Information Literacy Commons^™

Searching Smarter, Connecting Better, Abby Veiman

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: White Papers

In Searching Smarter, Connecting Better, Abby Veiman reflects on her experience as a data-driven researcher to reimagine the future of research libraries. Drawing from her work as an Ameritas Research Assistant in Actuarial Science and Risk Management, she highlights how modern research is increasingly digital, analytical, and dependent on technological infrastructure rather than physical materials. Veiman argues that libraries must continue evolving beyond access to databases by strengthening technological capacity, supporting responsible AI integration, and providing clearer guidance on the effective and ethical use of emerging research tools. She emphasizes the need for libraries to serve as trusted institutions …

Three Years Of Misinformation: A Case Study Of Information Literacy Methods, Elizabeth Zak

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Misinformation is an ever-evolving digital issue. As the internet evolves, so too does misinformation and the ways in which it is propagated. Information literacy methods, such as the CRAAP test, the RADAR framework and the SIFT method, can help information users discern between real and fake information, and prevent the spread of misinformation. Unfortunately, the speed with which misinformation evolves often makes information literacy methods obsolete when they are designed and implemented. Furthermore, when people trust misinformation, they struggle with identifying correct information. Visual misinformation presents another concern: people trust what they see, and new misinformative developments such as deepfakes …

Media Literacy, Education, And A Global Pandemic: Lessons Learned In A Gender And Pop Culture Classroom, Jessica Lowell Mason, Ebehitale Imobhio

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

In Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, bell hooks writes that “to engage in dialogue is one of the simplest ways we can begin as teachers, scholars, and critical thinkers to cross boundaries.” Hence, this paper explores, through narrative dialogue, teacher and student perspectives on the pedagogical impact of the global pandemic on the process of engaging with and learning about media literacy. By naming and narrating teacher and student experiences and perspectives from a course on gender and pop culture that took place during the Spring 2020 semester, the paper aims to demonstrate the …

Grounded Aesthetics: Pedagogy For A Post-Truth Era, Becca Cragin

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

With the rise of cultural studies, positivism and formalism fell out of favor. But in recent years, altered versions of these methodologies have been suggested as solutions to the deficiencies of the ideological approach dominating the field. Where the ideological approach looks at the content of texts to determine their meaning, the aesthetic approach adopted by media scholars in recent years returns to the close textual readings of formalism (while abandoning its assertion that meaning resides in the text alone). Similarly, where the ideological approach tends to use textual analysis devoid of sociological empiricism, the use of “big data” in …

Review: Copyright For Scholars: Osmosis Doesn’T Do The Trick Anymore, Janet Brennan Croft

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Reviews of:

Kevin L. Smith. Owning and Using Scholarship: An IP Handbook for Teachers and Researchers. American Library Association, 2014. 240 pages. ISBN: 978-083898747-6.

Kenneth Crews. Copyright Law for Librarians and Educator: Creative Strategies and Practical Solutions, 3rd edition. American Library Association, 2012. 192 pages. ISBN: 978-0-8389-1092-4.

Rebecca P. Butler. Copyright for Academic Librarians and Professionals. American Library Association, 2014. 278 pages. ISBN: 978-0-8389-1214-0.

Russell, Carrie. Complete Copyright for K-12 Librarians and Educators. American Library Association, 2012. 172 pages. ISBN: 978-0-8389-1083-2.

A Compilation, Analysis, And Categorization Of 403 Atmospheric And Climate Science Misconceptions, Haeli Leighty

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) has listed the inaccessibility of research related to misconceptions in atmospheric and climate science as a Geoscience Education Research Grand Challenge (Cervato et al. 2018). This project was a direct response to this call for research and consisted of three distinct steps: 1) data gathering, which included reviewing the literature for relevant misconception data, 2) a qualitative analysis, which included compiling, organizing, and categorizing the data collected, and 3) a quantitative analysis, which included determining the prevalence of each misconception across topic categories, demographic categories, and over time. A total of 403 misconceptions …

Trust Me: Film + Q&A; (February 22, 2024, 5:30 Pm, Sheldon Museum Of Art) [Poster], Sheldon Museum Of Art, University Of Nebraska-Lincoln

Sheldon Museum of Art: Catalogs and Publications

Poster for Trust Me: Film + Q&A held February 22, 2024 at 5:30 PM at the Sheldon Museum of Art (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States).

Poster blurb:

In today's information landscape, how do you know whom--and what--you can trust? Watch the award-winning, feature-length documentary Trust Me, which explores how media technology is influencing society and what we can do about it.

A Q&A with Rosemary Smith, filmmaker and managing director of the non-partisan Getting Better Foundation, follows.

More information about the screening is available at https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/trust-me-documentary-to-screen-at-sheldon/.

