Alison J. Head, Steven Geofrey, Barbara Fister, and Kirsten Hostetler, “How information worlds shape our response to climate change,” (July 9, 2024), Project Information Literacy Research Institute.
Our latest research report examines how understanding of the climate crisis is formed based on the ways people encounter and process climate change news and information from traditional sources and social media as well as from friends and family.
Findings are presented from a large-scale online survey deployed in Fall 2023 to a sample of the U.S. general population between the ages of 16 to 85 (N = 4,503), and from a slightly modified version of the same online survey in Winter 2024 to college students, ages 18 to 35 years old (N = 1,593), enrolled at nine U.S. higher education institutions. Opportunities are identified for better positioning climate change stakeholders — journalists, educators, librarians, activists, scientists, and policy analysts — wanting to encourage greater climate change engagement.
Research Studies
“The Project Information Literacy Retrospective: Insights from more than a decade of information literacy research, 2008-2022,” Alison J. Head, Barbara Fister, Steven Geofrey, and Margy MacMillan, Project Information Literacy Research Institute. October 12, 2022. A summary of the entire body of PIL’s College Study, 2008 to 2022, and all 12 reports and seven related research articles are presented, including interactive visualizations from a computational analysis of 2,475 citations about the geographic reach and impact of PIL’s research on the wider educational context. PIL sun-setted the “College Study” in 2022.
“Covid-19: The first 100 days of U.S. news coverage: Lessons about the media ecosystem for librarians, educators, students, and journalists,” Alison J. Head, Steven Braun, Margy MacMillan, Jessica Yurkofsky, and Alaina C. Bull, Project Information Literacy Research Institute. September 15, 2020. A two-part series based on a computational analysis of 125,696 news articles from 66 U.S. news outlets that includes discussion prompts and activity-based exercises for improving news and visual literacy that are suitable for virtual or in-person learning.
“Information Literacy in the Age of Algorithms: Student Experiences with News and Information, and the Need for Change,” Alison J. Head, Barbara Fister, and Margy MacMillan, Project Information Literacy Research Institute. January 15, 2020. Qualitative findings from 16 focus groups with 103 undergraduates and interviews with 37 faculty members from eight U.S. colleges and universities, includes four takeaways and four recommendations. Winner of ACRL’s Ilene F. Rockman Instruction Publication of the Year Award, 2021. Interview with the co-authors here.
“How Students Engage with News: Five Takeaways for Educators, Journalists, and Librarians”: Alison J. Head, John Wihbey, P. Takis Metaxas, Margy MacMillan, and Dan Cohen, Project Information Literacy Research Institute. October 16, 2018. Results from this large-scale survey (N = 5,844) investigates how students find news, and how news finds them. Also available as a separate document is the Executive Summary, 2 pages, PDF, 2.25 MB. An open access survey dataset, including the survey instrument, frequency codebook, and user guide, is available here.
“Planning and Designing Academic Library Learning Spaces: Expert Perspectives of Architects, Librarians, and Library Consultants,” Alison J. Head, Project Information Literacy, Practitioner Series Research Report, December 7, 2016. (Two different versions of the report available: Full report with Methods section, 36 pages, PDF, 3.4 MB. Also available as separate documents are the Executive Summary, 2 pages, PDF, 2.3 MB and stakeholders’ “Best Practices” and “Worst Practices,” 2 pages, PDF, 2.3 MB.)
“Staying Smart: How Today’s Graduates Continue to Learn Once They Complete College,” Alison J. Head, Project Information Literacy, Passage Studies Research Report, January 5, 2016. (Full report with appendices, 112 pages, PDF, 6.9 MB). An open access survey dataset, including the survey instrument, frequency codebook, and user guide, is available through OpenICPSR. Infographic of report results is available here.
“Learning the Ropes: How Freshmen Conduct Course Research Once They Enter College,” Alison J. Head, Project Information Literacy, Passage Studies Research Report, December 4, 2013. (Text with appendix, 48 pages, PDF, 5.78 MB).
