Information Literacy Commons^™

Library Curriculum As Epistemic Justice: Decolonizing Library Instruction Programs, Heather Campbell, Dan Sich

Western Libraries Publications

Information literacy scholars and leaders are calling for the decolonization of library instruction, knowing that our work helps to maintain colonial systems. While there is no checklist or road map to program decolonization, academic libraries and instruction teams must start the work anyway. This article shares the story of curriculum decolonization at Western Libraries, so far, including the decolonization ‘cycle’ we followed and our resulting six learning outcomes. Grounded in epistemic justice, our new curriculum prioritizes living beings over information, and uses a broad, inclusive definition of knowledge throughout. Librarians at Western University acknowledge that the first step in decolonization …

Acting "As If": Critical Pedagogy, Empowerment, And Labor, Rafia Mirza, Karen P. Nicholson, Maura Seale

FIMS Publications

In this chapter, we explore the labor of information literacy and its devaluation in professional discourse, which lends appeal to critical library pedagogy as means to reclaim agency in the classroom. We consider how discourses of agency and empowerment in critical library pedagogy fail to account for positionality, power, and context, with the result that critical pedagogy tends to center individual (heroic) efforts rather than collective action. Critical pedagogy thus becomes a decontextualized and disempowering fiction, a practice of “acting as if” the classroom were a safe space. Reframing critical library pedagogy as labor undertaken in solidarity with other workers …

Dominant Covid Narratives And Implications For Information And Media Literacy Education In The “Post-Pandemic” United States, Andrea Baer

Libraries Scholarship

Over the past three+ years that COVID-19 has changed everyday life across the globe, the entire world has been tasked with making sense of new, evolving, and often conflicting information, including public message that is often confusing and shaped by political agendas and interests. Dominant narratives about the COVID-19 pandemic illustrate of the complexities and importance of information literacy, and more specifically of critical information literacy, which asks us to interrogate the ways that power and social structure influence what information is created and circulated and how we interact with and respond to it as individuals and collectives. In this …

Flexible Pedagogies For Inclusive Learning: Balancing Pliancy And Structure And Cultivating Cultures Of Care, Andrea Baer

Libraries Scholarship

In this essay, I reflect on flexibility as a concept and as a practice that has informed my teaching, in particular since adapting to online library instruction in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how flexible pedagogy principles and practices can be catalysts for reflective and inclusive teaching and a culture of care in all teaching contexts.

Diving Below The Surface: A Layered Approach To Teaching Online Source Evaluation Through Lateral And Critical Reading, Andrea Baer, Daniel G. Kipnis

Libraries Scholarship

As online environments have in many ways changed how information (including misinformation) is created and distributed, many educators have recognized a need for teaching new strategies for evaluating online sources for credibility and potential bias. Educators like Mike Caulfield and research groups like the Stanford History Education Group (SHEG) have stressed the need for “lateral reading,” a habit of fact-checking when initially evaluating a source. When reading laterally, a person doesn’t spend extensive time initially examining what a source says about itself; instead, they quickly move off of the site in question to look at what others have said about …

Understanding Scholarly Articles: Teaching A Strategic Reading Method To Academically At-Risk Students, Kimberly Foster, Amy F. Fyn

Library Faculty Publications

In 2018, the library began partnering with the Academic Coaching Experience Department (ACED) to support students. Academic Coaches had been developing a new course for academically at-risk first and second year students and wanted to collaborate with the library on a unit. Typically, library instruction sessions would be oriented toward providing instruction centered on a research assignment, but the new course had none. A fresh approach was needed to provide useful and engaging content for this student population. To avoid redundancy with the research skills addressed in other courses ACED students may be taking, two librarians decided to complement a …

Discovering Crime And Justice Data On Government Websites, Ariana Baker, Allison Faix

Library Faculty Publications

This chapter will outline different federal agencies that collect and distribute data related to crime and justice. It will offer some strategies for finding, navigating, and getting the most out of that data.

Evaluating New York Times Data Set: Coded For Credibility Reasoning, Natalie Haber

Research and Data

Dataset affiliated with article : Evaluating the New York Times: Content Analysis of Student Responses to Open-Ended Tutorial Questions

Bibliography, Rosemary L. Meszaros

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Bibliography of publications by Rosemary Meszaros.

From Rookie To Researcher: Integrating Information Literacy Into Undergraduate Research, Larissa K. Garcia, Dee Anna Phares, Kimberly Shotick

Faculty Books & Book Chapters

Undergraduate research is a specific pedagogical practice with an impact on teaching and learning, and the definition of what counts as research continues to expand to include different types of projects, mentors, and institutions. Diversity, equity, and inclusion in librarians’ work with students and faculty are present and growing. Collaborations between faculty, librarians, and students are furthering student knowledge in new ways. This community and an awareness of students’ non-academic challenges demonstrate the library’s contribution to students’ overall sense of belonging within their institutions. This chapter describes the involvement of an academic library with an undergraduate research program.

