"Participatory Technologies" Article by Meredith Farkas

Meredith Farkas has written a good article for librarians involved with information literacy.  She celebrates the advantages of incorporating participatory technologies into the information-literacy classroom.  Using Web 2.0 tools such as blogs and wikis in the classroom can increase student learning and responsibility.  In fact, she claims that these tools "have the potential to create a more engaging learning environment.  Increased learner autonomy give[s] students a greater sense of responsibility for their learning and has been shown to improve student achievement" (84). 

One of the great advantages of blogs in relation to information-literacy learning is that blogs encourage reflective thinking, which can potentially guide students to think about their own research process.  Farkas notes that blogs can invite "reflection within an environment of peer interaction" (84).  Students will often listen to their peers before their instructors; they may be following the rule "Don't trust anyone over 30."

In theory, Farkas also extols the constructivist model, which naturally downgrades the traditional model of the teacher being the authority figure.  Students can learn and grow more when they interact with each other, challenging each others' ideas.  Of course, she explains this a bit more eloquently: "Constructivist pedagogy views students as active participants in learning who construct knowledge based on their existing understanding as well as interactions with peers and their instructor.  Unlike in behaviorism, the instructor is not seen as being wholly responsible for student learning" (86).  She ties this teaching theory to Web 2.0 and calls it Pedagogy 2.0, though I have not verified if she is the one to coin this term.

Microsoft Office Clipart.

As an instruction librarian myself, her final section appealed to me the most: "Information Literacy and Pedagogy 2.0."  She emphasizes the importance of evaluation:

In a world where the nature of authority has come into question (Chang et al., 2008), students will need to evaluate information in more nuanced ways then they are currently being taught at most colleges and universities.  Information literacy needs to be increasingly focused on teaching evaluative skills to students; skills that go well beyond determining whether or not something is peer-reviewed.  (90)

 Four or five years ago it seemed that librarians, myself included, still showed bogus websites to their students to raise awareness of the importance of evaluation.  In certain cases, this may still be appropriate and get students attendance.  However, it seems that college students need to evaluate information at a more sophisticated level.  Farkas' claim that "students will need to evaluate information in more nuanced ways" (90) makes sense.  Rather than looking at sources to see if their are black or white, legitimate or bogus, genuine or fake; students need to determine if information is relevant to their research question, to understand if it is credible, objective, current, accurate, and authoritative. 

The hardest thing for students to determine may be the accuracy of information, so looking at credibility, objectivity, and authority may give necessary clues for them to determine accuracy.  Most of all, they should be concerned with the relevance of sources, yet some students seem to be too quick with the gun at killing sources.  Part of college involves creativity at understanding how the broader subject relates to the more specific paper topic.

Meredith Farkas addresses a new issue, at least it did catch me off guard: "Those teaching information literacy will also need to focus on developing in students the dispositions needed to be a successful consumer and producer of knowledge" (90).  It seems easy to teach content and research strategies as a librarian, but developing new dispositions in students seems a tall order, not to say it is not desirable.  With one- or two-shot sessions how much can library instructors really do? 

Undoubtedly, this work of influencing student attitudes in the direction of knowledge creation may seem daunting for library instruction, yet it may also insert some life into the instruction.  This goes beyond just showing the steps of how to use a database and taking advantage of the features that can be easily explored independent of the instructor.  Therefore, I agree with Farkas, though it may require some stretching for most library instructors.  "It is important for librarians to consider how we can help students develop the attitudes that will make them critical and effective information seekers through learning activities" (Farkas 90).  Indeed, librarians should take the time to reflect on how to inspire students in this direction, but it may start with librarians becoming more passionate and confident about their own information-seeking abilities.

How does this translate to the library instruction classroom?  It means that librarians need to get students actively engaged in the process.  Farkas writes:

Librarians still offering lecture-based information literacy instruction need to explore ways to make their instruction more engaging and student-centered through collaborative, problem-based learning.  The Library literature is replete with case studies suggesting creative active techniques for enhancing student learning.  (90)

She goes on to encourage more questions, dialogue, and group work.  Rather than creating a set outline, librarians should conduct formative assessment to understand the constituents of their classes (91).  Each class coming to the library consists of a different group of individuals with different experiences.  Bending the instruction focus to meet students' needs seems to be more effective.  Going a step beyond this, it seems that success in the library instruction room may increase if the formative assessment is sent out and completed prior to attending the library workshop.  This allows the librarian time to think about where adjustments should be made.  Not all librarians like to adjust on the fly.

