Information Literacy Commons^™

Out Of The Archives And Into The Streets: Teaching With Primary Sources To Cultivate Civic Engagement, Jen Hoyer

Publications and Research

This article examines whether teaching with primary sources can cultivate civic engagement by investigating the competencies involved in developing student civic engagement and aligning these with outcomes from teaching with primary sources. Using three examples from Brooklyn Connections, a primary source-based education outreach program that offers a free standards-based and curriculum-aligned school partnership program for grades four through twelve, this case study illustrates the potential for using primary sources to cultivate skills, knowledge, and student agency. Through assessment of these examples in teaching with primary sources using protocols developed for evaluation of programs that focus on developing civic engagement, the …

Supporting Institutional Objectives By Embedding Mission-Critical Competencies In Credit-Bearing Library Instruction: A Review And Case Study, Derek Stadler, Alexandra Rojas

Publications and Research

This article reviews scholarship of incorporating institutional objectives in academic courses and proposes a method to embed mission-critical competencies in a library instruction course. Few academic institutions focus their mission or core competencies on digital communication. LaGuardia Community College delineates three competencies in its mission: inquiry and problem solving, global learning, and integrative learning. Students exhibit command of these competencies in written, oral, or digital communication. The College defines the digital communication ability as successful collaboration and interaction using online tools, such as discussion boards, either to stage written exchange, or to capture video or oral discussions. Through participation in …

Exploring Innovative Ways To Incorporate The Association Of College And Research Libraries Framework In Graduate Science Teacher Education Eportfolio Projects, Alison Lehner-Quam, Wesley Pitts

Publications and Research

This article investigates ways in which student voice informed design research into information literacy instruction in a year-long graduate science education ePortfolio culminating project. Library and science education faculty partnered in a two-year project to create communities of secondary science education students, in two cohorts, who used the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education to support their own research and reflections into information literacy. The overarching goal was to improve the course design to help science teachers develop their professional competencies in information literacy to conduct research to support their practice. Examination of students’ responses to research experiences …

Community College Librarians And The Acrl Framework: Findings From A National Study, Susan T. Wengler, Christine Wolff-Eisenberg

Publications and Research

This study explored community college librarians’ engagement with the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. A national online survey with 1,201 community college librarian respondents reveals limited familiarity with and integration of the Framework into community college instruction to date. Findings indicate an openness to future adoption, as well as substantial interest in targeted professional development and a version of the Framework adapted for community college campuses. These results contribute benchmark instructional data on an understudied section of academic librarianship and add to the growing body of research on how librarians have updated teaching practices in response to …

Information Literacy In Place-Based Interdisciplinary Teaching And Learning, Anne E. Leonard

Publications and Research

This chapter explores the role of information literacy in virtual or hybrid place-based interdisciplinary courses. Whether teaching as a guest lecturer or as a co-instructor, I infuse information literacy competencies into assignments, relying on the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Four of the six frames of the Framework map especially well to interdisciplinary teaching and learning: information has value, authority is contested and contextual, research as inquiry, and searching as strategic exploration. Through searching in special collections and archives and integrating digitized primary sources into research projects students engage in a virtual exploration …

Scaffolded Research Skills Series For Nutrition And Dietetics Students: A Collaboration, Lee Ann Fullington

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Supporting The Changing Practices Of Teaching In Business At Queens College, City University Of New York, James Tasato Mellone, Edward F. Wall Iii, Qiong Xu

Publications and Research

This investigation sheds light on the teaching practices of Queens College (QC) faculty in Business. It identifies the Business faculty’s teaching support needs in order to develop ideas for improving Library services to them. This report is the result of research conducted under the guidance of Ithaka S+R, and in accordance with Office of Regulatory Compliance procedures at QC. Using a grounded theory approach to qualitative research, the investigators conducted in-person audio-recorded semi-structured interviews of seven full-time QC faculty who teach Business courses. Evidence derived from the transcribed interviews informed analysis of the current state of QC’s Business teaching experience, …

Shifting The Balance Of Power: Asking Questions About The Comics-Questions Curriculum, Stephanie M. Margolin, Sarah Laleman Ward, Mason Brown

Publications and Research

We shift the balance of power in this paper by discussing a particular library lesson, the Comics-Questions Curriculum, with some of the students who participated in it, several years after they completed the workshop. By interviewing students and including them as co-authors of this paper, we re-center students in our analysis of this curriculum. In the process of reflecting on our work with the students and each other, we begin to see ways to engage in more meaningful, longer-term assessment of our classroom work while involving student voices in the process. We share our experiences here in order to take …

Promoting Discipline Specific Literacy For Law & Paralegal Studies Students: Libguides As Transitional & Professional Tools, Marissa Moran, Kimberly Abrams

Publications and Research

Developing LibGuides for Law and Paralegal Studies students at New York City College of Technology arose from the following question: how do we change the way legal studies students think of the Library as a resource to better assist them in their transition to college level-research and a future career as a paralegal. At the heart of this question is the importance of discipline-specific information literacy at the college and professional levels. Many students have difficulty with locating relevant information to complete course assignments partly because library resources are both fragmented and cohesive. Thus, while part of the transition to …

Critical Information Literacy, Emily Drabinski, Eamon Tewell

Publications and Research

This encyclopedia entry presents a brief introduction to critical information literacy, an approach to teaching people how information is produced, organized, circulated, and preserved.

