Information Literacy Commons^™

Developing And Implementing A Primary Source Literacy Case Scenario For The Undergraduate Business Classroom, Annette Bochenek, Megan Troyer

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This article discusses the development and implementation of a case-based learning scenario activity intended to enhance primary source literacy among undergraduate business students. The activity was delivered in the context of a large Midwestern university’s undergraduate business course. This case is based on the ACRL RBMS-SAA Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy and gives students an opportunity to use digitized primary archival sources as part of the research process in connection with a modern business-related scenario in which they can apply primary source literacy skills. This guided activity also explores affective experiences as they occurred in student responses to this activity …

Gis Librarians' Involvement In Critical Information Literacy Instruction, Melissa Chomintra, Pete E. Pascuzzi

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Critical information literacy (CIL) is a theory and practice that considers the sociopolitical dimensions of information and knowledge production. As the field of geospatial information evolves, equipping librarians with the skills to critically engage with geospatial information becomes integral to facilitating informed research, promoting spatial literacy, and strengthening the accessibility of geospatial data for their user communities. To understand geospatial data librarians’ current involvement in CIL, librarians were surveyed to examine if they incorporate CIL into their instruction, how they incorporate CIL into their instruction, and what are the benefits and challenges of doing so. The survey gathered both quantitative …

Informed Learning In Place: Tales From A Field Station, Thom Gerrish, Rachel K. Fundator, Clarence D. Maybee, Karen A. Reiman-Sendi

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This study investigates how students learn to use information at a remote field station to prepare for roles as environmental researchers, climate advocates, and citizens. Using a semi-structured interview approach, the researchers examined the perceptions of twelve field station instructors on how their students engage with information to learn in a place-based educational context. Three interrelated themes emerged that demonstrate the varied ways in which students need to learn to use information: (1) Leveraging interdisciplinary lenses, where students integrate diverse perspectives to interpret environmental information; (2) Acculturating to field research practices, where students gain practical research and data skills through …

From Policy To Pedagogy: Applying Infodemic Governance To Instructional Design, Bethany S. Mcgowan

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This article presents a Delphi study that defines key ethical and regulatory principles underpinning Finland’s national strategy for managing infodemics. Drawing on three rounds of consultation with Finnish experts from health, policy, and library sectors, the study surfaces foundational elements of national infodemic management—including transparency, accountability, inclusion, and adaptability—as well as gaps in digital equity, curricular responsiveness, and cross-sector collaboration. These expert-defined priorities are analyzed alongside the World Health Organization’s Infodemic Management Agenda, which serves as a pedagogical scaffold for identifying instructional tensions in health information literacy education. Findings are further interpreted through four information diplomacy anchors: agenda-setting, persuasive framing, …

Co-Creating Ai Learning Solutions: A Qualitative Analysis Of Student And Faculty Deliverables In An Algorithmic Literacy Learning Community, Samantha Legrand, Zoeanna Mayhook, Jing Lu

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This research describes the conceptual development and insights from implementation of Partners for Algorithmic Literacy (PAL) - a groundbreaking student-faculty learning community model, facilitated by academic librarians, where undergraduates and instructors partner to co-design curricular plans integrating or interrogating AI in the classroom. In the fall of 2023 and 2024, two cohorts in this learning community were partnered. In weekly sessions, partners experimented with AI tools and engaged PAL’s novel Algorithmic Literacy Pedagogy Framework to guide their conversations and co-design process.