“Learning Curve: How College Graduates Solve Information Problems Once They Join the Workplace,” Alison J. Head, Project Information Literacy, Passage Studies Research Report, October 15, 2012. (Text with appendix, 38 pages, PDF, 5.8 MB).
“Balancing Act: How College Students Manage Technology While in the Library during Crunch Time,” Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg, Project Information Literacy Research Report, University of Washington’s Information School, October 12, 2011 (Two different versions available: Text with appendices, 72 pages, PDF, 5.87 MB version).
“Truth Be Told: How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age,” Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg, Project Information Literacy Progress Report, University of Washington’s Information School, November 1, 2010. (Text with appendices, 72 pages, PDF, 616 KB).
“Assigning Inquiry: How Handouts for Research Assignments Guide Today’s College Students,” Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg, Project Information Literacy Progress Report, University of Washington’s Information School, July 13, 2010 (Text with appendices, 41 pages, PDF, 2.2 MB).
“Lessons Learned: How College Students Seek Information in the Digital Age,” Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg, Project Information Literacy First Year Report with Student Survey Findings, University of Washington’s Information School, December 1, 2009 (42 pages, PDF, 3MB).
“Finding Context: What Today’s College Students Say about Conducting Research in the Digital Age,” Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg, Project Information Literacy Progress Report, University of Washington’s Information School, February 4, 2009 (18 pages, PDF, 864 KB).
The Provocation Series
“Principled Uncertainty: Why Learning to Ask Good Questions Matters More than Finding Answers,” Barbara Fister, Project Information Literacy Provocation Series, February 16, 2022. Fister exposes the limitations of college research assignments that constrain curiosity and reward a binary approach to assembling evidence. In a world where search technologies compete to provide the single, simple, and quickest answer, we need to work on asking better, bigger, and more difficult questions with our students and ourselves. This essay contends students must be able to ask and seek answers to open-ended questions of their own, rather than being taught to gather ready-made evidence for crafting win/lose arguments in their academic assignments. Author’s note on what inspired this essay. Discussion group questions are here. Sponsored by the Ohio State University Libraries.*
“Information Literacy for Mortals,” Mike Caulfield, Project Information Literacy Provocation Series, December 14, 2021. Caulfield claims that today’s college students are encouraged to approach information using strategies rooted in the Enlightenment idea that all can be discovered through rigorous investigation, but he argues that students who learn a simple process for deciding where to spend their attention can quickly determine what information to trust – and how to trust their own judgment. Author’s note on what inspired this essay. Discussion group questions are here.
“Tell Me Sweet Little Lies: Racism as a Form of Persistent Malinformation,” Nicole A. Cooke, Project Information Literacy Provocation Series, August 11, 2021. Racism, Cooke argues, is essentially a long-term disinformation campaign that wields harmful stereotypes, falsified history, and malicious lies to preserve existing hierarchies and defend white supremacy. This important essay argues that learning how to identify mis- and disinformation is insufficient for countering the racist narratives that distort our society. Author’s note on what inspired this essay. Discussion group questions are here.
“The iSchool Equation,” Kirsten Hostetler, Project Information Literacy Provocation Series, June 9, 2021. Librarians are increasingly being looked to as one solution to the spread of misinformation, but are iSchools producing graduates who possess the teaching skills to tackle this growing problem? Author’s note on what inspired this essay. Discussion group questions are here. Sponsored by the School of Information at the University of Arizona.*
“Reading in the Age of Distrust,” Alison J. Head, Project Information Literacy Provocation Series, April 7, 2021. The ability to read analytically and deeply should be one of the most important takeaways from college. But are educators equipping students with the skills they need for today? Author’s note on what inspired this essay. Discussion questions for reading groups.
