Information Literacy Commons^™

Zines In The Classroom: Critical Librarianship And Participatory Collections, Robin Potter, Alycia Sellie

Publications and Research

This lesson plan outlines using zines in a library classroom with a critical pedagogy approach. It was written based upon the teaching each author did with the Brooklyn College Library Zine Collection.

Case Studies And Pervasive Instruction: Using Journalism Education Techniques In The Information Literacy Classroom, Jennifer Noe

Publications and Research

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether journalism education techniques can be adapted for use in the information literacy classroom as a means of teaching the ethical use of information. The author uses personal experience as a journalist and graduate of journalism education programs to examine the similarities between journalism pedagogy and information literacy and whether any aspect of journalism pedagogy is transferrable to the information literacy classroom.

Crowdsourcing As An Approach To Customer Relationship Building In Academic Libraries, Lisa A. Ellis, Aisha Pena

Publications and Research

Library initiatives to first-year students not only present an opportunity to offer information literacy instruction for student advancement but they also serve a key marketing function by communicating the library’s ongoing value and building customer relationships. Library orientation tours are an example of how to effectively market to first-year students. Combining peer-to-peer learning and user-generated content via social media known as crowdsourcing, Newman Library sponsored a contest challenging first-year students to create a video sharing a useful library tip. The contributions and benefits of this co-creation approach to fostering relationships are examined and the implications to strengthening other library-user bonds …

Foregrounding The Research Log In Information Literacy Instruction, Louise R. Fluk

Publications and Research

Updating an earlier study, this article reviews the literature of information literacy (IL) instruction since 2008 for empirical evidence of the value of research logs or research journals for effective pedagogy, assessment, and prevention of plagiarism in IL instruction at the college level. The review reveals a mismatch between the acknowledged theoretical and practical value of research log assignments and the mixed advocacy for them in the literature. The article further analyzes the literature for the drawbacks of research log assignments and points toward ways of mitigating these drawbacks.

Embedded Librarian Ideas: Best Practices Explored And Redefined, Carl R. Andrews

Publications and Research

This paper explores the multitude of ways in which embedded librarianship can be implemented. Although the paper is primarily targeted to academic librarians in higher education settings, the literature examined and the ideas presented can support secondary and college level inter-disciplinary teaching initiatives. The ideas presented are sourced from scholarly journal articles, monographs, and best practices implemented by the author. Attention is given to programs where Information Literacy is infused into a school’s General Education curriculum. Academic librarian pedagogy, outreach, and networking strategies are also highlighted. The author is especially interested in projects that address student academic success after an …

Play A Game, Make A Game: Getting Creative With Professional Development For Library Instruction, Maura A. Smale

Publications and Research

Using games in the library classroom is an active learning strategy that can increase student engagement. However, not all librarians are equally familiar and comfortable with bringing game-based learning to the library. Game On for Information Literacy is a brainstorming card game to help librarians create games for information literacy and library instruction. Inspired by other successful brainstorming card games, this game was developed, playtested, and iterated over several years in workshops, graduate-level MLIS courses, and professional development programs. Game materials are all available to download, use, remix, and share.

Embedded Librarian Program And Its Impact On Students’ Learning Outcomes, Christine (Mi-Seon) Kim, Michael Dolan

Publications and Research

The purpose of this project is to find out how effective an embedded librarian program is at increasing community college students’ performance on a course assignment on an annotated bibliography and a research paper. This is a collaborative project between a librarian and an English instructor. Participants in this study are Queensborough Community College students enrolled in English 101 and English 102 classes during the fall 2014 semester and the spring 2015 semester. There are 4 classes of English 101 and 3 classes of English 102. An annotated bibliography is the assignment used as a means of measuring students’ performance. …

We Built A Research Toolkit. You Can, Too!, Stephanie M. Margolin, Wendy Hayden

Publications and Research

Poster describing, briefly, how we developed our Research Toolkit.

Being A Lesbian Librarian, Collection Development In Lesbian Librarianship, And Archives As Lesbian Spaces, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

Edited talk From Pratt SILS Gender LIS Panel curated by Dinah Handel on March 27th, 2015
Co-presenters include: Sian Evans; #artandfeminism Wikipedia Editathon & Jen LaBarbera; Filling in the Margins: The use of Queer Theory, Feminist Standpoint Theory, and Critical Race Theory to build inclusive archival collections
This talk remarks on the role of the librarian to provide lesbian-specific content.

Library Awareness And Use Among Graduate Social Work Students: An Assessment And Action Research Project, Margaret Bausman, Sarah Laleman Ward

Publications and Research

This article details the evolution of an action research project over the fall of 2011 through the spring of 2014. The project investigates the engagement of social work students at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College with library resources and services. In addition to a review of the literature and a contextualizing discussion around the status of information literacy instruction in social work, the article describes the development and use of an online assessment tool, the introduction of new information literacy instruction strategies and materials including online research guides, and a discussion of the descriptive and inferential …

The Flipped Classroom As A Tool For Engaging Discipline Faculty In Collaboration—A Case Study In Library-Business Collaboration, Madeline Cohen

Publications and Research

This case study focuses on an innovative approach to the flipped classroom as a tool for productive library-discipline faculty collaboration on information literacy instruction. The argument is presented that the flipped classroom can be a pathway into the disciplines that can be used in overcoming the disadvantages of the one-shot, and other barriers to collaboration. The case-study will outline the reasons for a successful collaboration on integrating information literacy into this undergraduate business course, and for its extension to five additional business courses. Practical examples of learning outcomes, in-class activities, and assessment are provided.

