Library and Information Science Commons^™

The Irish Working Group On Information Literacy: A Cross-Sectoral Approach, Philip Russell, Terry O'Brien

Support services (Former ITT) - Articles

The Working Group on Information Literacy (WGIL) was established by the Library Association of Ireland (LAI) in January 2006 to recommend strategies for the development of information skills at both a theoretical and practical level in the Library and Information Services sector in Ireland.

From the outset, one of the key objectives established was that the work of the WGIL would be approached on a cross-sectoral basis.

Membership of the group comprises ten members from across the range of LIS (Library and Information Services) sectors in Ireland. These include academic, special, schools, public, health and university sectors, and also a …

Library Annual Report

Library Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Complex Questions, Evolving Answers: Creating A Multidimensional Assessment Strategy To Build Support For The “Teaching Library”, P. S. Mcmillen, A. M. Deitering

Library Faculty Research

Since 2001, librarians at Oregon State University's Valley Library have been working to build a "teaching library" supported by a clearly articulated instruction program. From the start, we believed that we needed to assess the teaching library's impact, not only to determine the success or failure of our efforts but also to demonstrate the need for intentional, proactive in formation literacy instruction on our campus. No single assessment tool or method proved adequate to effectively measure student learning happening both inside and outside the library. We describe our evolving, multi-pronged approach to measuring the impact of the library on student …

Providing For Graduate Student Information Needs At A Large Research University, Jeremy R. Garritano

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Graduate students at a large research university often have many information needs-from choosing a research advisor, to creating and pursuing their research agenda, to deciding on where to go after graduation. In addition., many of them have insufficient information seeking skills. The M.G. Mellon Library of Chem. at Purdue U. attempts to address many of these issues by the focused and proactive provision of resources and services to graduate students. Besides instructing graduate students on common chem. information resources, the staff of the Chem. Library provides additional services, such as after-hours access and assistance with bibliographic management software, to enhance …

Ice Cream Seminars For Graduate Students: Imparting Chemical Information Literacy, Jeremy R. Garritano

Libraries Research Publications

This article provides information on a chemical information literacy program designed primarily for new graduate students. The full implementation of this program is discussed, including defining its purpose, topics covered, content presented, methods of marketing, and evaluation. The result is a series of voluntary seminars given biweekly throughout the academic year. Seminars are based either around a particular resource or database or are centered on a topical problem that may be addressed using multiple resources. Evaluations show that graduate students are pleased with the seminars, including content covered and the format. Areas for future development and experimentation are also suggested.

Mmm...Vanillin: Reaching Graduate Students Through Ice Cream Seminars, Jeremy R. Garritano

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

While there is no required chem. literature course for graduate students at Purdue University, a series of library ice cream seminars is offered throughout the semester as an alternative. These seminars are targeted toward new graduate students to help them adjust to the wide variety of library resources now available to them. Each seminar is focused on either a particular resource (SciFinder Scholar, Beilstein, etc.) or a topical theme (patents, citation searching, spectral information, etc.). Implementation of the seminar series will be explained as well as content presented and effective marketing methods. Results of evaluations and future directions will also …

Takin’ It To The Streets: Quantitative Literacy, Public Policy, And Gis In A Service Context, Jeremy W. Donald

Library Faculty Research

Improved information literacy and quantitative literacy can help individuals overcome the information costs that discourage political participation and policy debate. Using place and public data as a touchstone, the students of a college political science course partnered with a group of middle school students to apply technology to a shared project. Together they learned techniques for representing demographic and geographic data with a variety of media, including Web 2.0 tools and GIS software. They created an online site designed to address the information needs of the local community, with a focus on promoting users’ information and quantitative literacy and encouraging …

Utilizing Focus Groups To Evaluate An Information Literacy Program In A General Biology Course, Betsy S. Hopkins

Faculty Publications

The Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University (BYU) recently implemented a number of information literacy strategies to help students in Biology 100, a large general education class, find resources for their term assignment. The library's services for Biology 100 students were evaluated using focus groups composed of both teaching assistants and students. This paper will describe the class and the assignment, discuss the impact the class had on library staff, detail the efforts of the staff to meet the needs of Biology 100 students, and present results of focus groups used to evaluate the library's outreach and teaching …

Teaching Information Literacy At Delta State University, Michael Mounce

The Southeastern Librarian

LIB 101: Fundamentals of Information Literacy is a one credit hour course which has been designed at Delta State University to provide DSU students with information literacy skills needed for conducting research. Information literacy skills taught in this course include skills such as performing effective searches and evaluating resources. This course is a general education requirement elective. Although it is an elective course, it is highly recommended by DSU reference librarians to students, since information literacy skills are necessary for research.

In the Fall of 2004, the LIB 101 course began to be taught at DSU. During the fall 2004 …

Re-Visioning Information Literacy For Lifelong Meaning, Dane Ward

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

Information literacy is a broader capacity than current practices would suggest. In addition to critical thinking, information literacy includes information processes that explicitly address meaning, motivation and the quality of life. A more robust notion of the concept delivers significant opportunities for libraries and instructional programs.

