A critical analysis of the INFORMS project at Loughborough University

The paper presents a critical analysis of Loughborough University’s experience of INFORMS, a JISC funded project that builds on the earlier work of INHALE. Key aims of the project are: · to enhance students information literacy skills by embedding electronic database tutorials via local Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) into the academic curriculum. · to transfer the project tools originally created by Huddersfield to the learning environments at the partner sites of Loughborough and Oxford universities. · to establish students’ searching behaviour and measure the level of literacy skills prior to using the tutorials and again afterwards. A small team at Loughborough customised existing tutorials and developed new ones to support the subject areas of business, civil engineering and sport & exercise science. Student feedback was sought regarding tutorial content and the learning experience.