Library and Information Science Commons^™

The Reasons For A (Sometimes) Change Of Mind, Imani Beverly

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Often we experience a “change of mind” on some issue for which, at the time it was made, we are certain of its correctness. The central question we investigate in this presentation is: What valid reasons can be made for a “change of mind”? For example, scientific progress is made because older theories are replaced by better theories with the major reason being new evaluations and analyses of data and methodologies. We examine and discuss a broad range of issues for which a “change of mind” provides useful insights on the relevant topics. Examples include the interpretation and appreciation of …

Sharpening Your Aim: Building An Instructional Assessment Toolkit, Karen Doster-Greenleaf

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Faced with the challenge of unifying consolidated library instruction programs with varying missions Georgia State University Library formed the Library Instruction Outcomes and Assessment Working Group (LIOAWG). Tasked with developing standard learning outcomes and leading the implementation of a common instruction program targeting first year students, the working group developed a sandbox of assessment activities, each mapped to a specific learning outcome.

In this workshop, participants will work to develop performative learning outcome aligned assessments that can be modified to meet varying levels of information literacy competency. Working in small groups, participants will be assigned a specific learning outcome, then …

How Do We Teach Authority In A Culture Where Everyone’S An Expert?, Renee L. Berry, Lauren Mcmillan

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

As one of the cornerstones of the CRAAP test to evaluate the validity and usefulness of sources, we rely on the idea of “authority” to inform our evaluation of the source, to decide if it is trustworthy. In the long history of authority, we’ve variously relied on royalty/aristocracy, the Church, professors/the University, the printed word, and the “cultural elite.” In today’s world, all knowledge is available to all people (who are literate and have access to technology) at the click of a mouse or the tap of a finger. The concept of authority has been destabilized and democratized. Credentials don’t …

Learning From Failure: Making The Feedback Loop Work, Natalie Bishop, Pam Dennis, Janet Land, Hannah Allford

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

“I spend hours providing feedback, but I have no idea if my students read it” is a common phrase echoed across college campuses. While best practices in teaching pedagogy laud the feedback cycle, many instructors question the impact their feedback has on their students’ writing. As the feedback loop continues to be a trending cog in the machine of formative assessment and authentic education, an essential component of the loop is often overlooked: the conversation.

Presenters will focus on providing easy-to-implement “conversation” opportunities for students to respond to instructor feedback. This reflective practice provides insight into a student’s learning processes, …

Information Literacy Of Online Health Consumers In Minnesota, Shanda Hunt, Nicole Theis-Mahon, Katherine Chew

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

In the United States 72% of Internet users look online to find health information, with some being high quality and other information dangerous. The University of Minnesota is a land grant institution, and the Health Sciences Libraries have a strong outreach role, educating health information consumers across Minnesota about high quality resources. In 2016, we conducted a study at the Minnesota State Fair to identify where Minnesotans find online health information, how they use it, their confidence in assessing it, and what they think is missing. Convenience sampling yielded a total of 255 participants who valued the ability to access …

“Partnering To Understand Undergraduate Research And Writing Longitudinally”, Donna Scheidt, Cara Kozma, Holly Middleton, Kathy Shields

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

In her longitudinal case study of a single undergraduate, College Writing and Beyond (2007), Anne Beaufort investigates several knowledge domains contributing to students’ development as writers. As a team of librarians and writing faculty in research and teaching partnership, we hope to build on Beaufort’s work by examining and elaborating the role of research with respect to writing development by sharing findings from our own longitudinal study of undergraduates’ development as writer-researchers. Specifically, we are interested in the ways in which undergraduates’ research interfaces with their writing practices as they advance through their general education coursework and various disciplines. How …

Improving Student Success: Arkansas State’S Partnership With Credo Reference And Regional High School, April Sheppard, Jeff Bailey

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Are new students coming to your university ready to succeed or are they being overwhelmed by the college experience? Does faculty complain that they spend more time, with increasing frustration, providing basic research instruction to new students? Is your institution being challenged to increase 1st and 2nd year retention rates? Two librarians from Arkansas State University (A-State) will discuss their innovative collaboration in which A-State and Credo are working together to bring information literacy resources and instruction to local high schools in support of college readiness.

