Abstract An exploratory study investigated the factors affecting digital literacy training offered by local community organizations, such as public libraries. Theory based on the educational assessment and information literacy instruction literatures, community informatics, and situated learning theory served as a lens of investigation. Case studies of two public libraries and five other local community organizations were carried out. Data collection comprised: one‐on‐one interviews with administrators, instructors, and community members who received training; analysis of training documents; observations of training sessions; and a survey administered to clients who participated in these training sessions. Data analysis yielded the generation of a holistic conceptual framework. The framework identifies salient factors of the learning environment and program components that affect learning outcomes arising from digital literacy training led by local community organizations. Theoretical propositions are made. Member checks confirmed the validity of the study's findings. Results are compared to prior theory. Recommendations for practice highlight the need to organize and train staff, acquire sustainable funding, reach marginalized populations, offer convenient training times to end‐users, better market the training, share and adopt best practices, and better collect and analyze program performance measurement data. Implications for future research also are identified.

This study presents and tests a research model of the outcomes of information literacy instruction (ILI) given to undergraduate business students. This model is based on expectation disconfirmation theory and insights garnered from a recent qualitative investigation of student learning outcomes from ILI given at three business schools. The model was tested through a web survey administered to 372 students. The model represents psychological, behavioral, and benefit outcomes as second‐order molecular constructs. Results from a partial least squares (PLS) analysis reveal that expectation disconfirmation influences perceived quality and student satisfaction. These in turn affect student psychological outcomes. Further, psychological outcomes influence student behaviors, which in turn affect benefit outcomes. Based on the study's findings, several recommendations are made.

Abstract This paper reports results from an exploratory study investigating the factors affecting student learning outcomes of information literacy instruction (ILI) given at business schools. Specifically, the potential influence of student demographics, learning environment factors, and information literacy program components on behavioral, psychological, and benefit outcomes were examined. In total, 79 interviews with library administrators, librarians, teaching faculty, and students were conducted at three business schools with varying ILI emphases and characteristics. During these interviews, participants discussed students' ILI experiences and the outcomes arising from those experiences. Data collection also involved application of a standardized information literacy testing instrument that measures student information literacy competency. Analysis yielded the generation of a new holistic theoretical model based on information literacy and educational assessment theories. The model identifies potential salient factors of the learning environment, information literacy program components, and student demographics that may affect ILI student learning outcomes. Recommendations for practice and implications for future research are also made.

Nearly 400 Canadian adolescents were surveyed about their information seeking for career decision making. A written questionnaire gathered data on degree of helpfulness of various information sources and the ways in which these sources have helped and asked about some of the barriers to information seeking faced by adolescents. Thirty semistructured interviews with participants drawn from the same sample asked participants about their decision-making and information-search processes, their concerns about these processes, and the barriers they face in accessing helpful information for career decision making. This article focuses on the data related specifically to the barriers faced by the participants, revealing myriad difficulties that can hinder adolescent career decision makers. Forty percent of youth do not know where to go for help in their decision making, and 38% feel that they need to go to too many different places for the information they require. As well, the respondents revealed that trustworthiness of information sources is critical to the ultimate usefulness of the help received. The discussion suggests some avenues for further research which would advance understanding of these barriers, and makes suggestions for improved delivery of information services to adolescents making career decisions.