“Lizard People in the Library,” Barbara Fister, Project Information Literacy Provocation Series, February 3, 2021. As “research it yourself” becomes a rallying cry for promoters of outlandish conspiracy theories with real-world consequences, educators need to think hard about what’s missing from their information literacy efforts. Author’s note on what inspired this essay. Discussion questions for reading groups. Swedish translation now available. Sponsored by the University of Illinois Library.*
“How Librarians Can Fight QAnon,” Barbara Fister February 18, 2021, Atlantic Magazine (an adapted version of our first Provocation Series essay, “Lizard People in the Library.”)
* Sponsorships for our essays have never influenced, and never will, the content, topics, or opinions that authors express in their essays. For full details, see PIL Disclosures.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
“Dismantling the Evaluation Framework,” Alaina C. Bull, Margy MacMillan, and Alison J. Head, In the Library with the Lead Pipe, July 21, 2021 (28 pages). Discussion group questions are here.
“Asking the Right Questions: Bridging the Gaps between Information Literacy Assessment Approaches,” Alison J. Head, Alaina C. Bull, and Margy MacMillan, Against the Grain, October 4, 2019, Volume 31, No. 4 (3 pages). Selected one of LIRT’s 2019 Top 20 Articles by American Library Association.
“Across the Great Divide: How Today’s College Students Engage with News,” Alison J. Head, Erica DeFrain, Barbara Fister, and Margy MacMillan,” First Monday, August 5, 2019, Volume 24, No. 8 (18 pages).
“Why Blogs Endure: A Study of Recent College Graduates and Motivations for Blog Readership,” Alison J. Head, Michele Van Hoeck, Kirsten Hostetler, First Monday, October 2, 2017, Vol. 22, No. 10 (26 pages).
“Posing the Million-Dollar Question: What Happens after Graduation?” Alison J. Head, Journal of Information Literacy, June 5, 2017, Vol. 11, No. 1: 80-90 (10 pages).
“Lifelong Learning in the Digital Age: A Content Analysis of Recent Research on Participation,” Alison J. Head, Michele Van Hoeck, and Deborah S. Garson, First Monday, February 2, 2015, Vol. 20, No. 2 (33 pages).
“Why Blogs Still Matter to the Young,” Alison J. Head, Internet Monitor 2014: Reflections on the Digital World, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University, December 2014 (2 pages).
“What Information Competencies Matter in Today’s Workplace?” Alison J. Head, Michele Van Hoeck, Jordan Eschler, and Sean Fullerton, Library and Information Research, May 2013, vol. 37, no. 114: 75 – 104 (29 pages).
“How College Students Use the Web to Conduct Everyday Life Research,” Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg, First Monday, April 2011, vol. 16, no. 4 (23 pages).
“How Today’s College Students Use Wikipedia for Course-Related Research,” Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg, First Monday, March 2010, Volume 15, Number 3 (16 pages).
“Information Literacy from the Trenches: How Do Humanities and Social Science Majors Conduct Academic Research?” Alison J. Head, College and Research Libraries, September 2008, vol. 69, no. 5 (39 pages).
“Beyond Google: How Do Students Conduct Academic Research?” Alison J. Head, First Monday, July 2007, vol. 12, no. 7 (11 pages).
Proceedings
“Project Information Literacy: What Can Be Learned about the Information-Seeking Behavior of Today’s College Students?”
Alison J. Head, Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Proceedings 2013, Chicago: ALA, 2013.
This paper highlights findings from PIL’s early studies about how college students conduct research in the rapidly evolving ditigal age. Findings from the six studies suggest these students use strategies driven by efficiency and predictability in order to manage and control the vast amount of information that is available to them. PIL’s typology is reviewed about the four information contexts undergraduates seek during their research processes.
Opinion Essays
“How college students respond to climate change in troubled times: Four takeaways from Project Information Literacy’s latest study,” Alison J. Head, College & Research Libraries News, October 2, 2024.
“Here come the climate wars,” Alison J. Head, NRDC Action Fund Network website, September 25, 2024.
“To address climate anxiety, consider how students get their news on the issue,” Alison J. Head, EdSurge, September 18, 2024.
