As you have suggested, Matt, in your thought-provoking LIHNN Clinical Librarians article, the answer really depends on your target audience. In universities, we would prefer to do f-2-f with early career researchers (ECR) and higher degree research (HDR) students because many of these are the researchers of the future. There are of course far less of them than the great throngs of undergraduates.

That said, I do not think we are making best use of current technologies to deliver IL training / teaching. I would have thought that tools such as webinars would be making greater inroads into the pedagogical landscape. The challenge is to design teaching content to suit different learning styles, of course.

Your question is important at a different, i.e. strategic, level. It really asks us to consider what is the role of the library. In so doing, we should put into perspective our top priorities and [importantly] expected outcomes. This should help us determine where best, and how, to allocate our resources.

Hopefully your question --and linked article-- will get librarians thinking "outside the box".

For years when a college professor, I took students to the university library to meet the library staff and listen to the descriptions of the resources available.  The face to face was was very helpful.  Some new part time adult students did not even know how to find the library, never mind the resources.

However, in these days of internet communication and online classes, face to face contact is not as doable for students or cost effective for libraries.  One of the issues with web instruction is the often boring and sometimes incomprehensible nature of  what is presented.  I believe librarians have a significant role in teaching students how to access information and resources. More creativity in the approaches is needed.

Thank you for your comments. I think I would draw a distinction between teaching, in a lecture theatre or a lab and one to one or one to few interactions with users. One of the advantages of mass information skills teaching is that it manages time with undergraduates to allow more time for face to face meetings with research students, researchers and lecturing staff.

I would probably agree too that time in the library is good especially at Induction. I used to say you could get across three things at Induction, 1) there is a library 2) there is a librarian and it's me 3) here are my contact details, written down on a handout just in case they forget.

The thing that provoked the blog entry is the transfer of the information skills is information skills teaching model into a context that is not resourced to deliver it and for users for whom it is not the best solution. Which mirrors my move from HE to health librarianship. 

I think with different forms of delivery we have more choices and with a more strategic approach information skills can be more holistic, integrated into what we do rather than a bolt on goody. Best Wishes Matt

As with teaching other complex sets of concepts and skills,  a variety of methods may be used, depending on the variables...types and knowledge of students, their motivation, learning goals, administrative support, collaborative faculty, curriculum and assignment design and evaluation, instructor aptitudes and knowledge, etc.  Face to face, hybrid and online methods can all be effective and efficient depending on the context.  See Koufogiannakis, D., & Wiebe, N. (2006). Effective methods for teaching information literacy skills to undergraduate students: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Evidence Based Library & Information Practice, 1(3): 3-43.  and many others since on the subject of methods for teaching.  The scholarly discussion of the role of online instruction in learning is broad and deep.  I don't think there is a simple answer to this.  Why should there be?  Researching is a complex activity requiring advanced knowledge in many areas. It is no less complex than learning to write well, for example. Teaching it does not have ONE best method.

We use an embedded hybrid model that is working extremely well for us for the last 8 years. 

My advice is the same I give to my students, keep asking, keep reading, keep testing and evaluating, and you will find solutions that work for you. 

I teach the course "Resources in Science and Technology" to students of information and library studies. I was a librarian and information professional in technological libraries for 21 years, from the experience of both functions I learned  that the best way to teach students about the library and its functions is by integrating several methods; Face to face, through presentations, guided tours, guided tours online etc'.

I was in your situation seven years ago when I moved from a large library to head a small library.  What I had learned, it works well if you combine both face-to-face teaching and online resources accessible remotely. I used the face-to-face sessions to introduce the resources, where and how to find them, ethics of using information including copyrights and plagiarism. The rest were through the library online tutorials, research guides and online IL assessments. It had worked well for me when combining these two methods.

Hi Matt. In my experience it has become increasing difficult not to offer face-to-face teaching sessions. Inflexible, structured training sessions often don't meet the needs of our learners as they come from a variety of backgrounds who all required targeted training that suits their immediate needs. There just isn't the time available for a medical professional to be 'away from the office' for a protracted period of time in a lecture hall, and quality eLearning provision can still be at the mercy of the availability of suitable computer systems.

I tend to encourage small groups now, 2 - 3 staff all from the same department for shorter 2 hour training sessions along with one hour individual face-to-face sessions, usually all on a specific 'training' day. We usually work on a specific example relevant to their department, often one that they bought with them, I.E an ongoing clinical audit, case study or academic paper. It can sometimes be difficult on busy days not to feel you are repeating yourself 8 times!

I would say that teaching sessions are really at the core of what we do. Solid research skills are vital to good evidence based practice and even with the best will in the world e-resources and medical databases still have significant usability issues.

While I teach classes and work face-to-face, a colleague and I also have created a series of instructional videos to address tough topics, like legal research and finding tests and measures.  Shorter videos show students how to find their way to the databases and select those that are most useful for their research topic.  Lately, I have had success asking students to self-organize for a session of their choice.  The topic is usually tied to a course assignment so I have their unidivided attention.  This last format works very well for both the students and for me.

From my experience face to face teaching is the most effective way of teaching information literacy. To teach students on how to search online databases one will need the projector so that, your students could be able to follow you step by step. This helps more specially when dealing with students who have no internet and computer background as it is the case with my students.

Still face to face teaching continues in most of the university and the student feel comfortable in this and it is the effective way of teaching information literacy and it will reach quickly to students.

We use a combination of tours, demonstrations, practical search sessions, online support and 1-to-1 meetings but of all these I'd say it's the 1-to-1 sessions (normally around 20mins) that have the most impact.

I have noticed that those who have little experience in using a variety of search tools and databases struggle with longer sessions. Short, problem specific sessions are certainly good and always appreciated. Drawing together different search strategies in a longer session can leave the less experienced students confused. When students are travelling in for a session you try to make it worth the journey with the risk of overloading the student.

Is anyone doing enquiries live online, skype or adobe connect for example?