Introduction

Recent research suggests that the information-seeking behaviour and needs of students are changing (CIBER/UCL, 2008; SCONUL, 2011 among others), driven largely by the changing experiences and expectations of ‘the Google generation’, who have grown up with access to the internet being the norm. While the Google generation and ‘digital native’ terms have been debated and widely criticized (Jones et al., 2010), it is clear that information literacy programmes over the next five years will need to adapt and respond to the needs of current students.

This case study describes a short project based at Cambridge University Library and funded by the Arcadia Programme (http://arcadiaproject. lib.cam.ac.uk), a three-year initiative designed to explore the role of academic libraries in the digital age. The project ran from May until July 2011 and sought to develop a practical curriculum for information literacy that meets the needs of the undergraduate student entering higher education over the next five years.

A new curriculum for information literacy: project overview

Aims and objectives

The project sought to develop a practical curriculum for information literacy that meets the needs of the undergraduate student entering higher education over the next five years. Specifically, the project aimed:

Methodology

The authors carried out an extensive review of the literature, which forms the theoretical background to this project. A modified Delphi study was undertaken which involved consulting widely with experts in the information and education communities. The curriculum was developed and presented to the expert group and took into account findings from the literature and from the expert consultation. It was subsequently refined and a final curriculum, with a number of supporting documents, was produced.