Information literacy is a skill set that has become important in higher education. Accrediting agencies expect academic institutions to develop skills in students so that they may become lifelong learners after graduation. Theological institutions have lagged behind the rest of higher education in implementing this instruction. Theological institutions have done limited assessments of the skills students possess at matriculation and during their studies. This study sought to assess the information literacy skills of graduates of theological institutions while they were serving in ministry. An understanding of their skills could then be used to improve instruction in theological education.udThe research was conducted as a qualitative research project using grounded theory. Interviews were conducted using open ended questions with eight Evangelical pastors who had graduated from sixteen different theological institutions. The questions were directed at the pastors in their role of preparing sermons, which would require a greater use of information literacy skills than other pastoral duties. The questions covered the first three Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Literacy Standards.udThe results were coded with the ATLAS.ti® program. The outcomes criteria under the ACRL Standards were used to assess the information literacy skills of the pastors. The research demonstrated that an information literacy standard is needed for theological education. The ACRL Standards fail to provide a model that matches the information seeking behavior of pastors in the workplace. A new standard should include the three main pastoral roles of preaching, administration, and caregiving and the research skills needed by the student in theological higher education.udMy research provides a theory and model of the information seeking behavior of Evangelical pastors in the pastoral role. The perceived spiritual need of the congregation became the common variable which controlled pastoral information seeking behavior. Prayer and Bible and Bible study were considered primary sources while the perceived spiritual need being addresses in the sermon became a filter for secondary sources.
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