More information about the film is available at https://www.trustmedocumentary.com/ …

Executive Order On The Safe, Secure, And Trustworthy Development And Use Of Artificial Intelligence, Joseph R. Biden

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Section 1. Purpose. Artificial intelligence (AI) holds extraordinary potential for both promise and peril. Responsible AI use has the potential to help solve urgent challenges while making our world more prosperous, productive, innovative, and secure. At the same time, irresponsible use could exacerbate societal harms such as fraud, discrimination, bias, and disinformation; displace and disempower workers; stifle competition; and pose risks to national security. Harnessing AI for good and realizing its myriad benefits requires mitigating its substantial risks. This endeavor demands a society-wide effort that includes government, the private sector, academia, and civil society.

My Administration places the highest urgency …

Creating Informed Learners In The Classroom Facilitator Handbook, Clarence Maybee, Michael Flierl, Rachel Fundator, Catherine Fraser Riehle, Maribeth Slebodnik, Amity Saha

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

Higher education has a responsibility to prepare graduates to traverse the challenges of today’s information environment. While many institutions offer information literacy programming, including courses, they typically do not address learning to use information that occurs as part of disciplinary learning and enculturation. Creating Informed Learners in the Classroom (CILC) was an educational development program implemented at three research universities (Purdue University, University of Arizona, and University of Nebraska, Lincoln) between September 1, 2019 to August 31, 2024. Originally titled Academic Librarian Curriculum Developers: Building Capacity to Integrate Information Literacy across the University, the project was partially funded by …

News Literacy Resources: An Online Hub Of Informational Materials For Learning And Teaching News Literacy, Halle Starns

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This thesis contains and organizes a variety of online educational resources including articles, books, games, organizations, podcasts, tools and videos related to promoting news literacy. The purpose of the website is to make this information more accessible and the topic of news literacy feel less daunting. The written component of this thesis describes the design process of the website — conceptualization, layout, wireframing — as well as the research process. A link to the final website is included.

University Libraries 2020-2022 Strategic Plan

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: White Papers

The 2020 Strategic Planning Team: Kelly Connor, Karin Dalziel, Lorna Dawes, Zach Eden, Regina Flowers, Ana Gomez, Lori Harvey, Andrew Jewell (chair), Charlene Maxey-Harris, Tom McFarland, Catherine Fraser Riehle, Claire Stewart

The goal of this plan is to push the University Libraries forward toward a more fully realized achievement of its mission, to enact our commitment to ethical and equitable practices and policies, and to ambitiously grow as a 21st century academic library. This plan is not inclusive of everything that we do; there are many valuable activities and services that are not mentioned, and that is not meant to …

Copyright: Protect, Preserve, And Promote Your Research, Sue Ann Gardner, Paul Royster

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

Copyright is a powerful tool to protect, preserve, and promote academic research. The slides duplicate a quiz given to workshop participants.

Unl Libraries Book Use By Broad Discipline (Social Sciences, Sciences, And Humanities): Circulations And Renewals: Books Acquired 2003/04 – 2007/08 Via Approval Plan Selection, Librarian Firm Order, And Ill Patron-Driven Acquisition, David C. Tyler, Brianna D. Hitt

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: White Papers

On numerous occasions over the course of the UNL Libraries’ continuing discussions concerning the allocation of collections monies, the UNL Libraries’ liaison librarians have made a variety of assertions, arguments, and claims concerning their patrons and their patrons’ needs. For example, the humanities librarians have repeatedly staked a claim to the humanities’ being the “book” discipline and have made a variety of assertions concerning humanities patrons and humanities books that could be treated as testable hypothesis.

For example:

1) Humanities patrons use books more than do other disciplines’ patrons;

2) Humanities patrons use more books than do other disciplines’ patrons; …

Chemists Atwitter, Raychelle Burks, Stephani Page, Kiyomi D. Deards, Joan Barnes

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

Twitter can be used to promote chemists, their work, and their events to other scientists and the general public. From checklists to timelines; how to use Twitter successfully as an individual or institution is discussed. This chapter includes: examples of how the authors have used Twitter, how to find and use common subject tags, tags most used when Tweeting about chemistry and science, and a discussion about measuring success. Knowing when and how to Tweet will help chemists communicate successfully with their peers and the general public in 280 characters or less.

Working Out The Bugs: Piloting Library Instruction In An Online Entomology Graduate Program, Andrew Cano

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

Like most of its peer institutions, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries faced the challenge of meeting the needs of a growing number of students taking online courses. The author, hired as the new Virtual Learning Librarian in January 2016, was charged with creating a new Virtual Learning Program. This tutorials-based program was first fully implemented in a fully online Entomology graduate program. This paper summarizes the development of the Virtual Learning Program, how it was adapted to the Entomology program, and the initial results from the first semester of implementation.

