Digital Commons Network^™

Leveraging Resources Across Units And Universities To Address Academic Literacies And Research Skills In Ontario Graduate Students, Melanie Mills, Elan Paulson

Melanie Mills

Measure For Measure: Using Collaborative Assessment To Build Stronger Information Literacy Skills, Susan Archambault

Susan Gardner Archambault

This paper will present a case study of how Loyola Marymount University (LMU) evaluated the information literacy component across 72 required Rhetorical Arts course sections taken by 1272 freshmen in Spring 2014. Rhetorical Arts is designed to teach students the time- honored tradition of the “good person writing and speaking well for the public good.” The course requirements (as dictated by a common syllabus) include one face-to-face librarian-led workshop, and coursework requiring students to develop a research topic, create a research diary, and create an annotated bibliography. Supporting material for students created by the library to enhance or supplement the …

Tapping Into The Skills Of School Librarians, Audrey Church

Audrey P. Church

The article focuses on the role of school librarians in evaluating the teacher's effectiveness. It states that librarians has knowledge about various areas other than library including information literacy, media literacy and digital literacy. It further presents various scenarios that can be used for analyzing the performance of librarians including formal observation, self-evaluation and portfolio.

Portfolio Power: Assessing Student Research & Writing, Katy Kelly, Heidi Gauder

Heidi Gauder

This session will describe the process and results of an instruction team’s pilot project to analyze student writing portfolios using ACRL standards. Following the English Department’s existing portfolio review methods, the team assessed portfolio samples from a class that received library instruction, as well as a second batch of samples from a class that did not. The team identified four specific learning outcomes, which were measured with a rubric. Outcome results indicated differences as well as similarities between the samples. This pilot helped refine the assessment process and it offered possibilities for changing the content of future library instruction sessions.

Engaging Undergraduates In Discipline-Based Research, Heidi Gauder, Fred Jenkins

Heidi Gauder

Purpose – This article aims to describe the standards-based approach used to build the International Studies Research Methods (INS250) course, a discipline-specific, credit-based class taught by librarians. This writing-intensive course emphasizes information literacy and critical thinking skills, which were developed using written assignments, class presentations, multiple assessment methods, and web-based applications. Design/methodology/approach – This paper will review the literature about discipline-specific, credit-based information literacy (IL) courses and outcomes. It will also analyze the INS250 course structure and map ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education to learning outcomes for the course. Findings – The paper finds that, in the …

Adding Up To Success? Assessing Freshman Skills In Information Literacy, Susan Archambault

Susan Gardner Archambault

Loyola Marymount University (LMU) designed a 4-module online tutorial to meet the information literacy outcomes associated with a First Year Seminar course. The four modules that comprise the tutorial (Starting Your Assignment, Types of Information, Finding and Evaluating Information, and Using Information Ethically) were integrated into each First Year Seminar course through Blackboard, the university's Learning Management System (LMS). After completing each tutorial module, students were also required to take a quiz. The effectiveness of the tutorial and quizzes was assessed through a mixed methods approach using direct and indirect measures. Overall areas of weakness are were evaluated and addressed, …

The Librarian In Rowling’S Harry Potter Series, Mary Freier

Mollie Freier

In her article "The Librarian in Rowling's Harry Potter Series" Mary P. Freier discusses Hermione Granger's skills as a librarian and researcher which lead to the defeat of Lord Voldemort. In each novel in the series, Hermione's research provides the necessary information for the solving of the mystery. Throughout the series, Hermione proves to be the only character who can use books effectively without putting herself or others in danger. Hermione begins the series as a child who loves the library, but does not always know how to use it effectively, while Madam Pince begins the series as a stereotypical …

Charting Your Course: Using Curriculum Mapping To Enhance Information Literacy, Susan Archambault

Susan Gardner Archambault

Loyola Marymount University’s (LMU) Reference Department launched a “curriculum mapping project” to support information literacy in a new core curriculum. Subject librarians at LMU are completing a curriculum map for every undergraduate major degree program on campus. The purpose is to pinpoint strategic information literacy opportunities within each Department, discipline, or program.

