Digital Commons Network^™

Teaching News Literacy During A Pandemic: Adapting To The Virtual Learning Environment, R. Alan Berry, Jennifer L. Bonnet, Judith E. Rosenbaum

Library Staff Publications

In the fall of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered universities and sent much of higher education online, a team of media and information literacy experts at the University of Maine sought meaningful ways to collaboratively teach news literacy from a distance.

The result of their efforts was a weeklong virtual program, Friend, Enemy, or Frenemy? A News Literacy Challenge, open to anyone with an internet connection and an email address. This approach to remote learning scaffolded multiple literacies (critical media, news, and information) into five days, as participants examined different aspects of news production and consumption. The overall objective …

The Covid-19 Misinformation Challenge: An Asynchronous Approach To Information Literacy, Jennifer Bonnet, Senta Sellers

Library Staff Publications

The coronavirus pandemic introduced a "new normal" to the everyday lives of people the world over, including an evolving understanding of the virus’s spread and long-term impact. With each new development, misinformation about COVID-19 proliferated, sowing confusion and uncertainty about everything from causes to cures. In response, two librarians designed The COVID-19 Misinformation Challenge, a weeklong program aimed at discerning coronavirus fact from fiction on social media, in the news, and in academic publishing. Based on the number of program participants and their overwhelmingly positive feedback, the Challenge proved to be popular, fun, and educational.

Fogler Library: Research Tip — Find Ebooks, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University Of Maine

UMaine Video

Raymond H. Fogler Library Reference Department instructional video to assist students in locating E-books available through the library catalog, URSUS. The video is part of content created to assist students attending classes remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. This video contains music only.

Fogler Library: Research Tip — Access Library Resources Off Campus, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University Of Maine

UMaine Video

Learn how to use UMaine's Single Sign-On to quickly and easily access online databases, journals, and more. Raymond H. Fogler Library Reference Department instructional video to assist students to learn how to remotely access electronic library resources. The video is part of content created to assist students attending classes remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. This video contains music only.

Fogler Library: Writing A Research Abstract Workshop, Anne Marie Engelsen, Allyson Hammond

UMaine Video

The most important part of your research paper is your abstract. Its purpose is not only to concisely summarize your work but also to grab the reader’s attention and convince them that your research is valuable and important. An unclear abstract can set the stage for confusion, whereas a polished abstract prepares the reader by telling them what to expect from your paper.

This workshop will show you how to perfect your abstract (with an emphasis on the UMaine Student Symposium’s guidelines). We will begin with an overview of abstract-writing tips, followed by group activities for practice.

About the Speaker …

Fogler Library: Build A Brand That Gets You Hired, Anne Marie Engelsen, Nick Mitchell

UMaine Video

Fogler Library and Dr. Nick Mitchell from Clarivate Analytics present a series of discussions focused on scholarly communication, bibliometrics, publishing, and more for faculty and graduate students. The following topics are covered:

Session #1 - Make it easy for a stranger to find your research publications
Session #2 - What metrics do hiring and promotion committees use to gauge “scholarship quality”?
Session #3 - Where and what should I publish to grow my research brand?

About the Presenter Nick Mitchell, PhD. is a Solutions Consultant for Clarivate Analytics, the world’s foremost provider of research information and analytics. Prior to joining …

Play On? Comparing Active Learning Techniques For Information Literacy Instruction In The Public Speaking Course, Jennifer Bonnet, Liliana Herakova, Ben Mcalexander

Library Staff Publications

Actively engaging students in information literacy instruction is the foundation of the Association of College & Research Libraries’ (relatively new) Framework for Information Literacy. Yet, missing from the library literature are studies that examine the effectiveness of one active learning approach versus another. This paper reports on a research project that aimed to do just that: use two discrete active learning techniques to teach information literacy concepts, particularly those situated in the ACRL Frame, “Authority is Constructed and Contextual.” Twenty-two sections of a public speaking course were randomly assigned to one of three treatments. A play technique was used with …

Low Tech, High Tech, Just The Right Tech: Find The Perfect Tools To Create Multimedia For Your Library, Marisa L. Mendez-Brady, Shiva L. Darbandi

Library Staff Publications

The purpose of this presentation is to share our techniques for creating easy to use tutorials for your library. Whether you serve a small academic community, or a large university, we hope to present ideas that work for your library. We will cover the basic pedagogy behind tutorial creation and use, and then present both licensed and open sourced tools for creating multimedia tutorials at all funding levels. Participants will be asked to participate in storyboarding exercise where they put together a learning object they can take back to their institution. Our goal is to demystify the tutorial creation process.

Engineering, Martin K. Wallace

Library Staff Publications

This chapter describes a standards-based framework of information literacy instruction (ILI) for undergraduate engineering students. It begins by identifying characteristics of information literacy that are most relevant to the engineering curriculum, framed by a review of the ACRL’s Information Literacy Standards for Science and Engineering/Technology. Recommendations for delivering ILI to undergraduate engineering students are given, drawing from a pilot program for integrating information literacy into the Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) program at the University of Maine. Finally, assessment strategies for ILI curricula are provided, based on examples from the MET pilot. Throughout the chapter, core engineering information resources are identified, …

Maine’S Btop Information Commons Project: The Building Block To Statewide Digital Literacy Efforts, Janet Mckenney

Maine Policy Review

Although Maine is a rural state, it has had success in keeping pace with technological changes since the rise of the Internet 20 years ago. In this section, authors describe some of these successes and the challenges faced by both consumers and libraries in the new digital environment. Janet McKenney discusses the recent BTOP [Broadband Technology Opportunities Program] federal grant that has increased the number of computers, workstations, and videoconferencing units in Maine libraries and is providing training and online learning resources to unemployed, low-income and senior citizens, along with assistance to local librarians to increase their technology skills.

Students And Information Literacy: High School And Postsecondary Perspectives, Debe Averill, Nancy Lewis

Maine Policy Review

Using current research and professional standards, the authors discuss the importance of information literacy skills at all educational levels. Recent research, as well as anecdotal evidence from students, librarians and teachers, indicates that students lack knowledge of research process steps and rely too heavily on general and non-vetted sources. Studies show that students default to these sources in an attempt to complete assignments quickly and demonstrate of a lack of knowledge regarding topic development, source evaluation and ethical use. Policy issues addressed include the need for K-12 information literacy instruction by qualified library/media professionals, cooperation between secondary and postsecondary stakeholders …