Library and Information Science Commons^™

Information Outlook, July/August 2011, Special Libraries Association

Information Outlook, 2011

Volume 15, Issue 5

The Impact Of Computer Literacy And Library Anxiety On Students' Library Experience, Terry Dwain Robertson, Lauren Matacio

Faculty Publications

Despite growing up with technology, are college freshmen well prepared for library research, or does their computer savvy actually put them at a disadvantage? Do other factors such as library anxiety affect students’ research experience? How can secondary educators better prepare their students for the leap from a small school library to a large college or university library? How can college librarians make new students’ first library experience a positive one? These questions are addressed in this article.

Review Of Science For Science Librarians: Graphene, Kathleen A. Lehman

University Libraries Faculty Publications and Presentations

Graphene is, in many ways, a simple substance. Made of a single atomic layer of graphite, graphene has emerged as a material providing many surprises and having immense scientific and industrial potential. In 2010, scientists Andre K. Geim and Konstantin S. Novoselov received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their isolation of graphene and for their research pertaining to the ultrathin material. In his presentation speech, Professor Per Delsing described how we all have made graphene each time we write with a pencil: microscopic bits of graphite and graphene flake away as the pencil moves across the paper (Delsing 2010). …

Trading Places: Empowering Users Through The Cephalonian Orientation Method, Amanda Izenstark, Mary C. Macdonald

Public Services Faculty Presentations

Slides from an electronic poster session at the 2011 Rhode Island Library Association Conference, held at Bryant University, Smithfield, RI.

The slides provide an introduction to the Cephalonian Method and how it was adapted to provide an introduction to the University Libraries for first year students and other audiences.

Information Outlook, June 2011, Special Libraries Association

Information Outlook, 2011

Volume 15, Issue 4

“Rise Up!”: Literacies, Lived Experiences, And Identities Within An In-School “Other Space”, Kelly Wissman

Literacy Teaching & Learning Faculty Scholarship

In this article, I consider the literacy practices that emerged in an in-school elective course centered in the literacy tradition of African American women. Drawing from spatial perspectives (Leander& Sheehy, 2004), I explore what it means to consider this course an “Other space” (Foucault,1986), as a space created without the constraints of a mandated curriculum or standardized test pressures and as a space informed by an understanding of the connections among literacies,lived experiences, and identities. Through the presentation and analysis of five vignettes, I consider how the students shaped the course to their own ends and pursued agentive literacy work …

Information Outlook, April/May 2011, Special Libraries Association

Information Outlook, 2011

Volume 15, Issue 3

Review Of Alcohol In Popular Culture: An Encyclopedia, Ed. By Rachel Black, Rebecca Tolley

ETSU Faculty Works

Review of Alcohol in Popular Culture : An Encyclopedia. Rachel Black Greenwood. 2010. 229p, 9780313380488, $85.00.

Why Not Just Google It? An Assessment Of Information Literacy Skills In A Biomedical Science Curriculum, Karl Kingsley, Gillian M. Galbraith, M. Herring, Eva Stowers, Tanis Stewart, Karla V. Kingsley

Library Faculty Research

Background: Few issues in higher education are as fundamental as the ability to search for, evaluate, and synthesize information. The need to develop information literacy, the process of finding, retrieving, organizing, and evaluating the ever-expanding collection of online information, has precipitated the need for training in skill-based competencies in higher education, as well as medical and dental education.

Methods: The current study evaluated the information literacy skills of first-year dental students, consisting of two, consecutive dental student cohorts (n = 160). An assignment designed to evaluate information literacy skills was conducted. In addition, a survey of student online search engine …

Information-Seeking Behaviors Of First-Semester Veterinary Students: A Preliminary Report, Sharon A. Weiner, Gretchen Stephens, Abdelfattah Y.M. Nour

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Although emphasis in veterinary education is increasingly being placed on the ability to find, use, and communicate information, studies on the information behaviors of veterinary students or professionals are few. Improved knowledge in this area will provide valuable information for course and curriculum planning and the design of information resources. This article describes a survey of the information-seeking behaviors of first-semester veterinary students at Purdue University. A survey was administered as the first phase of a progressive semester-long assignment for a first semester DVM course in systemic mammalian physiology. The survey probed for understanding of the scientific literature and its …

Libguides Beta, Justine Martin, Casey Duevel

Library Services Publications

No abstract provided.