Your Partners In Service: Accessing Unl Libraries Resources, Dana W. R. Boden, Joan Latta Konecky

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

The land-grant tradition creates for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln a special statewide responsibility to serve the needs of Nebraska and its citizens.

UNL Libraries website tour. Quick search - Encore. Advanced search. Available on campus. Searching or a journal title. Databases and journals. Classic catalog search. Formats & access. Collections. Archives and special collections. CDRH - Center for Digital Research in the Humanities. Digital Commons. Nebraska Scholarly Commons. Image and multimedia collections. Government information and documents. Databases. ASKus page. Subject specialists. Assistance for grant seekers. Questions.

NCompass event link:
NCompass Live: Your Partners in Service: Accessing UNL Libraries Resources

Connect Oer Annual Report, 2016-2017, Brady Yano

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Earlier this year, SPARC launched Connect OER—a platform to share and discover information about Open Educational Resources (OER) activities at campuses across North America. Through Connect OER, academic libraries create and manage profiles about their institution’s efforts on OER, producing valuable data that we use to populate a searchable directory and produce an annual report.

As the first Connect OER Annual Report, this document summarizes insights from the Connect OER pilot, which ran from May - July 2017. The data encompass 65 SPARC member libraries spanning 31 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces who participated in the pilot. Our analysis …

The Academic Research Library And Science Education: A Roadmap For The Journey, Sue Ann Gardner

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

Science libraries are integral to the process of science inquiry.

Science education is facilitated within science libraries.

The future of science libraries is predicated on librarians maintaining a meaningful relationship with those engaging in scholarship.

Science libraries need to combine traditional and emerging service models, provide access to a wide array of materials, incorporate appropriate technology, and offer ergonomic work spaces to promote effective learning.

The science commons includes varied work spaces which encourage innovation and creativity, facilitate situated and active learning, and promote communities of practice.

The National Science Education Standards definition of science inquiry includes the diverse ways …

Wikiproject (Fill In The Blank) : Be A Wikipedian!, Dana W. R. Boden

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

Wikipedia is 16 years old this year. It is ranked the 5th most visited site on the World Wide Web. Many librarians and information specialists have a love hate relationship with this open access, free internet encyclopedia. Searching for information sometimes exposes: a lack of information, or even, existence of entries on specific topics; inaccurate information; or results in the frustration of a research dead end due to articles lacking references. Wikipedia is, of course, a collaboratively edited resource. A Wikipedia WikiProject is a group of contributors working together to improve the Wikipedia information and the pages on a particular …

Academic Program Review, University Libraries, University Of Nebraska-Lincoln: Self-Study Report

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: White Papers

University Libraries, University of Nebraska‐Lincoln, Academic Program Review: Self‐Study Report, January 2017

Introduction

Background

Strategic Directions 2017‐2020

Progress on 2010 APR Recommendations

Liaison Model

Mentoring

Media and Digital Arts

Administrative Structure

Summary of Libraries Accomplishments and Contributions

Resources

Spaces and Technology

People

Strategic Partnerships

Organizational Culture, Communication, and Decision Making

Conclusion

Appendix 1. Office of Institutional Research and Planning Data Set

Appendix 2. UNL Libraries Strategic Directions 2017‐2020

Appendix 3. UNL and NU Mission Statements and Strategic Plans

Appendix 4. Organizational Charts

Appendix 5. University Libraries Appointment and Promotion Procedures and Deliberations

Appendix 6. Faculty Bylaws and Tenure and Promotion …

Faculty Perceptions Of Teaching Information Literacy To First-Year Students: A Phenomenographic Study, Lorna M. Dawes

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

This study examines faculty perceptions of teaching information literacy and explores the influence of these perceptions on pedagogy. The study adopted an inductive phenomenographic approach, using 24 semi-structured interviews with faculty teaching first-year courses at an American public research university. The results of the study reveal four qualitative ways in which faculty experience teaching information use to first year students that vary within three themes of expanding awareness. The resulting outcome space revealed that faculty had two distinct conceptions of teaching information literacy: (1) Teaching to produce experienced consumers of information, and (2) Teaching to cultivate intelligent participants in discourse …

Where Science Intersects Pop Culture: An Informal Science Education Outreach Program, Raychelle Burks, Kiyomi D. Deards, Erica Defrain

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

Attracting a general audience to STEM topics can be a challenge, and developing engaging and interactive instruction is important for educators in all fields. While many chemical educators have successfully used pop-culture themes to introduce their students to scientific concepts, these encounters are largely limited to formal classroom environments. Inspired by the successes of community science programs such as Science Café and Nerd Nite, science educators from two Nebraska campuses sought to broaden the exposure of their pop-culture themed class lectures, and created the SciPop Talks! program. Now entering its fifth year, this informal educational outreach program has become a …