“Getting a grip on ChatGPT,” Barbara Fister and Alison J. Head, Inside Higher Education, May 4, 2023. Selected by IHE editors as one of their most-read opinion pieces of 2023.
“Seven things you should know about digital literacies,” Trudi Jacobson, Debra Gilchrist, Alison Head, and Joan Lippincott, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, July 29, 2019.
“News digests to the rescue?” Alison Head, Barbara Fister, and Margy MacMillan, Storybench, March 15, 2019.
“The Importance of Truth Workers in an Era of Factual Recession,” Alison J. Head and John Wihbey, Medium, April 8, 2017 (1 page).
“At Sea in a Deluge of Data,” Alison J. Head and John Wihbey, The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 10, 2014 (4 pages).
“Old-School Job Skills You Won’t Find on Google,” Alison J. Head, The Seattle Times, December 8, 2012 (2 pages).
“College Students Eager to Learn but Need Help Negotiating Information Overload,” Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg, The Seattle Times, June 3, 2011 (2 pages).
“Add ‘Research’ to the Education’s Traditional Three Rs,” Michael B. Eisenberg and Alison J. Head, Seattle Times, Guest Column, May 2, 2009 (1 page).
Podcasts, Webcasts and Presentations
“Project Information Literacy, with Dr. Alison J. Head,” Alison Head podcast interview with Troy Swanson (39 mins.) about PIL’s early days, PIL’s unique place in the information literacy research field, the importance of student and information agency, and what’s next for the PIL group, Circulation Ideas, Episode 230, December 1, 2022.
“Everything you should know about algorithms,” Barbara Fister podcast interview with Karen Darricades (72 mins.), Never Gallery Ready, Reframing Culture, Reclaiming Voice, Season 2, Episode 4, January 4, 2021.
“The Bigot in the Machine,” The New York Technical Services Librarians Session, June 17, 2020, keynote: Barbara Fister (transcript).
“Information Literacy in the Age of Algorithms,” ER&L, Austin (TX), Monday, March 9, 2020, keynote: Barbara Fister (video recording: 60:47).
“Tales from the Algorithmic Frontlines,” SXSW EDU 2020, Austin (TX), Monday, March 9, 2020, Panelists: Barbara Fister (podcast recording: 47:05).
“College Students in the Age of Surveillance,” Harvard EdCast with Alison Head, March 19, 2020, (16 minutes), (transcript).
“Interview with Barbara Fister on Project Information Literacy’s Algorithm Study,” Librarian’s Guide to Teaching podcast w/Barbara Fister, February 5, 2020 (31:48 minutes).
“How to Educate Young People about Information, News Literacy,” National Public Radio (Minneapolis News) interviews with Barbara Fister and Suzannah Gonzales, News Literacy Project, January 22, 2020 (49 minutes).
“An Information Scientist Talks Media Literacy, Political Memes, and the Value of Librarians,” Jack Denton, Pacific Standard News, interview with Alison Head, October 25, 2018.
“Fake News and the Next Generation,” Dan Cohen interviews Alison Head and John Wihbey on What’s New — An Exploration New Ideas and Discoveries, Northeastern University, Episode 2, September 6, 2017 (36:50 minutes).
“Staying Smart After Graduating.”A radio interview with Alison Head about how recent graduates continue to learn once they have completed college. The Matt Townsend Show on SiriusXM channel 143, iTunes Radio, and a live web stream from BYU Radio, February 23, 2016 (1:27 hour).
“What’s Next for Project Information Literacy: Interview with Alison Head,” Steven Bell, From the Bell Tower, Library Journal, December 4, 2013.
“The New Knowledge Worker.” A Radio Berkman podcast interview at Harvard’s Berkman Center with David Weinberger about PIL’s 2012 study and how recent college graduates solve information problems in the workplace, March 14, 2013 (18:51 minutes).
“Research Chat: Information Scientist Alison Head on Student Habits,” John Wihbey, Journalist’s Resource: A Research Portal and Curated Database, January 26, 2012 (164K).