I agree with Farkas when she says the students do not reflect: "Students rarely reflect on their research process, which can result in the need to re-learn skills they used in their last assignment" (91).  Working with the instructor, a librarian may be able to leverage a reflective requirement, and they could do so with a blog (91).  I have always liked this idea, and Farkas explains why blogging and wiki creation are such good ideas.  "Blogs could also be used to have students investigate the social origins of information and identify bias within writing.  Students can engage with the peer review process through reviewing the work of their classmates on blogs and wikis" (92). 

Participatory technology, then, engages students in the peer-review process, invites them to critically assess the research process, provides "teachable moments" for the instructor, and increases student learning (92).  "These activities can generate an understanding of peer-review at a level far beyond simply checking a box in a database search interface" (92).  They can also increase the sense of community, enliven the classroom, allow the instructor to offer guidance and feedback, and lead to positive student learning outcomes.  Moreover, it may even increase writing and communication skills.

 

 

This article was very well written and offered a number of insights into the value of participatory technology as it relates to library instruction in higher education.

 

 

I do recognize her from American Libraries as the author of numerous technology columns.  She is a librarian at Portland State University and writes the blog titled Information Wants to be Free.

Work Cited

Farkas, Meredith.  "Participatory technologies, pedagogy 2.0 and information literacy."  Library Hi Tech 30.1 (2012): 82-94.

YouTube Videos to Prompt Information-Literacy Conversations

Yesterday I started reading Bill Badke's book Research Strategies: Finding Your Way Through the Information Fog.  His style is relaxed and a bit casual, which seems to be aimed just right for his audience of undergraduate students.  It seems that I alternate between being a little annoyed and actually enjoying what he writes.  Naturally, considering that this is the fourth edition, he has some things worth saying about information literacy.

Like other articles in library- or information-focused publications, it includes many links, and I am tempted to search them all out to see them.  At the conclusion of a section on the Web 2.0 concept he writes: "If you want to see visions of the information world of the future, try these YouTube videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj8ZadKgdC0 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY5hBd8_Q-E&feature=related" (16).  These videos are titled "Prometeus - The Media Revolution" and "Prometeus - The Media Revolution part 2."

What will the information world look like in five or ten years?  Which issues will arise?  They talk about copyright issues, digital versus traditional forms of information, and the virtual world.  The narrator speaks as one in the future might when talking about the past.  In fact, it is a future avatar character.  Anyway, these could be good videos to spark discussion in an information-literacy classroom.

College Students and Information-Literacy Realities

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

1. "PIL InfoLit Dialog, No. 1: Wikipedia"
2. "PIL InfoLit Dialog, No. 2: Procrastination"
3. "PIL InfoLit Dialog, No. 3: Frustration"
4. "PIL InfoLit Dialog, No. 4: Strategies"
5. "PIL InfoLit Dialog, No. 5: Context"

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

Computer Policies and Library Internet Policies

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.

Information Literacy Display

Last week I completed an information-literacy display for the Library.  On the one hand I wondered why I had never done this before, and on the other hand I questioned what I should include in such a display.

Admittedly, I constantly feel like my displays could be a lot more attractive.  Nonetheless, while I was taking down my last display and inserting this new one a student I know commented that she always looks at the displays and finds them interesting.  This was nice.  As evidence of this statement, she said that she never knew that some academic journals cost so much, not having known that some physics journals cost as much as a brand new car. 

With this encouraging feedback I installed the new display, hoping that it was as informative and visually attractive as the previous one.  Occasionally, I do see students looking at these, but I like to think students are looking at them more when I am not around.

Back to my conundrum, what should I put into a display about information literacy?  Well, for starters it made sense to include some definitions.  Esther Grassian and Joan Kaplowitz's Information Literacy Instruction 2nd Ed. proved to provide quite a collection of these definitions from various places.

Definition #1:

An information literate individual is anyone who has learned to use a wide range of information sources  in order to solve problemsat work and in his or her daily life. 

--Paul G. Zurkowski

 The Information Service Environment: Relationships and Priorities.  Washington, D.C.: National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, 1974.

See also Esther Grassian and Joan R. Kaplowski's Information Literacy Instruction: Theory and Practice.   2nd Ed.  New York: Neal-Schulman, 2009. (3)

 Definition #2:

Information literacy is 'an integrated set of skills and the knowledge of tools and resources.  [...] Information literacy is developed through persistence, and attention to detail, and a critical evaluative view of the material found.'  It is also 'depicted as a problem-solving activity.'

--Paul G. Zurkowski

 The Information Service Environment: Relationships and Priorities.  Washington, D.C.: National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, 1974.

