Information Literacy at ISU

Analyzing Library Skills Survey Results

2012-02-01T17:46:00.001-07:00

Following are the questions included in a recent survey designed for a class that met in the Library for instruction.

How do you keep the related terms grouped together in a search statement? Results
What will a truncation or wildcard symbol do? Results
Which Boolean operator reduces the number of results the more times it is used between search terms? Results
Which Boolean operator will typically return the largest set of results? Results
When you need to find the full text of an article for which you already have the full citation, which tool works the best? Results
Have you had library instruction before? Results
Do you understand the assignment for this class? Results
Which of these databases have you used? Results
Have you chosen a disability to research for the assignment in this class? If so, which one? Results
What one thing would you like to learn today? Results

For several of the responses it appears that a good number chose the correct answer, but the majority did not answer it right. Ten out of 18 seem to know that parentheses keep related words grouped together in a search statement. Only seven understand that a truncation code (the asterisk in most databases *) will help find variations on a word.

Question 3 provided two correct answers, so I should have thought through that a bit more. Both the Boolean operators AND and NOT will continue to reduce your results. If I did this again, I would delete the operator NOT from the list of possible choices.

Eight correctly chose OR as the operator that brings back more results, while nine chose AND. Only five selected the A-Z Journal List as the place to go to find the full text of an article. This is one of the least understood research tools on our campus, so it is no wonder. We need to do better at instructing students on its use. Ten students chose the library catalog as the place to go for the full text, two chose Google or Google Scholar, and one said their smart phone.

Fifteen stated that they had received library instruction before, though 11 said it was a long time ago. One claimed that he/she could teach the class, because he/she had attended so many times. This is the person that I need to involve in teaching the class. How can I do that? I need to get the students to teach each other.

Admittedly, I goofed on the database question, not making it possible for them to select more than one database, so this was not as accurate as it should have been. Still, it gives me a sense for which databases they know.

I wish I had looked at the answers for question #9 and searched the topic(s) they entered in the survey. Indubitably, this is a learning experience for me. They wanted learn more about Down Syndrome, Asperger's Syndrome, and prominent persons like athletes with disabilies.

Photo found on Aspergers and the Alien blog written by Amy Murphy.

Following are the comments provided when asked what they wanted to learn in the class:

I would like to learn more about notable figures who have down syndrome
how to find articles that are to the point
Find reliable and easy to read sources
find articles on Downs
I would like to find an athlete that i would like to report on
i would like to learn how these data bases can help me find valid information quickly and effectively.

It strikes as interesting that bullet points two and three speak to the challenge of finding reliable, credible, and scholarly sources that are easy to read or understand. It seems that many of today's college students really struggle reading the peer-reviewed articles. This is something I encountered during the one-credit course I taught last semester. In fact, one of my colleagues has begun to conduct some research on the reading levels of college students. Well, this is a hard thing to gauge, so she has gathered their bibliographies that are attached to actual research papers and calculated the reading levels of the articles they cite. I'm uncertain whether or not she includes the grades they receive on the paper, which might offer clues on their comprehension of the cited sources, but it seems she has not as that may conflict with policies governing research subjects.

Anyway, reading abilities, or the lack thereof, do inhibit many college students from succeeding in higher education.

Young Girl Reading by Jean Baptiste Camille Corot. Photo by Cliff1066 on Flickr.com.

Library Survey for Upper-division Students

2012-01-25T17:25:00.159-07:00

A week ago I tried something new. I used Poll Daddy to gather feedback from students who attended a library workshop. In retrospect it seems I ought to have done a bit more research and prepared myself better for responding to the responses.

The free Poll Daddy account allows for the following possibilities:

200 survey responses per month
10 questions per survey
Content contains Polldaddy links
Basic reports for polls, surveys, & quizzes
1 User account

Because I can only have 200 survey responses in a given month, I capped the number of survey responses to 50. Only 23 students attended the class, and out of that number only 18 completed the short, 10-question survey. My idea was to ask questions about their library research knowledge, so I could understand where to direct my instruction focus. It did help a little, but it may be that I abandoned the effort a little early. Requiring students to enter the web address to access the survey seemed to be one obstacle. In the future it might be better to have the web address printed out on a handout or sitting at their desk when they arrive to class. Using Poll Everywhere might be another option, since students can take the quiz or answer individual questions instantly with a mobile device.

If you have time or interest, take the survey. As of today, only 32 more people can take the survey. A subsequent blog post will analyze the results of those who attended the class I taught last week.

