Information Literacy Commons^™

Google Is Not A 4-Letter Word And Wikipedia Is Not An Obscenity, Suellen Adams

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

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Assessing The Evaluation Of Library Instruction Using A Business Model, Barbara Petersohn

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

The business sector has traditionally evaluated their training and instruction programs on a model that considers 4 levels of success (Kirkpatrick). These levels can be described as success based on 1) appeal, 2) learning outcomes 3) integration of learning into daily work routines, or 4) overall impact on / improvement of the organization. This paper describes how this rubric can be generally, and ideally, translated and applied to instruction programs in libraries to determine what levels of evaluation are attempted by libraries. And, based on a review and analysis of case studies of the literature of library instruction, considers questions …

Wac Goes Green: The Unique Information Literacy Tasks Of A Sustainability-Related Compositon Course, Susanna Coleman

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

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Rhetoric And The Research Guide, Reba Leiding

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

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The Effect Of Library Instruction On The Information Seeking Behavior Of Undergraduate Education Majors, Jason Martin

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

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Blogging Your Research: Teaching Students To Critically Assess And Participate In The Culture Of Electronic Research And Writing, Amy Ratto Parks

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Whether we like it or not, most student writing these days happens through facebook, myspace, twitter, and texting. Though we assume that academic reading and writing ought to be distinct from social writing, it often isn’t. Students will go to Google for celebrity gossip or information on the Civil War and accept the information about both on equal terms. The seemingly simple nature of online access to information requires that we give students concrete tools to critically assess the information they find there. The fact that many students consider Wikipedia as a credible resource is evidence of this. It looks …

Implementing Plain Language Guidelines In Student Documents, Katie Derthick, Natasha Jones

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

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Learning Style And The Information Search Process, Mary Jane Rootes

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Dr. Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process theory (ISP) asserts that there are six stages within the quest for information: initiation, selection, exploration, formulation and collection. A successful search for information will entail each of these stages. In each of these stages, a person experiences thoughts, feelings and actions unique to the stage. Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory asserts that those with different predominant learning styles will experience thoughts, feelings and perceptions differently. If this is correct, it would follow that students with different predominant learning styles will experience the thoughts, feelings and actions within each of these stages differently. It is the …

Communication Renaissance: Environmental Scanning And Futuring In The Composition Classroom, David Bailey

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

The world of research will soon experience a cataclysmic shift. As newspapers and more traditional venues of scholarly communication fold from pressure created by online news sources, Really Simple Syndication feeds, and news aggregates, the Composition classroom must aim ahead of the curve and teach students the essential skill of Environmental Scanning and Futuring. Environmental Scanning and Futuring are cooperative disciplines that seek to highlight trends and patterns within specific fields and disciplines using the plethora of data available on the World Wide Web. What makes these methods so useful in the face of the Communication Renaissance is their focus …

What Can A Wiki Do? Exploring History, Identity And Literacy In A Digital World, John Vanecek

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

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“Library As Place” Academic Library/Media Center Design, Barbara Joslin, Peter Lippman, Mary Ann Miller

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Abstract = Learning Objectives: 1) An overview of the history of the university library as the place around which the campus was planned. 2) The role of technology as an influencing factor in the evolution of the Library to the Media Center. 3) Current and future trends of the Media Center as the focal point for learning at the University, as place that supports not only independent research, but also as places that promote opportunities for one-to-one and small group learning opportunities. Outline: I. Introduction: Over the last 150 years the university library has been evolving as a place where …

Interface Literacy: Screencasts, Guis, And Computer-Mediated Authorship, Michael J. Cripps

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Our lives are increasingly mediated by computers and graphical user interfaces or GUIs. In education, computer-mediated learning often involves the integration of new technologies into the classroom context. In an educational environment in which courses have specific content, and in which students (and faculty) must learn the interfaces that enable them to access and engage the content, how might one move from more work for teachers and learners to a different kind of teaching and learning? Are there particular ways to weave technology and content together to move from an additive model to an integrated one that helps learners become …

Neither Here Nor There: Locating Information Literacy In The Library And Writing Center, Caleb Puckett

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

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Connecting The Dots, A Yearlong Lesson In Learning: Using Online Instruction To Connect Student Information Literacy Skills With Those Required To Complete Assignments., Steve Borrelli

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

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Assignment Research Calculator: Designing And Implementing A Customized Product To Reach Your Students, Monica Fusich, Jane Magee, Elisabeth Thomas

Faculty and Staff Publications

The original Assignment Calculator from the University of Minnesota is a free open-source tool which helps students manage time and organize the steps of a research project.(FN1) It provides a schedule and timeline for each step, and includes tips and outside links to more information. The head of instruction and outreach services in the Henry Madden Library recognized the value of this popular tool, but felt we could expand on its potential for students and faculty here at California State University-Fresno. We accomplished this by tailoring it to our own library and campus resources, staff and services, thus making it …

Information Outlook, September 2009, Special Libraries Association

Information Outlook, 2009

Volume 13, Issue 6

Letters To The Editor, Bert Chapman, Jon Shuler

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Letter responding to an article predicting the phaseout of government information librarians in a survey of Association of Research Library (ARL) Directors. We criticize this conclusion maintaining that the multifaceted and interdisciplinary nature of government information makes it more critical that libraries users needing government information resources need to have highly trained and specializing librarians with extensive knowledge of these resources assisting them.