See also Esther Grassian and Joan R. Kaplowski's Information Literacy Instruction: Theory and Practice.   2nd Ed.  New York: Neal-Schulman, 2009. (4)

Definition #3:

The information literate individual [is] someone who has the ability to recognize an information need, and can locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.  The emphasis is on preparing people for lifelong learning: 'Ultimately information literate people are those who have learned how to learn.'

--American Library Association Presidential Committee on Information Literacy

"Final Report."  (January 10, 1989).  (1)

See also Esther Grassian and Joan R. Kaplowski's Information Literacy Instruction: Theory and Practice.   2nd Ed.  New York: Neal-Schulman, 2009. (4) 

 Definition #4: 

The information literate student [is] one who accesses, information efficiently and effectively, critically evaluates the information, and uses it accurately and creatively.  There is an emphasis on independent learning and also an element of social responsibility.  The information literate individual is someone who contributes positively to the learning community and to society.  Underlying this definition is the belief that an information literate populace is the cornerstone of democracy.

--American Association of School Librarians' Association for Educational Communications and Technology.

Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning.  Chicago: ALA, 1998.

See also Esther Grassian and Joan R. Kaplowski's Information Literacy Instruction: Theory and Practice.   2nd Ed.  New York: Neal-Schulman, 2009. (4)

From her it made sense to set up some scenarios to demonstrate information literacy behavior; the first scenario looks at an example from personal life, while the second one portrays a scenario from academic life.

Scenario #1: Buying a Car


Recognize an Information Need in Personal Life

• Scenario: you have realized that you spend a lot of time walking, asking people for rides around town or back home, and that it is cold to walk in the winter.  You want a car.
•  Information needs surface when you start asking questions:
• What kind of car do I want? Large? Small? Good gas mileage?
• How much money can I spend?
• Should I get a loan?  What kind of loan can I afford?
• Should I buy a used car?
• How can I find a good car and not a lemon?
• Who can I go to for advice?
• How do I know when I have enough information? 

Photo by David Sickmiller. Chevy Belair

 Locate Information Effectively

• Among your social network, who knows about cars?  Can they assist you throughout the process?
• Car salesmen?
• Mechanics?
• Car aficionado?
•  Which internet sites would you use to find out about makes, models, and year of different cars?
• Kelley's Blue Book
• Brand name websites: Ford, Honda, Toyota, GM, etc.
• YouTube car review videos
• Other websites?

• When can you find a local car for sale that best matches your needs and wants?
• Local newspaper ads
• Craig's List
• Thrifty Nickel aka American Classifieds
• Can you navigate their online sites?  Do you understand how to use their print resources?  Are you finding answers to your own questions?

Sample Craigslist.com page.

Evaluate Information Effectively

• Who is posting the ad?
• Does the ad give me enough information and match my interests and needs?
• Does their asking price match Kelley's Blue Book stated for that make, model, and year?
• If it is under the blue-book price, does that mean it is damaged?
• Is there a picture? What does the picture tell me about the car?
• Is there a phone number or email address given to allow me to contact them in order to see the car?
• Do I understand how to search on their site? What can I do to search the site better? Are there helpful links that permit me to narrow the search?
• What kinds of questions should I ask when I go see the car that is for sale?
• Will they let me test drive the car?
• Will a mechanic be able to look over the vehicle when I test drive it?

 Use Information Effectively

• Can I use the information in Kelley's Blue Book to my advantage during the negotiation of the car?
• Will I act quickly and contact the current car owner to set up a time to see the car?  (Some cars get sold rather quickly once they are placed on Craig's List or in the newspaper.)
• Will I avoid offers that require money transfers, Western Union wires of money, or pleas to buy the car soon from individuals who claim to be going through a divorce or have a member in the military?  (They want you to buy quickly.  These are often fraudulent schemes.)
• How will I remember the key bits of information gathered during my research?  How will I know which information is the most important?
• How will I use the information my mechanic shared with me?   

See Kate Miller-Wilson's article titled "Negotiating Tips for Buying a Used Car."  These tips found a place in the display on the periphery as incidental information for anyone who might be curious about this.
As I review these points it occurs to me that I might be confusing points, particularly in the sections about evaluating and using information.  If you see a bullet point that you think belongs in a different category, please say so in the comments section here.

Scenario #2

Recognize an Information Need in Academic Life

• Understand your assignment, problem, or question thoroughly
• Examine general information sources (e.g., encyclopedias) to increase your familiarity with the topic
• Identify key concepts and terms you will use to search for the information you need. ("Information Literacy."  John Spellman Library.)
• Create a plan or a road map
• Ask for clarification from your instructor

I define a research project as any task that requires, or would benefit from, factual information or opinions you do not already have.  --Mary George.  The Elements of Library Research (15).

