THINGS THEY CARRY - ATTITUDES TOWARD, OPINIONS ABOUT, AND KNOWLEDGE OF LIBRARIES AND RESEARCH AMONG INCOMING COLLEGE-STUDENTS

This article uses information gathered from a short quiz and questionn aire administered to 521 incoming students in order to examine their a ttitudes toward, opinions about, and knowledge of libraries and resear ch. The data analysis uncovered meaningful correlations between studen ts' performance and high school class size, gender, grade point averag e, and previous experience with library research. No significant corre lation was discovered between students' test scores and their levels o f self-confidence, comfort in libraries, or self-assessment of library skills. The findings both reinforce and contradict stereotypical assu mptions about incoming students and provide information that can be us ed when modeling programs of bibliographic instruction.