“We Learned As We Went Like Everyone Else”:

Abstract

The global Covid-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented shift in teaching and learning at Canadian universities as campuses closed, in-person classes were suspended, and institutions transitioned to entirely online modes of instruction. This transition included academic libraries, as librarians worked to continue supporting the research and information literacy needs of students during this extraordinary time. In this study, an 18-question survey was distributed to professional librarians at English language and bilingual universities throughout Canada, in order to investigate the experiences of those who were responsible for designing and teaching information literacy between March 2020 and August 2021, the period when most universities were closed to in-person instruction. This research sought to gain insight into the needs and challenges experienced by survey participants as they transitioned to emergency remote teaching (ERT), the strategies they used and supports they received as they navigated the transition, and the of impact of those experiences on their professional and personal lives both during the pandemic, and into the future. The survey findings reveal that, while most librarians in Canada did not have extensive online teaching experience prior to the pandemic, they made significant changes to their instructional practices in order to provide continued information literacy support. While most found this transition to be at least moderately challenging, the majority also report that they have also benefited from these experiences, expanding their instructional repertoire, gaining confidence in their ability to teach online, and acquiring new skills for the future.

Keywords

• information literacy instruction
• COVID-19
• pandemic
• librarian experiences
• educator experiences