Discovery Investigative Group (Dig) Report, December 2016, Erica Defrain, Rebecca A. Bernthal, Signe Boudreau, Mary K. Bolin, Joan Latta Konecky, Margaret Mering, Jennifer L. Thoegersen, Deeann Allison

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: White Papers

This report is a response to the following charge from project sponsor DeeAnn Allison: Develop a working definition of the purpose and scope for a discovery tool that includes a description of what it should accomplish. How will it help scholars connect with information? The charge included a request to answer seven questions:

1. What content should be included and why?

2. What functions or search capabilities should be included?

3. What social media enhancements should be included?

4. How can it be structured to help both novice and advanced researchers?

5. Can you identify a “perfect” tool? If not, …

Digitalcommons@University Of Nebraska-Lincoln: Unl Institutional Repository, Linnea Fredrickson, Sue Ann Gardner

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

Poster outlining facts and metrics that pertain to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln online institutional repository on the Bepress Digital Commons platform.

Nebraska Intellectual Freedom Manual, Round Table On Intellectual Freedom, Nebraska Library Association, Michael J. Elsener, Sue Ann Gardner, K. Joan Birnie, Karen Drevo, Brenda Ealey, Timothy Lentz, Todd Schlechte

Zea E-Books Collection

Much has changed in libraries and society since the publication of the 2004 revision of the Nebraska Library Association Intellectual Freedom Manual. The consensus of the current members of the Nebraska Library Association round table on Intellectual Freedom (NLA IF) was not to just revise the former manual, but to create an entirely new edition. In doing so, the authors have addressed a number of new issues. The intention was to keep it relatively brief but still useful. Readers should be able to read sections independent of one another for quick reference on topics of interest. For readers of …

Mixing It Up: Teaching Information Literacy Concepts Through Different ‘Ways Of Learning’, Lorna M. Dawes

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

The new ACRL Framework for Information Literacy (ACRL, 2015) has propelled librarians into new approaches to teaching that concentrate on the concepts and not the procedures or tasks that relate to the effective use of information. It is known that students vary their learning strategies in response to the context of their learning environment (Richardson, 2011) and so it is imperative that instruction facilitates various ways of learning, that can be accommodated in both the small and large classes. Historically librarians have focused on the teaching of the skills: how to search databases, how to find information, how to evaluate …

New Frameworks, New Friends: New Literacies Alliance (Nla), Open Access Information Literacy Instruction & Collaboration, Heather Healy, Julie Hartwell

Nebraska Library Association: Conferences

The New Literacies Alliance (NLA) consortia collaboration creates online, open access lessons that are based on ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. The lessons are designed to teach students the literacies needed for academic success and lifelong learning. Discover how librarians and instructors can freely embed these lessons into their courses and become members of the collaboration to actively participate across institutional borders in the creation of new lessons. Listen to two librarians share how they implemented NLA lessons in an online course and in a flipped classroom environment. The session examines planning for initial lesson use, differing …

An Overview Of Free And Useful Resources From The National Library Of Medicine, Alicia Lillich

Nebraska Library Association: Conferences

It’s hard out there for a librarian supporting health and/or science programs. You’re expected to provide access to cutting-edge research, without breaking the bank on costly subject-specific databases. Luckily, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) can help. NLM, a division of the National Institutes of Health, is the world’s largest medical library whose mission is to advance the progress of medicine and improve health through access to health information. This session will focus on the free products and services offered through NLM such as online databases, training, and promotional/educational resources. This will include: MedlinePlus, PubMed, PHPartners, the Household Products Database, …

Fireworks Display Of One-Shot Library Instruction, Terri Rickel

Nebraska Library Association: Conferences

Instructing students on how to use the library and the databases in one setting, especially when there is only fifty minutes, can be overwhelming for the students and instructor. This session covers tips that can be used in the interview process with the professor, creating a flipped classroom, or blended instruction opportunities to enhance the learning process (including pre- or post-session), as well as demonstrating guides for assisting students in database searching techniques. The session ends with ways to get buy-in from professors about tutorials and guides used outside the lessons.

Libguides: The Perfect Tool To Engage Students With Open Access Resources In The Classroom, Barbara M. Pope

Nebraska Library Association: Conferences

This poster presentation discussed how to use LibGuides to improve student learning in the classroom when the curriculum might not otherwise draw upon library resources. LibGuides can be created with links to specific open access resources, articles, and other items (as well as subscription resources) to support course assignments. Course LibGuides bring visibility to library resources that get overlooked and are easy to implement for distance learning or to complement other instructional materials.