At one point I had thought to direct them to this blog, where they could click the link and then take the quiz, but I was uncertain about sharing my blog with them, plus with only 50 responses I could not find out how to activate the blog post just before class started. Admittedly, I didn't want responses from anyone not a part of the class--at least not initially.

My original message:
Please take a few minutes to complete this survey:

Library Knowledge Survey

Thank you. This should help us in our class today.


Photo taken by John Haydon and posted on Flickr.com.

Asking for feedback and understanding what knowledge the students come to the library with has been a concern of mine for some time, though I have not always acted on this. In my opinion this is inhibiting me from becoming a better library instructor.

An article I re-read recently talks about this. JaNae Kinikin and Shaun Jackson of Weber State University wrote a short article for LOEX Quarterly in Fall 2010 titled "Using a Back and Forth Presentation Format to Engage Students in Introductory English Composition Courses." They revised their library instruction plan for English composition classes. They adopted TurningPoint technology to ask questions. Some of those questions asked for basic library knowledge:

Have you ever used a library catalog?
Have you ever used an article database?
When you begin a research project, where do you start?

This article and this portion of it in particular has been something I have remembered off and on since I first read it. I should look in my blog archive to see if I have already written about it. Specifically, I recall that they endeavored to "incorporate humor, allowing instructors to engage students and put them at ease. They also offer an avenue for discussion" (5). To illustrate this point they shared the answers for question one:

Yes
No
What the heck is a library catalog?

Naturally, they have had to adjust their teaching styles as they have adopted usage of this technology in the classroom. One of the things I enjoyed in the article the second time around deals with their description of making the library instruction more interactive. Because they teach three resources (at least in 2009 they did), they break up the instruction to demonstrate one resource, then students must work on the section of the worksheet that pertains to that resource. This straightforward method seems like one that would be a good model to follow. At times I have done this to one extent or another.

Responses to the questions posed to students can guide the library instructor to understand how much to teach. Varying the pace keeps student interest as well. Students usually appreciate efforts made by instructors to gauge their knowledge base. Instructors who do this may well succeed in avoiding the experience described by Leza Madsen in her "Book Review: Why Don't Students Like School? A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions about How the Mind Works and What it Means for the Classroom by Daniel T. Willingham (Jossey-Bass, 2008). She recounts the oft-repeated allusion (at least in my experience) to Ferris Bueller's Day Off where the dull high school teacher drones on and on, then asks a question followed up with one of my favorite movie quotes (too easy to remember I suppose): "Anyone. Anyone?"

Asking good questions and doing it with technology may prevent that moment of dead silence in the classroom. Let's hope so anyway.

2012-01-23T17:35:00.000-07:00

Instruction meeting 1 20-12

View more presentations from Spencer Jardine

Last week we held an instruction meeting in the Library. We did not have a large turnout, but our number of library instructors is dwindling. A couple of years ago, we had 18 individuals participate in library instruction, offering library workshops and tours. Last semester we only had 10 people participate in library instruction. The presentation shares some of our library instruction statistics over the last five years, focusing just on the Fall semesters.

We briefly talked about gathering statistics for non-traditional instruciton, such as distance teaching, course management work (Moodle is the system we use), and tutorial creation and usage. No consensus has been created in libraryland regarding statistics along these lines.

Popular Literature: Newspapers & Magazines

2012-01-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

Last semester I taught a one-credit, information-literacy course for the first time. For some of my outlines, I wrote them out longhand, so I am going back and typing or keying them in Microsoft Word software. Today I revisited my outline on searching for popular literature. In doing so I added a few things to the outline, mostly in the details, such as specific internet sites where someone can find newspaper articles or names of databases archiving newspapers or magazines.

Photo from editorsweblog.org

A PowerPoint Presentation on Popular Literature can also be viewed. Do you ever use newspapers and magazines in scholarly research? Students in my class said that they have been told to avoid these sources of information. Similarly, I do encourage them to find most of their sources in academic journals and scholarly books, but it seems that college students should also be aware of current events and know where and how to access popular literature. Alluding to current events can be illustrative and helpful in arguing a point in a research paper, thus making it a bit more relevant and interesting to read.

Photo by inju on Flickr.com.

To see more of my outlines and materials, look at the ACAD 1199: Information Research site.

College Students and Information-Literacy Realities

2011-12-23T15:57:00.000-07:00

Some of the YouTube videos on information literacy topics are quite fascinating. Every once in a while I re-discover them again. Project Information Literacy at the University of Washington still has some great videos up. These are create by the Information School Here are a few that I enjoy watching

These videos may be good ways to start a class discussion about information literacy or the topic of the day. They might also be good for starting discussions with library instructors, campus faculty, administrators, etc.

