They CAN and They SHOULD: Undergraduates Providing Peer Reference and Instruction

Abstract

Peer learning dynamics have proven powerful in collegiate contexts. These dynamics should be leveraged at the undergraduate level in academic libraries for reference provision and basic information literacy instruction. Drawing on the literature of peer learning, documented examples of peer reference and instruction in academic libraries, and preliminary evidence from current practice at California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, this article provides support from the pedagogical standpoint that undergraduates not only can provide peer reference and instruction, but should. The relevance to other institutions and additional assessment methods for establishing the efficacy of peer instruction are also discussed.