Teaching The Network: A Brief Demonstration Of The Internet’S Structure For Information Literacy Instruction, Robin Camille Davis

Publications and Research

A basic understanding of the Internet’s physical and operational structure is one element of information literacy. In this article, “traceroute” and “whois” commands are demonstrated as tools that librarians can use to illustrate how the Internet is geographically distributed, how businesses enable and control information sharing, and how to check a source's credibility by determining website ownership. With these tools, students can gain a better understanding of how online information is created, accessed, and affected in ways that may be otherwise invisible.

Do We Speak The Same Language? A Study Of Faculty Perceptions Of Information Literacy, Jonathan Cope, Jesús E. Sanabria

Publications and Research

The authors analyze twenty in-depth interviews with faculty members about how they perceive information literacy (IL) to examine two key factors: how disciplinary background influences conceptions of IL among faculty members in academic departments and how the instructors’ perception of information literacy differs from that of professionals in library and information science. The investigators analyzed these interviews by utilizing a phenomenological method. The faculty members were interviewed at a four-year college, the College of Staten Island, and at a community college, the Bronx Community College, both part of the City University of New York.

An Examination Of Embedded Librarian Ideas And Practices: A Critical Bibliography., Carl R. Andrews

Publications and Research

Although this annotated bibliography is primarily targeted to library science professionals in an academic setting, the literature examined can very easily support secondary and college level general education teaching initiatives. The majority of the literature examined in the list comes from journal articles. The author focused primarily on actual case studies that take place in an undergraduate academic setting. Attention was paid to community colleges and schools where there are students in need of remediation. The author was also interested in seeking out literature that addressed the needs of student academic success after an embedded program was implemented. Non-traditional embedded …

Lilac: Planted At Cuny Ten Years Ago And Still Blooming, Galina Letnikova

Publications and Research

CUNY’s Library Information Literacy Advisory Committee (LILAC) will celebrate its tenth anniversary in February 2015. A decade ago twenty librarians from all CUNY libraries came together to review the mission of a new professional committee and establish its charge. Since then the committee members have been working hard and have succeeded in integrating information literacy across the City University curriculum. They have been creating information literacy tutorials and assessment tools, providing support to all CUNY librarians by coordinating and running professional development meetings, seminars, and conferences. This CUNY-wide professional organization, its structure, achievements, and ongoing work deserve to serve as …

Threesource: Reimagining How We Collect And Share Information About Social Issues, Jen Hoyer, Stephen Macdonald

Publications and Research

This chapter examines management of information about social justice issues through discussion of the development and implementation of an online database, threeSOURCE. Managed by the Edmonton Social Planning Council, threeSOURCE is an online research database and library catalog created to help community organizations in the Canadian province of Alberta retrieve information about local social issues that they work to address. Reflections highlight issues related to creation, design, and implementation of a database, examining new ways to think about information delivery in line with the core values of our profession.

The American Association Of School Librarians (Aasl) Standards For The 21st Century Learner Lesson Plan Database, Christina Miller

Publications and Research

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Standards for the 21st Century Learner Lesson Plan Database (AASL Database) is a free, Open Access, interactive tool recently (2011) developed by the American Association of School Librarians, a division of the American Library Association, to assist librarians, teachers and other educators in implementing the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner (AASL Standards) and the Common Core State Standards. It is comprised of vetted, content-area lesson plans meant to provide excellent models to integrate AASL Standards across K-12 curricula; the platform also includes social networking features and a user portfolio. The AASL …

Cuny's Critical Thinking Skills Initiative: Redesigning Workforce Education Through Information Literacy Learning, Irene Gashurov, Ann Matsuuchi

Publications and Research

In the wake of the recent financial upheaval, there is a feeling in academia that colleges should pay more attention to what employers are saying; and the common concern of employers is that many new hires are coming out of college unprepared.

In job situations that demand approaching problems from a variety of perspectives, using innovative approaches to find solutions, and communicating effectively, employers said these recent graduates were coming up short. They called on educators “to teach [students] the analytical skills, the critical thinking skills and the communication skills that are necessary for almost every job in today’s economy.”

Critical Information Literacy And The Technology Of Control: The Case Of Armenia, John Carey, D. Aram Donabedian

Publications and Research

As direct providers of information literacy, librarians can help patrons analyze the social and economic forces involved in the creation and use of information. This chapter will discuss why critical information literacy and critical pedagogy are especially important in the Armenian context, with its unique historical, cultural, and geopolitical concerns. The authors will document how the Armenian government has used cutting-edge Internet controls to block online content or misdirect users. We will also examine how Armenians perceive the independence of their available media and explore current efforts by telecom, publishing, and governmental concerns to restrict Internet freedom. The authors suggest …

The Three-Credit Solution: Social Justice In An Information Literacy Course, Anne E. Leonard, Maura A. Smale

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Professor Sheidlower's New Book, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

The book Humor and Information Literacy was co-authored by Scott Sheidlower and Joshua Vossler.