Pulling It All Together: Teaching Genre, Disciplinary And Career Literacies, And The Framework For Information Literacy In An Associate Degree Capstone Course, Linda Miles, Elisabeth Tappeiner

Publications and Research

We team teach a semester-long credit-bearing information literacy course for urban community college students in New York City’s South Bronx. It is a capstone course, designed to support students at the end of their first two years of college as they consider the next stage in their own development, be that transferring to a four-year institution or entering the workforce. For this course, we have constructed an approach to critical reading that combines explicit exploration of academic and disciplinary genres with an investigation into the processes of knowledge production and communication shared by the individuals who produce them. This chapter …

Beyond Session Counting: A Program Development Model For Information Literacy In A Liberal Arts College, Christine Bombaro, Theresa S. Arndt

Harrisburg University Faculty Works

Academic librarians have long struggled to evaluate, report, promote and grow library services in order to effect positive changes in curricula. Metrics reported to faculty and administration generally include how many information literacy sessions are taught, how many students were present, and what subject areas were taught. However, merely counting information literacy sessions does not convey goals, opportunity, or progress. The Information Literacy Program Development Model (ILPDM) described in this article demonstrates how academic librarians at a small, liberal arts college moved beyond counting the number of information literacy sessions as a measure of value by clearly defining what a …

Keep Calm And Read Laterally! A Bite-Sized Information Literacy Programme At Singapore Management University Libraries, Zhenyan Li

Research Collection Library

Librarians at Singapore Management University (SMU) Libraries developed an information literacy programme, titled Keep Calm and Read Laterally! as part of the Libraries’ flagship BiteSized Workshop Series. The initiative aimed to further the digital competence of students through advocating critical and effective engagement with digital information. The workshop was highly interactive, incorporating problem-based learning and hands-on group activities, and was split into two parts. The first part helped learners to understand what they read and what types of resources they could use to address various information needs, while the second part guided learners to assess digital information leveraging lateral reading …

The Need For International Ai Activities Monitoring, Parviz Partow-Navid, Ludwig Slusky

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This paper focuses primarily on the need to monitor the risks arising from the dual-use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Dual-use AI technology capability makes it applicable for defense systems and consequently may pose significant security risks, both intentional and unintentional, with the national and international scope of effects. While domestic use of AI remains the prerogative of individual countries, the unregulated and nonmonitored use of AI with international implications presents a specific concern. An international organization tasked with monitoring potential threats of AI activities could help defuse AI-associated risks and promote global cooperation in developing and deploying AI technology. The …

Determinants Of Continuance Intention To Use Mobile Wallets Technology In The Post Pandemic Era: Moderating Role Of Perceived Trust, Shailja Tripathi

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

The Covid-19 pandemic amplified the volume and importance of mobile payments using digital wallets and placed a basis for their continued adoption. The objective of the study is to formulate and test a comprehensive model by integration of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and expectation confirmation model (ECM) with the addition of three constructs, namely perceived trust, perceived risk, and subjective norm, to identify the determinants of continuance intention to use mobile wallets. Questionnaire-based survey method was used to gather the data from 550 users having experience using mobile wallets for more than six months. The data were analyzed using …

Highlighting Engineers Diverse Information Sources Through Customized Libguides For Engineering Design Courses, Aleshia A. Huber

Library Scholarship

This case study examines the development and implementation of a customized LibGuide for a freshman engineering design course, aimed at enhancing students’ awareness and utilization of the diverse information resources employed by professional engineers. The redesigned guide featured dedicated pages for each design project, each curated with targeted resources to promote deeper engagement with a broad spectrum of engineering information. User interaction data was examined to assess its effectiveness, and practical recommendations are provided for librarians seeking to implement similar course-integrated guides

Modeling Collaborative Research Practices With Zotero, Julian Kilker

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

The early stages of research when students explore topics and evaluate resources are critical. Yet researchers can be overwhelmed by evaluating sources, organizing resources and notes, and working with collaborators. During these stages it is particularly important to model meaningful research relationships to support student success. I address these challenges by having students explore Zotero, a free “research assistant” application and web portal, as they work on structured research assignments. While Zotero is known as a powerful citation manager, my practice focuses on its features that are most relevant to storing, organizing, and sharing resources while working on both informal …

Student-Led Collection Development For Diversifying Collections And Making Connections, Kate Blinn, Jennifer Coval, Camilla Mackay

Library Staff Presentations and Conference Papers

Poster presented at the Association of College & Research Libraries conference, Pittsburgh, PA, 16 March, 2023.

Librarians at Bryn Mawr College established an annual paid spring break internship for undergraduate students focused on collection development. The goal was to promote diversity in library collections by providing the students with the knowledge and budget to purchase popular reading material from Philadelphia independent bookstores who collections reflect diverse voices.

From Consumers To Creators: Scaffolding Digital Information Literacy Throughout The Undergraduate Curriculum, Emily Metcalf, Lisa Louis, Catherine Rudowsky, Tara Carlisle

Books and Contributions to Books

For decades, the Mary and Jeff Bell Library at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) has promoted library services across campus and provided information literacy instruction upon request. Despite these efforts, the library’s reach was not evenly distributed across subject disciplines or course levels, with over half of the instruction occurring at the first-year level. The TAMU-CC librarians knew that to help students become truly information literate, equitable instruction was needed across more disciplines and throughout all course levels.

In the spring of 2018, we encountered an opportunity to create a robust digital information literacy program in the shape of a …

Information Literacy, Media Literacy, And The Attitudinal Positioning Of Wpas Combatting Mis/Disinformation, Joshua Nieubuurt

English Faculty Publications

Informational flow is paramount to the success of interpersonal communication as well as macro communication that allows for people to engage with the overarching sociopolitical apparatuses as a citizen. Chief among hindering informational flow are the obstacles of mis/disinformation. This research project is an exploratory study into the attitudinal positioning of a wide range of WPAs across R1 research institutions. Results found that WPA's perceptions are positively aligned in agreement with the value of IL and ML. Furthermore, WPAs are utilizing IL and ML within their programs both knowingly and serendipitously. Despite the positive attitudes toward interdisciplinary approaches to combating …