RADAR

Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning (Association of College & Research Libraries, 2016).

This data visualization comes from a combination of 2 data sources: 1) UW-Madison Libraries instruction session statistics; 2) Student enrollments for corresponding course sections. Library staff record an entry each time they provide information literacy instruction or otherwise visit a course. These sessions are recorded and maintained by the Libraries' Teaching & Learning Programs office.

This data visualization comes from a combination of 2 data sources: 1) UW-Madison Libraries instruction session statistics; 2) Student enrollments for corresponding course sections. Library staff record an entry each time they provide information literacy instruction or otherwise visit a course. These sessions are recorded and maintained by the Libraries' Teaching & Learning Programs office.

Library instruction session data was then combined with section level enrollment data for campus courses. Using a variety of matching techniques the Libraries were able to map our local instruction statistics to campus timetable courses for a little over 90% of information literacy instruction sessions recorded by library staff.

Note on COVID Pandemic Impact on Library Services

During the Spring 2020-Spring 2021 semesters, UW-Madison was under COVID-19 pandemic protocols that had a major impact on library instruction sessions. This has had an impact on the number of courses and sessions where library instruction occurred. Additionally, it is responsible for an increase in the amount of instruction the Libraries provided to online courses.

Definition of Undergrads Who Potentially Completed a Full Career

On the pie charts for Undergraduate Library Instruction Encounters (the Undergrad Frequency tab), we found a sub-population of students who encountered information literacy instruction and potentially completed a full academic career at UW-Madison. Our goal for this visualization is to identify how well the Libraries' information literacy instruction program is mapped to campus curriculum so that library staff are teaching introductory concepts to Freshmen students and progressively more sophisticated research techniques as students progress in their studies. It was not within the scope of this analysis to determine whether or not each of the students enrolled had graduated, but for the purposes of these visualizations it is assumed that students continued to progress.

Because the time period of study runs from Fall 2011 through Spring 2022, students in this category meet at least one of the following conditions:

* Had library instruction as a Freshman between Fall 2011 and Spring 2019

* Had library instruction as a Sophomore between Fall 2012 and Spring 2020

* Had library instruction as a Junior between Fall 2013 and Spring 2021

* Had library instruction as a Senior between Fall 2014 and Spring 2022

Limitations of the Data

As noted above, this is an incomplete picture of information literacy instruction. Only about 90% of library instruction sessions recorded by library staff were able to be matched, so this visualization cannot account for all student contact with information literacy instruction.

Please also note that the campus libraries provide instruction and consultation outside of the formal course-based information literacy instruction. This visualization is focused solely on course instruction and does not represent other instruction/research consultations. Assumed full attendance was used for each library instruction session when matching with student data.