Have you seen these videos? How have they been useful? What do you think of them?

"Information Literacy Toolkit." by heyjudegallery

Phrasing Reference Questions

2011-12-14T17:35:00.001-07:00

Do you ever wonder how to ask a question or phrase it so that you will be understood? Growing up it terrified me to talk to people on the phone. I did not know how to say what I needed to say. Actually, if I pause a moment, it seems that my terror or "deer in the headlights" experiences were mostly involving talking with an adult or asking an adult for something.

Moments like these were tough, and my mom came to my rescue, prompting me with just the words I would need to supply while holding that rotary phone to my ear. (I'm not sure when we switched to a cordless phone, but I look back on the rotary phone with fondness and nostalgia. My dad still has one out in his shop.)

Anyway, Mary W. George serves or functions as the mom/mentor for college students who need to approach the reference desk. It can be intimidating to approach strangers behind an imposing desk. Knowing how to phrase some questions or which words to supply in order to obtain the desired result can be quite useful. In her book The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know, she dedicates two or three pages to this endeavor.

One column contains the title "What You'd Like to Know (and can't figure out on your own)," and the second column reads "Example of How to Ask a Reference Librarian about It (Be ready to explain what you have already tried.)" Let me provide just a few questions:

-Background information on your general topic

Can you recommend a subject encyclopedia that deals with [your topic]?

-Where to identify articles on your topic

What database would you suggest for popular and scholarly articles about [your topic]? Does it include newspaper articles, or is there a different database for those?

-What other sources the library may have related to your topic

I have already explored the online catalog and [name of article databases(s)]. What other approaches would you suggest for sources on [my topic]? Are there relevant materials in special collections or in nonprint formats that the library owns? (118-20)

ISU Library Reference Desk

Granted, a good reference librarian ought to be able to ask follow-up questions if a patron does not phrase a question just right (in library speak should we say?), but trying out some of the suggestions George offers might really yield some great results.

Idaho Health Sciences Library: Reference Desk

Not Always Just One Way to Cite a Source

2011-12-13T14:15:00.004-07:00

Across the country, college students are studying like mad in preparation for their final exams and projects. Libraries become deathly quiet as students concentrate more intensely than ever. Well, occasional study groups raise the noise level a bit. Fortunately, many libraries and student unions have study rooms that can be reserved for one or more hours. Students are also writing their last papers of the semester, and more time may be spent on that works cited or references list than at any other time of the semester.

"Final Exams." See Mr. Longoria's Earth Science.

As I was creating my last rubric for the ACAD 1199: Information Research course, I needed to find out how an annotated bibliography is formatted in MLA format. The index in the book directed me to 5.3.1 or page 129 in the 7th edition, so I started reading this section titled "The List of Works Cited: Introduction." A lengthy paragraph ensues. A litle more than half way through the paragraph this observation is made:

While it is tempting to think that every source has only one complete and correct format for its entry in a list of works cited, in truth there are often several options for recording key features of a work. For this reason, software programs that generate entries are not likely to be useful. You may need to improvise when the type of scholarly project or the publication medium of a source is not anticipated by this handbook. Be consistent in your formatting throughout your work. Choose that format that is appropriate to your research paper and that will satisfy your reader's needs. 129 (Emphasis added.)

§MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: Modern Language Association, 2009. Print. See pages 129-30.

Does this shatter your confidence in citation styles? It seems like a valid disclaimer and a recognition that there are many things out there that can be cited--too many to keep track of in a handy manual.

Purdue's OWL includes a similar note regarding the APA style:

Please note: While the APA manual provides many examples of how to cite common types of sources, it does not provide rules on how to cite all types of sources. Therefore, if you have a source that APA does not include, APA suggests that you find the example that is most similar to your source and use that format. For more information, see page 193 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, sixth edition.

Oh, in case you were wondering, an annotated bibliography in the MLA style should have one of the two titles listed below:

Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., & Brizee, A. (2010, May 5). General format. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.

Annotated Bibliography
Annotated Bibliography of Works Cited

See page 130 in the 7th edition, or 5.3.1. They provide a concise definition as well: "An annotated bibliography, also called Annotated Bibliography of Works Cited, contains descriptive or evaluative comments on the sources. (For more information on such listings, see James L. Harner, On Compiling an Annotated Bibliography [2nd Ed.; New York: MLA, 2000; print])" (130).

"Final Exam." See Writings of a Boy Discerning God's Call.