“Searching for Context: Modeling the Information-Seeking Process of College Students in the Digital Age.” A webcast with Alison Head, who is a Berkman Center & Library Innovation Lab Fellow and Lead Research for Project Information Literacy. A contextual model of how students search for course-related and everyday life information is presented, plus four take-aways from PIL’s ongoing research are discussed, January 10, 2012 (1:15 mins.).
“Alison Head on What Students Do in Libraries.” A Radio Berkman podcast interview at Harvard’s Berkman Center with David Weinberger about PIL’s 2011 study and how recent college graduates use libraries and technology in academic libraries during crunch time (two weeks before final exams). December 11, 2011 (26:28 minutes).
Select Media Coverage
“To address climate anxiety, consider how students get their news on the issue,” Alison J. Head, personal essay, EdSurge, September 25, 2024.
“‘It’s not going away’: Americans show surprising consensus on climate change,” Austin Murphy, The Press Democrat, September 3, 2024.
“What the White House ‘AI Bill of Rights’ Means for Education,” Daniel Mollenkamp, EdSurge, October 14, 2022.
“Learning in the Age of Algorithms,” Emily Boudreau, Usable Knowledge, January 21, 2020.
“Report: Colleges Must Teach ‘Algorithim Literacy’ to Help Students Navigate Internet,” Rebecca Koenig, EdSurge, January 16, 2020.
“Alison Head joins Harvard Graduate School of Education and Gutman Library as Visiting Scholar,” Harvard Library News, May 1, 2019.
“The Daily Deluge: How College Students Are Getting their News, and How Educators Can Help,” Grace Tatter, Usable Knowledge, October 19, 2018.
“Study: Fake News is Making College Students Question All News,” Daniel Funke, Poynter Organization, October 16, 2018.
“It’s Really Hard to Know What’s Real,” John Wihbey, Nieman Reports, October 16, 2018.
“Best (and Worst) Practice for Designing Learning Spaces,” Barbara Fister, Inside Higher Education,
December 6, 2016.
“Information Literacy and Recent Graduates: New from PIL,” Barbara Fister, Inside Higher Education,
January 7, 2016.
“For Tech Careers, It’s Not About What You Studied, It’s About What You Learned,” John Mello, Monster.com Tech Section, June 11, 2015.
“A New Report from Project Information Literacy,” Barbara Fister, Inside Higher Education, February 25, 2015.
“What PIL Teaches Us about Lifelong Learning,” Barbara Fister, Library Journal, August 7, 2014.
“Project Info Lit and the ‘Ginormous’ Problem,” Karen Schneider, Free Range Librarian, December 16, 2013.
“Research Brief: Next Generation Information-Seeking Behaviors,” Academy of Program/Project and Engineering Leadership (APPEL), NASA, July 3, 2013.
“Studying the Studies: The Big Four,” Steven Bell, Library Journal, May 15, 2013.
“Can the Digital Generation Do Anything Right?” Jason Tomassini, Education Week, November 12, 2012.
“Search People, Not the Internet,” Justin Reich, EdTech Researcher, Education Week, November 12, 2012.
“Thrown a Curve: Our Anti-Social Graduates at Work,” Barbara Fister, Peer to Peer Review, Library Journal, October 18, 2012.
“Project Information Literacy: Inventing the Workplace,” Barbara Fister, Inside Higher Education, October 15, 2012.
“Before Technology, the Power of Asking Questions,” Justin Reich, EdTech Researcher, Education Week, October 11, 2012.
“Digital Scholarship Allows the Media to Magnify the Power and Reach of Academic Research,” John Wihby, London School of Economics and Political Science blog post, April 5, 2012.
“Study of the Day: Yes, Students Know When to Put the Tech Away,” Hans Villarica, The Atlantic, October 21, 2011.
“Course Assignments Fail to Train Undergraduates for Research in the Digital Age,” Education-Portal.com, August 6, 2010.
“Research Assignment Handouts Give Students Meager Guidance,” Kelly Truong, Chronicle of Higher Education, July 27, 2010.