Promoting information literacy through collaborative service learning in an undergraduate research course

Information literacy is an important foundation for evidence-based nursing practice. Librarians, the experts in information literacy, are important collaborators in the process of teaching nursing students information literacy skills. In this article we describe a service learning project, offered in a third year nursing research course, designed to teach information literacy and to enhance students' appreciation of the role of evidence in nursing practice. Students worked in groups, and under the guidance of a nursing instructor and librarian, to answer a question posed by practice-based partners. Through the project students learned essential skills of refining a question, identifying systematic search strategies, gleaning essential information from a study and using a bibliographic management tool. Evaluation of the project indicated that although the project was challenging and labour intensive students felt they learned important skills for their future practice. Several recommendations for further enhancing the collaboration are made.