Locate Information Effectively

• Recognize the various types of information you can use (e.g., popular and scholarly articles, primary and secondary sources, government documents, statistics, standards and codes)
• Identify possible search tools (e.g., library catalog and databases, search engines)
• Understand the difference between primary and secondary sources
• Recognize the purpose and audience of potential resources (e.g., popular vs. scholarly, current vs. historical)
• Find information in a variety of formats (e.g., book, periodical, multimedia, internet, etc.)
• Develop and try different search strategies to extract relevant information from the best sources for your needs.
• Understand that the use of keywords, truncation, Boolean operators, and controlled vocabulary affect your search results.
• Have your search tools and strategies supplied you with the information you need?  
• Have your search terms yielded relevant results? 
• Have you used appropriate search tools for your information needs?
  (“Information Literacy: Access & Retrieve Sources.”  John Spellman Library)

Need books?  Search the library catalog.

Need articles?  Search the databases.

 Evaluate Information Effectively

• Apply criteria for evaluating information and its sources.
• Analyze the structure and logic of supporting arguments or methods in each source.
• Examine and compare information from various sources in order to evaluate reliability, validity, accuracy, authority, timeliness, and point of view or bias.
• Recognize the context (cultural, political, business, etc.) in which information is created and understand the impact of context on interpreting the information.
• Organize and use information from multiple sources to reach an informed conclusion that answers your question, solves your problem, and/or meets the requirements of the assignment.
• Assess the quantity, quality, and relevance of your search results to identify gaps and determine if follow-up searches are required. (“Information Literacy: Examine and Apply Content.”  John Spellman Library )

Newsweek is an example of a popular news magazine.

Journal of Sport History is an example of a scholarly journal.

The New York Times has been a respected news source for many years. For some odd reason they have published many articles about the Yankees over the years.  This manifests a local (yet justified) bias.

 Use Information Effectively

• Integrate what you have discovered and learned into your existing body of knowledge.
•  Effectively communicate your conclusions to others via oral, written, or media technologies.
• Keep track of all pertinent citation information.
• Attribute information to its sources so that others may access them and evaluate your work.
• Follow specific citation style guidelines (e.g., APA, Chicago, MLA) to cite your sources.
• Assess whether you have accurately documented your sources.
• Consider whether anything is missing or unclear in your research or logic.  ("Information Literacy: Present Findings." John Spellman Library.)

 

"Diagram of the Library Research Process" also finds a place in this display to show that information literacy is a process.  Library research takes time, and the earlier that students begin their research, typically the better their research project will be. 

 It seems that when students understand the process they can better advance from one stage to another without getting discouraged.  Knowing the stages of research can help them identify what they may be forgetting in the process and may also bring home realizations of weaknesses or challenges they can work to improve.

This is the internationally recognized logo for information literacy.  It found a nice spot in the display as well.

Since I have been developing a for-credit, information-literacy course, I also added a flier advertising the details regarding this course.

See this flier link for a larger image.

Let me Google that for you.

I recently asked a friend how he found a particular piece of information, mostly because I am interested in how others find their information--a question of information behavior and information practice. He sent me a link to show exactly how he had googled the information.

Let me Google that for you is a site that allows you to conduct a Google search and share the link to that search with a friend, neighbor, colleague, etc. They even give you the option of sharing the link as a TinyURL. Here's an example of a search on "information literacy." This is the link they gave me: http://tinyurl.com/dje3qh.

Incidentally, I had mentioned that Malad, ID had the largest per capita population of Welsh descendants outside of Wales itself. Wikipedia confirmed this piece of trivia. I found this out a couple of years ago when a friend of mine participated in their Welsh festival, which happens to begin this year on June 30th.

"Sam, Malad Rodeo." Photo by Sherry Robbins. Used with permission.

Teaching Instructors and TAs How to Incorporate Information Literacy in their Classrooms

Esther Grassian, a respected and well-known information-literacy librarian, at UCLA, has created a Libguide to help instructors and TAs teach their students to become information literate.  The Libguide offers exercises and information that can be used directly in the classroom--see the tabs on the Libguide.

She has also co-authored two editions of the following book with Joan Kaplowitz: Information literacy instruction : theory and practice.  The ISU Library has this book: Call Number ZA3075.G73 2009. 

Ms. Grassian, thank you for your dedication to information literacy and librarianship.

Sources of Information

Where do you get your information? Which sources do you trust the most? In a library teleconference offered by the College of DuPage Press called "Millennials in the Library," which is part of the series "Library Futures: Staying Ahead of the Curve 2010" they talked about where millennials get most of their information. Not surprisingly, the number one source was from their friends, then their family, and then their employers.

