ARLD Day 2026

How prepared are first-year college students to meet the media and information literacy expectations they encounter in academic coursework?

This session will share findings from a multi-phase research study conducted in partnership with Minitex and the Multicounty Multiype Library Systems (MCMTs), alongside an advisory team of school and academic librarians. Wilder Research developed an assessment plan and conducted approximately 25 interviews with (non-library) postsecondary faculty who regularly worked with first-year students. Interviews explored faculty perceptions of students’ research strategies, source evaluation skills, use of evidence, and broader media and information literacy competencies.

Transcripts were analyzed thematically to identify common strengths, persistent skill gaps, and areas of misalignment between secondary preparation and postsecondary expectations. Findings were synthesized into a policy brief and informed a review of existing student assessment instruments. The research team created a crosswalk aligning assessment items to ITEM standards and developed a pilot student assessment to measure competencies most relevant to first-year academic work.

Participants will consider how these findings can inform first-year library instruction, faculty collaboration, legislative advocacy for media specialists in all schools, and the promotion of media literacy instruction in K–12 education.

This session will begin with an overview of patents as an information source, covering the three main types of patents, sections within a patent, and tips for patent searching. The remainder of the session will be gamified, with attendees teaming up in small groups to examine diagrams or excerpts from patents and guess the identity or purpose of the mystery patents.