Library Outreach and Library Tours

2011-12-07T14:55:00.001-07:00

Two months ago a student reporter named Layna Nelson requested a tour of the Eli M. Oboler Library. She writes for the campus newspaper the Bengal. I enjoy giving tours, but it seems that I could do better. It seems that finding interesting statistics about the number of books, number of individuals accessing our databases, number of patrons entering the building, etc. might generate more interest. Also, people like stories and attention-grabbing quotes, so digging up some useful things like that ought to liven things up on a tour. Admittedly, the tours I give are maybe a bit dry, but they are laden with information. What can I say? I love the library.

Eli M. Oboler Library. Idaho State University.
850 S. 9th Avenue
Pocatello, Idaho, USA 83209-8089

Today I finally learned that her article was published with the title "What's Inside: Oboler Library." She wrote a great article. She must have done a bit more digging to find the information at the beginning of the article, though it might not all be up-to-date. As the Coordinator of Instruction, I feel responsible for outreach in the Library, so I am willing to offer tours of the Library, work with area schools, and try to get the word out regarding events we hold in the Library.

Idaho State University Library. Pocatello, ID

What kind of outreach are you involved with in your library?

To view more photos of Pocatello, including a few more of the Oboler Library, take a look at Vitit Kantabutra's site.

Information Literacy Class Progresses

2011-11-17T17:00:00.001-07:00

The one-credit course I am teaching this semester is an information-literacy course. Its official name is ACAD 1199: Information Research. We have now finished week 5. I have a Google Sites page that offers a bit more information about this class. That page has a number of links to my syllabus, outlines, worksheets, and more. Take a look at it, and let me know what you think.

Are you teaching or taking such a course? What do you do when you teach it?

I also have a couple of presentations posted there. One that I enjoyed making talks about the differences between catalogs and indexes (Catalog vs. Index). For more information on this topic see my blog post "Catalog vs. Index." It continues to be one of the most viewed blog posts that I have written.

Today we talked about Ulrich's Periodicals Directory, which is a useful source for discovering if a journal is peer-reviewed or not. It may be better to say that it will tell you if articles in a journal are refereed or peer reviewed; these two terms are synonymous. We also talked about how to find the full text of an article, using the resources at Idaho State University.

Putting LC Call Numbers in Order: The Game

2011-11-08T11:57:00.001-07:00

Need a break? Try something relaxing, like playing a quick game of placing library books in proper order according to their Library of Congress Classification System call numbers. Look at this webpage on Understanding Call Numbers if you need a refresher.

Do you ever teach others how to use call numbers? Does it go something like this?

First, remember to place them in order alphabetically. When a call number begins with one letter, it comes before another that has two letters: N before NA, for example. Then, look at the numbers. Count up from the number one: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 45, 100, 101, 789, 1001, etc. Third, notice the decimal .5 comes before .52, which also precedes .6, since it is a decimal.

N100.C45 comes before NA99.A33
N100.C45 comes before N100.5A32
N100.C45 comes before N100.C5

Now play the call number game if you have not done so already. Thankfully the Lewis-Clark State College Library has made this game available after it disappeared from elsewhere. Michael Ford, formerly at the University of Pittsburgh, created the game originally. Once he moved on, his game became unavailable on the U. of Pittsburgh's website.

Browse the Library of Congress Classification Outline. Drill down the outline to see how the narrower topics shoot off from the broader ones.

An Aside
In looking for the links to the Library of Congress, I discovered a very brief message from Clint Eastwood, America's tough guy. He encourages the viewer, you and me, to make our day by reading a book: Clint Eastwood video. We are talking about finding books in the catalog and on the shelves today in the ACAD 1199 class I am teaching. This video seems like an appropriate one to start the class.

It seems like a good idea to teach about keyword Boolean searching, subject heading searching, and understanding call numbers. Ideally, students will leave the class more confident searching the catalog and finding books on the shelves.

If you teach library instruction classes, what have you done to instruct students in searching your library's catalog?

Finding Primary Sources for U.S. History Papers

2011-11-05T13:35:00.001-06:00

Where can you go if you need primary sources for a research paper in your history class? As a reference librarians, sometimes it is challenging to help students looking for primary sources. Wikipedia defines a primary source like this:

Primary source is a term used in a number of disciplines to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied.