This session will cover a number of issues, including how the library engaged and …

Inoculating Students Against Digital Media Manipulation In The Algorithmic Age, Robert Berkman

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Propaganda, media manipulation, and bias in the news is not, of course, a new issue. However, in today’s hyper accelerated digital and social information environment, there are novel and more powerful methods being intentionally employed to convince media consumers to place their attention on, click, read/watch and believe content that was created to serve a very specific pre-existing agenda. These actors who create this agenda based news—whether political, commercial, or otherwise—today leverage machine learning, big data, behavioral psychology, knowledge of algorithms, social media user behavior, and networking theory, to created what has come to be rather dramatically called “weaponized” information. …

Research Resurgence: Supporting Our University Qep With Our Information Literacy Expertise, Amanda Hahn, Hannah Lowder

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Championing information literacy has long been the mission of university librarians. When our University chose “Cultivating a Community of Research and Scholarship” as the focus of our Quality Enhancement Plan the Library was invited to join two interdisciplinary course development teams. Librarians collaborated with faculty from various academic departments to design two introductory research courses. These sequential courses lay the foundation of information literacy that springboards students to higher level research.

Inquiry 101 centers on the themes of the value and relevance of research, introduction to the application of research, and an introduction to information literacy skills. As a major …

More Powerful Than Paper: Using Libwizard Surveys In Information Literacy, Sarah E. Keil

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

This fall, Waggoner Library at Trevecca Nazarene University began utilizing the Surveys feature available through Springshare’s LibWizard Lite in face-to-face information literacy sessions. Initially these surveys simply substituted for the paper worksheets previously used for in-class activities and assessments. However, it soon became apparent that LibWizard Surveys provided a more meaningful medium for students to practice new skills and a better tool for librarians to gauge student progress.

As a solo instructor working with large classes, adding interactive elements to information literacy sessions can be hard since it is difficult to assist students concurrently. The ability to include links and …

Set It And Forget It! A Self-Sustaining Semester-Long Literature Assignment For An Undergraduate Genetics Class. Now With A Bonus Reference Game To Emphasize Boolean Operators!, Brian Odom

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Biology is the largest undergraduate major at Wingate University and Molecular Genetics is a required course for all biology majors. Some of the goals of this course are to provide technical training in skills required to function in the modern workforce. In addition to the gaining of molecular laboratory techniques, training in the use of library resources is also included in the laboratory curriculum. This training, taught by the course instructor, is a follow-up to an intensive library introduction provided by reference and instruction Librarians as part of the foundational molecular biology course taken during the freshman year.

This additional …

Going Viral With Il: Integrating Information Literacy Into Your Library’S Social Media, Sarah E. Wagner, Ann Marshall

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Social media outlets dominate the way many library users consume information and communicate with others. In an effort to promote information literacy instruction beyond the classroom and to spread awareness about the library, this session examines the integration of information literacy concepts into an academic library’s social media platforms. Looking to the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for inspiration, the presenters discuss how they developed and implemented a content strategy for the library and government document social media pages which included monthly themes, promotion of services, and more interactive content. The presenters consider what types of content worked well, what …

Thinking Outside The Building: Developing A Library Ambassador Program Across Campus(Es), Lydia C. Gwyn

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

In an effort to address declining university retention rates and to reach students who may not make it to the library for research help, the Sherrod Library at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is in the process developing a peer-mentoring program. This program is one way the library can help the institution in its efforts raise student retention rates and improve student success. Peer learning programs have proven successful in tutoring centers and elsewhere in the university for decades, and research has shown that trained undergraduates are ideal candidates for delivering general reference and information literacy instruction to their peers …

Working Information: Developing A Qep For Campus-Wide Information Literacy Infusion, Susan N. Moore

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

When Spartanburg Community College was looking for a new QEP (Quality Enhancement Plan) for their reaccreditation, the SCC Library saw a great opportunity to widen our faculty collaborations across the curriculum. The Library wrote the proposal that eventually became the College’s new QEP and worked with a diverse team to develop a college-wide information literacy program entitled WIn: Working Information.

Now in its second year, this five-year program aims to make information literacy part of the institutional culture by having faculty work with librarians to infuse information literacy skills and assignments throughout their curriculum.