Partnering For Student Success: Promoting Integrative Learning In Information Literacy Instruction, Scott Mandernack

Scott Mandernack

In the face of the many developments that have been taking place in recent years in how people create, find and use information, and subsequently, in how they learn, it’s increasingly important for libraries to continuously adapt to the new social, technological and scholarly terrain and to position themselves in the forefront of reshaping the learning enterprise.

Using A Media Technology Showcase To Bridge The Gap Between K-12 & Higher Education: Creating A Professional Development Workshop., Sonya Shepherd

Sonya S. Gaither

Why should students spend time navigating to find the library tools needed to search? Why not provide direct links to library resources so more time is spent finding, evaluating, and synthesizing information? These were questions asked by some academic librarians trying to help students locate resources for assignments.As a result, these academic librarians created online tutorials for using persistent links to library resources. Teaching faculty learned how to use the links in web pages and WebCT Vista. These tutorials were also shared at conferences. Attendees encouraged the presenters to develop a hands-on workshop. Attendees also suggested the workshop as a …

Panel: Going Vertical Together: An Interdisciplinary Infusion Of Information Literacy With Research Writing In The Disciplines, Debra Dew, Nora Belzowski, Trisha Mileham, Jonathan Bull

Nora Belzowski

This panel explores the vertical design of an IL-infused university writing program now under construction at Valparaiso University. The program infuses IL work across a four-year trajectory of CORE, WIC, WID and Senior Capstone curricula. Panel speakers each enjoy distinct structural and disciplinary relations to the project.

Creating Online Tutorials For Freshmen, Anne Grant

Anne Grant

In the Fall of 2012, the teaching librarians at Clemson decided to move the freshman library experience online. Previously, over 200 workshops were provided each Fall semester for all incoming students and for the first time in 4 years, those workshops were replaced with online instruction. Join Anne Grant, instruction coordinator, as she talks about the way this change happened and hear about preliminary assessment data.

Going Vertical Together: An Interdisciplinary Infusion Of Information Literacy With Research Writing In The Disciplines, Debra Dew, Nora Belzowski, Trisha Mileham, Jonathan Bull

Jonathan Bull

This panel explores the vertical design of an IL-infused university writing program now under construction at Valparaiso University. The program infuses IL work across a four-year trajectory of CORE, WIC, WID and Senior Capstone curricula. Panel speakers each enjoy distinct structural and disciplinary relations to the project.

The D.B. Weldon Library's Instruction Portfolio: A Grassroots, Team-Based Approach, Kim Mcphee, Melanie Mills, Marg Sloan

Melanie Mills

The Cloud Ate My Homework! Stay Organized Using Online Storage, Jenn Nolte

Jenn Nolte

The Great Race: Embedding Information Literacy Into A New Core Curriculum, Susan Archambault

Susan Gardner Archambault

This presentation will give an overview of the structure for embedding information literacy into Loyola Marymount University’s new core curriculum. The curriculum map for information literacy throughout the first-year core courses will be displayed, with an emphasis on how the performance indicators are iterative and help build a foundation for more advanced skills. Also, the first-year information literacy assessment plan, which ranges from mandatory online tutorials to a series of graded research assignments, will be presented. Students engage in a more disciplinary perspective of information literacy through a required “information literacy flagged” course taken during the sophomore or junior year. …

The Moving Targets Of Teaching And Technology: Virtual Reference As Information Literacy Intermediary, Melanie Mills, Jennifer Robinson

Melanie Mills

Uncovering The Research Process Of International Students In North America: Are They Different From Domestic Students?, Yusuke Fitzgibbons, J Bartlett

Yusuke Fitzgibbons (Ishimura)

No abstract provided.

In The Loop: One Librarian's Experiences Teaching Within First-Year Learning Communities, Nancy Frazier

Nancy Frazier

Unique as snowflakes, learning communities are formed in countless ways. Some are designed specifically for first-year students, while others offer combined or clustered upper-level courses. Most involve at least two linked courses, and some add residential and social components. Many address core general education and basic skills requirements. Learning communities differ in design, yet they are similar in striving to enhance students' academic and social growth. First-year learning communities foster experiences that have been linked to academic success and retention. They also offer unique opportunities for librarians interested in collaborating with departmental faculty and enhancing teaching skills. This article will …

Off The Shelf And Out Of The Box: Saving Time, Meeting Outcomes And Reaching Students With Information Literacy Modules, Jennifer Kelley

Jennifer Kelley

As institutions of higher learning rapidly expand their offerings of online, hybrid and other distance learning opportunities for their students, librarians must adapt, adopt and improve information literacy instruction methods to accommodate instructors they may never meet and classes they may never see. Many responses to these challenges, such as embedded librarians and tutorial development, however, can be time consuming, expensive and resource-draining. This article discusses the process of creating a low-maintenance, wide-reaching solution to providing generic information literacy instruction to students in online, hybrid, distance and face-to-face courses.

