Library instruction in tertiary institutions with a focus on the needs of trainee teachers

The main aim of this dissertation is to establish the need for undergraduate students and in particular teachers to appreciate the importance of determining what is known on a certain topic and being able to retrieve relevant information in a format suitable to their needs. In other words, the need for library appreciation programmes or reader education, at tertiary level, is argued. A literature survey for this topic based on the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Australia, reveals past and current practice and future trends. The importance of tailoring a curriculum model for reader education to meet the intended audience's needs is stressed. Successful as well as unsuccessful curricula are discussed and a process/objectives curriculum model is suggested for use in the Australian tertiary setting. The practical implications of introducing such a programme are examined, addressing vital issues such as the need for programmes to fit comfortably within the resource capacities of the administering body (money, materials and personnel), practical problems of how such a programme would be implemented, who would design and teach it, when to teach it, how to ,teach it and how such a programme should be evaluated. In conclusion, the envisaged use of the knowledge and skills obtained from reader education courses is discussed. The main benefit to trainee teachers is seen to be their ability to make more effective and proficient use of resources, not only within their tertiary institutions, but also within the school in which they will teach, including each schools' educational resource centre and its personnel.