Information Literacy and Latino StudentsLucero Gonzalez

Why Latinos?

By 2020 it is estimated that Latinos will make up 25% of the American workforce growth and will double their attendance in U.S. schools (Haras, 2011).

If Latinos are the largest enrolling minority group in college across the United States but still have the lowest graduation rate could information literacy have something to do with this issue?

If this population will make such a large portion of our society in the next few years, we must make sure we are adequately preparing them for success.

This issue not only affects students in higher education who have not been adequately prepared but also in personal lives and workspaces. The students in the Haras article reflect common educational experiences of not only Latinos but also other minority groups across the United States (2007).

What is Information Literacy?

-An educational concept which includes the ability to recognize an information need, define a research topic, locate and access relevant materials, and manage and ethically use the information –(American Association of

School Librarians 2007.)

-“The set of skills to find, retrieve, analyze and use information”

-Association of College & Research Libraries

Pipeline?Study presented in Haras article found that K-12 library use correlated with research skills in college undergraduate freshman (Haras). 1 in 4 students had never done research before coming to college.

Latinos are thought to underuse the public library incomparison to other members of the population (Haras, 2007) and Flores and Pachon (2008) found that Latinos born to immigrant parents only visited the public library less than once a year.

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Sources:-Flores, E., & Pachon, H. (2008). Latinos and public library perceptions. Los Angeles, CA:Tomás Rivera Public Policy Institute.-Smalley, Topsy N. "College Success: High School Librarians Make the Difference." The Journal of Academic Librarianship 30.3 (2004): 193-98. -Lee, Hur-Li. "Information Structures and Undergraduate Students." The Journal of Academic Librarianship 34.3 (2008): 211-219. -Haras, Catherine. "Information Behaviors of Latinos Attending High School in East Los Angeles." Library and Information Science Research 33 (2011): 34-40.-Whitmire, Ethelene. "Cultural Diversity and Undergraduates' Academic Library Use." The Journal of Academic Librarianship 29.3 (2003): 148-61. -Anne C. Barnhart and Andrea Stanfield. “Bridging the Information Literacy Gap: Library Participation in Summer Transition Programs" Reference Services Review 41.2 (2013): 201 – 218.

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Recommendations?Further research on different Latino communities/ethnic groups

Look at Latino perceptions of the library and how they use it to make recommendations for library programs to address this specific population

Creating diverse collections which promote a welcoming environment to all students in academic libraries similar to one in the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Whitmire, 2003)

Focus on information literacy of all undergraduate students especially within the first year of college to bridge information gaps

Design and develop the information literacy instruction that will be the most beneficial for the students similar to bridge programs offered in Barnhart and Stanfield article (2013)