Information Literacy Commons^™

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 New Acrl Information Literacy Competency Standards: Revising Reception, Benjamin R. Harris

Library Faculty Research

The publication of educational standards inspires a variety of responses, from wholesale acceptance and deployment to criticism and blame. The author of this paper contends that the revision of the ACRL’s Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education must be accompanied by a critical, conscious, and conscientious reception by librarians and information literacy advocates.

Progressive Trends In Electronic Resources Management In Libraries, Jennifer A. W. Wright (Joe), Contributor, Nihar K. Patra, Editor, Bharat Kumar, Editor, Ashis K. Pani, Editor

DLPS Faculty and Staff Book Gallery

As physical collections go digital, the organizational procedures, budgets, and usage patterns of libraries must evolve to meet this change by identifying the various issues that are essential in understanding the management of e-resources.

Progressive Trends in Electronic Resource Management in Libraries provides relevant theoretical and practical details from an international perspective on the current e-resources landscape. Through a detailed discussion of the specific aspects of e-resources management, this book is a useful source for library science faculty and students, academic librarians, research scholars, and IT professionals aiming to improve their understanding of the theoretical details, history, selection, acquisition, fair …

The Truth Is Out: How Students Really Search, Marta Deyrup, Beth Bloom

Library Publications

No abstract provided.

Still Desperately Seeking Citations: Undergraduate Research In The Age Of Web-Scale Discovery., Lisa Rose-Wiles, Melissa M. Hofmann

Praxis Publications

Web-scale discovery services promise fast, easy searching from a single Google-like box, pleasing users and making library resources more discoverable. Some librarians embrace the concept of giving users what they have come to expect from Google, while others are concerned that this will “dumb down” searching and undermine information literacy. In this paper we explore the potential impact of web-scale discovery tools on information literacy, focusing particularly on undergraduate research skills. We review the existing literature and present findings and experiences from two mid-sized academic libraries that have adopted EBSCO Discovery Service as their library home page portal.

Himmelfarb Library Liaison Letter - January 2013, George Washington University, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library

Himmelfarb Library Liaison Letters

No abstract provided.

The Truth Is Out: How Students Really Search, Marta Deyrup, Beth Bloom

Marta Deyrup

No abstract provided.

Vendor Of The Month: A Marketing Collaboration, Lateka J. Grays, James Cory Tucker

Collaborative Librarianship

Marketing library resources remains an important issue despite library reductions in staff and collections budgets. In order to maintain or expand marketing programs, libraries could do well tapping into the expertise available through the vendors supplying resources to libraries. A case study of a library marketing program called, “Vendor of the Month,” at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas explains the collaboration between the library and its vendors to increase awareness and use of selected electronic resources.

Whose Job Is It Anyway?, Lori Ayre

Collaborative Librarianship

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Library Instruction On Undergraduate Student Success In A Documents-Based Research Course: The Benefits Of Librarian, Archivist, And Faculty Collaboration, Paul Victor Jr., Justin Otto, Charles Mutschler

Collaborative Librarianship

This article discusses a successful collaboration between multiple subject specialist librarians, the University Archivist and a faculty member teaching an undergraduate course in documents-based social science research. This collaborative partnership allowed for each subject specialist to expose students to specific information literacy skills they needed to be successful in their class. The authors used pre- and postassessments to gauge student comfort level in conducting library research, as well as a rubric to assess the annotated bibliography of a student’s final research paper. The data from these assessment tools are analyzed and the results discussed. The data indicates that students benefited …

Review Of Managing Research Data, Dorothea Salo

Collaborative Librarianship

No abstract provided.

Directory Of Open Access Journals: A Bibliometric Study Of Library And Information Science, Kotti Thavamani

Collaborative Librarianship

This paper presents a bibliometric study of library-focused journals represented in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). A total of 151 library and information science journals were examined related to a number of issues: subject-specific distribution of library journals, interdisciplinary aspects, country of origin, language-used and other language characteristics, numbers of titles first appearing in given years, publication fees, the existence of license agreements, and the types of organizations having journals in the Directory that focus on libraries or librarianship.