The Abc's Of Building Information Partnerships: Factors For Success In Building Active And Engaged Partnerships, Deborah H. Charbonneau, Carrie F. Croatt-Moore

Library Scholarly Publications

Building strong information partnerships is an essential first step to effective information literacy programs and services. The overall goal of this paper is to highlight several factors that are especially useful for establishing productive relationships with a range of potential partners including students, faculty, and other campus or community partners. Five key factors for success will be discussed to help guide the development of active and engaged partnerships.

The Other Side Of The Podium: Student Information Needs From Inside The Classroom, Marilyn R. Pukkila

Faculty Scholarship

A few things the author learned about students and research when she audited classes on her campus as part of her sabbatical.

Lacuny Instruction Committee Meeting Minutes, February 2006, Lacuny

Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Visual Information Literacy Via Visual Means: Three Heuristics, Benjamin R. Harris

Library Faculty Research

To offer definitions and application scenarios for three interdisciplinary heuristics designed to encourage a more holistic view of texts with the objective of raising awareness and enhancing the information literacy of student researchers.

Towards Information Fluency: Applying A Different Model To An Information Literacy Credit Course, Jennifer Sharkey

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to examine information literacy, critical thinking, and computer literacy in higher education and discuss the application of the information fluency model, created by the Associated Colleges of the South, to the Purdue University Libraries one-credit information literacy course, GS 175 Information Strategies.
/="/"> Design/methodology/approach – The case study has a two-part focus. The first examines information literacy, critical thinking, and computer literacy in higher education through a review of the literature. The second part discusses the pilot GS 175 Information Strategies course, shows how the information fluency model was applied, and analyzes …

Information Literacy And Library Attitudes Of Occupational Therapy Students, Daniel G. Kipnis, Msi, Anthony J. Frisby, Phd

Academic Commons and Scott Memorial Library Staff Papers and Presentations

Information literacy, often described as a person's ability to effectively find and evaluate answers to questions using a variety of information resources, is of particular importance to health care workers. This paper presents the results of an information literacy survey presented to the occupational therapy (OT) students at Thomas Jefferson University during a series of required class activities. Also described are the authors' activities with the faculty and courses at Jefferson. The survey was made available to first-, second-, third-, and fourth-year occupational therapy students along with nursing students and pharmacy students. The survey is designed to identify research habits, …

Health Information Literacy And Competencies Of Information Age Students: Results From The Interactive Online Research Readiness Self-Assessment (Rrsa), Lana Ivanitskaya, Irene O'Boyle, Anne Marie Casey

Publications

This study aimed to measure the proficiency of college-age health information consumers in finding and evaluating electronic health information; to assess their ability to discriminate between peer-reviewed scholarly resources and opinion pieces or sales pitches; and to examine the extent to which they are aware of their level of health information competency.

Journal Use By Graduate Students As Indicated By Masters’ Theses Bibliographies At An Urban Commuter College, 1991-2004., Ellen A. Sexton

Publications and Research

Citation analyses were carried out on master’s thesis in three disciplines, forensic psychology, forensic science and criminal justice, completed and deposited in John Jay library from 1991 to 2004. The aim was to determine the effect of availability of electronic journals on students’ choice of references. The number of journal citations and the ratio of journal articles to all citations was assessed. Criminal justice theses listed more citations that either science of psychology theses, but relatively fewer journal articles. An increase over time was seen in the number of journal articles cited and in the ratio of journal articles to …

21st Century Literacies: Transforming Education For Next Generation Learners, Patricia A. Iannuzzi

Library Faculty Presentations

- 21st Century Literacies

- Millennials as Learners

- Engaging the Digital Native

- A Vegas Perspective

Need And Know-How: The Perfect Partnership In Creating Tools For Distance Students, Stephanie Wiegand, Dan Lawrence

University Libraries Publications

Impossible Mission: In two hours educate twenty doctoral students - distance students that will not be seen on campus again - on everything they need to know about the library and the technological skills needed to access all the resources they will require.

The Response: A partnership formed between need (the subject librarian) and know-how (the instruction librarian) to create a tool that can be used to

1. create a sense of library and librarian for a distance learner, and
2. inform the student of the ways and means of connecting to the resources and people and, ultimately, the information and resources …

Faculty-Librarian Collaboration To Teach Research Skills: Electronic Symbiosis, Navaz P. Bhavnagri, Veronica Bielat

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

This article discusses faculty-librarian collaboration to integrate technology in a course that focuses on teaching empirical research methodologies and library research skills to elementary and early childhood education graduate students. Vygotsky’s theory, standards in teacher education, and information literacy standards form the conceptual framework that supports this collaboration. The purpose and procedures of this collaboration, as well as student, faculty, and librarian outcomes, are discussed. This present collaboration on bibliographic instruction and the use of Blackboard courseware is framed within the context of past history of collaboration and future plans to expand this collaboration.