Employing qualitative content analysis, an in-depth exploration is underway to glean valuable insights from the student-faculty partners’ personal reflections, …

Recent U.S. Government Policy Literature On Critical And Strategic Minerals, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Critical and strategic minerals have become increasingly important in U.S. government civilian and military policymaking in recent years. This is demonstrated by the heavy use of such minerals in many critical civilian and military infrastructures. This work will discuss how this subject has been addressed in laws, presidential documents, and works by government agencies along with congressional oversight committees and support agencies. It will stress how the United States is heavily dependent on strategic minerals from adversarial foreign countries such as China and will examine U.S. efforts to increase its ability to produce such materials in the United States by …

Building A Regional Library-Led Case Competition: Reflections From Librarians And Vendor Partners, Zoeanna A. Mayhook, Annette Bochenek, Elizabeth Grauel, Hunter Minser, Terence O’Neill, Ilana Stonebraker, Juan Vasquez

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Libraries are increasingly involved in supporting and facilitating case competitions, leading to competitions that emphasize decision-making and understanding of a larger ecosystem of information. This paper examines existing literature on the topics of librarian support for case competitions, the growing trend of library-led case competitions, and the expanded role of libraries in support of entrepreneurs, students, and faculty in entrepreneurial programs. The conversation is expanded through a discussion of the Midwest Entrepreneurship Case Competition (MECC), a library-led case competition that prioritized the participation of undergraduate students and grew from a local to a regional event. Vendor engagement, case development, competition …

Zines As Praxis:Making Space For Participatory Culture In The Academic Library, Jerilyn Tinio, Melissa Chomintra

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

No abstract provided.

Using Keyword Analysis For Market Validation Research, Zoeanna A. Mayhook

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Market validation is essential for assessing the feasibility of a business idea, product, or service but can involve extensive and costly primary and secondary research. Business librarians are well-positioned to support entrepreneurs and researchers but may be constrained by pricey subscriptions for business resources. While most often associated with search engine marketing, keyword research proves to be beneficial for market validation. This paper proposes integrating keyword analysis into market validation practices. It outlines the process of conducting keyword analysis and opportunities for business librarians to incorporate these strategies in their resource guides and programming.

Librarians As Faculty Developers: Shaping Disciplinary Classroom Experiences Through Information Literacy, Rachel Fundator, Michael Flierl, Clarence Maybee, Catherine Frasier Riehle, Maribeth Slebodnik, Amity Saha

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Involvement in faculty development is a promising approach to realizing academic libraries’ goals for information literacy. This study examines an inter-institutional program where librarians partnered with classroom instructors to create projects where students learned to use information in disciplinary ways. Using thematic analysis to examine participant materials, the findings suggest that the informed learning design model underpinning the program supported the creation of information-rich projects and fostered a sense of empowerment in librarians serving as faculty developers. Librarians can advance their role as educators by partnering with classroom instructors and presenting information literacy as a way to foster disciplinary learning.

Scalable Competitive Intelligence Education Through Micro-Learning And Micro-Credentials, Heather A. Howard, Margaret Phillips, Dave Zwicky, Frederick Berry

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

It is essential for students, both inside and outside the business school, to learn business information literacy skills to make evidence-based decisions. To address this need, faculty from a large public university developed a competitive intelligence digital module using micro-learning and micro-credentialing concepts designed to be scalable for use in many disciplinary areas. During the pilot, students in a first-year Management course and a senior capstone Engineering Technology course were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the content’s utility and usability. This paper presents the results of this survey to determine student perceptions and if there are any disciplinary differences.

Information Literacy In The Age Of Ai: A Conversation, Karen Kaufmann, Clarence Maybee

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Presented at the Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy April 19, 2024, this presentation discusses information literacy as a discipline in the age of AI, as well as teaching and research considerations for this new lens on information literacy.

The Discipline Of Information Literacy: A Conversation, Clarence Maybee, Karen Kaufmann

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Presented at LEAF, 2024. Introduces information literacy as a discipline and implications for teaching information literacy.

