Information Literacy Seminar (hybrid) course @ CETLA 

Alliah Humber, University Libraries

Information Literacy Seminar (IL)

• IL Overview in context of MSCHE

• IL @ HU

• IL in the Syllabus

• IL - rich Assignments

• Library support of IL initiative

Workshop Goals

To provide participants with the information resources and services in context of their subject area of focus

To enable participants to discover discipline-specific and interdisciplinary information resources in support of online teaching and learning

To provide the opportunity for participants to incorporate IL concepts in course materials

What is Information Literacy?

“the ability to recognize when information is needed, and then to find, evaluate, use and communicate that information effectively.”

Information Literacy is…

" an intellectual framework for identifying, finding, understanding, evaluating and using information.

• [I]t includes:

• determining the nature and extent of needed information;

• accessing information effectively and efficiently;

• evaluating critically information and its sources;

• incorporating selected information in the learner's knowledge base and value system;

Information Literacy is… (con't)

• using information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose;

• understanding the economic, legal and social issues surrounding the use of information and information technology; and 

• observing laws, regulations and institutional policies related to the access and use of information."

Middle States Commission in Higher Education 2002 edition of Characteristics of Excellence in Higher Education; Eligibility Requirements and

Standards for Accreditation

2 IL Course Models

1. Stand-alone

2. Integrated

1. Stand Alone course modelo Typically designed for first-year ENG 003

courses

o Hit or Miss : Course is not a requirement

o Risk students skills may not be reinforced at various stages in their academic career

o Single course cannot (may not) satisfy the requirements of meeting the university's IL goals

2. Integrated course model

o Work with information specialists

o Comprise of a scheduled library session

o Librarians: identifying the information needed, finding and evaluating resources

o Faculty: evaluating and understanding the content, using information ethically and legally.

Benefits of the Integrated Course Model• Places IL in context of discipline

• Deepening student's understanding of IL w/in student chosen field

• Upper level and graduate students can avail ino identifying more obscure information resourceso devising complex search strategieso engaging in deeper analysis of the contento presenting new insight, oro new knowledge to other chosen audiences

• engages faculty by making them partners in IL instruction enabling them to blend IL with the discussion of other curriculum content.

Systematic Approach

systematic approach: b/c students do not come with an inherent knowledge of biology (for example) or have the skill to evaluate quality, and read and understand scientific literature, students need assignments that give them the opportunity to analyze and understand a single reserach article

Awareness of other forms of scholarly publishingpeer-review - popular press - have students read and react to blogs

Honoring Multistage process

pursuing of knowledge beginsstudent summarizes and synthesizes information, then explains and interpets itafter understanding, student selects and incorporates into knowledge base and determines how the new information affects the underlynig values that shapes attitudes toward other aspects of life and beliefs about what is true or not.

Breadth courses

opportunity to introduce students to the nature of inquiry and the organization of knowledge in the disciples

IL in the SyllabusAre IL goals clear and part of the course objectives

IL skills measured by grading criteria

Is there mention of the library as a resource for completing assignments

Are specific resources listed? Indexes and proprietary databases

Are all Course Reserves items available in the library

Is the Citation Format clear.

Considering Assignments 

fac can improve student learning by encouraging students to explore and analyze ideas creatively

use IL principals as a metacognitive strategy to manage their own learning

IL AssignmentsIncorporate peer review

Have students critique each other's work

Require students to attend a departmental research seminar and write a reflection paper

Create an informational brochure or fact sheet about a topic

create a presentation in a style of podcasts

presentation of a case study

a paper written in the style of a popular press, where articles are assembled into a magazine, distributed to the class, content included on the final examination.

IL Assignmentssmall papers summarize weekly readings

annotated bibliography

Presentation

book reviews

literature reviews

posters editorials

Memos

company and product research papers.

IL AssignmentsCitation searching: Determine the impact on the field of specific articles or books from the course readings by searching for them in a citation index.  How many people have cited the work? Get the articles. Write a review of these articles explaining how the citing scholar used the original work. 

Footnote following and critique: Find the original source of a footnote in a course reading.  Locate the source and compare it to the arguments made in the course reading.1Scholarly roots: Do a genealogy tracing of a current faculty member's scholarly roots from his/her mentors and advisors to the historical "big names" in the field.2 Review article: Investigate the "state of the art" on a particular topic by doing a literature review and summary of the most important research. 

Popular vs. Scholarly: Find the original article for a research study mentioned in the popular press.  Compare the announcement to the study. Did the announcement correctly summarize the research findings? Alternatively, have students find a research article and write a summary announcement suitable for the popular press. 

Problem sets: Give problem scenario and have students find the needed data, making sure to cite their source of the data.3 

Use Wikipedia: Review a Wikipedia article on a topic from the class.  Evaluate its accuracy and the sources listed in the further reading.  Revise information including citations to sources.4

Assignments    Term BankEasy: Create a list of possible search terms for a broad topic.•Medium: Track the results of those search terms in web search engines, reference books, databases, and other sources. Discuss which terms are best, and why.•Advanced: Create a hierarchical thesaurus of terms for this topic.