The overall goal of …

Who’S Evaluating The Evaluators? Cognitive Biases, Fake News, And Information Literacy, Jon C. Pope, Kim Becnel

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

In response to the increased attention to “fake news” and “alternative facts” as information challenges in the wake of the recent election cycle, librarians and educators have dramatically stepped up efforts to cultivate basic information literacy skills, especially prioritizing the careful evaluation of online sources of information. While these critical source evaluation skills are an essential component of functional information literacy, the recent emphasis on them is predicated on a model of communication that assumes that the readers of these online sources are capable—and desirous—of making informed, objective judgments about the credibility of an external information source. Rhetorical theories, however, …

What Does It Mean To Be Embedded?, Elena Rodriguez

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Having helped develop one type of Embedded Librarian Program at a Technical College, and then transitioning to a four-year college with an already established program, it has become more apparent that there is not one universal definition of an Embedded Librarian. The reason for these differences can be seen in the number of students and programs at an institution, the number of staff available, and other responsibilities that librarians have within their library organizations. What this shows is that careful consideration should be given when an academic library is considering starting their own Embedded Librarian Program to ensure their specific …

Making Library Instruction More Interactive With Kahoot!, Vincent S. Larkin

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

This presentation will describe our efforts to increase student participation and enthusiasm during library instruction sessions in a small college setting using Kahoot, a free online polling application. Kahoot, which can be accessed on mobile devices or PCs, allows the instructor to poll students and check for understanding at multiple points during an information literacy (IL) session.

The polling application, which can be used individually or with teams, has generated noticeable excitement/participation during library instruction sessions, garnering positive responses from students and faculty alike, and allows us to check for understanding throughout IL sessions. The ease of customization/changing of questions …

Mlis And Esl, How Librarians Can Serve English Language Learners, Jordan P. Moore

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Librarians are uniquely situated to assist English language learners, not only in the workplace, but in our communities. The presenter of this session works with international patrons and volunteers with organizations that serve immigrant and refugee communities in Atlanta, Georgia. Training in library instruction and research consultation has aided them their interactions with non-native English speakers as they learn a new language and adapt to life in the United States. During this session, participants will see how the strategies we use every day to assess patrons’ information needs and present information in an accessible and adaptable way can be particularly …

Digital Storytelling: A New Approach To Boost Information Literacy In First-Year Writing Courses, Yvonne B. Wichman

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

While the principles of rhetoric have changed little over the ages, the methods of delivery have changed, and at the heart of this evolution is modern technology. Traditional-age college students, ages 18 to 25, are part of the iGeneration. Rarely, do we see students walking around our campuses without some sort of technology in their hands. Be it an iPod or iPhone, today’s students are plugged in.

Clearly, the dissemination of information is moving from textual to visual, which means that students must learn to view visual and aural information in the same way that they view the printed word, …

Research And Writing In The Disciplines: A Model For Faculty-Librarian Collaboration, Erika Scheurer, Talia Nadir

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

In our collaborative faculty-librarian presentation, we will offer a model for institutionalizing information literacy (IL) instruction through our university’s Writing in the Disciplines courses. In this model, developed through primary and secondary research, we facilitate and support faculty-librarian collaborations, guiding pairs to maximize the potential for IL instruction as a means of supporting student writing.

As the extensive literature on faculty-librarian collaboration suggests, the "one shot" approach to IL instruction is not ideal for several reasons. Chief among them is that without shared understandings of the role of librarians and of what IL is (and is not), IL can become …

Double Shots, Not Decaf! Going Beyond The One-Shot As An Embedded Librarian, Michelle Abbott, Susanna R. Smith

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

The typical one-shot method of library instruction challenges a librarian to teach students everything they need to know in one session, before the students doze off in the first few minutes. An alternative has a librarian in an online environment providing assistance though chat or discussion boards. These embedded librarians are also challenged because it requires the student to make the connection, and they often snooze through that opportunity too. This caffeinated presentation offers a different solution to the age-old librarian problem: “How do I get students to interact with me and learn a little in the process?”

For the …

Meeting The Needs Of Freshmen And Transfer Students: Using Library Guides And Instruction As Platform, Janet S. Ward, Justin Davis

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

The presentation focuses on methods used for developing a one-stop-shop that provides resources and vital information for students in their first year on campus. During the presentation, presenters will deliver methods used in designing a LibGuide that contains various assignments and research activities so that students gain an understanding of library research, critical thinking, evaluation skills, financial literacy, registration, ethics, and more. The presenter developed Student Success @ Limestone College LibGuide specifically for freshman students. The guide has been so popular it has been designated as a required tool in freshman day and online courses.

Mi Casa Es Su Casa: Supporting Student-Created, Collaborative Learning Environments With Libguides Cms, Jeffrey M. Mortimore, Ruth L. Baker

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

As faculty seek innovative ways to develop student-created, blended learning environments, librarians have an opportunity to provide technical tools, training, and support that enhances faculty-librarian collaboration and promotes library instructional services.

