The Relationship between Undergraduates’ Background Characteristics and College Experiences and Their Academic Library Use

Abstract

This study examines factors that influence undergraduates’ academic library use during the first three years of college. Undergraduates’ high school library use, student–faculty interactions, and active learning and engaged writing activities predicted library use for all three years of the study. There was an interesting relationship between undergraduate library use and self-reported and objective critical thinking scores. These findings are useful for the redesign of current academic library services and future research studies on information-seeking behavior.