Framing first-year writing course guides: A content analysis

Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which first-year writing course guides contain instructional content and whether the ACRL Framework for information literacy has been addressed in these guides. Design/methodology/approach First-year writing course guides were identified from American Research Libraries websites and examined for instructional elements. These elements were categorized using a rubric that mapped the Framework to instructional content. Qualtrics was used to organize and analyze the data. Findings Most first-year writing course guides include instructional content, but less than half incorporate the Framework in some way. Guides that do incorporate the Framework focus on “searching as strategic exploration” and “research as inquiry”. Practical implications This paper provides librarians with practical information on first-year writing guides and includes examples of how the Framework might be addressed. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on research guide content and is the first to invent first-year writing course guides.