Latest Release

“PIL News Study Major Findings” (2:35) (October 2018) The News Study presents findings about how a sample of U.S. college students gather information and engage with news in the digital age. This video summarizes the major findings from an online survey of 5,844 respondents and telephone interviews with 37 participants from 11 U.S. colleges and universities selected for their regional, demographic, and red/blue state diversity. (Permission is not required for non-commercial re-use of PIL’s videos.)

Previews of Research Studies

“Major Findings: PIL’s Lifelong Learning Study” (2:58) (January 2016) How do recent graduates continue to learn once they graduate from college and progress in their lives? This PIL video highlights findings from the large-scale PIL Lifelong Learning Study. Key findings are presented about the information seeking needs and practices graduates use for enriching and fulfilling their personal and professional lives. (Permission is not required for non-commercial re-use of PIL’s videos.)

​”What Is Lifelong Learning?”
 (2:39) (October 2014) What does lifelong learning mean to recent college graduates? This PIL video highlights excerpts from interviews with recent grads we conducted as part of our large-scale PIL Lifelong Learning Study (2013-2015). The excerpts were compiled from interviews with 63 recent grads from 10 U.S. colleges and universities in Spring 2014. (Permission is not required for non-commercial re-use of PIL’s videos.)

“Major Findings: PIL’s Freshmen Study” (2:40) (December 2013) How do today’s freshmen make the critical transition from high school to college? What challenges do they face with finding and using information on their new campus? This PIL research preview highlights key findings from the 2013 PIL Freshmen Study, based on interviews with 35 freshmen from six U.S. colleges and universities. (Permission is not required for non-commercial re-use of PIL’s videos.)

“Major Findings:  PIL’s Day after Graduation Study” (3:30) (October 2012). What happens to college students once they graduate and join the workplace? How do they solve information problems in the workplace? This PIL research preview highlights key findings from the 2012 Study about College Graduates in the Workplace, based on findings from interviews with 23 employers and focus groups with a total of 33 recent graduates from four U.S. campuses. (No permission required for use of PIL videos.)

“Major Findings: The PIL Technology Study” (2:50) (October 2011). How do college students manage and use technology while they are in the library during the final weeks of the term? This PIL research preview highlights key findings from the 2011 PIL Technology Study, which had a sample of 560 interview respondents from 10 U.S. campuses. (No permission required for use of PIL videos.)

“Major Findings: The PIL 2010 Student Survey” (3:05) (November 2010). How do students evaluate and use information once they find it? What difficulties do students have with conducting research from start to finish? This PIL research preview highlights key findings from the 2010 PIL Student Survey Report, which had a sample of 8,353 respondents from 25 U.S. campuses. (No permission required for use of PIL videos.)

“Major Findings: The PIL Handout Study” (2:22) (July 2010). How do handouts for research assignments guide, instruct, and support students about completing the research process? This PIL research preview highlights key findings from the PIL Handout Study of 191 handouts from 28 U.S. campuses. (No permission required for use of PIL videos.)

Dialogs

Tune into PIL’s ongoing video series, the PIL Information Literacy Dialogs. Each video is short, only about two or three minutes long, and highlights findings from our ongoing research at PIL. The videos are available from a PIL channel or in compressed WMV formats. The videos are meant to stir conversation, debate, and discussion. Feel free to use the videos in a class, a training session, or with your colleagues. Open source, no permission is needed for re-use.

“PIL InfoLit Dialog #1: Wikipedia” (2:11) (March 2009). How do students use Wikipedia during their course-related research activities? The video’s content is drawn from the PIL Discussion Groups, held on seven U.S. college campuses during fall 2008. (No permission required for use of videos.)

“PIL InfoLit Dialog #2: Procrastination” (2:11) (April 2009). What do students say about procrastination and carrying out course-related research in the digital age? The video’s content is drawn from the PIL Discussion Groups, held on seven U.S. college campuses during fall 2008. (No permission required for use of videos.)

“PIL InfoLit Dialog #3: Frustrations” (2:35) (June 2009). What do students say about frustrations with the research process? The video’s content is drawn from the PIL Discussion Groups, held on seven U.S. college campuses during fall 2008 and early results from the spring 2009 student survey (n=2,500). (No permission required for use of videos.)

“PIL InfoLit Dialog #4: Strategies” (2:48) (February 2010). What strategies do college students use for conducting research? The video’s content is drawn from the PIL Student Survey (#1) held on six U.S. college campuses during spring 2009 (n=2,500).
(No permission required for use of videos.)

“PIL InfoLit Dialog #5: Finding Context” (4:04) (September 2010). What kinds of context do students need for research tasks? The video’s content is drawn from the PIL Student Survey (#1) held on six U.S. college campuses during spring 2009 (n=2,500). (No permission required for use of videos.)

“The Student Discussion Groups” (4:06) (Fall 2008). The PIL Team conducted 11 discussion groups on seven U.S. campuses in fall 2008 to study how students conduct course-related and “everyday life research” in the digital age. A four-minute short video, produced by the PIL Team in December 2008, highlights some of the findings, including the use of Wikipedia as an indispensable, “pre-search tool” and consulting with librarians for help figuring out how to navigate complex information spaces and library systems. (No permission is required for use of videos in educational activities.) (No permission required for use of videos.)

“Understanding Information Literacy through the Lens of the Student Experience” (4:06) (May 2008). Our first video from research conducted at Saint Mary’s College of California in 2007. Includes student, faculty, and librarian interviews about the 2007 Information Literacy Study. (No permission required for use of videos.)

“It’s Complicated: What Students Say about Research and Writing Assignments” (2:03) (April 2012). What do students say about working on research assignments? What sources do they use and why? What helps them during the research process? This PIL research video content is drawn from follow-up interviews from our surveys, interviews, and focus groups during fall 2008 through fall 2011. (No permission required for use of PIL videos.)