Should I use Wikipedia in my search for information?

"Don't use Wikipedia. Do not use any websites, except for .gov sites. Cite at least one print source." While teaching or helping some introductory English classes in Library workshops, I often hear these kinds of requirements imposed on the students. Instructors often have good reasons for setting these limitations. They want students to get out of their comfort zones. Students do fall back on what they know, using search engines to find their information. This may have worked well while they went to high school, but at the college level it usually does not suffice.

Typically, I like to talk about reference resources and how they can be useful for students when they begin their research. An encyclopedia article can provide background information, the kind that instructors may expect them to know already. College instructors expect more than a book report summary from college students. They want students to engage in the subject matter, evaluate sources, and analyze ideas critically. I suspect that some students rise to the occasion and begin to develop critical thinking skills when asked to look for quality sources.

Does this mean that students should not use Wikipedia? This ban of Wikipedia would not support appeals for critical thinking. Wikipedia, in many cases, provides background information that can be useful when starting a research project. Like other reference resources, it can inform individuals about the various aspects of the issue at hand, which can then prompt them to narrow their topic down a bit more. Additionally, its articles can bring to light keywords that would improve searching results when one goes to the article databases, or one's university catalog.

Most students are unaware of the fact that most academic libraries purchase subscriptions to online reference materials. Encyclopedia Britannica, Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, and Oxford Reference Online are a few encyclopedias for which institutions purchase access.

I just finished a great article titled "Wikipedia: friend or foe?" written by Kathy West and Janet Williamson at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. In 2007 they began a study to assess the quality of Wikipedia articles. As librarians, they had not used Wikipedia very much, preferring more authoritative sources. How did they assess the articles? "In the absence of credentialed authors, what criteria can be used to measure article quality? We suggest that articles which are objective, accurate, complete and clearly presented are quality articles" (268).

Their thorough search of the literature, conscientious methods, and careful analysis of the results deserves some praise. I appreciate that they approached this study professionally, they they did not seem to let bias cloud their perspectives. For example, they acknowledge some flaws in their methods that influenced the results. In order to do a good analysis, they captured 106 Wikipedia articles as pdfs. They did not check the hyperlinks that would have explained certain concepts, and as a result they admit that "this significantly affected our ratings of individual articles' accuracy and completeness in that it limited the ability to achieve a full understanding of the articles. [...] Had we been able to view the outward links, the completeness scores would have been substantially higher" (267).

Go read this article. They give a listing of reasons why Wikipedia may be considered a friend, according to the results of their article assessments:

• "its breadth of information including a substantial amount of unique information;
  
• its ability to cover truly current events;
  
• its ability to meet the diverse needs of both general and specialist readers;
  
• its objectivity;
  
• its reasonable accuracy; and
  
• its accessibility -- it is available 24/7 from our desktops at no charge" (269).

How might it be a foe?

• "its inconsistency--there are articles which are poorly written, contain unsubstantiated information, and/or provide shallow coverage of a topic" (269).

It appears that the authors' perceptions of Wikipedia improved as a result of doing this study. They consider Wikipedia to be improving as well. Fewer cases of abuse are occurring i.e. vandalism. "In addition, more references are being added" (269). This last point hold true in my experience. On occasion, I will go to an Oxford Reference Online (ORO) article in class, encourage students to look for background information, find keywords, and look for a list of references. Too often it seems that there are not any cited sources in the ORO or the Encyclopedia Britannica, but there is frequently a list of references in the Wikipedia articles.

Students should be allowed to consult Wikipedia as a launching point for their research project, but they need to remember not to use it as a source for their paper. Rather, they should consult the references and cite them. It is not necessary to cite background information or common knowledge. That's what researchers are expected to know already. Cite the books and articles instead. Use criteria for analyzing your sources and develop critical thinking skills.