Source Evaluation And Information Literacy: Findings From A Study On Science Websites, Nora J. Bird, Claire R. Mcinerney, Stewart Mohr

Communications in Information Literacy

An essential component of information literacy is the evaluation of information resources. Integral to evaluation are users' judgments about which Web sources might prove reliable when learning about a particular topic and the ones that they would choose for short term and long term use. Past Website quality studies have used research methods that involved asking participants to recall quality factors without the benefit of concurrent Web searching. Users in this study evaluated Websites during live searching on the “open”or unrestricted Web in a quasi-experimental protocol to determine the quality factors they valued and how these factors relate to gaining …

Teaching Matters: A Panel Critique Of Budd's Framing Library Instruction And The Author's Rejoinder, Patrick P. Ragains

Communications in Information Literacy

A detailed examination of John Budd's book, Framing Library Instruction, including discussion of cognitive theories and the state of information literacy instruction.

Expect (And Collect) A Response From Everyone In The Classroom, Karen Bronshteyn

Communications in Information Literacy

A positive and descriptive book review of Derek Bruff's 2009 book Teaching with Classroom Response Systems: Creating Active Learning Environments.

"Clicking" With Your Audience: Evaluating The Use Of Personal Response Systems In Library Instruction, Emily K. Chan, Lorrie A. Knight

Communications in Information Literacy

University of the Pacific librarians used personal response systems (PRS) or clickers in first-year mandatory library instructional sessions to assess their effects on student engagement and retention of learning outcomes. Students who utilized clickers during their library session reported greater enjoyment and encouragement to participate (n=291). Students in the sessions not utilizing the clickers achieved better learning outcomes than their counterparts who utilized clickers (n=326). The implications of these results are discussed, specifically within the context of pedagogy and tailoring instruction to the Millennial generation.

Information Literacy, Collaboration, And Teacher Education, Cindy Kovalik, Mary Lee Jensen, Barbara Schloman, Mary Tipton

Communications in Information Literacy

Information literacy is a critical component of a 21st century education. Teacher educators are confronted with teaching about information literacy on two levels: Not only do pre-service teachers need to become proficient in IL skills for their own success, they also need to learn how to teach their future students to become information literate (Branch, 2003; Carr, 1998; Hinchcliffe, 2003). In an effort to determine the extent to which teacher education programs incorporate information literacy instruction, researchers at a large Midwestern university conducted a survey of teacher education faculty in selected states. The survey sought to gather data related to …

Why Information Literacy Is Invisible, William Badke

Communications in Information Literacy

Despite the many information literacy programs on higher education campuses, the literature of information literacy and the concept of information literacy as a viable academic subject remain hidden to most professors and academic administrators. Information literacy is invisible to academia because it is misunderstood, academic administrators have not put it on their institutions' agendas, the literature of information literacy remains in the library silo, there is a false belief that information literacy is acquired only by experience, there is a false assumption that technological ability is the same as information literacy, faculty culture makes information literacy less significant than other …

Profiles In Science: Stephen Hawking, Kathleen A. Lehman

University Libraries Faculty Publications and Presentations

While Stephen Hawking’s early academic career lacked focus, the development of motor neuron disease straining against his hopes for a fulfilling life pulled the young scientist’s work together. He has since become the world’s most famous scientist due, in part, to his strong belief that science should be accessible to the general public. Hawking has published frequently for the academic community but has also published for the lay reader. His life has been recorded and examined by several biographers. This paper gives an overview of Hawking’s early life, academic career, his academic and popular publications, as well as a few …

Critical Collaborations: An Information Literacy Across The Curriculum Project, Sheila Beck, Devin Mckay

Publications and Research

The article focuses on a collaborative project aimed at investigating the effect of integrating four classroom assignments from different disciplines with critical thinking skills. Entitled "Collaboration and Information: Critical Thinking Skills Across Curriculum," the different goals of the project include having the students understand what information is, the type of information needed and its appropriateness, and the application of research skills using critical thinking. In this study, it has been demonstrated that the greater the breadth and depth of responses to the scenario, the greater the research process skills.

