Information Literacy Commons^™

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 …

Where Students Start And What They Do When They Get Stuck: A Qualitative Inquiry Into Academic Information-Seeking And Help-Seeking Practices, Eamon Tewell, Susan E. Thomas, Gloria Willson

Brooklyn Library Faculty Publications

This study investigates two questions key to academic library resources and services: Which sources are students most likely to use to begin their academic work? Whom do students tend to consult for research assistance? In-depth interviews conducted with 15 undergraduate and graduate students were thematically analyzed through a three-step process. The findings indicate that students are most likely to consult faculty and peers for assistance and are largely unaware of librarians' roles, while they tend to begin research using library databases and do not necessarily start with Google. In addition, student use of small study groups as learning networks and …

Review Of "Dynamic Research Support For Academic Libraries", Steve Brantley

Faculty & Staff Research & Creative Activity

A book review of DYNAMIC RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR ACADEMIC LIBRARIES. Hoffman, Starr, (Ed.) London: Facet Publishing, 2016, xxi+154pp., $63.00, 978-1-78330-049-5.     Dynamic Research Support for Academic Libraries is a refreshingly inclusive collection of essays with the ambitious goal of broadening our perspectives as academic public service librarians, so that we may better serve a wide range of research needs. For several years the professional literature in librarianship has been preparing us for a shift away from traditional roles and services. This is right and proper since indeed this shift has taken place in the profession and few (if any) academic institutions …

Reference Mode Preferences Of Community College (Two-Year) And Four-Year College Students: A Comparison Study, John Carey, Ajatshatru Pathak

Publications and Research

Objective – The purpose of this study was to examine the reference service mode preferences of community college (two-year) and four-year college students. Methods – The researchers administered a paper-based, face-to-face questionnaire at two institutions within the City University of New York system: Hunter College, a senior college, and Queensborough Community College, a two-year institution. During the summer of 2015, the researchers surveyed 79 participants, asking them to identify their most and least preferred mediums for accessing library reference services. Results – Nearly 75% of respondents expressed a preference for face-to-face reference, while only about 18% preferred remote reference services …

Instructional Design: Toolkits For Paraprofessional Staff And Graduate Assistants, Lora Del Rio

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

After attending the 2012 ACRL Immersion Teacher Track Program in Burlington, Vermont, I had a greater understanding of how and why careful planning relates directly to student engagement and learning. Perhaps not quite as obvious is how instructional design (ID) corresponds to the confidence of an instructor. In order to meet the demands of our library instruction program, we rely on graduate teaching assistants and library paraprofessionals to teach the one-shot sessions requested by teaching faculty. However, these employees do not always come with teaching experience and they come from outside the library science discipline, so information literacy is many …

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 …

“There Is Nothing Inherently Mysterious About Assistive Technology”: A Qualitative Study About Blind User Experiences In Us Academic Libraries, Adina Mulliken

Publications and Research

Eighteen academic library users who are blind were interviewed about their experiences with academic libraries and the libraries’ websites using an open-ended questionnaire and recorded telephone interviews. The study approaches these topics from a user-centered perspective, with the idea that blind users themselves can provide particularly reliable insights into the issues and potential solutions that are most critical to them. Most participants used reference librarians’ assistance, and most had positive experiences. High-level screen reader users requested help with specific needs. A larger number of participants reported contacting a librarian because of feeling overwhelmed by the library website. In some cases, …

How Do You Like Your Books: Print Or Digital? An Analysis On Print And E-Book Usage At The Graduate School Of Education, Dana Haugh

Library Faculty Publications

The shift from physical materials to digital holdings has slowly infiltrated libraries across the globe, and librarians are struggling to make sense of these intangible, and sometimes fleeting, resources. Materials budgets have shifted to accommodate large journal and database subscriptions, single-title article access, and most recently, e-book holdings. This analysis measures the impact of digital acquisitions in an academic setting during a highly transformative period of library practices. The study finds that both electronic and print books are valuable to the academic research community at GSE.

Conclusion - The Experiential Library, Pete Mcdonnell

Library Faculty Works

Conclusion of edited book by Pete McDonnell.