The University of Maryland Libraries also explains the differences between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in more detail, offering useful examples. Essentially an item or document created by a single person at the time of the event can also be considered a primary source, so primary sources could be any of the following:

Letters between individuals
Diaries or personal journals
Speeches written and given at an event
Newspaper articles written at the time of the event
Original studies published in peer-reviewed journals
Books reviews of titles that are recently published (Some people may argue that any book review is a primary source as it recounts the recent event of someone's experience or reaction to reading a book, whether it is a new book or not.)

Milestone Documents of American Leaders: Exploring the Primary Sources of Notable Americans. Ed. Paul Finkelman. Dallas, TX: Schlager Group, 2009.

This four-volume title contains many primary documents of well-known Americans, beginning with colonial figures like Abigail Adams and George Washington while also including more recent figures like Sandra Day O'Conner and George W. Bush. Yes, this could be one of the best places for finding primary sources.

The first entry in volume #4 features Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (1908-1972), who was a U.S. Congressman in the 1940s through the 1960s. His entry commences with these life details, plus mention of the three primary sources associated with him:

Speech on Civil Rights (1955)
"Black Power: A Form of Godly Power" (1967)
"Black Power and the Future of Black America" (1971)

Each entry holds to the same structure: overview, explanation and analysis of documents, impact and legacy, key sources, further readings, essential quotes, questions for further study, and, last of all, the primary documents themselves. The overview about Representative Powell's life provides specific details about his life that are relevant to the documents in question. In the pages that explain and analyze the documents there appears a timeline of his life, noting significant events mostly related to his political life. A glossary explains words, contextual references, and may give an entire person's name when a partial one is given in the text.

Each of the entries include a large, full-page photo on the page before the article begins. Use the subject index at the end of the fourth volume if you need to find where certain persons or ideas are mentioned within the four-volume set. Placed before the index is a list of documents by category:

Correspondence and Diaries
Essays, Reports, and Manifestos
Interviews
Legal
Legislative
Military
Presidential/Executive
Speeches/Addresses (looks like the lengthiest section)

Each volume contains a "Contents" section at the beginning for the whole set, listing all the individuals in alphabetical order.

All in all, this appears to be a great resource for anyone looking to find primary sources of American leaders. Take a look in your library's catalog to see if they have this reference set. If your library does have this title, they may also have the E-book version that you could access online. Look for a link to access the E-book.

Following is one of the "Essential Quotes" from Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.:

Tremendous changes are taking place in our country eradicating the concept of second-class citizenship. Yet the United States Congress has done absolutely nothing in this sphere. We are behind the times. We are a legislative anachronism. In an age of atomic energy, our dynamic is no more powerful than a watermill. (Speech on Civil Rights, 1955, p.1740)

Choosing a Topic for a College Research Paper

2011-11-04T16:43:00.001-06:00

Three weeks ago I began teaching an information-literacy course. This one-credit course runs for eight weeks and is called ACAD 1199: Information Research. In week two we talked about choosing a topic, brainstorming, and narrowing down a topic to a manageable size for a 5-6 page college paper.

For one of these classes, I created a PowerPoint presentation, outlining some of my ideas and those of Mary W. George, as written in her book The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know. Quite simply, this presentation is titled "Choosing a Topic." Take a look at it, and let me know what yo think. Still, sometimes it is a challenge to now how to help student narrow down a topic to one that interests them but still avoids trying to do too much.

What do you tell students when they needs to narrow a topic?

If you are a student currently, what research projects have carried off successfully? What made it work so well?

"Narrow City." by Nick Peligno.

This photo seemed appropriate with the topic of narrowing down a topic as it appears that this street gradually gets narrower. I like the colors, shapes, and lines. Seems like a fun photo. Thank you for sharing this Flickr.com, Nick Peligno.

Choosing a Peer-Reviewed Journal in Which to Publish

2011-11-02T09:57:00.000-06:00

As an assistant professor I need to publish in order to qualify for tenure. Recently I resurrected a graduate student paper I had written for a History of Reading class I once took at the University of Iowa's School of Library and Information Science (SLIS). Essentially, the paper uses Louis H. Sullivan's Autobiography of an Idea as a primary source, citing references to his personal readings that contributed to his aesthetic and artistic philosophy.

After revising this paper a bit, I had intended to submit this article to a certain regional, peer-reviewed journal. My supervisor advised me to publish in a national journal instead. "What's the worst that can happen? They say 'no.'" This makes sense, so now I am starting to think of national journals in which I can submit my manuscript.

First, I thought to ask my former professor (the one who taught the History of Reading class). She has responded, saying that she remembers my paper even from the first time I had written it. Due to her busy schedule she may not be able to look at if for two to three weeks, but this would still be great to get some feedback from her.