Wikipedia, Socialpedia, And Randompedia: How Could One Play By The Rules When There Aren’T Any?, Junli Diao

Publications and Research

This article documents a cataloging librarian’s personal narrative that reflects his experience of organizing Wikipedia-Edit-thon. This experience leads to a journey of self-education about Wikipedia, a divergence to preconceived notions about it, and an embrace for a change in the future.

What Is Critical About Critical Librarianship?, Emily Drabinski

Publications and Research

Library work structures intellectual worlds as library workers collect, organize, make accessible, and preserve materials for use. This work is not neutral. Libraries, like all institutions, are produced in and through systems marked by racism, patriarchy, and capitalist modes of production. Critical librarianship offers a framework for thinking about our work that asks how library structures came to be and what ideologies underpin them. Viewing librarianship through this frame allows us to imagine new and better worlds on our way to making them.

Latino Students And The Academic Library: A Primer For Action, Marta Bladek

Publications and Research

As the growth in Latino college enrollment is expected to continue for years to come, academic libraries at Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and beyond will be serving increasing numbers of Hispanic students. Since Latino educational attainment remains lower than than of other groups and academic libraries’ impact on retention, GPA and related educational outcomes has been well documented, it is crucial that academic libraries actively foster Latino students’ success. A review of the literature on Hispanic students and library use, the article also includes recommendations for practice and offers a local example to illustrate strategies libraries may implement to better …

Engaging The Framework For Information Literacy For Higher Education As A Lens For Assessment In Eportfolio Social Pedagogy Ecosystem For Science Teacher Education, Wesley Pitts, Alison Lehner-Quam

Publications and Research

This article highlights a case study that assesses how graduate-level, in-service science teachers engage in an ePortfolio social pedagogy ecosystem to document their growth in knowledge practices and dispositions in information literacy. The ePortfolio social pedagogy ecosystem and this study are situated within the context of the Catalyst Framework. The three modes of interrelated social learning activities include: (1) authoring the written ePortfolio in an online ePortfolio digital media platform, (2) presenting the ePortfolio in the webinar platform, and (3) presenting the ePortfolio in- person in a physical setting. We used case study methodology to systematically investigate how each participant …

Research 101 Certificate Program Materials Fall 2018, Neera Mohess

Open Educational Resources

This document lists the materials used in administering the Research 101 Certificate Program for the Fall 2018 semester at Queensborough Community College of the City University of New York.

Using Fan Studies To Put Information Literacy In Context: On Teaching A Credit Course With A Theme, Nancy M. Foasberg

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Comics, Questions, Action! Engaging Students And Instruction Librarians With The Comics-Questions Curriculum, Stephanie Margolin, Mason Brown, Sarah Laleman Ward

Publications and Research

In a four-session Summer Bridge programme, we experimented with new curricular and pedagogical ideas with a group of incoming freshmen. We developed the Comics-Questions Curriculum (CQC), which melds students’ question asking with a focus on comics. The purpose of this paper is to describe the rationale for and ongoing development of the CQC as well as the ways the CQC fosters engagement of students and librarians, builds upon students’ existing skills but propels them forward toward college-level work, and positions librarians as partners in students’ college work. Although it was designed for a specific purpose initially, the CQC in its …

Opting Out Is Not An Option: Why All Academic Librarians Must Understand Open Access, Jill Cirasella

Publications and Research

This presentation challenges the still-too-prevalent notion that scholarly communication competencies are essential only for scholarly communication librarians and optional for other academic librarians. It focuses on one competency in particular: a robust understanding of open access.

Zines For Teaching: A Survey Of Pedagogy And Implications For Academic Librarians, Susan E. Thomas

Publications and Research

Zines have begun to gain a place in higher education as pedagogical tools studied or made by students, and many academic libraries maintain zine collections. The library literature reveals little about how nonlibrarian faculty use zines in their classrooms. This paper describes the results of a survey of faculty from a range of academic disciplines and professions who teach with zines and other booklet forms. Survey results reveal the extent to which faculty zine pedagogies include collaboration with librarians and use of library collections. Faculty describe instructional activities and attitudes that many library professionals, including reference and instruction librarians, directors …

Understanding Fake News By Teaching With The Game "Factitious"., Sharell Walker

Publications and Research

This presentation introduces readers to the online game "Factitious" as a tool for teaching students about fake news. "Facititous" is a collaboration between the American University Game Lab and the American University School of Communication.