Information Outlook, July/August 2009, Special Libraries Association

Information Outlook, 2009

Volume 13, Issue 5

Transitions: Scaffolding Research Skills, Building Bridges, Creating New Knowledge, Kellian Clink

Library Services Publications

I interviewed librarians of six of our sending high schools to ask them what they taught students about research, citing, and technology. I hoped to understand better what I could build on in my library instruction sessions. I found that while many librarians taught power point and i-movies, and one rather upscale school had a citation style guide highlighting the basics of APA and MLA, they do not teach anything about authority, timeliness or bias or any other means of evaluating information. Or even the best means of finding information.

Bookmarks 2009, Evelyn Barker

Information Literacy Resources-Archive

Bookmarks of students and faculty at UT Arlington.

Deep Economy (Reader's Guide), Chris Conway, Evelyn Barker

Information Literacy Resources-Archive

No abstract provided.

Beautifying Data In The Real World, Andrew Lang, Jean-Claude Bradley, Rajarshi Guha, Pierre Lindenbaum, Cameron Neylon, Anthony J. Williams, Egon Willighagen

College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship

There are at least two problems with collecting "Beautiful Data" in the real world and presenting it to the interested public. The first is that the universe is inherently noisy. In most cases collecting the same piece of data twice will not give the same answer. This is because the collection process can never be made completely error-free. Fluctuations of temperature, pressure, humidity, power sources, water or reagent quality, precision of weighing, or human error will all conspire to obscure the “correct” answer. The art in experimental measurement lies in designing the data collection process so as to minimize the …

Overhauling Of A Science Library Web Area, Daniel S. Dotson

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

This article covers the revamp of a science library’s web area. The library’s web area contained outdated web pages, unused files, and an architecture that made it hard to maintain. All of these issues with the web area resulted in an examination and revamping of several aspects of all the files on the web area. Server statistics were used to determine the usage of the files in the library’s web area. Files containing textual information were categorized according to their topic and the usage of each topic area was examined to determine the distribution of usage amongst the topic …

Embedding An Im [Instant Messaging] Widget In Research Databases: Helping Users At Their Point-Of-Need, Kwabena Sekyere

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Introduction

The rapid growth of internet users has made libraries eager to introduce online services for this new community, in addition to their traditional reference services. Virtual reference service has become a convenient and easily accessible option for the online community, particularly with increasing amounts of libraries resources now available electronically as well (Lou, 2007).

Virtual reference began in many libraries as email reference service (Janes, 2002) with a move to live chat reference as technology advanced. These live reference services were offered through chat software developed in-house or by vendors. Due to the high cost of purchasing and maintaining …

Open House In The Ivory Tower: Public Programming At An Academic Library, Rochelle Smith, Ben Hunter

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

Public programming, a frequently used outreach tool for public libraries, is far less common in academic libraries. This article examines the University of Idaho Library’s efforts to attract both university and community members with public programming, delving into detail for three specific grant-funded discussion series: one on Jewish literature, one on graphic novels, and one on jazz. Strategies for location selection, advertising, scheduling and funding are all discussed with commentary on what worked well, what didn’t, and how public programming fits into the mission of an academic library.

Using A Permanent Usability Team To Advance User-Centered Design In Libraries, Jane Nichols, Alison M. Bobal, Susan Mcevoy

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

Usability, user studies, and evaluating user experiences have been a part of academic libraries for many years. In the last 20 years libraries have created ad hoc usability teams to do user studies. Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries started its ongoing team in 2006, resulting in an increased focus on user experience throughout the libraries. This article explores the team’s history from formation to work it took on. The merits and challenges usability teams bring to an organization are also discussed. To date the literature describes usability methods and shares findings from libraries’ usability studies but none discusses benefits …

If You Build It, They May Not Come: The Case Of Questionpoint, Lynette Ralph

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

The Knowledge Base (KB) of QuestionPoint (QP) is a Knowledge Management (KM) tool capable of capturing the collective knowledge of reference librarians for future use. The goal of the study was to determine if this KB is an effective KM tool. Descriptive research was the methodology used and included an unobtrusive study, a survey instrument, and interviews. This study revealed that despite the technological capabilities of this KB, librarians who had access to the system failed to utilize it.

Cooking Up Concept Maps, Abigail Hawkins, Jennifer L. Fabbi, P. S. Mcmillen

Library Faculty Research

Concept maps allow students to visually work through an idea for potentially useful search terms.

A common roadblock students experience in the research process is identifying central concepts in their research questions and devising useful ways to reframe search terms. Concept mapping is one instructional strategy that can be used to help students better identify the central concepts in their research questions and expand on other ways these concepts are articulated in the literature.

Diving Into Sakai: One Librarian, Twenty Students, And A Brand New, Open Source Cms, Amanda Izenstark

Public Services Faculty Presentations

Slides from the 2009 New England Library Instruction Group Annual Program, June 6, 2009, Portland, ME.

Technological change is inevitable, and when the opportunity arose at the University of Rhode Island to have input into the choice of a new Course Management System, two librarians sat in on the committee’s meetings, testing tools and offering opinions. When the committee unanimously recommended going with Sakai, an open source CMS, the door was opened to run a class in the new system, which would eventually replace WebCT across campus.

This 30-minute presentation will briefly describe the route taken to choosing Sakai, and …

Information Outlook, June 2009, Special Libraries Association

Information Outlook, 2009

Volume 13, Issue 4