Second, I thought to look at Writer's Market, thinking that it would give some suggestions on where I might be able to publish. Unfortunately, this is not the right tool. If a writer want to make money writing, then this is the correct tool, because it focuses how much specific magazines pay for accepted submissions. A writer can also identify the various markets available for publishing: Animal, Aviation, Business, Health and Fitness, Humor, Juvenile, Photography, Sports, and many more. The book includes sections on promoting your work, managing your work, and finding work with short essays on "Feature Article Writing," "Contract Negotiation," and "The Art of Promoting," just to name a few.

As a blogger, the essay titled "Blogging Basics: Get the Most Out of Your Blog" naturally caught my eye (I believe he is the main editor for Writer's Market as well). Robert Lee Brewer gives some great tips. It was gratifying to see that I had actually followed one recommendation without even knowing it: "Use your name in your URL." (Searching his name in a search engine will bring up his two main blogs. He writes the blog titled My Name is Not Bob, while it does not have his real name in the blog title, it is the URL.) He says: "This will make it easier for search engines to find you when your audience eventually starts seeking you out by name." While I have not put my name in the title of my blog, I did update the description by adding my name and trying to be a bit more welcoming. I used to say the readers should remember to keep copyright laws and maintain civility, that I have the right to delete comments. While I still support these ideas, they did not seem very inviting or welcoming.

Anyway, I digress. My supervisor recommended using Ulrichs Periodical Directory, aka Ulrichs Web. In reality I looked up Ulrichs Web before looking at Writer's Market, but it did not seem to be as promising. The results list were quite lengthy. True, it tells you the names of many periodicals and if they are peer reviewed or not. It even gives a basic description of the title, what kinds of articles they publish and for which audience. I believe I searched with the terms "history" and "reading." Perhaps I should go back and try a few different searches to see what I get.

A fourth option: open some scholarly databases and search using keywords related to my topic to see in which journals they are found. Looks like I have some work to do.

Scholarships for Undergraduate Students

2011-11-01T13:31:00.000-06:00

Earning and maintaining scholarships can be a full-time job. Students should treat their college studies as a full-time job. The benefits can be huge.

Today I attended an open forum on scholarships. The presenter talked about finding them, applying for them, and offering thanks for them. The ISU Scholarship Office put on this forum. They suggested that students talk with parents and grandparents to see if their workplace offers scholarships to their children. Additionally, students can ask their departments of scholarships of which they may know of already.

Many scholarships can be found on the internet. Again, the Scholarship Office updates a list of outside scholarships, or rather websites that focus on searching and finding all kinds of scholarships available to anyone and everyone. If you are a college student, consider a visit to your college's scholarship office and dedicating an hour a week to researching and writing scholarship applications.

In the library, you might look for The College Blue Book (LA226 .C685) to see what it can tell you about scholarships, grants, and fellowships. This titles gets updated yearly and usually resides in a reference collection. For this book there were two subject headings that looked relevant to this topic:

Other titles worth considering:

The College Board scholarship handbook.
College student’s guide to merit and other no-need funding
Scholarships, fellowships, grants and loans.

The library provides books that can help you write a good application as well.

Embedded Librarians in Course Management Systems (CMS)

2011-10-03T17:02:00.000-06:00

Bernd W. Becker's article "Embedded Librarianship: A Point-of-Need Service" defines "embedded librarian" in the following terms:

Embedded librarian describes any librarian that takes an active role inside the online CMS classroom (237).

CMS stands for "course management system," which I have also heard as LMS or "learning management system." These two acronyms describe the same thing, as far as I can tell. Becker states: "The CMS provides a structure in which a librarian can become a part of the course" (237). Using Moodle or Blackboard has become a more common method for reaching out to students for librarians. Becker lists five reasons why the embedded librarian has been a bit more successful. He argues that "this approach is addressing many of the learning style characteristics of the current generation of students," including the fact (Reason #1) that

"students start their research by looking on the Internet"
"library resources are typically remotely accessed"
"students expect library resources on the Web to be ranked"
"students are more likely to use a database if it is made familiar to them, and"
"students and faculty are interested in a point of need, practical approach to library research" (238).

I am working to embed myself in a few English composition classes this semester. With the instructor's permission, I have added a research forum where students can ask me questions to get help with their research. In the past, this has not inundated nor swamped me with requests, but typically there are one or two students who contact me for assistance, which has been very manageable.