Libraries And General Education: New Strategies To Enhance Freshman Orientation, Faculty Collaboration, And Curriculum Development, Carl R. Andrews

Publications and Research

My research will attempt to re-evaluate the academic library's role in supporting a general education program. The emphasis will focus on student centeredness, faculty collaboration, outreach and curriculum support. In the short time that I have worked in academic libraries I have learned that quality customer service and reference desk work is far from the list of priorities in some settings. Coming from the public library I found this to be unacceptable. We are service providers and the way in which we communicate with students and faculty is important. As professionals we should do more in the way of making …

More Than Just A Drop In The Bucket: Black Instructional Librarians Teaching For Academic Success, Lisa A. Ellis

Publications and Research

As American society is changing due to new technologies and globalization, institutions of higher education have had to implement new teaching and learning practices to address student success, especially among Black students. Working collaboratively with college administrators and faculty, instructional librarians are in a unique position to participate in a variety of instructional programs to teach information, communication and technology (ICT) literacy. For Black Instructional Librarians working with underserved college students, many who are Black, they understand the importance in helping these students to develop a high level of ICT literacy skills, not only to attain academic success, but also …

Get In The Game: Developing An Information Literacy Classroom Game, Maura A. Smale

Publications and Research

Much current research in the field of games-based learning demonstrates that games can be successfully incorporated into educational contexts to increase student engage-ment, motivation, and learning. Academic librarians are also using games as an innova-tive instructional strategy to strengthen students’ research skills and their understanding of information literacy concepts. This article discusses the development and implemen-tation of Quality Counts, a classroom information literacy game designed to teach un-dergraduate students how to evaluate Internet sources. After a brief overview of the game’s development and rules, the article describes the process of playing Quality Counts in several classes and presents the results …

Pirates And Librarians: Big Media, Technology And The Role Of Liberal Education, D. Aram Donabedian, John Carey

Publications and Research

The widespread appearance of computers in libraries during the early 1990s elicited a debate among those who welcomed new technologies and those who perceived such changes as a threat to the traditional role of academic libraries and the values of liberal education. At the same time, increasing consolidation of major media channels—including sources of scholarly communication—has allowed a small number of corporations to control distribution and access to the materials libraries offer, through tools such as licensing fees, copyright restrictions, and digital rights management. In response to these barriers, librarians and educators have embraced open access publishing and Creative Commons …

Information Is Social: Information Literacy In Context, Jen Hoyer

Publications and Research

This paper aims to discuss traditional conceptions of information literacy as created within an academic context to address information needs within this context. It seeks to present alternative realities of information use outside the academic sector, and to suggest that information literacy instruction within academia does not go far enough in preparing students for the information society beyond university. The aim is then to follow this by discussion of appropriate information literacy models to prepare young people for information use in a variety of workplace environments.

Critical Teaching In The Library, Alycia Sellie

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Open Access And Liberal Education: A Look At Armenia, Azerbaijan And Georgia, D. Aram Donabedian, John Carey

Publications and Research

In the post-Soviet era, libraries in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia have faced increasing budgetary challenges. In response to socioeconomic restructuring and the introduction of private enterprise, libraries have been forced to seek alternatives to commercial publishing and licensing models. This paper will assess the status of the open access movement and of Internet filtering controls in the countries of the South Caucasus. It will also argue that developing open models for scholarly communications is crucial to the strengthening of liberal education and civic participation in these aspiring democracies. Libraries, in their role as providers of and advocates for shared information, …

Student Preferences In Library Website Vocabulary, Mark Aaron Polger

Publications and Research

This study explores student preferences to library website vocabulary and compares the data with what librarians report on their library's website. Two questionnaires were distributed in the fall of 2009 to students (N=300) and librarians (N=527). Students were asked to identify the terms they prefer from a larger list of library website vocabulary. Librarians were asked to report the terms that were used on their library's website. Twenty-seven terms were selected for both the student and librarian questionnaires. The 27 terms were culled from library literature, library instruction classes, and reference desk interactions. Of the 300 students, 54% were freshmen, …

Learning Through Quests And Contests: Games In Information Literacy Instruction, Maura A. Smale

Publications and Research

Games-based learning is an innovative pedagogical strategy employed at all levels of education, and much research in education, psychology, and other disciplines supports its effectiveness in engaging and motivating students, as well as increasing student learning. Many libraries have incorporated games into their collections and program-ming. College and university libraries have begun to use games for information literacy and library instruction. Academic librarians use commercially-produced games, create their own games, and employ game principles and mechanics to enhance their tradi-tional instructional offerings. While there may be impediments to implementing games-based learning for information literacy, the promising benefits of this approach …