Critical Race Digital Literacy Rubric For Assessing Mis/Disinformation Literacy Instruction Lesson Plans, Melissa Chomintra

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

While librarians have been at the forefront of the fight against fake news, misinformation, and disinformation, offering invaluable guidance and tools through information literacy instruction, there is a noteworthy gap in the adoption of pedagogical approaches rooted in critical theory within mis/disinformation literacy lesson plans. This suggests there may not be well-defined or standardized frameworks for incorporating these theories into library instruction. The enclosed article explores Critical Race Digital Literacy (CRDL) as a pedagogical approach to mis/disinformation literacy education by proposing a rubric for assessing mis/disinformation lesson plans. The rubric is grounded in the principles of critical race theory, emphasizing …

A Critical Librarianship Approach For Teaching Patent Searching: Who Becomes An Inventor In America?, Dave Zwicky, Ilana Stonebraker

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

The ways in which a technology is invented, owned, and approved are strongly influenced by the same oppressive and exclusionary structures that critical librarianship interrogates. Patents, limited-term grants of rights to inventions, are issued to inventors in exchange for detailed specifications of the invention. This paper examines current practices used by business librarians in teaching students how to find patents and how these practices could be critically informed given the nature of the United States patent system as it exists today. An output of this work is a suggested lesson plan with recommended resources.

Recognizing The Discipline Of Information Literacy, Clarence Maybee, Karen Kaufmann

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This presentation introduces a new lens for understanding information literacy as a discipline, along with implications for teaching and research.

Geopolitics In Recent U.S. Professional Military Reading Lists, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Professional military reading lists have existed for a long time in the U.S. military and in other national militaries. They are frequently updated and intended to enhance the professional knowledge of military professionals in areas ranging from cultural awareness, ethics, leadership, international relations, military history and military operations, and areas of expertise considered essential to successfully executing the operations of their military service branch. These lists are prepared by the leadership organizations of these armed services such as the Air Force Chief of Staff, U.S. Army’s Chief of Staff, Chief of Naval Operations, and Marine Corps Commandant. Such readings are …

Creating Informed Learners In The Classroom, C Maybee, Michael Flierl, Rachel Fundator

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

In this interactive workshop, participants will develop strategies rooted in informed learning for partnering with disciplinary instructors in higher education courses to advance students’ information practices and learning. Informed learning is an approach to information literacy that describes how students may use information in situation-specific ways to learn (Bruce, 2008). Highlighting how information-focused learning activities are an integral part of the learning process, informed learning emphasizes the need for students to learn about using information at the same time they are learning about subject content. A curriculum design model for developing instruction grounded in informed learning, informed learning design supports …

Assessing The Use Of Critical Literacies In Mis/Disinformation Literacy Instruction, Melissa Chomintra

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

In keeping with Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed and the theoretical perspicacity of Critical Race Theory, Lenoir and Anderson (2023) posit “technical solutions to political problems are bound to fail. Historical, structural, and political inequality—and especially race, ethnicity, and social difference—needs to be at the forefront of our understanding of politics and, indeed, disinformation”. The approaches to mis/disinformation in libraries and information studies have largely been grounded in two forms of literacy education; media literacy and digital literacy. Both media literacy and digital literacy offer a limited generic framing for engaging with digital information and myriad technology and fall short …

The Discipline Of Information Literacy: Revitalizing The Conversation On Your Campus, Clarence Maybee, Karen Kaufman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This presentation is an overview to viewing information literacy as a discipline. The presentation is comprised of a background of information literacy as a discipline, elements of a discipline, and the disciplinary elements of information literacy. It concludes with a brief overview of teaching IL using the disciplinary lens.

Students As Partners In The Library: Creating Meaningful Information Literacy Instruction Together, Rachel Fundator, Samantha Legrand

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

• In an effort to create more student-centered and inclusive learning environments, instructors are using pedagogical approaches, such as students-as-partners (SAP), to bring student voices into the conversation about teaching and learning and to invite students to make meaningful choices about what happens in the classroom (Cook-Sather et al., 2019). Libraries can and should explore ways to incorporate SAP into our offerings (Salisbury et al., 2020). In libraries, student partners can become co-creators of information as they develop goals and curricula and bring interdisciplinary perspectives from across the institution to the development of information literacy (IL) programs. By inviting students into …

Information Literacy As A Discipline: A New Lens For Information Literacy Practitioners, Karen Kaufmann, Clarence Maybee

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Presented at the AFC Learning Resources Committee Virtual Conference, this work spotlights a new lens for considering information literacy research and practice.

