Information Literacy Commons^™

Mixing And Matching: Assessing Information Literacy, Carol Mcculley

Communications in Information Literacy

Authentic assessment of student learning outcomes is much in demand. This paper reviews a variety of assessment methods that measure cognitive, behavioral, and affective levels of learning that can be used to design library class instruction and assessments to improve student learning and teaching of information literacy concepts. The intentional use of these methods to assess undergraduate student learning in many disciplines through working collaboratively with faculty and integrating the assessments in a learner-centered environment is discussed.

Using Assessment Data To Inform Library Instruction For First Year Students, Julie Gilbert

Communications in Information Literacy

Seeking ways to develop information literacy skills among first year college students, librarians at our institution developed a pilot program to measure the effects of a multiple library instruction session module on students' research skills in the first semester. The pilot program incorporates a substantial assessment model consisting of a pretest, posttest, and a citation analysis of final papers. Results demonstrate that students who had multiple library instruction sessions during the first semester report higher levels of confidence and greater use of library resources than students who had only a single instruction session.

A Program For Introducing Information Literacy To Commercial Art And Design Students, David A. Walczak, Diane L. Sammet, Monika E. Reuter

Communications in Information Literacy

This paper describes the process of developing and implementing a comprehensive, school-wide, and sustainable information literacy program at a commercial art and design school. The program requires that information literacy student learning outcomes be included in specific General Education and art and design courses across the curriculum. The results of this multi-year effort indicate that while the program is sound, teaching information literacy is an on-going effort requiring much more training of faculty and students. Best practices in information literacy in library science and art and design literature are reviewed

The Evolution Of A Testing Tool For Measuring Undergraduate Information Literacy Skills In The Online Environment, Elizabeth Mulherrin, Husein Abdul-Hamid

Communications in Information Literacy

The construction and validity of an assessment tool mapped to objectives in a high enrollment credit-bearing information literacy course delivered primarily online is the focus of this article. An open book and non-proctored objective test can be a reliable measure for assessing student competencies in basic information literacy skills, both at the course level and for reporting to national accrediting bodies and state agencies. An analysis of overall student performance on test items that are mapped to information literacy outcomes helps to identify competencies that need improvement in a course, as well as provide a baseline for informing the process …

Using Cognitive Interviews And Student Response Processes To Validate An Interpretive Argument For The Ets Iskills™ Assessment, Eric Snow, Irvin Katz

Communications in Information Literacy

Evaluating the trustworthiness of Internet-based or other digital information has become an essential 21st century skill. The iSkills™ assessment, from Educational Testing Service (ETS), purports to measure such digital evaluation skills, along with other digital literacy skills. In this work, we use an argument-based approach to assessment validation to investigate the extent to which iSkills test scores can support inferences about the ability of college students to evaluate information in a digital environment. Eighty-eight undergraduates responded to iSkills assessment tasks and to more open-ended "naturalistic" tasks. These naturalistic tasks were designed to be like homework assignments that incorporate the critical …

Embedding Information Literacy In Service Learning College Course Via Desire2learn Learning Management System, Mei-Yan Lu, Susan Kendall

Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

The Power Of Information Literacy: Building Student Success & Critical Thinking Skills, Rosemary L. Meszaros

DLPS Faculty Publications

What is information literacy? What skills do students need to learn to become successful in life? How can I incorporate these skills into the courses I teach? Take a fresh look at the concept of information literacy and how we can teach our students competencies in research, computer, media, and critical thinking skills. Part of the WKU Priorities Series.

Information Outlook, March 2010, Special Libraries Association

Information Outlook, 2010

Volume 14, Issue 2

Information Literacy And Social Power, Jonathan Cope

Publications and Research

An examination of information literacy literature using the perspective of social power research.