Abstract: "The process of learning through experience, whether in formal or informal settings, can be likened to a journey. There will likely be twists, turns, and unexpected vistas to be explored. For libraries wishing to take experiential learning further, a teacher’s creed can serve as a map to the landscape, a useful tool for getting to where one would like to be. A teacher’s creed is a personal statement of an educator’s beliefs about what education means and how it ought to be conducted. This type of meaningful statement of belief can be …

Preface - The Experiential Library, Pete Mcdonnell

Library Faculty Works

Preface for edited work by Pete McDonnell.

The Experiential Library: Transforming Academic and Research Libraries through the Power of Experiential Learning features contributions―in a relatively conversational, practical, and "how-to" format―from various academic libraries across broad educational levels that have implemented experiential learning programs, services, or resources to enhance the learning and development of both students and library employees. As academic libraries and academic librarians are seeking ways to transform themselves and create collaborative synergies within and without their institutions, this timely book suggests exciting ways to integrate experiential learning into the library’s offerings.

Ranging from integrated service learning and Information …

Framing Information Literacy: The Importance Of Setting The Stage, Beth Fuchs

Library Presentations

Do students learn more when information literacy instruction is provided in-person by a librarian, mediated by their course instructor using a librarian-created tutorial, or self-paced using a tutorial? This presentation will focus on assessment results from a multi-sectioned college course targeting first-year students that explored this question and revealed an unexpected answer. Use the results, which are applicable to any instructional setting, to plan your next information literacy session.

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.

Understanding Academic Patrons’ Data Needs Through Virtual Reference Transcripts: Preliminary Findings From New York University Libraries, Margaret Smith, Jill Conte, Samantha Guss

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

New York University (NYU) Libraries has an extremely high-volume chat reference service. This popularity presents a unique opportunity for gaining insight into library patrons’ conceptualizations of their data reference needs and how these needs are changing. Through analysis of three years’ worth of chat transcripts, we began to explore user needs and familiarity related to locating secondary data and statistics, performing data analysis, and using existing data services. Ultimately, we focused our analysis on requests for census data. This article discusses, in detail, the methods, preliminary results, limitations, and proposed next steps of our investigation. Our final goal is to …

Collaborating For Success: A Case Study On Mentoring, Partnering, And Teaching, Megan N. Kellner, Nedelina Tchangalova, Rachel W. Gammons, Alexander J. Carroll, Devon C. Payne-Sturges

Collaborative Librarianship

Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) graduates seeking employment in academic libraries are often expected to possess user instruction and public service skills. However, it is difficult for students to achieve this experience through coursework alone. To address this disconnect, librarians at the University of Maryland (UMD) College Park Libraries created a Research and Teaching Fellowship to allow MLIS students at UMD to gain practical instruction experience. The authors present the experience of one MLIS student in collaboration with a subject librarian and a faculty member to plan, implement, and assess an information literacy instruction session for an undergraduate …

Librarians’ Use Of Instructional Design Methods In Creating Information Literacy Instruction, Michael W. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods study was to determine whether instruction librarians in the United States and Canada were using instructional design (ID) methods, and to identify potential explanations for their adoption or rejection of those methods. The theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985) served as the theoretical framework for the study. Research questions examined the relationship between respondents’ reported use of ID methods and the following factors: (a) behavioral, normative, and control beliefs, (b) demographic factors, and (c) professional identity as teachers. A survey adapted from Ajjan and Hartshorne (2008) and from Julien and Genuis (2011) …

Leveraging Resources Across Units And Universities To Address Academic Literacies And Research Skills In Ontario Graduate Students, Melanie Mills, Elan Paulson

Western Libraries Presentations

Student2Scholar (S2S) is a fully online and open course that aims to teach academic literacies and research skills to social science graduate students. Set to launch in December 2015, S2S was conceived of and created by a diverse and distributed team of academic librarians, university staff, and graduate students from three Ontario Universities: Western, the University of Toronto, and Queen’s. Members of the project team brought with them varying degrees of experience and expertise across a range of disciplinary and teaching and learning backgrounds, including: adult education, information literacy, and online learning (to name only a few).

