Information Literacy Commons^™

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 …

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 …

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.

The Lms And The Library, Robin Camille Davis

Publications and Research

In this column, I give a brief overview of five ways that libraries can be incorporated into a learning management system (LMS), ordered from easiest to most difficult to scale, or in other words, least to most personal:

• Insert the library in the LMS template
• Offer embeddable LibGuides to faculty
• Create a collection of graded modules for faculty use
• Create an online library mini-course
• Embed a librarian in a course

Next Level Learning: Using Pedagogically-Designed Research Guides In Information Literacy Instruction, Susan T. Wengler

Publications and Research

A pilot study is currently underway at Queensborough Community College which explores the impact of a pedagogically-designed research guide (PDRG) on information literacy student learning outcomes. In contrast to pathfinder guides, the PDRG seeks to engage and support students through all steps of the research assignment. Each guide tab corresponds to a stage in Kuhlthau’s Model of the Information Search Process and includes both a micro-lecture and a quiz. The poster will discuss the creation and Spring 2018 launch of the PDRG. Poster visual aids will incorporate graphic presentation of the micro-lectures and quizzes, as well as preliminary quiz results. …

Branding Matters: Reimagine Your Library Services, Susan T. Wengler

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Interactive Whiteboards In Library Instruction: Facilitating Student Engagement And Active Learning, Maureen Richards, Marta Bladek, Karen Okamoto

Publications and Research

Determined to keep up with the ever-changing instructional trends, academic libraries have been quick to adopt emerging teaching and learning technologies. Recent literature features many examples of technologies that have found a place in libraries’ instructional programs: learning management systems, clickers, online tutorials, reference chats, and mobile devices, to mention the most popular ones. Curiously enough, despite their popularity in business and K-12 contexts, interactive whiteboards (IWBs) are rarely discussed in the context of academic libraries’ efforts to embrace innovative teaching methods. This article addresses this omission. Present-day IWBs have evolved to include features that accommodate a variety of teaching …

Learning Places At The Intersection Of Information Literacy And Place-Based Learning, Anne E. Leonard

Publications and Research

This information literacy lesson enhances assignments in a range of social science disciplines, including geography, sociology, anthropology, and political science. It was designed with undergraduate social sciences and interdisciplinary courses in mind. Interdisciplinary courses that engage with one or more social science disciplines should be included. Graduate students in urban planning, architecture, social work, and public affairs will benefit from this module as well.

Student Responses To An Animated Character In Information Literacy Instruction, Jennifer Poggiali

Publications and Research

Purpose: This paper reports on a grant-funded project to create a hand-drawn, custom-made animated character named Jasmyn. Drawing on animation theory, the paper uses qualitative research to investigate student responses to the medium of animation, the character’s design, and three presentation strategies.

Design/methodology/approach: The researchers held three student focus groups to investigate the following research questions: 1. Will students endorse animation as a medium for library instructional videos on the grounds of its entertaining, subversive, or playful qualities? 2. Is Jasmyn designed and8 written in a way that engages students and compels them to respond to her as a character? …

Fair Use As Creative Muse: An Ongoing Case Study, Malin Abrahamsson, Stephanie Margolin

Publications and Research

In this chapter, the authors describe various copyright-related lessons that they've presented to faculty and students at their institution.

Parallels Of Unintentional Plagiarism And Predatory Publishing: Understanding Root Causes And Solutions, Monica Berger

Publications and Research

Plagiarism and predatory publishing share common attributes. Although students do not publish in predatory journals, both plagiarism and predatory publishing fall under the umbrella of academic integrity and scholarly ethics. Academic misconduct has many faces, ranging from student cheating on exams to purchasing a doctoral thesis and claiming it as one’s own work. Some forms of academic misconduct, such as the examples above are always intentional. However, many manifestations of academic misconduct are less clearly intentional. Students often plagiarize unintentionally because they lack writing skills including paraphrasing and citing. Faculty sometimes publish with predatory journals when they lack scholarly publishing …

Connecting Wikipedia And The Archive: Building A Public History Of Hiv/Aids In New York City., Ann Matsuuchi

Publications and Research

This is an overview of a project that was started in 2015 that was collaboratively designed by archivists and historians with the La Guardia & Wagner Archives and LaGuardia Community College’s faculty/librarians. It involves students in the production of a needed public history of the outbreak and impact of HIV/AIDS in New York City via writing and researching contributions to Wikipedia.

The Mystery Of The Schubert Song: The Linked Data Promise, Kimmy Szeto

Publications and Research

Linked open data promises global interconnectedness of a vast amount of data. Web technologies promise to lower the barriers to accessing information and to enable knowledge production of massive scale. But can the web of data answer a music reference question? Starting with a seemingly impossible search for a Schubert song, this article describes how linked data technologies could overcome some limitations of catalog searching. However, technical and conceptual challenges are intertwined in the library community’s effort to publish linked data. Through an analysis of contrasting data models, this article offers a linked data reading of medium of performance and …

In Bed With The Library: A Critical Exploration Of Embedded Librarianship At The City University Of New York, Nora Almeida, Julia Pollack

Publications and Research

This project considers the efficacy and scalability of embedded librarianship initiatives within the City University of New York (CUNY) library system and presents findings of an original research study conducted in 2015. Through an analysis of recent LIS literature on embedment, response data from a survey of librarians, and a selection of library position descriptions, this article examines the implications of embedment practices for librarians and libraries. By shedding light on the extent and context of embedment, the platforms used in virtual embedment scenarios, and obstacles that librarians presently face, this study aims to pinpoint strategies for embedded librarianship initiatives …

Remotivating The Black Vote: The Effect Of Low-Quality Information On Black Voters In The 2016 Presidential Election And How Librarians Can Intervene, Andrew P. Jackson, Denyvetta Davis, James Kelly Alston

Publications and Research

In a phenomenon that was surprising to many, given the racially charged nature of the 2016 presidential election, black voter turnout was significantly lower than the previous two elections. Donald Trump’s victory is attributable to many factors, one of which was the lower participation of black voters in several swing states. To a lesser extent, black support for third-party candidates also aided Trump’s victory. The lower black turnout itself is attributable to several factors, but one factor specifically in the LIS realm was the prevalence of low-quality information and rhetoric and a susceptibility that some black voters had to this …

Understanding The Whole Student: Cuny Undergraduates’ Lived Experiences, Maura A. Smale, Mariana Regalado

Publications and Research

This paper presents a broad overview of research into how CUNY undergraduates fit their academic work into their lives, focusing on study locations, the technology they use, and how they do research in their courses.

Understanding The Whole Student: Cuny Undergraduates’ Lived Experiences, Mariana Regalado, Maura A. Smale

Publications and Research

This presentation is a broad overview of research into how CUNY undergraduates fit their academic work into their lives, focusing on study locations, the technology they use, and how they engage in the research process.

Faculty Perception Of Information Literacy At Queensborough Community College, Leslie Ward, Miseon Kim

Publications and Research

This study examines how faculty perceived information literacy classes provided by Queensborough Community College. A survey was distributed in the spring of 2017 via faculty e-mail. The survey focused on the faculty’s department affiliation, usage of information literacy (IL) instruction, and how they value the IL instruction. The results revealed that the highest proportion of faculty members who brought their students to the library and found it the most useful were the English and the Speech department, while faculty in the STEM fields were least likely to utilize the library instruction because they found it was irrelevant to their courses.

Spyfall: Information Games And Scholarly Conversation, Nancy M. Foasberg

Publications and Research

Social deduction games like Spyfall can be used to model the rhetorical concept of the Burkean parlor for students.