The Learning Commons As A Locus For Information Literacy, Sharon Weiner, Tomalee Doan, Hal Kirkwood

Hal P Kirkwood Jr

Many institutions of higher education are designing spaces to facilitate learning. Libraries have created information or learning commons to support this activity. This article draws from the literature and best practices to explore this new direction. Academic libraries have focused on student learning and the teaching of skills and strategies that develop information literacy competency. Although there is an assumption that learning commons facilitate student learning, there is a need to more closely connect this new environment with information literacy and pedagogy and to demonstrate its merits in enhancing learning. A basic premise is that each learning commons that is …

Using A Media Technology Showcase To Bridge The Gap Between K-12 And Higher Education: Creating A Professional Development Workshop, Sonya Shepherd

Sonya S. Gaither

The audience will learn how a professional development workshop led by an academic librarian was created and used to show K-12 teachers and media specialists how to embed the “Big 6” in K-12 classes using persistent links to the library catalog and databases as well as other tools to help in the research process.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Revamping A Freshman Seminar Information Literacy Program, Amanda Izenstark, Mary Macdonald

Amanda Izenstark

Learn how the University of Rhode Island Library renewed their freshman seminar information literacy sessions without reinventing the wheel. Get ideas for reviving your current presentation and engaging students, while providing first year students with a broad view of your library space and services in 50 minutes or less. This renewed Library Experience program is an engaging and flexible three-part program that introduces students to a multitude of services, spaces and ideas about the who, what, when, where and how of an academic library. The new program reduces student boredom and librarian apathy through a model that accommodates differences in …

Using A Rubric To Assess Freshman English Library Instruction, Susan Gardner Archambault, Elisa Acosta

Elisa Slater Acosta

A New Bag Of Galileo Tricks!, Sonya Shepherd

Sonya S. Gaither

No abstract provided.

Integrating Information Behaviour And Information Literacy During Academic Tasks: A Comparative Study Of Japanese And Canadian Undergraduate Students In Canadian Universities, Yusuke Fitzgibbons, J Bartlett

Yusuke Fitzgibbons (Ishimura)

No abstract provided.

"Being Literate About Something": Discipline-Based Information Literacy In Higher Education, Jill Anderson

Jill E. Anderson

This report examines how academic librarians and theorists have discussed the issue of discipline-based information literacy instructional approaches since the publication of the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education in 2000. As Kate Manuel has recently noted, the Standards balance outcomes and indicators of universal or general information-literacy skills with more discipline-specific skills. Prior to the publication of the ACRL Standards, Stephen Plum argued that disciplinary standards can provide valuable frameworks for library instruction; more recent theorists have focused attention on general skills, some arguing that discipline-based skills are the province of subject faculty, others suggesting that discipline-based …

Engaging That Other Audience: Encouraging Faculty Involvement In Information Literacy Using New Technology, Jennifer Kelley

Jennifer Kelley

Literature on the subject shows that information literacy programs truly thrive when they receive support and involvement from teaching faculty. While efforts to integrate information literacy instruction into the curriculum and collaborating with faculty are not new, many of the opportunities and tools for doing so are. Whether you have full-support from all faculty (lucky you!) or varying levels of involvement from isolated departments or instructors here and there, we all have access to the tools we need to spark interest, take conversations to the next level, engage individuals, and create collaborative environments for designing information literacy sessions and programs.

Teaching The Teacher: How To Integrate Information Literacy Into The Curriculum, Robert Fernekes, Sonya Shepherd

Sonya S. Gaither

No abstract provided.

Information Literacy For Branch Campuses And Branch Libraries, James Hooks, Carl Rahkonen, Christopher Clouser, Kelly Heider, Rena Fowler

Chris Clouser