S2S serves as …

Dataq: A Collaborative Platform For Answering Research Data Questions In Libraries, Yasmeen Shorish, Sarah Pickle, Christie A. Wiley, Megan Bresnahan, Andrew M. Johnson

Libraries

DataQ is an IMLS­-funded project led by the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries, GWLA, and GPN to develop an online knowledge-­base of research data questions and answers curated for and by the library community. Publicly submitted questions to DataQ are reviewed by an Editorial Team of experts from 15 institutions across the United States. The site also includes links to resources, best practices, and practical approaches to working with researchers to address specific research data issues. This update from members of the Editorial Team will discuss outcomes and future directions following the first year of the DataQ project.

We’Ll Show You Ours If You Show Us Yours! Favorite Technologies To Support Information Literacy, Beth Kraemer, Beth Fuchs

Library Presentations

A recent user survey revealed that our students want more online tools to help them find and use library resources successfully. The challenge is finding and developing instruction-related technologies that are not only well-suited for local needs but also engaging and useful for students. We’ll show some of our recent developments, and then, it’s your turn! Come ready to contribute your ideas (or get a head start here: http://bit.ly/Beth2015), and leave with new online tools to explore.

Research Consultations And Co-Location Adds Value To The Reference & Information Services And Instruction Continuum: Towards To Holistic Learning Experience At The Singapore Management University Library, Rajendra Munoo

Research Collection Library

Research Librarians at the Li Ka Shing Library perform multifunctional roles in the areas of collection, information, learning, research and outreach. In this presentation, participants will learn more about the information and learning roles where the former includes the provision of reference and information services and the latter involves the design, development and delivery of instruction and information literacy programmes as part of their student and faculty engagement strategy. They will also learn more about the library’s grounded service offering through a learning roadmap for every student which encompasses the following components: Matriculation [Orientation] > In Class Instruction [Information Literacy] > Research …

Supporting Research Through Information Literacy Programmes: Smu Libraries' Learning Journeys, Yuyun W. Ishak

Research Collection Library

Singapore Management University (SMU) has been building its research programmes towards high-impact and larger scale research. The number of postgraduate students has grown from 615 students in 2010 to 1,260 students in January 2015. The growing population of postgraduates, especially those with research requirements, has posed both opportunities and challenges to library’s resources, facilities and services.

Library is committed to provide resources and services that support research. This includes developing and implementing Information Literacy (IL) programmes that are relevant to researchers and postgraduates. The IL programmes were structured and offered within an Information Literacy Framework that SMU Libraries have been …

From Co-Location To Collaboration: Working Together To Improve Student Learning, Susan Montgomery, Suzanne D. Robertshaw

Faculty Publications

An academic librarian and the coordinator of a campus tutoring and writing center recently relocated to the library researched their value to second-year students. Differences in the amount and type of available data called for conducting in-depth interviews with students about their research and writing processes. The researchers also reviewed relevant material regarding similar collaborative efforts at other college and universities. The gaps revealed in the environmental scan along with the best practices of librarian/writing center collaboration helped determine future steps needed for both units to move from mere co-location to working in true collaboration.

Adult Learners In The Library–Are They Being Served?, Makiba Foster, Kristine Helbling

WashU Libraries Publications

Like many academic librarians, after completing the marathon of the traditional school year, we often use the summer semester to reflect, revise, and plan for the upcoming fall. In the summer of 2012, during a casual conversation in which we shared stories about rewarding reference interactions, we stumbled upon an “aha moment,” discovering an opportunity to connect targeted library outreach with an underserved user group. During this exchange, we realized how much we both enjoy working with adult learners and how they always seem genuinely interested in gaining skills to make themselves better library users, and therefore better students. This …

Facilitating Peer Learning In The Library: Crafting The Perfect Batch Of Undergraduate Peer Research Mentors, Clinton K. Baugess, Mallory R. Jallas

All Musselman Library Staff Works

Librarians at a college library developed a Peer Research Mentor (PRM) program for undergraduate students in order to facilitate peer learning and expand the library's formal instruction program beyond the traditional reach of the library and librarians. The presenters will discuss recruiting the initial cohort of eight PRMs, strengthening PRMs' research skills through an intensive training curriculum, and an overview of the various instructional outreach projects that have been designed and implemented by PRMs for other students. The presentation will discuss program assessment methods, share findings from the current cohort, and outline plans for the program's development.

