Learning to use the library has never been easy, but the near-21st century library is more complicated than ever before. Library research requires the use of print, microform, and electronic sources, many of which can be accessed from networked computers both inside and outside the library. The increasing prevalence of computers in libraries may have contributed to the decline of interaction between reference librarians and students. Students see computers in the library... they know how to use computers... so they assume they know how to find articles and other library materials. They no longer see unfamiliar, library-specific tools (like card catalogs and miles of periodical index volumes) in the reference area, so they don't ask for help. If their professors don't schedule bibliographic instruction (BI) sessions for specific courses, students may never interact with a librarian.

Reference librarians at our institution perceived a need for increased student-librarian interaction, with the goal of making students more successful information seekers. In Fall 1997, Musselman Library reference librarians started a Research Paper Consultation (RPC) program. (A description of the RPC program is available on the Musselman Library website.) No one was surprised to find that the program occupied a very large proportion of the reference staff's time. No one was surprised that students benefited from this type of instruction. However, no one expected the program to be as popular with students as it was. So many students wanted to take advantage of the program that we had to turn some away (of course, they received help through regular reference service). We began to suspect that our experience was representative of a larger shift in library learning. Professor-initiated, group instruction still has its place in our services, but we believe that student-initiated library instruction reaches students in ways that traditional BI does not.

We decided to measure the results of group and individual instruction to discover whether individual instruction was indeed more effective than group instruction. I worked with a sociologist (see Information about the Authors) to determine the best research method for our project, to design the survey instrument, and to analyze the resulting data.