Advancing Your Interests and Achieving Your Goals

Today I can sigh with relief. Yesterday I completed final touches on a promotion portfolio and delivered it to the correct office. Over the course of the last two years I endeavored to keep files and save materials for this portfolio, but I still had to spend a large amount of time organizing and composing documents to fulfill the requirements of our promotion and tenure document.

Now I have time to catch up on some professional reading. Like anything in life, if a person wants to become better at something, he/she can seek help from various sources, such as a friend, a family member, a colleague, a book, a programmed presentation, etc. For example, if I wanted to go backpacking, I could search out and even subscribe to a hiking/backpacking magazine to learn some tips and find out about equipment that may increase your chances for an enjoyable adventure.

Likewise, anyone wanting to progress in their chosen career might do well in reading the professional literature. Frequently, membership dues to a national association include a subscription to one of their magazines or journals. The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) publishes College & Research Libraries News on a monthly basis.

They often print great articles for their intended audience--academic and research librarians. Not surprisingly, one such article by Mara L. Houdyshell caught my eye: "Ten tips toward tenure: Advice for the professional journey." She gives ten tips that are worthy of posting on the office wall, well, for those who seek tenure of course, though after I look at them again I believe they merit a spot on every faculty member's office wall. We could all benefit from occasional reminders now and then.

Though I would like to mention all ten, let me just mention two or three.
Tip #1: "Be reliable, flexible, and professional. People appreciate it" (470).
Tip #3: "Pay attention to your department and institution's guidelines for tenure. [...] If it is suggested that you do 'x, y, and z,' in a particular review, don't fritter away the time leading up to your next evaluation mulling over what you should do, do 'x, y, and z'" (470 emphasis retained).

So while I can take a momentary sigh of relief, I still need to move forward, publish, and keep working. For now, I ought to find a tack and put these ten tips on my wall.

Work Cited: Houdyshell, Mara L. "Ten tips toward tenure: Advice for the professional journey." College & Research Libraries News 70.8 (Sept. 2009): 469-70.

Information Literacy's Connection to Reading/Literacy

Many librarians love to read. Many also like to promote reading and ignite an interest in reading among others. Perhaps that's one reason Jennifer Burek Pierce's article "Inspiring Young Readers: There's more than one way to capture hearts and minds" finds such a welcome spot in American Libraries. She quotes Elizabeth Hardwick:

The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.

Reading introduces people to new ideas, which can help people in all the information literacy ways: understanding your information need, accessing information efficiently, evaluating information critically, and applying information ethically. Cracking open a book and thinking about its content will help people develop skills just listed.

If you are interested in the issue of reading, you might begin searching for other articles that Jennifer Burek Pierce has written. You might consult some of the articles she references.

1. McDowell, Kate. "Surveying the Field: The Research Model of Women in Librarianship, 1882-1898." Library Quarterly 79.3 (July 2009): 279-300.
   
2. Motoko Rich. Students Get New Reading Assignment: Pick Books You Like:[Series]. New York Times. (Late Edition (east Coast)). New York, N.Y.:Aug 30, 2009. p. A.1.
   

I appreciate reading Jennifer Burek Pierce's articles in the American Libraries magazine. She taught my reference class while I attended the University of Iowa's School of Library and Information Science.

Big6 & Info Lit

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Big6 & Info Lit

View more presentations from Spencer Jardine.

Today I shared this presentation with high school teachers in Idaho who participate in the Early College Program here at Idaho State University. We talked about information literacy, including pathways for accessing the many ISU resources, and how to promote more significant learning among our students.

Helping Students Evaluate Sources

Students balk when it comes to evaluating sources. Perhaps it is because they do not have a lot of experience doing it. Maybe they think it is just another irrelevant academic exercise, but it can really help them begin to develop their critical-thinking skills if they take it seriously.