Information Literacy Plans: Does Your Law Library Need One?, Judith Gire

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] "Although information literacy plans were initiated by and for academe, there is no reason they will not work in any law library. Information literacy is about preparing patrons with the skills necessary to locate, evaluate, and effectively use information throughout their lives, including their lives in law firms, corporations, government agencies and courts, as well as law schools. An institutional information literacy plan makes perfect sense for any law library in the business of equipping patrons to manage the information age like pros regardless of whether those patrons are law clerks, associates, partners, judges, or law students. And isn’t …

Making Our Communities Greener: A Case Study Of Promoting Biogas Energy By Tongwei Evergreen Libraries In China, Wenjie Zhou, Tim J. Zou, Elaine X. Dong

University Libraries Faculty Publications and Presentations

Promoting the consumption of new energies, particularly of biogas, in rural areas is a strategic initiative of the Chinese government. The government has incorporated this initiative into many of its rural development plans. Likewise, Tongwei Evergreen Libraries (TEL, 通渭青树图书馆) has also integrated ideas of the initiative into its library services. This paper describes the Biogas Promotion Program (BPP) that TEL implemented, discusses the BPP model and roles of TEL in the program, and analyzes the initial results of the program through surveying local farmers. A survey was developed for this assessment study. The survey results show that the government biogas …

Information Outlook, January/February 2010, Special Libraries Association

Information Outlook, 2010

Volume 14, Issue 1

Being Like Both: Library Instruction Methods That Outshine The One-Shot, Teresa M. Bean, Sabrina N. Thomas

Librarian Research

Marshall University librarians' efforts to improve library instruction are explored. A history of the libraries' Digital Learning Team (DLT) and its developmental phases is provided, as well as interpretations of evaluative data collected from embedded students. Data from the iSkills assessment of student information literacy skills are considered. The results suggest that library instruction best facilitates student learning when it aligns with specific research goals, utilizes a variety of learning styles, and allows time for practice and assessment. Student feedback suggests the need for additional instruction on citation and emphasis on increasing students' confidence in their research skills.

Faculty-Librarian Collaboration Teaching Evidence-Based Practice, Michael Fillyaw, Elizabeth Dyer

Physical Therapy Faculty Posters

Poster presentation describing the collaboration of physical therapy faculty and university librarian in teaching elements of evidence-based practice in Scientific Inquiry 1 in the DPT curriculum. These elements included: Writing a patient-centered clinical question P: Patient/Problem/Population I: Intervention C: Comparison O: Outcome; Developing an effective search strategy; Searching electronic databases for articles. Although the literature contains examples of faculty-librarian collaboration in other disciplines, reports about the collaboration in physical therapy programs are scarce and this collaborative teaching model is unique.

Engaging Learners Through Wikipedia, Megan Dazey, Samantha Hines

Mansfield Library Faculty Publications

In August 2010, a professor in the University of Montana School of Journalism approached the authors to draft a Wikipedia-based assignment for the course JOUR380: News Editing.

Fulfillment Of A Higher Order: Placing Information Literacy Within Maslow’S Hierarchy Of Needs, Mary Francis

Research & Publications

No abstract provided.

Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival, Karen Rowell, The University Of Southern Mississippi, The University Of Southern Mississippi's School Of Library And Information Science

Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival Programs

The program for the forty-third annual Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival held on the campus of The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 2010.

Review Of Working Together: Collaborative Information Practices For Organizational Learning, Minna Sellers

Collaborative Librarianship

A review of:

Mary M. Somerville, "Working Together: Collaborative Information Practices for Organizational Learning." American Library Association, 2009.

Creating The Il Course In A University Setting, Catherine Cardwell, Colleen Boff

University Libraries Faculty Publications

This book chapter offers suggestions for how to develop a stand alone information literacy course. It takes into account all of the levels of curriculum review at the campus level as well as practical matters such as staffing, course delivery options and budgeting.

Outstanding Business Reference Sources: The 2010 Selection Of Recent Titles, Michael Oppenheim, Carolyn S. Fang, Nathan Rupp, Anne Bradley, Diane Campbell, David Flynn, Joan Giglierano, Gene Hayworth, Pauly Iheanacho, Peter Mckay, Terry Zarsky

University Libraries' Staff Publications

Each year at the ALA Annual Conference, the Business Reference Sources Committee of RUSA’s Business Reference and Services Section (BRASS) meets to select the outstanding business reference sources published since May of the previous year. With all due respect to the familiar and longstanding column title, committee members have come to think of our charge more broadly as finding the most outstanding business information sources, the better to reflect the evolving nature of the formats and means of accessing business information to meet reference needs. For 2010, the committee weeded titles proposed during 2009–10 down to fifteen that made the …