Spiral: Student Partners For Information Research And Literacy Undergraduate Research Program, Rachel Fundator, Samantha Legrand, Secret Permenter, Ben Weiss

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

No abstract provided.

Oppressive Authority: Dismantling, Reexamining, And Reconstructing Notions Of Authority In Information Literacy Instruction, Melissa Chomintra

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

The following chapter examines ways knowledge authority structures can be oppressive in relation to information literacy instruction and discusses how librarians can implement equitable and inclusive pedagogy in their library instruction by dismantling, reexamining, and reconstructing notions of authority.

Student Information Use During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Heather A. Howard, Annette Bochenek, Zoeanna A. Mayhook, Trena Trowbridge, Steven Lux

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Since early 2020, life for students has changed tremendously. It has been a time of stress, turmoil, and trauma for students. Researchers from a large Midwestern university wanted to determine how student information use has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper examines the results of a mixed-methods study undertaken in 2021 using surveys and follow-up focus groups to determine if and how student information use has changed. To answer this, we explored student use of news sources, social media sources, political affiliations, and information responses, coupled with to what extent these factors demonstrate or impact potential changes in information …

Casting A New Conversation: Recognizing Information Literacy As A Discipline, Clarence Maybee, Karen Kaufmann, John Budd, Virginia Tucker

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This presentation introduces ILIAD (Information literacy is a discipline), the elements of an academic discipline, before spotlighting panelist perspectives on the future of information literacy education and research.

Engineering Technology Programs And Technical Standards: Investigating Library Access And Course Integration, Margaret Phillips, Paul B Mcpherson, Danielle Leclerc

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Due to ABET accreditation requirements and industry expectations, integrating technical standards into Engineering Technology (ET) curricula is crucial for student success. However, previous studies have shown that faculty report access and knowledge challenges in working to integrate standards into ET course content. Additionally, academic librarians have long acknowledged there are many issues with providing access to standards to campus users, such as high costs and extensive digital rights management (DRM) restrictions. The purpose of this study is to conduct an environmental scan of library websites at institutions with ET programs to investigate library-provided access to standards and to survey ET …

Spatiotemporal Distribution Change Of Online Reference During The Time Of Covid-19, Thom Gerrish, Ningning Nicole Kong

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

The goal of this project was to identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the spatiotemporal distribution of the library’s online patrons, so that we could assess if the scheduled library reference hours are meeting the needs of the academic community. We collected each online reference patron’s location information via their IP address, as well as the timestamp of each online reference instance. The spatiotemporal distribution patterns were analyzed and compared before and after in-person instruction was suspended due to COVID-19 distance protocols and a closing of the campus in the 2020 spring semester. The results show that the …

Reimagining The Role Of Il: Sustaining Information Literacy Futures, Christine Bruce, Susan Gasson, Clarence Maybee

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This group presentation the Western Balkan Information and Media Literacy Conference and 11th International Summit of the Book considers the future of information literacy through two emerging, researcher-driven initiatives: informed research and information literacy as a discipline.

Identifying Dis/Misinformation On Social Media: A Policy Report For The Diplomacy Lab Strategies For Identifying Mis/Disinformation Project, Bethany S. Mcgowan, Matthew Hannah, Sofia Babcock, Katelyn Biggs, Lara Chuppe, Christina Galiatsatos, Jannine Huby, Michael Kuczajda, Bennet Miller, Stephanie Perun, Amanda Shie, Alicia Stevance, Andrew Yason, Charlotte Yeung

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Dis/misinformation was a major concern in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and has only worsened in recent years. Even though domestic actors often spread dis/misinformation, actors abroad can use it to spread confusion and push their agenda to the detriment of American citizens. Even though this report focuses on actors outside the United States, the methods they use are universal and can be adapted to work against domestic agents. A solid understanding of these methods is the first step in combating foreign dis/misinformation campaigns and creating a new information literacy paradigm.

This report highlights the primary mechanisms of dis/misinformation: multimedia …