History Source Criticism•Easy: Given a well-known primary historical source, follow its use forward in history inother works. Who used it and why?•Medium: Who actually wrote it and why?•Advanced: How and why has it been compromised or reevaluated over time?

History of Literary CriticismEasy: Begin with a famous novel at least fifty years old. Identify what critics were saying about that work 10, 20, 30, 40, 50.... years ago.Medium: How and why did ideas about the novel change?Advanced: Investigate one or two of those years for social issues which may have had an impact on the critics' ideas.

Assignments

Challenge ArticleEasy: In response to a challenging reading -- the more outlandish the better – examine each

assumption, proving its truth or falsehood with outside sources.Medium: Investigate the writer and his or her bias.Advanced: Rewrite the article in light of your version of the truth.

Literature ComparisonEasy: Compare the literature on a topic from different eras. How has the terminology of this

topic changed over time?Medium: What questions are still unanswered?Advanced: Write an imaginary citation list on this topic from ten years in the future.

PathfinderEasy: Create a "Pathfinder" or "Miniguide" to a very narrow topic: Outline the topic and

annotate a list of the best reference books, databases, web sites, and journals.Medium: Add a short list of seminal works and thinkers on this topic, and explain their

importance.Advanced: Explain the most efficient way to track this topic if I want to follow developments

in the future.

Assignments

Compare items retrieved by searches using two different search engines or databases. 4Students learn that indexes, databases and even search engines may have different foci and functions. This helps them learn to make deliberate choices about which finding tool to locate information in various fields, at differing levels, or in differing formats. Searching a general database such as Academic Search Premiere and the standard indexing tool within your discipline might yield some interesting results. (Is the general database useful for an interdisciplinary approach? Are its articles more accessible? Does the specialized index do better for narrow searches?)

Retrieve and compare two sources of information on the same topicThis helps students become aware of the impact that the author's background, intent and audience may have on the information presented, and may highlight the differences among various disciplines. It works particularly well when students are asked to locate deliberately disparate sources, such as an article from a popular magazine and another from an academic journal1, articles from conservative and liberal sources 2, articles from different disciplines, journal articles and web sites,a personal and an organizational web site.

AssignmentsPresent brief factual background to the class, introducing a new topic. Helps students identify when consulting a reference work (print or electronic) is more efficient than looking for articles or books, and helps students invest in the process of the course itself. It also can mesh well with the oral components of the seminar.

http://www.library.mun.ca/qeii/instruction/assignment_ideas.php

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/instruct/assignments.html

ttp://www.gettysburg.edu/library/information/departments/reference/instruction/assignments.dot>>>nice opening

Determine extent of information needed

Access information effectively & efficiently

Evaluate information & its sources critically

Incorporate into one’s knowledge base

Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose

Citing information is a ethical practice

Core Competencies

Information Managementstore, retrieve, & reference resources

Searchingidentify, locate, & evaluative salient and scholarly resources

Technologyagile & efficient use of information platforms and tools

INFOLit sessions (library instruction)

Incorporate primary information literacy competencies (INFOLit sessions) into the syllabus

Sessions range btw 45min-2hr

Move beyond big-box databases -- consider having multiple INFOLit sessions

Assessment via class assignments e.g. annotated bibliography > be weary of rouge assignments

HUL Web > Access via homepagehttp://www.howard.edu/library (resources)

Library Catalogs / OPACs

Databases < Search/Browse OR Sterling homepage EBSCOhost databases, ScienceDirect, ProQuest databases, LexisNexis, etc

Subject Guides < Research Assistance > Help Guides Political Science, African Studies, Education, Sociology, Women Leaders, Citing Sources, Steps in the Research Process, etc.

General Reference < Search/Browse Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, News Sources, Statistics, Thesaurus, etc.

HUL Web > Access via homepagehttp://www.howard.edu/library (services) Faculty & TA < Research Assistance

Request Forms < ServicesCreating Assignments, Library Instruction, Course-Related Web page, Library Evaluation, ILL, Library Purchase

Subject Specialists < About Us, Contact Us

Bibliographer Liaison, Information Facilitator contact information

Course Reserve Request < Search/ Browse

Note: complete Word doc and submit to appropriate library

Off-Campus Access to Databases, Sterling < Search/ Browse

Library Calendar

Library-involved Assignments Check STERLING for resources (books, journals

databases) listed in your syllabus

Consider the various formats a resource available

Request required readings listed in syllabus be placed on reserve in the library

Library uses Library of Congress call numbers

Photocopying cost .15 cents per copy, consider electronic reserves

Reconsider the scavenger hunt assignment

Benefits of working with information literate studentsStudents will probably

produce quality research papers

make more effective oral presentations

use correct citations when writing or make appropriate attributions when speaking

plagiarize less