacy training conducted by a librarian and the assigned English faculty members in the library computer lab, while the control groups were given a one-hour of information literacy training session at the start of the semester conducted by a librarian.;The surveys from the library staff showed that students needed more information literacy training and some faculty members seemed information literate. The faculty members were convinced that students needed more information literacy training and a one-hour session was not adequate. Some of the faculty members regularly integrated information literacy training in their instruction.;The results of the action research study showed an 80% improvement in the information literacy skills among students when there was collaboration between faculty and librarians, and when the students participated in interactive information literacy training. This positive result was due to the fact that both faculty and librarian were in the same location with the students to answer their questions. Further, participants in this study viewed collaboration between faculty and librarians as very important in information literacy training to improve student information literacy skills. All of the students affirmed that they benefited from the collaboration and training.;The results of this study demonstrated that collaboration between faculty and librarians in information literacy training contributed toward the achievement of the goals of The Prague Declaration of 2003. Recommendations for community colleges and further research are provided.