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The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent of the use of active learning in the online tutorials of members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and to compare these results with those found in a similar study done in 1999 by Nancy Dewald, and also to determine what major types of active learning these sites offer.

The focus of the study in this paper was on “stand‐alone” library skills tutorials, as opposed to those tutorials that need to be used in conjunction with an in‐person course in order to be effective. After defining what counts as a “tutorial” and “active learning”, ARL sites were reviewed to determine whether they employ elements of active learning.

This study found that the percentage of ARL tutorials that employ active learning is significantly greater than the percentage of such tutorials in Dewald's study. Also, some categories of the methods of active learning employed in these tutorials are determined and examples for each category are provided.

Because web page content is fluid and open to frequent changes, the findings of this study may not be accurate by the time of publication.

This paper updates and expands on (by focusing on ARL members) the findings of Dewald's original study of online tutorials. Also, the categories of active learning discussed and the examples of these provided can offer some aid to libraries that wish to add to or expand the use of active learning in their online tutorials.

Bowling Green State University Jerome Library’s Web tutorial, FALCON, models a standard library instructional session on the use of the library’s Web‐based catalog. Tutorials can be particularly helpful in reaching large numbers of students. The degree of interactivity and the design of a tutorial are dependent on the goals of its creators and the intended audience of the product. Several features make FALCON unique. It is interactive, self‐contained and focuses on a single resource. Interactivity is accomplished without scripts or forms. The tutorial’s self‐containment, achieved with a complex system of files and without a live catalog connection, enables users to learn how to search the catalog at their own pace, at a time or place of their choosing and without the threat of venturing into cyberspace. Future enhancements to the tutorial will include assessment and evaluation materials.

This paper seeks to provide a solution for teaching comprehensive information literacy instruction when time is limited during one‐shot library instruction sessions. It aims to focus on one technique to solve this dilemma – the creation of a multi‐media tutorial: Library 101: Introduction to Research. The paper aims to educate librarians of the many technological tools, which could be employed to enrich library instruction.

Using the Oakleaf Information Literacy Instruction Assessment Cycle (ILIAC), librarians gathered assessment data and determined student research skill deficits in Fall 2009. To address knowledge gaps, the authors systematically designed a multi‐media tutorial with ten tools.

The paper finds that the tutorial identified students' areas of weakness prior to library instruction. As a result, librarians could focus on identified topics during the session and increase student learning. Annual re‐evaluation of the tools and data are needed in order to update the program and ensure student learning occurs.

The limitations of the creation process include incomplete software evaluation early in the process, learning how to collaborate with different project management styles, developing a realistic timeline, and the need for a robust assessment management system to collect data. The effectiveness of this tutorial needs more empirical evaluation.

The paper may help inform those planning to create a tutorial by suggesting useful, low‐cost tools for its creation and determining how to incorporate student learning outcomes and assessment into asynchronous instruction.

This paper fulfills an identified need to determine students' knowledge gaps through learning outcome assessment and respond to these gaps with asynchronous instruction methods.

The purpose of this paper is to provide the findings of a survey of current technologies used in creating information literacy online tutorials in academic libraries. It also aims to inform readers of the technological tools available to develop good online tutorials.

The author surveys 372 online tutorials on the library web sites of 100 academic libraries in a random sample from Peterson's Guide to Four Year Colleges 2008.

About one‐third of the surveyed academic libraries have developed their own online tutorials. Most of the tutorials teach search skills for a specific database. The tutorial contents also include general introduction to library resources, research in a subject area, how‐to for an application, and library‐related concepts and procedures. One‐third of the tutorials have been created by tutorial software. The other technological approaches include portable document format (PDF), Hypertext Markup Language, Common Gateway Interface scripts, WebCT, Stream video, and MP3.

The sample size may be too small to be conclusive. There may be correlation between the type and size of an academic institution, its information literacy programs, and the type and number of library online tutorials.

The value of such tutorials, what constitutes a good online tutorial, and pros and cons of each technology are discussed. The information in this paper is useful for anyone who is interested in current practice of online library instruction and options they have in their choice of technological tools for developing web‐based tutorials.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the presence of online library tutorials in the library websites of public universities in Mexico and to analyze the main characteristics of these materials.

