International Students and the Library: A Survey of Incoming International Students at San Jos State

1
International Students and the Library A Survey
of Incoming International Students at San José
State University

• Pamela Jackson
• San José State University

2
Introduction

• International student enrollment in American
  academic institutions has continually risen since
  1945.
• Most international students find themselves in
  the cultural and language minority when they
  travel to a foreign country and enroll in a new
  educational system.
• Difficulties matriculating into American
  universities (such as SEVIS) may make the
  learning experience itself much more stressful
  and can lead to heightened levels of anxiety for
  international students.

3
Past Library Research

• Students from other countries are accustomed to
  varying degrees of access to information.
• International students come to American
  universities with limited training in traditional
  print sources, computer and database use, and are
  often unaware of how an American library
  functions.
• Librarians and students encounter difficulty with
  language barriers and nonverbal communication
  problems.

4
More Library Research is Necessary to Determine
Needs of International Students as They Perceive
Them.
International programs offices and librarians,
not international students, are often surveyed.
Last published library needs survey of
international students 1993
5
Demographics of SJSUs International Students
(Based on 2002 Institutional Planning and
Academic Resources (IPAR) Statistics)
6
San José State University Enrollment Statistics
International Students
Apx. 5
7

• International student enrollment up 28.9 from
  1999.

28.9
8
Distribution of International Students by
Residence Area
77
In thousands
9
Distribution of International Students by
Residence Area (Non-Asian Countries)
NumberofStudents
10
Distribution of International StudentsAsian
Countries
23
18
14
13
10
9
8
5
11
Countries of International Graduate Student
Origin
12
Percent of Degrees Conferred to International
Students
13
47.6

• Degrees conferred to International Students up
  47.6 from 1997.

47.6
14
Current Research StudyIncoming International
Student Survey
15
Methodology and Survey

• 161 undergraduate and graduate incoming
  international students at San José State
  University were surveyed during Fall 2003
  orientation.
• The survey was divided into four sections.
• Demographic Data
• Students library and computer use in their home
  countries before coming to the United States
• Library concepts and services that they have used
  or are new to them
• Open-ended question section for them to tell what
  they like/dislike about the library and how the
  library can best or better serve international
  students
• Response Rate
• 82 of students for whom this is their first time
  in the United States
• 65 for students who are transferring from
  another U.S. institution
• A combined overall response rate of 75

16
Identifying Barriers to Successful Library
Research

• What is the demographic profile of our incoming
  international students?
• What experience do incoming international
  students have using libraries in their home
  countries and what is their level of computer
  proficiency?
• What library services and terminology are new to
  international students?
• What do the students like/dislike about the
  library?
• What services/information do respondents think
  the library should provide to help international
  students?

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Distribution of Incoming International Students
by Residence Area
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Demographics

• Approximately 67 are under age 25
• Gender is nearly equal
• Approximately 51 are graduate students
• Time in the U.S. was a few days for students
  new to the country and an average of 2.5 years
  for transfer students (transfers are all
  students who have previously studies in the
  U.S., including graduate students)

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Major Areas/Fields of Study
37
27
18
8
6
4
20
Library and Computer Use Before Coming to the U.S.

• used a library in their home country
• used a computer inside a library
• used the WWW
• used email
• conducted computerized library research

94
84
96
93
80
21
(No Transcript)
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New Library Concepts

• Services such as interlibrary loan, librarian
  reference-by-appointment, and live online
  reference are new concepts.
• The reference desk and open stacks are
  understood.
• Students perceive themselves as understanding
  library terminology however, further study is
  needed to determine the extent of their knowledge
  of library terms and jargon.

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What do you like about the library?
Cooperative staff. People are helpful.
We can connect to the Internet easily.
Rooms for studying in groups.
It is great to see foreign language books, esp.
in Urdu.
Laptop connections at every desk.
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What do you dislike about the library?
There are not a lot of open computers.
The Internet speed is so slow.
Students dont have unlimited web access.
(.i.e. a 24 hour computer lab)
Hours are too short. (frequently noted)
A bit confusing to first timers.
Long lines for checkouts.
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What library services can we provide to help
international students?

• Friendly reference desk employees.
• Web access.
• Give us more orientation on how to use it.
• More multimedia resources in different
  languages.
• Tell us how to use it by email.
• 24 hours internet service.
• There isnt enough time to surf the net.
• Hard to find books after checking the catalog.
• Signs telling what books are on what floors.

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What information would you like the library to
provide?

• More orientation to the library
• More resources in other languages, especially
  daily newspapers from their home countries
• Local area information
• Job-related information

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What the Library Can Do

• Create a partnership with university
  international programs offices.
• Assign a librarian to international student
  programs and outreach.
• Increase library orientation and outreach efforts
  to international students.
• Create an online tutorial for international
  students.
• Create library web pages for international
  students.
• Collaborate with campus pre-college ESL
  institutes.
• Plan a professional development seminar for
  library staff.

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Summary and Conclusion

• Incoming students are highly computer literate
  and most have used a library in their home
  country.
• Increasing library orientation efforts for this
  target group can provide a solid foundation for
  international student success.
• Information literacy initiatives are needed at
  the graduate level where the largest percentage
  of international students are enrolled.

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This research study will be available in the
spring issue of Reference Services
Review.Jackson, P. (Forthcoming 2005). Incoming
International Students and the Library A Survey.
Reference Services Review, 33(2).