Data Information Literacy And Undergraduates: A Critical Competency, Yasmeen Shorish

Libraries

As a primer on data information literacy (DIL), this column will cover the background of the field and why it is relevant to college and university libraries serving undergraduate populations. This article includes how data information literacy relates to information literacy, competencies associated with DIL, the relevance of DIL to undergraduates, DIL in library instruction, and the reasons for library engagement with DIL. Examining DIL within the larger framework of information literacy can help outreach and instruction librarians engage with a format that may be unfamiliar to them but whose underlying foundation is well-established.

Teaching Information Literacy To Undergraduate Students: Reflecting On The Past, Present And Future Of Library Instruction, Scott Juskiewicz, Conor Cote

Library

The need to teach information literacy skills to undergraduate students is often framed as a 21^st century concern, but debate over the value and practice of teaching this set of skills can be found as far back as the early 1900’s. This article reviews the history of information literacy instruction in academic libraries from its origins to the present, examines the current state of information literacy instruction in academic libraries, and explores possible future directions that this instruction may take. Looking to the past, present and future shows that while library instruction has evolved, many central concerns remain unanswered.

Situating Information Literacy In The Disciplines: A Practical And Systematic Approach For Academic Librarians, Robert Farrell, William Badke

Publications and Research

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to consider the current barriers to situating in the disciplines and to offer a possible strategy for so doing.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews current challenges facing librarians who seek to situate information literacy in the disciplines and offers and practical model for those wishing to do so. Phenomenographic evidence from disciplinary faculty focus groups is presented in the context of the model put forward.

Findings – Disciplinary faculty do not have generic conceptions of information literacy but rather understand information-related behaviors as part of embodied disciplinary practice.

Practical implications – Librarians …

Library Instruction And Themed Composition Courses: An Investigation Of Factors That Impact Student Learning, Erin E. Rinto, Elisa I. Cogbill-Seiders

Library Faculty Research

Many academic libraries partner with English composition in order to teach first year students skills related to academic research and writing. Due to the partnership between information literacy and first-year writing programs, it is important to evaluate how these programs can best support one another. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of two factors on student information literacy skill development: library instruction and section theme—defined here as class sections of the English 102 (ENG 102) program developed around a central topic selected by the instructor. A random sample of annotated bibliographies from 95 sections of ENG …

Archival Literacy Competencies For Undergraduate History Majors, Sharon A. Weiner, Sammie L. Morris, Lawrence J. Mykytiuk

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Undergraduate history majors need to know how to conduct archival research. This paper describes the second phase of a project to identify “archival literacy” competencies. Faculty, archivists, and librarians from baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral/research institutions commented on a draft list. This resulted in competencies in six major categories: accurately conceive of primary sources; locate primary sources; use a research question, evidence, and argumentation to advance a thesis; obtain guidance from archivists; demonstrate acculturation to archives; and follow publication protocols. Collaborations of archivists, faculty, and librarians can integrate the competencies throughout undergraduate history curricula in their institutions.

Ethnography In Action: Active Learning In Academic Library Outreach To Middle School Students, Samantha Godbey, Nancy Fawley, Xan Goodman, Susan Wainscott

Library Faculty Research

This article describes an outreach activity developed and coordinated by academic librarians as part of a state program for low-income middle school students. Rather than offering a traditional library tour, the library organizers wanted to provide the middle school students with a meaningful experience that would encourage active participation, critical thinking, and alleviate library anxiety. As a spin on the traditional tour, students applied an ethnographic approach to learning about the library. The authors describe the development and implementation of the activity and provide recommendations for other librarians involved in outreach to K-12 students.

Libraries & Student Success, Melissa Bowles-Terry

Library Faculty Presentations

What makes a difference in student success? The framing questions for this presentation are:

1. What makes students stay in college and finish a degree? What prevents them from finishing?

2. What can librarians and faculty do to increase students' chances of succeeding at learning and at earning a degree?

This presentation will address high impact practices identified by George Kuh and adopted by the AAC&U, and give some examples of how libraries can support those high impact practices. It will also address student engagement, as measured by tools like the National Survey of Student Engagement or NSSE, and how libraries can …