“She Has A Vocabulary I Just Don’T Have”: Faculty Culture And Information Literacy Collaboration, Carolyn Caffrey Gardner, Jamie White-Farnham

Collaborative Librarianship

The authors describe difficulties pertaining to discipline-specific discourse and identity among collaborators during the process of revising the information literacy component of a first-year writing program. Hardesty’s term “faculty culture” offers a frame through which to understand resistance and tension among otherwise engaged faculty and situates this experience within the uncomfortable history between faculty and librarians who may be perceived as “inauthentic” faculty. The authors suggest ways to improve communication between librarians and writing program faculty when collaborating on information literacy instruction.

Review Of “Can Library Use Enhance Intercultural Education?”, Jimena Sagàs

Collaborative Librarianship

No abstract provided.

Recruiting Entry-Level Sci-Tech Librarians: An Analysis Of Job Advertisements And Outcome Of Searches, Mary Lou Baker Jones, Mary Frances Lembo, James Manasco, John Sandy

University Libraries' Staff Publications

What qualifications are academic library administrators looking for in candidates for entry-level science and technology librarian positions? The Student Relations Committee of the Sci-Tech Division decided to explore this question, with the objective of providing career development information to students in library and information science who are interested in science or technology library positions.

Learning By Doing: Performance Assessment Of Information Literacy Across The First-Year Curriculum, Stefanie R. Bluemle, Amanda Y. Makula, Margaret W. Rogal

Library and Information Science: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

In the 2011-2012 school year, the instruction librarians at Augustana College, Illinois, changed their assessment approach in the college’s required first-year sequence to focus on higher-level information literacy concepts. The librarians replaced a quantitative assessment instrument with performance assessments, which they integrated into their first-year library sessions. Although the sequence is taught by many faculty with diverse assignments, these new assessments could be applied organically across sections yet provide generalizable results. This case study describes that assessment project and its initial findings, analyzes the project’s implications, and suggests how other college libraries might adopt similar qualitative assessments.

Concept/Context: Information Literacy And Assessment In The First Year, Stefanie R. Bluemle, Amanda Y. Makula, Margaret W. Rogal

Library and Information Science: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

At Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, where the academic calendar consists of trimesters, all first-year students enroll in a year-long sequence of three "Liberal Studies First Year" (LSFY) courses, which are taught by faculty from a variety of disciplines. LSFY emphasizes core competencies in reading, writing, oral communication, and information literacy.

Since 2011, the Augustana librarians have been using performance-based assessment to evaluate their work with LSFY classes. This qualitative approach, which encourages real-life application of skills, has proven well-suited to an information literacy program in which concepts carry more weight than the mechanics of searching. Each term, the …

The Joy Of (Performance) Assessment, Amanda Y. Makula, Stefanie R. Bluemle, Margaret W. Rogal

Library and Information Science: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

How can librarians assess student learning in a way that is organic to the assignment and instruction session, yet gives results that are comparable across classes?

Performance Assessment is a qualitative method of assessment in which students demonstrate learning by completing specific tasks related to targeted learning outcomes. Performance Assessment encourages real-life application of skills and is well-suited to an information literacy program in which concepts carry more weight than the mechanics of searching.

The Augustana College instruction librarians use performance assessment to evaluate their work with a three-term sequence of required first-year general education classes (”Liberal Studies First Year” …

Staying Current After Graduation: A Survey Of Social Work Alumni, Linda Hacker

Collaborative Librarianship

How do our alumni stay current once they graduate and are away from academic information resources? Very few studies have addressed how alumni stay current in their field after graduation. This research surveyed the graduate and undergraduate Social Work alumni of The College at Brockport in asking key questions. Are you able to stay current with research, especially without access to article databases? Do you receive support from your employer to stay current? Does this include money/time off for participating in Continuing Education Programs (CEP), conferences or accessing article databases? This paper looks at the methods for, and importance of, …

Information Behavior And Japanese Students: How Can An Understanding Of The Research Process Lead To Better Information Literacy?, Yusuke Ishimura

Research outputs 2013

Academic librarians are striving to better serve international students as this emerging population grows on university campuses. Past studies of international students generally focus on linguistic and cultural differences in relation to information literacy skills development. However, it is necessary to go beyond these factors to better serve the population. By using a framework based in information behavior research, the present study investigates the factors that mediate students' behavior and information literacy skills. Practical recommendations based on the findings of an in-depth qualitative study of students' research process are provided.