Teaching Research Rhetorically, Jennifer E. Nutefall, Phyllis Mentzell Ryder

Staff publications, research, and presentations

At George Washington University, librarians and faculty have partnered to provide an effective introduction to information literacy to all freshmen. The structure of the new writing program promotes goals that are at the intersection of the Council of Writing Program Administrators and Association of College and Research Libraries. Furthermore, the structure maintains the collaboration and conversation among the two parties, promoting an on-going and evolving relationship.

Department-Integrated Information Literacy: A Middle Ground, William Joseph Thomas

The Southeastern Librarian

Much of the current literature on information literacy on college and university campuses encourages instructional services librarians and departments to pursue one of two options: either integrate information literacy into the curriculum as a campus-wide initiative, or establish a forcredit information literacy course taught by librarians. For a variety of reasons, instructional programs may not be able to accomplish either of these goals immediately. Perhaps the library does not have the institutional influence to mount a campus-wide program, or maybe the library lacks the needed resources in terms of personnel or instructional facilities. Tackling the planning required for a program …

Up The Down Escalator: Creating Realistic Expectations With Teaching Faculty, Stephanie Wiegand, Sarah Naper

University Libraries Publications

Has a faculty member ever approached you and asked you to come to her class to talk to students about library services and research tools, and when you ask, “What are the learning objectives for the session?” the faculty member replied, “Oh, they just need to know everything about library research, library services, how to evaluate information, and how to access materials in the library and online.” How much is reasonable for a subject librarian to impart to students in a single 50-minute one-shot? Join colleagues to discuss strategies for managing faculty expectations of library sessions and approaches for narrowing …

Information Literacy In Science & Technology Disciplines, Virginia A. Baldwin

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

"Information Literacy in Science & Technology Disciplines" is a presentation given as part of the 2005 ACRL preconference, “Information Literacy in the Disciplines: Librarian/Faculty Collaboration for 21st Century Research Skills.” The purpose of the presentation was to give preconference attendees a background that would assist in facilitating discussions of methods of collaborating with faculty to develop library instruction that addresses information literacy standards relevant to specific disciplines.

Moving Beyond Integrating Ubiquitous Undergraduate Research Skills, Harry L. Reif, Kathy E. Clarke, Young B. Choi

Libraries

Information systems professionals must be able to recognize and adapt to changing technologies to support evolving business needs. While it is impossible to accurately envision tomorrow’s technologies and business needs, it is possible to develop students’ ability to constantly survey the changing business and technology landscapes and apply critical thinking skills to draw appropriate conclusions regarding which potential trends are worth following and which are less viable. This paper makes the case for preparing undergraduate students with problem-solving and research skills and describes a successful methodology for developing these skills in an undergraduate information systems course.

What Do Freshmen Really Know About Research? Assess Before You Teach, Jean Caspers, Steven Mark Bernhisel

Faculty & Staff Publications

The article describes an effort to assess the information literacy skills of entering first-year college students. An instrument was developed and information was gathered on students' experience and comfort in conducting library research as well as their perceived competence with specific information literacy skills. In addition, students completed a skills test to assess specific knowledge and skills relating to information literacy. Entering first-year students generally self-reported their skills to be less than "excellent." This finding was supported by the results of the skills test. Strengths and weaknesses in information literacy skills are reported, as well as implications for librarians who …

Comparative Literacy: The Approach To Library Research From An International Perspective, Beth Bloom

Library Publications

The exchange program with the LCAS in Beijing is but one of three initiatives taken by Seton Hall librarians to share information about perceptions and practices involving information literacy abroad. The other two involve: 1. a collaboration with the Bochum University Library at the University of Bochum Germany, in which we explored pedagogies employed during information literacy instruction sessions, and 2. an exploration of the behavioral differences between American and Danish students while doing academic research, based on use of the SWIM (Streaming Webbased Information Modules) tutorial.

The purpose of this essay is to report on our collaborations with librarians …

Chemical Information Instruction, 1984-2004: Who Is Leading The Charge?, Jeremy R. Garritano, F. Bartow Culp

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

The ACS Committee on Professional Training has long emphasized the importance of chem. information instruction (CII) in the education of both undergraduate and graduate students. In 1984 and 1993, the ACS Chem. Information Division Education Committee surveyed US academic institutions regarding their level of CII. The results of these surveys have provided valuable information concerning the levels of activity and the difficulties faced in providing information instruction. However, in the 11 years since the last survey was conducted, there have been explosive changes in both information delivery and instructional methodology. We have therefore updated the survey instrument to capture such …

Information Competencies Checklist: A Resource For Intersegmental Collaboration, Susan Klingberg

Faculty and Staff Publications

The paper provides a model checklist of information competencies for two- and four-year colleges and universities.