Defining Workplace Information Fluency Skills For Technical Communication Students, Yuejiao Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Information fluency refers to the ability to recognize information needs and to gather, evaluate, and communicate information appropriately. In this study, I treat "information fluency" as both an overall competency and as a collection of knowledge and skills. The purpose of this study is to explore the specific workplace information fluency skills valued by employers of technical communicators, to find out how instructors perceive and teach these skills, and to suggest how these findings can inform our teaching practices. Within the framework of qualitative methodology, this study employs two data-collection instruments, including a content analysis of online job recruitment postings …

Google Analytics: Analyzing The Latest Wave Of Legal Concerns For Google In The U.S. And The E.U., 7 Buff. Intell. Prop. L.J. 135 (2010), Raizel Liebler, Keidra Chaney

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

The next wave of concern regarding Google involves web analytics. Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of Internet data for the purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. The concerns of web analytics use touches on issues of online user privacy, government use of personal information, and information on website user activity. While Google Analytics is not the sole web analytics product on the market, it is widely used by corporate, non-profit, and government organizations. The product has been reported to have a 59% market share among web analytics vendors in a 2008 study.

Web analytics technology …

Conference Program [2010], Georgia International Conference On Information Literacy

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

N/A

Improving Financial Information Literacy In Introduction To Financial Accounting, Anne Kelly, Teresa Williams, Brad S. Matthies, J. Burdeane Orris

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

The motivation for this study came from a desire to improve teaching of the use of accounting information for decision making. The information literacy standards and related performance indicators guided the development of a semester-long case study by accounting faculty and academic business librarians. Their collaboration yielded a series of instruction modules and related student exercises leading up to a group activity involving the evaluation of a company as a potential investment for retirement savings. Students enrolled in two sections of an introductory accounting course volunteered to participate in this study. They provided information about their knowledge before and after …

Connecting Researchers With Funding Opportunities: A Joint Effort Of The Libraries And The University Research Office, Leslie M. Delserone, Julie A. Kelly, Jody L. Kempf

Collaborative Librarianship

In early 2007, staff from the University of Minnesota Libraries and the Office of the Vice President for Research began a collaboration to present a workshop covering grant resources. The session introduced faculty, staff, and graduate students to four key databases of external granting opportunities as well as intramural funding sources. We explain the context, development, and implementation of this ongoing, popular workshop; mention extensions of the workshop effort; and hope to inspire fellow librarians to identify and explore routes to broad institutional engagement.

Editorial Introduction, Ivan Gaetz

Collaborative Librarianship

Although Collaborative Librarianship is based in the United States, the journal wishes to address issues related to collaboration in other countries around the world.

Consortia Building Among Libraries In Africa, And The Nigerian Experience, Ngozi Blessing Ossai

Collaborative Librarianship

This study focuses on consortia building among libraries in Africa, with special attention given to Nigeria. It covers the various forms of library consortia: formal and informal as well as cooperative interchanges, including partnerships for resource sharing. Affirming the aim of consortia building as strengthening libraries and library services, the study considers the problems and prospects that are associated with consortia building in Africa and proposes a way forward. It concludes with an affirmation of the need to embrace consortia building among libraries in Africa and an emphasis on the key role ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) plays in consortia …

Assistance Across Borders: American Academic Libraries In Afghanistan And Qatar, Carole Thompson, Zoreh Raein Frouzan, Jim Malone, Bijan Esfahani, Michael Hanson

Collaborative Librarianship

A recent outreach project brought together the American University of Afghanistan and four world renowned US universities with branch campuses in Qatar’s Education City. Librarians in Qatar often collaborate with each other, but this unusual effort was the first time their collaboration reached across international borders to extend assistance to another country. The experience became a cultural exchange that brought together these dramatically different worlds. By utilizing technologies that make connecting and collaborating so easy these days, four librarians with backgrounds in public and technical services worked together to share their expertise, culminating in a learning visit by an AUAF …

Libraries In Mexico: Context And Collaboration. An Interview With Dr. Jesús Lau, President, Mexican Library Association, Jesús Lau, Janet Lee

Collaborative Librarianship

An Interview with Dr. Jesús Lau, President of the Mexican Library Association.

Collaborative Research, Nicole C. Engard

Collaborative Librarianship

Research is one of those things that can be done well either in a group or solo. For me, I always work better in a group, sharing resources, picking colleagues' brains, coming up with new ways to look at something I’ve reviewed a hundred times before. In some fields collaborative research is a must.