Through October and November, 2015, the number of online library tutorials was quantified in 230 public universities in Mexico and their characteristics were analyzed based on an 18-item template grouped into four categories: general information, presentation, content and active learning.

Only 81 (29.2 percent) of the 279 libraries evaluated offer some type of instructional material to their users. A great variability was found regarding the quantity of tutorials presented by each library and its origin (elaborated by the library vs third party materials). The majority of tutorials deal with the use of library services or the management of a specific information resource. The most usual formats are pdf and video, and generally have few elements of active learning.

Results obtained in this study provide a useful diagnosis for decision-making regarding the creation, improvement and diffusion policies of online library tutorials in university libraries.

This is the first study carried out about the presence and characteristics of online library tutorials in university libraries in Mexico.

This article examines a structured redesign of one academic library's offering of its online learning objects. This process considered both improving the online learning objects and developing a feasible workflow process for librarians. The findings for both processes are discussed.

The scholarship on online library learning objects and web tutorials, beginning with Dewald's seminal study, was examined for trends, patterns, and best practices. From this research, informal interviews were conducted with library faculty members. Once this information had been collected, other public university libraries in the state of Michigan – 14 in all – were considered in terms of if, and how, they offered online learning objects and web tutorials. These three areas of inquiry provide a foundation for the best practices and workflows developed.

Based on the scholarship, librarian feedback, and informal assessment of other public university libraries' practices, best practices were developed for web tutorial evaluation and creation. These best practices are to make online learning content: maintainable, available, geared at users, informative, and customizable. Workflows for librarians around these best practices were developed. Also, using these best practices, the library redesigned its tutorials web page and employed a different content management tool, which benefitted both librarians and users with increased interactivity and ease of use.

This article shares best practices and library workflows for online learning objects in ways that are not commonly addressed in the literature. It also considers the library's online instructional presence from the perspectives of both user and librarian, and works to develop structures in which both can function effectively. This article is also of value because of the practical implications it offers to library professionals.

In an effort to meet the challenge of providing students in a large general education course with effective library instruction, a pilot project of using a Web tutorial was tested. This article describes librarian collaboration with faculty in the development of a Web tutorial and supplementary course materials over the course of three semesters. The success of the original experiment convinced the teaching assistants and faculty member to incorporate the tutorial into the class syllabus. Unique to this Web tutorial is the continued involvement of the librarian in responding to each student. This successful instructional tool has been adapted for other courses, and can be a model for reaching large numbers of students.

Usability testing can play a valuable role in improving the effectiveness of online information literacy instruction, while forming a core component in a wider assessment plan. This article aims to discuss the usability testing of an online information literacy tutorial for freshman undergraduates at Wilfrid Laurier University Library.

Two librarians, working to fulfill an important mandate of the Library's Information Literacy Task Force, defined goals, created and implemented a modest, though effective, approach to usability assessment.

The testing provided detailed information on the ease of use of the tutorial, as well as users’ satisfaction levels with content and design. These findings informed subsequent revisions and enhancements to the online tutorial.

Student evaluation questionnaires distributed subsequent to the tutorial overhaul indicate the success of usability testing in the development of a more effective learning tool.

The purpose of this paper is to apply adult-centered learning theories to online information literacy tutorials.

This is a conceptual paper that examines the application of adult learning theories to online information literacy tutorials. The application is supported by examples from the literature of libraries and higher education, and from the writers’ own experiences with designing online tutorials informed by adult learning theories.

As online learners continue to be a growing population on our campuses, and as those online learners continue to be older than our traditional students, librarians must be prepared to design information literacy objects tailored to the unique learning styles of adults. Building from Knowles’ theory of andragogy, online tutorials that are informed by adult-centered strategies can be powerful tools for engaging with the adult online learner.

This article gives a useful and comprehensive overview of adult learning theory as applied by education and library researchers. It also provides a specific example of how those theories can be implemented in online tutorials through the Information Literacy Toolkit the authors created.

While there is literature on applying adult learning theory to library environments, little of it addresses how to do so in an asynchronous, self-paced tutorial. This is a contribution to the literature on asynchronous learning environments and suggests concrete ways to incorporate an adult-centered approach to digital learning objects.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

The paper introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.

The paper provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.