In library instruction sessions I have given, I like to use "Evaluating Information--Applying the CRAAP Test." It has worked rather well. Introducing the concept with a reference to the first Spider-Man movie grabs students' attention at least for a few minutes. When Peter Parker takes his photographs into the big hot-shot editor at the newspaper, the editor calls each photo "crap" as he flips through them. Then he makes his offer to the young Peter Parker, but Peter knows that his work is worth more than this offer. I explain that Peter understands the criteria of a good photograph, because he has done his homework and legwork to make high-quality photos. He stands to leave. Then the editor makes a better offer, because Peter did not fall to his bluff.

Students can also become experts in understanding sources by applying the criteria for good sources.

1. Currency
   
2. Relevancy
   
3. Authority
   
4. Accuracy
   
5. Purpose

Mary George's book The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know writes about evaluating sources in her last chapter, "Insight, Evaluation, Argument, and Beyond." She sympathizes with the novice student researcher:

But how is a novice supposed to figure out anything other than how current a source is and whether it points to other sources? I think it is absurd--not to mention frustrating--for you to apply these criteria on your own. Instead, the wise way to evaluate sources when you are new to a field or topic is to relate each item you are considering to your research question, keeping in mind the types of relevant sources you imagined when you brainstormed. (134 emphasis included)

It seems like most students would do this automatically, but experience sometimes shows that they take the first source(s) available, since they are crunched for time.

George goes on to explain some of the basic evaluation criteria researchers can apply to their sources. These "factors" are:
1. Date of the source
2. Author's credentials
3. Sponsor's reputation and intent
4. Leads (134-36)

Using her paragraphs in a classroom setting might be useful for educators as well as students. Dividing a class into groups to discuss what she has written regarding the criteria could produce some good discussions. Groups could summarize, ask questions, think of examples, and report on their discussions to the class.

The Power of Information That is Freely Available

A colleague from my library-school program shared this on Facebook, and I thought it would be useful to post here: Effects of introducing Internet at a village public library in Ukraine. President Barack Obama officially announced October to be National Information Literacy Awareness Month now. Take a look also at the National Forum for Information Literacy.

The power of information is immense, and the ability to access, evaluate, apply, and share information ethically is even more powerful.

How can I Find Book Reviews

While at the reference desk today, someone called and asked for help in finding book reviews. As a librarian I was a bit embarrassed to suggest Amazon.com first. It came to mind first, because I use it frequently in my collection-development duties. There was a book review for the title she needed; however, it was not lengthy enough or fit her criteria.

Next, I thought to search for the New York Times Book Review in our A-Z Journal List, so we searched within EBSCOhost's Academic Search Complete, but not book review could be found for her book.

As a last result, and somewhat reluctantly, I suggested we conduct a Google search. By placing quotation marks around the words in the title, plus the words "book review" we succeeded in finding at least one book review that satisfied this particular student's needs. Interestingly enough, the first result was link to the Amazon entry we had looked at first, but the second looked more legitimate as it had a .edu domain.

Anyway, it should not surprise me that book reviews are freely available on the internet, since book sellers want people to find out about their titles to increase sales.

Out of curiosity, I searched our Library's website to find out if we had a guide for finding book reviews. We do. With the straight-forward title "How to Find Book Reviews," you can find out which resources in the Eli M. Oboler Library system contain book reviews. Print titles are mentioned, such as Book Review Index [Reference Collection: Z1035.A1 B6] and Book Review Digest (which we only have in paper copy [Ref. Coll.: Z1219 .C96], but a lot of the full-text reviews are in materials that we can get to with our A-Z Journal List). A colleague of mine tells me that when she was in MFA school, they were the standard references/indexes for finding quality book reviews and citations, and she still uses them on occasion. Additionally, they also relied on Contemporary Literary Criticism (Ref. Coll.: PN771 .C59).

Still, the internet seems to be the easiest way to find book reviews. Where they come from and how useful they may be is a different question, though.