Referencing Audre Lorde, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

This chapter is close a reading and textual analysis of canonical texts, speeches, and archived audio recordings of Audre Lorde. It embraces Lorde’s many identities, including her identity as a librarian who chose to depart from the library as a means of survival. The author urges reference librarians to study Lorde’s example and learn from Lorde’s choice to act in a space where silence can be transformed into language and action. Acknowledgment of the limitations and opportunities that Lorde teaches us in reference service and institutional structures, may allow for librarians to move toward a realm of justice.

A Blueprint On Self-Exploration To Justice: Introduction To “Referencing Audre Lorde” & “Lesbian Librarianship For All”, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

My approach to social justice problematizes the profession by challenging the librarian to focus inwardly to a space concentrated with identity and self-exploration. To galvanize justice, the librarian may impose her or himself into the reference interaction as an element of praxis.

Crafting A Research Question: Differentiated Teaching For Instruction With Primary Sources Across Diverse Learning Levels, Jen Hoyer, Kaitlin Holt, Julia Pelaez

Publications and Research

This case study illustrates methods for drawing on primary sources to instruct students on how to generate and refine research questions (Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy, learning objective 1C) and to recognize that research questions may change (Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy, learning objective 1D). The authors are educators with the Brooklyn Connections program, the school outreach arm of Brooklyn Public Library’s archive and rare book division. Given the diversity of the students served by this program, this case study focuses on adapting a lesson to three examples of lesson implementation, one each in elementary, middle, and high school, varyingly …

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Lib 3065 (Research Methods And Resources For Writers), Christopher Tuthill

Open Educational Resources

This course explores the theoretical and practical impact of information research on writing. Students develop proficiency in evaluating, identifying, and using relevant print and web sources to locate business, government, biographic, political, social and statistical information necessary for in-depth journalistic reportage and other forms of research and writing.

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Lib 3010 (Digital Traces: Memory In An Online World), Jessica Wagner Webster

Open Educational Resources

This course will help students think critically about how our society uses digital archives. Students will learn about different kinds of digital materials prevalent in our society (such as photos, data sets, and social media), and explore how the obsolescence or longevity of digital records impacts academic scholarship, government, journalism, and personal recordkeeping.

Sense-Making And The Community College Student, Susan T. Wengler

Publications and Research

A qualitative pilot study is underway at Queensborough Community College - The City University of New York to explore the information behaviors of community college students in the context of an assigned research task. Two research questions are addressed: RQ1: How do community college students make sense of research assignments?; RQ2: What role does the academic library play in community college students’ sense-making processes?

This project is framed using Dervin’s Sense-Making Theory of Information Behavior (Dervin, 1998). Community college students are interviewed and asked to reconstruct their experience in the completion of a research assignment. Per Dervin’s model, the assignment …

Advancing Information Literacy In A Semester-Long Library Instruction Course: A Case Study, Derek Stadler, Ian Mcdermott

Publications and Research

The following case study investigated the efficacy of Information Literacy (IL) pedagogy on undergraduate research in a credit-bearing library instruction class. More specifically, the study analyzed student success and sought to determine whether written reflection and practice strengthen IL skills, including the fundamental ability to develop a research question and thesis statement. Developing research questions and formulating thesis statements are among the most challenging duties of a young researcher. From high school through undergraduate, students often have minimal experience conducting research. They may not know where to begin the research process and what steps are necessary. Student frustration is exacerbated …

Use And Awareness Of Library Services Among Faculty At Two Armenian Universities, D. Aram Donabedian, John Carey, Arshak Balayan

Publications and Research

This study surveyed instructional faculty at two Armenian universities to determine use and awareness of academic library services or resources including reference, interlibrary loan, subscription databases, subject liaisons, and more. A minority of respondents reported making frequent use of the services investigated, with usage varying according to such factors as academic rank, length of employment, and full- or part-time status. Many participants also had suggestions for services not available at their libraries. These results help illuminate user preferences among faculty at these universities and could help librarians at similar institutions identify underutilized resources to promote or new services to offer.

Writing Effective Annotated Bibliographies Using Blackboard’S Discussion Board [Library], Derek Stadler

Open Educational Resources

This assignment is the midterm for the one-credit course LRC103, a library instruction course that teaches analytical thinking, problem-solving, and information literacy skills necessary for academic research and digital citizenship. It is aligned with LaGuardia’s Inquiry and Problem Solving Core Competency and Digital Communication Ability rubrics. This assignment was peer reviewed and revised in the “Learning Matters: The Pedagogy of the Digital Ability” CTL seminar in 2017-2018. In the seminar, my work was reviewed by each of the participants as well as the leaders. I used their feedback to revise the assignment. In this sense, the seminar not only helped …

Ya Banned Books Analysis, Amanda Birro, Jennifer Pappas, Briana Cimino

Student Theses

Book banning or challenging is a complex issue, in which a person takes issue with a book in the library‟s collection, complains to the librarian, and sometimes demands that the book be removed from the collection entirely. Books for young adult audiences are especially at risk, and the reasons why these books are challenged or banned are numerous. By reading fifteen different young adult books from between the years of 1990 and 2016, the researchers performed a content analysis to look at the reasons why books may be challenged or banned. They also looked for trends or patterns in books …