In some sections I have proactively worked with students, offering suggestions on what they might do with their topic and which resources might prove useful. In this instance, the instructor asked students to post a paragraph with complete sentences that described what they might be interested in writing about. Knowing their topics, allowed me to conduct some preliminary searches in the catalog and sometimes in the databases. Suggesting sources or potentially useful keywords for searches can be well received by the students.

Below is the full citation of the article:

Becker, Bernd W. "Embedded Librarianship: A Point-of-Need Service." Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian 29.3 (12 August 2010): 237-40.

"Sokollu Mehmet Paşa Camii" by Bradamant on Flickr.com

Teaching with Technology

2011-09-27T19:03:00.000-06:00

Using technology to teach students has become a reality of life, and in library land it seems that using technology and social networking sites continues to be trendy. In an article published in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Julie Meloni offers instructors at the college level some potentially useful forms of technology that might be helpful. She warns readers to be careful, though, because the newest technology should not be adopted just to jump on a bandwagon: "Whatever the level of technology, and regardless of our comfort level with it, remember that for all that educational technology can offer us through new communication methods and the ability to reach a wider range of students, it is no panacea. An instructor must still deliver relevant material, enable students to achieve the goals of the course, and assess their work."

After the disclaimer, she expresses the idea that communication often figures as one of the main problems in a course. Technology can can bridge the communication gap between students and instructors. Four technologies can be useful in this regard:

Discussion boards
Blogs
Social-networking sites
E-mail and e-mail lists

As communication tools, they work. A few years ago, I did see an information-literacy course that incorporated blogs into the assignments, and the students seemed to take off thrive in this medium as a way to write about their searching experiences for sources. They discussed the sources they found and why they would or would not use the sources. It seemed like a great idea. Meloni declares that "individual blogs are my favorite," saying that she will recapitulate class discussions and highlight main points on her blog, and students will ask follow-up questions there.

Many within academia may tout the usefulness of learning management software programs like Blackboard and Moodle, but Meloni argues that "individual instructors often find these platforms too cumbersome." The free, cloud-based technologies seem to function better.

Meloni also talked a little about the usefulness of Zotero and Mendeley, as well as the importance of collaboration with students, experts on campus, and instructors at other institutions. Making course materials freely available online certainly opens up the gates for collaboration with individuals at other institutions. Sharing a syllabus, for example, elicited invitation sent to her to collaborate on conference panels and even publications.

It is a good article. Take a look at it:

Meloni, Julie. "Technologies for Teaching: Strategies and Pitfalls." Chronicle of Higher Education 57.11 (2010): B22-B24. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.

Computer Policies and Library Internet Policies

2011-09-24T13:14:00.000-06:00

When a patron recently asked if they could transfer MP3 files from our computer to their MP3 player, I had to take a look at our Computer and Internet Use Policy. It appears that this is okay to do. Library computers are reserved mainly for research purposes, and anyone can be asked to leave the computers if he/she is doing something not in compliance with the policy. We do not allow individuals to download software to the computers, but apparently they do not need to download any software to transfer music files burned to the Media Player Library to their MP3 player.

As someone who has been satisfied with older technologies (What can I say? I love to read books and watch movies.) I have never learned how to transfer music files from a CD to an MP3 player or an iPod. With the Media Player all that needs to be done is to highlight the music files in the library's album and drag them to the Sync window/tab. End result was that the patron left satisfied; she was able to do what needed to be done.

However, let me say that after reviewing the computer and internet use policy, it pleased me that the policy encourages information literacy skills. This information-literacy plug appears in the disclaimer toward the top of the policy:

With the exception of certain commercial information products, such as indexes and full-text databases, the Library neither selects nor controls the contents of Internet sites. The Library disclaims responsibility for such content that may be inaccurate, incomplete, out-of-date, controversial, or offensive to some. Users are urged to question the validity of information which they retrieve from the Internet and carefully evaluate its value and appropriateness for their purposes. They should also be aware that most Internet materials are copyrighted and existing copyright laws govern their use.

Overall, it seems that this is a great computer and internet use policy. One of the things I like the most is that it is not lengthy, requiring little time to read and understand it, unlike I thought it would be.

Does your library's internet use policy encourage information-literacy competency skills?


"Sansa Fuze MP3-Player."						Photo by Oliver Karthaus.

Cloud Carnival

2011-09-23T15:26:00.002-06:00

cloud carnival,
originally uploaded by Slippery Joaquin.

While working on a Prezi.com presentation, I came upon this photo. I am working on a presentation that discusses team teaching with colleagues and in the cloud, i.e. with free computer software, such as Google Apps, Moodle, and so forth.

Slippery Joaquin sure took a beautiful photo here.

