Online information literacy instruction in Mexican university libraries: The librarians' point of view

Abstract

Online information literacy instruction is becoming increasingly popular among university libraries, although the level of its development varies from institution to institution. In this study, we seek to ascertain implementation levels for online information literacy instruction among university libraries in Mexico, as well as librarians' experiences, opinions, and attitudes with regard to this instruction modality. To this end, we analyzed data collected between November 2015 and January 2016 through a survey that was sent to 559 libraries at Mexican public universities and completed by 189 librarians. The results show a limited development of information literacy instruction in general and in online instruction in particular, despite the recognition of its importance and usefulness. The main barriers to implementation that were identified were a lack of technological resources and of personnel qualified to undertake these tasks. The main challenges that the libraries that do provide online instruction have had to face are related to a lack of institutional support, a lack of cooperation on the part of faculty members, students' motivation, and librarians' expertise.