LibGuides CMS provides a flexible platform for supporting student-created work, including student profiles, blogs, and simple html/scripting projects. This session discusses how librarians at Georgia Southern University opened up their LibGuides CMS platform to faculty in two programs to provide an online home for a variety of class and program-based projects. In each case, faculty and students were invited onto the platform as collaborative content creators and editors, while …

Practice Makes Perfect: Creating Information Literacy Modules For Learning Management Systems, Paula L. Hickner, Elizabeth J. Weisbrod

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Many institutions now use learning management systems (LMS) such as Blackboard and Canvas to deliver class content for distance learning programs, online-only classes, or to supplement face-to-face courses. Learning management systems offer the librarian a remarkable opportunity to reach students in new and exciting ways. The restraints of the traditional one-shot session in which the instructor expects the librarian to impart all knowledge about the online system, e-journals and databases, and the physical collection no longer need define the limits of information literacy.

Music students find that they need to be able to navigate a library’s music collection very early …

Recomposition And Information Literacy, Bailey Mcalister

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

To be successful in the ever-transforming world of writing, students must be familiar with new media and multimodal composition. New media, for most students, is something they are used to - they are frequently introduced to new social media features that enhance their online social experiences. But multimodal composition is more difficult to absorb. It’s not that students don’t compose multimodally everyday; it’s that many students don’t see the connections between informal multimodal composition on social media, academic composition in the classroom, and practical composition in the professional world. Having students compose a multimodal piece for an academic assignment allows …

What The Craap?: Comparing Approaches To Teaching Web Evaluation In Fye Programs, Victoria Elmwood

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Before the 2017-18 academic year, instruction librarians at Loyola University New Orleans’ Monroe Library had been using the highly popular CRAAP test to give students a framework for evaluating open Web resources. The traits of currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose are meant to help undergraduates determine a source’s appropriateness for use in their academic work. The possible limitations of this model became evident to us at the conclusion of our assessment of incoming freshmen’s ability to apply the CRAAP test to a topic of their own choosing.

Responding to this demonstrated entry-level information literacy need, instruction librarians began teaching …

Fake News Is Not The Problem: Addressing Issues With Information Consumption In A Digital Environment, Brandy R. Horne

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Since the last presidential election, fake news has become a topic of much discussion, and Librarians, seeing an opportunity to share their information literacy expertise, have been eagerly creating and sharing articles about and guides for spotting fake news. So many have been created that lists of these resources are now beginning to circulate, such as this one from the ALA Public Programs Office: http://www.programminglibrarian.org/articles/fake-news-library-round

While these are all good resources with good information, they are being deployed as a solution to fake news, but fake news is not the real problem. It is often said that the best thing …

Four Glos Walk Into A Classroom: The Challenge Of Supporting Critical Skill Growth, Megan O'Neill, Grace Kaletski

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

In this presentation, we outline the challenges faced when we adopted a LEAP-inspired general education curriculum with several critical skills as outcomes but created no support structure to deliver and foster them. Our General Learning Outcomes (GLOs) include writing, information literacy, speaking, and critical thinking; however, we had faculty leadership, expertise, and tutoring support only for writing. While writing assessment showed strong results and ultimately created curriculum change, the outsourced assessments of info lit, critical thinking, and speaking gave us widely divergent and unsatisfactory results. As one consequence, assessment efforts stalled in those areas. Looking at the successful development model …

Informed Learning And The Acrl Framework: What Faculty Teach And How Students Learn., Lorna M. Dawes

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Faculty are increasingly implementing pedagogies that create cultures of inquiry in their classes and teach information use as a part of their discipline subject content. Informed Learning is a pedagogy that focuses on “learning subject content through engaging with academic or professional information practices” (Bruce et al, 2010) and is the most effective way of teaching information literacy. Evidence gathered via interviews with 24 teaching faculty reveal how information literacy is a part of the teaching and learning that occurs serendipitously and intentionally in first-year courses. The faculty describe five qualitatively different ways that students experience information use throughout their …

Libguides ~ Ways To Engage Students In First Year Seminars, Carol Wittig

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

The University of Richmond offers students an array of First Year Seminars to choose from during the fall and spring of their freshman year. All seminars provide opportunities for critical reading and thinking and establish a foundation for effective written and oral communications skills, information literacy, and library research skills. As a common student experience and taught in lieu of a freshman composition sequence, First Year Seminars offer ways for librarians to collaborate with faculty through Library Research Sessions. The overall goals of the FYS Library Research Sessions are to introduce students to fundamental library resources and services, while developing …