Information Outlook, March 2011, Special Libraries Association

Information Outlook, 2011

Volume 15, Issue 2

First Day Without A Desk Buddy: A Detailed Summary, Audrey H. Schwinn

Blogging the Library

Today is my first day behind the Ref. Desk without a Desk Buddy. I'm glad it's a morning shift because those are usually much quieter and less eventful than afternoon shifts. All of the librarians have reassured me that if I need help answering a question I can just call any of them, but so far I've been fine. I've been keeping a list of everything that occurs at the Desk this morning so that I can properly document my first day out here by myself. So far it hasn't been terribly interesting, but right now I'm ok with that. …

Exploring Library Room 20 - The Library Instruction Lair, Audrey H. Schwinn

Blogging the Library

For the last couple of weeks, in addition to working behind the Reference Desk, I have also been further investigating the Instruction part of the Reference & Instruction Department. While some instruction necessarily happens at the desk, the librarians have a chance to get more in-depth into teaching research skills when professors bring their students into the computer lab classroom in the basement. In the past couple weeks I have observed an English 101 and a 200-level Psych class, and my own Environmental Issues class was also brought in to meet with a librarian. [excerpt]

Information Is Social: Information Literacy In Context, Jen Hoyer

Publications and Research

This paper aims to discuss traditional conceptions of information literacy as created within an academic context to address information needs within this context. It seeks to present alternative realities of information use outside the academic sector, and to suggest that information literacy instruction within academia does not go far enough in preparing students for the information society beyond university. The aim is then to follow this by discussion of appropriate information literacy models to prepare young people for information use in a variety of workplace environments.

Recent Discovery: Answering Research Questions Is Not Impossible, Audrey H. Schwinn

Blogging the Library

Having a name plate is still the most exciting part about being behind the Reference Desk. (It's the little things in life that really make a difference.) But almost equally exciting is that I have now successfully answered several research questions! I am continuing to learn how to do things and, more importantly, I am (usually) remembering how to do them. The other librarians are still taking turns being my "Desk Buddy" so there is always someone to help me answer the questions, but I am starting to provide students and other patrons with helpful information on my own. [ …

Information Outlook, January/February 2011, Special Libraries Association

Information Outlook, 2011

Volume 15, Issue 1

Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival, Karen Rowell, The University Of Southern Mississippi, The University Of Southern Mississippi's School Of Library And Information Science

Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival Programs

The program for the forty-fourth annual Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival held on the campus of The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 2011.

Changes In Evidence-Based Practice Skills Of First-Year Dpt Students, Michael Fillyaw, Elizabeth Dyer, Sally Mccormack Tutt

Physical Therapy Faculty Posters

Poster presentation describing the outcomes for 30 first-year DPT students instructed in the elements of Evidence-Based Practice in a 2 credit course - Scientific Inquiry 1 (SI1). Faculty evaluated changes in: (1) DPT students’ knowledge and skills of EBP, as measured by the Adapted Fresno Test of Competence in Evidence-Based Practice (AFT) and (2) students’ self-confidence in EBP skills. This is the first study to use the AFT to evaluate changes in DPT students’ knowledge and skills related to EBP after formal instruction. The observed 24 point increase in the mean total score is educationally important and comparable to the …

“Google Reigns Triumphant”?: Stemming The Tide Of Googlitis Via Collaborative, Situated Information Literacy Instruction, Carol A. Leibiger

Faculty Publications

Googlitis, the over-reliance on search engines for research and the resulting development of poor searching skills, is a recognized problem among today’s students. Google is not an effective research tool because, in addition to encouraging keyword searching at the expense of more powerful subject searching, it only accesses the Surface Web and is driven by advertising. American higher education unwittingly fosters the use of search engines in research by emphasizing results rather than process. Academic librarians emulate teaching faculty in their reliance on lectures, and their course-related instruction is limited in its effectiveness because it is constrained to one-shot, lecture-driven …

“Google Reigns Triumphant”?: Stemming The Tide Of Googlitis Via Collaborative, Situated Information Literacy Instruction, Carol A. Leibiger

Faculty Publications

Googlitis, the overreliance on search engines for research and the resulting development of poor searching skills, is a recognized problem among today’s students. Google is not an effective research tool because, in addition to encouraging keyword searching at the expense of more powerful subject searching, it only accesses the Surface Web and is driven by advertising. American higher education unwittingly fosters the use of search engines in research by emphasizing results rather than process. Academic librarians emulate teaching faculty in their reliance on lectures, and their course-related instruction is limited in its effectiveness because it is constrained to one-shot, lecture-driven …

Understanding Online Knowledge Sharing: An Interpersonal Relationship Perspective, Will W.K. Ma, Allan H. K. Yuen

Support & Other Units (THEi)

The unique features and capabilities of online learning are built on the ability to connect to a wider range of learning resources and peer learners that benefit individual learners, such as through discussion forums, collaborative learning, and community building. The success of online learning thus depends on the participation, engagement, and social interaction of peer learners, which leads to knowledge sharing. Thus, without frequent and persistent interaction, it is doubtful whether knowledge sharing can take place in online learning. This study argues that theories about the development and maintenance of social relationships provide a theoretical foundation for understanding the motivation …