Searching Tips: Limiting or Reducing Your Results

Searching Tips
The next time you Google information, try using the “+ Show options…” feature. After you have conducted a search it returns thousands or millions of results, look for a link that says “+ Show options…” A menu bar will appear on the left-hand side with options to limit your search to various mediums (videos, news, blogs, books, forums, & reviews), time periods, different views (wonder wheel, timeline, or related searches), as well as options for fewer or more shopping sites.

The wonder wheel lives up to its name; it's pretty cool. Choosing it will take you to a spider-web graph with links that allows you to choose among various subcategories of the topic. At any time you can select a hyperlink to web pages listed along the right side. For someone interested in history, the timeline option looked interesting as well.

Various databases, including library catalogs, have incorporated built-in functions to limit searches into their interfaces for many years. It has been one thing that I have faulted Google for in the past. Most searchers find it useful to utilize prompts that show how they might sift out the wheat from the chaff. Library catalogs sometimes allow users to limit their results to specific time periods, locations within the library, publishers, languages, formats, mediums, places of publication, etc.

More Tips
Many databases also offer limiting options, such as full-text articles, newspaper articles, scholarly articles, time frames, subject categories, author, title, etc. Did you know you can search more than one database at once? Within any of the EBSCOhost databases, select “Choose databases…” to find other databases that might be useful for your search (it's a link above the basic search box). Not sure which databases will be best? Look at the little quotation balloon or look at the “Resources by Subject” pages. Each database indexes a different set of journals, newspapers, and other sources.

Of course, the old standbys for limiting a search should not be forgotten. Adding more keywords to a search and using the Boolean AND will also reduce results. A search on the ubiquitous "gun control" topic could be limited to a specific geographic or demographic population, such as Idaho or Caucasians respectively. Searches can be limited by time period with a keyword such as "nineteenth century" or "Reagan era," for example.

It seems that many college students have not seen many of these search options, so at present it seems like a good thing to point them out, so they can benefit from using them.

Creating Significant Learning Experiences in Libraries

Last week I attended and presented at the Idaho Library Association's 2009 Annual Conference, which was held in Burley, Idaho. The theme of the conference was a cowboy/western theme: "Round 'em Up in Burley."

In recent years I have been interested in the scholarship of learning. In fact I have been reading L. Dee Fink's book titled Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach. It has been interesting to think about how people learn and that certain kinds of learning augment and increase other kinds of learning. Learning how to apply knowledge shores up a person's foundational knowledge in that sphere of knowledge.

Take a look at his Taxonomy of Significant Learning. It shows how interconnected learning methods can be. Students that work in groups to solve problems often increase their knowledge, their application skills, and their understanding of others in the process. The synergy can really be quite powerful.

One value of asking students to reflect on what they have learned and how they might learn more about the topic could be that they become more capable and motivated life-long learners.

Do any librarians ask their students to reflect on their learning?

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Creating Significant Learning Experiences in Libraries

View more presentations from Spencer Jardine.

For those interested in finding criteria for evaluating information take a look at "Evaluating Information--Applying the CRAAP Test."

PDF version of L. Dee Fink's Taxonomy of Significant Learning.

The last two questions on the slideshow come from Thomas Angelo and Patricia Cross's Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers 2nd Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993.

I also like Mel Silberman's Active Learning: 101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1996.

Recommended Information Literacy Videos

This afternoon I came across a blog with some new videos that might be of interest to you: Information Literacy meets Library 2.0/. One video describes the differences between scholarly journals and magazines. Another talks about the difference between Google and databases. The last one discusses the differences between respectable newspapers and tabloids.

I like how the two librarians square off against each other in these debates, and I like their British accents, though at times they vary their volumes/inflections so that I have a hard time hearing and the one on the right (Pete?) is so soft spoken that it is often hard to hear him.

As far as humor goes, they are lacking in that department, but the videos are still well done and thought out. Librarians who give instruction might consider using these videos to teach their students some of the information-literacy basics. Be forewarned, though, that the databases your library uses may differ from the ones used by Al and Pete at their library.