Active Learning Activities for Teaching Academic Integrity

2011-09-21T13:33:00.001-06:00

Today, someone on the information literacy and instruction listserv asked about some fresh ways to teach or emphasize academic integrity. Yes, this is a plagiarism discussion. How can you engage students? Many instructors dread this topic; typically, it does not generate a lot of excitement in the classroom. Sometimes students feel accused from the outset in a discussion like this. Below is a response I shared with the person who asked me:

Admittedly, this might not be innovative or fresh, but I have attached a PowerPoint presentation we show to students. Each slide asks a question, so when one appears on the slide students are invited to write down their own answer. Then they are asked to share that answer with a neighbor before talking with the whole class as a group. This makes it so that the students participate a bit more than when the instructor shows the slide and asks for volunteers to answer. Freshmen generally speaking do not pipe up to answer, but this may be different in the upper-division courses.

Here's an Academic Integrity Tutorial you may consider using. If you found some stories or examples of plagiarism, then perhaps you could split the class into groups with some general questions:

How does this story relate to academic integrity issues?
What can we learn from this?
What could they have done differently?
What did they do correctly?
Are there any "gray" areas within the story? How would your group reconcile these "gray" areas?
What impact does plagiarism or academic dishonesty have on society? Does your example or story illustrate your point? How?

After a specified amount of time (maybe 10 minutes), groups could be brought back to tell the rest of the class what was discussed. Dividing the labor sometimes increases the participation of the group members, so having a spokesperson, a scribe to take notes for the spokesperson, a time keeper to make sure the group stays on task in the allotted time frame, and maybe even a naysayer to play the devil's advocate and/or an agreer to emphasize the best points presented.

In my Delicious.com bookmark account, there are 60 websites tagged with the word plagiarism. There ought to be a good number of anecdotes, news articles, and websites devoted to plagiarism or academic integrity.

Do you like the questions listed above? What kinds of questions would you ask? Would this kind of an activity invite participation? Could this fly with undergraduate and/or graduate students?

Studies about College Students, Libraries, and Information Literacy

2011-09-20T10:07:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine, who used to be the library director here at the ISU Library, shared the following link to an article from Inside HigherEd: "What Students Don't Know." It confirmed a lot that I already knew, experienced, or suspected. Students hardly know where the Library is, rarely ask for help from a librarian (even though it would help them immensely, ease their anxiety, and increase their efficiency), often overestimate their (re)search skills, rely entirely too much on Google, apply Google search statement logic to database searching, do not search Google effectively, and do just enough research to get by or to "satisfice."

The article mentioned that librarians and faculty are partly to blame. Librarians sometime overestimate the "digital natives" abilities, sometimes intimidating them further. Faculty look at librarians as good for finding sources but not good at conducting research. Steve Kolowich writes a good article here, citing several studies that back up the claims listed above. He writes: "The most alarming finding in the ERIAL studies was perhaps the most predictable: when it comes to finding and evaluating sources in the Internet age, students are downright lousy." What can we do as librarians to help students? How can we get them to ask us for assistance beyond locating the restroom? We can help students with research.

Students could benefit from instruction on how to use Google, so they can understand how it differs from the academic databases:

Throughout the interviews, students mentioned Google 115 times -- more than twice as many times as any other database. The prevalence of Google in student research is well-documented, but the Illinois researchers found something they did not expect: students were not very good at using Google. They were basically clueless about the logic underlying how the search engine organizes and displays its results. Consequently, the students did not know how to build a search that would return good sources. (For instance, limiting a search to news articles, or querying specific databases such as Google Book Search or Google Scholar.) (Kolowich)

Perhaps we can ask that classes come to the Library for more instruction, maybe we can visit their classroom, share contact information and handouts, or maybe we could even ask to be embedded in the course management software, i.e. Blackboard or Moodle. Moreover, we can smile more frequently at the reference desk and be more approachable.

With more students working another job and/or dealing with family responsibilities, librarians need to be practical in working with students. Librarians can tout their skills to students by telling them they can teach skills and strategies that will help them save time and become more efficient with their research. Give some tips that will make the research process less frustrating. Kolowich references one of the studies to support the claim that librarians are more relevant than ever: "The evidence from ERIAL lends weight to their counterargument: librarians are more relevant than they have ever been, since students need guides to shepherd them through the wilderness of the Web."

If you are a librarian, read this article.

What can librarians do to garner more trust from students and faculty? What can we do to increase the information literacy skills of the students?

"Shepherd and Baby Lambs." See FreeFoto.com. by Ian Britton.