Millennials share a lot of information with each other via text messaging. In my notes it said that they send 8,000 texts per month per person, which seems extremely high to me and causes me to wonder if I heard this statistic incorrectly. I do not doubt that teenagers and college students do send large volumes of text messages; I see it regularly almost everywhere I go. The teleconference indicated that millennials do like to collaborate, be challenged, and stay connected to technology.

Individuals in the marketing industry know that word-of-mouth-marketing is essential for business success. A couple of librarians have also begun to realize this. In fact, they wrote a book on it called Building Buzz: Libraries and Word-of-Mouth Marketing. Today just happens to be its release date, according to Amazon.com. Additionally, Peggy Barber and Linda Wallace wrote an article in American Libraries about some librarians who involved word-of-mouth marketing techniques to promote their services. They involved circulation staff to demo databases, show how to do online reserves, and manage account records.

Judy Wright, the Head of Circulation at Winnetka-Northfield Public Library, describes what she learned from this effort:

We learned that this is one of the most successful ways to market. We've had better results from word-of-mouth than anything we've done--tangible results. We could see the statistics jumping. (39)

Where do you go for your information? Chances are good that you probably get plenty of information from friends, family, employers, and the internet.

Barber, Peggy, and Linda Wallace. "The Power of Word-of-Mouth Marketing." American Libraries 40.11 (November 2009): 36-39.

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.

Maps: How People are Finding Them These Days

For the most recent bathroom newsletter, I wrote the following blurb:

If you are traveling or hiking this summer, you might consider using some of the maps or atlases available in the Oboler Library. The map collection on the third floor contains many topographic maps of the intermountain region. They can be checked out for one week at a time. Road atlases, solar system, galaxy, and star atlases, as well as lunar maps can be found and taken on night watches of the sky. Look for other kinds of maps and atlases in our catalog, some of the best reside in the Atlas Stand (1st Floor), Oversized, and Reference Collection.

In the brief time I have been a librarian, I have noticed that the maps in our map collection do not get used much. Other librarians say that they used to be checked out and looked at a lot more. I suspect that with the online availability of maps, this has changed things quite a bit. People no longer need to consult physical atlases when they can go to mapquest.com or Google Maps to print out directions for a trip.

Still, it seems that people doing any kind of field research that requires knowledge of the terrain could benefit from topographic maps. (For a good definition, take a look at What is a topographic map?.) Maybe they go directly to the U.S. Geological Survey to view these kinds of maps. By the way, they also have aerial photos available on their website. Many of these topographic and aerial maps can be bought, printed, or downloaded from their Maps, Imagery, and Publications page.

As a member of the Federal Depository Library Program, the Eli M. Oboler Library houses many government documents, including maps that are freely available to the public. The biggest drawback is making it to the physical library, but every citizen of Idaho can check out whatever they want as long as they show some government-issued form of identification. All who enter the Library can look at anything they want in the government-documents section on the third floor.

This seems to be the key change, many people can look at maps online, without having to make a trip to the library. However, if individuals want to save money, they can still come and check out our maps for free, versus the purchase options on the U.S. Geological Survey site. Then again, the U.S. Geological Survey does have some pretty cool maps, like this earthquake map that shows where the largest earthquakes have struck over a hundred-year period. At a glance, it looks to me like Africa, Europe, and the eastern coasts of the Americas are safe from most earthquakes.

Information Discoveries and Behavior

Today I heard about a musician I had not heard about before, so I looked first in the Oxford Reference Online resource and found nothing on this particular artist. However, I did find a good little article in the Encyclopedia Britannica on Dan Fogelberg. This led me to discover that I could share the article about Mr. Fogelberg with readers if my blog. I think this is pretty cool that Encyclopedia Britannica allows its readers share useful articles with those who do not have paid subscriptions to their encyclopedia. It makes some sense; if people see the quality articles they are writing, they might be more inclined to pay for a personal subscription themselves.

Also, I googled "Dan Fogelberg" and found a bunch of websites and videos focusing on him. The first result took me to another Google results page that listed all of his albums with links to the record labels where you could no doubt purchase individual tracks or the entire album. Perhaps this should not surprise me, because the internet really does cater to business interests. In other words it's a great place to buy and sell things and find where you can do this, which you probably already knew.

From the second results page I saw something else I had never seen. At the top and bottom of the webpage, the Google search button said "Search Music," and it was placed next to another search button titled "Search Web." These are little things, but it tells me that Google continues to make improvements to its product. They must realize the searchers like to limit their options. If they are searching for music, they don't want medical sites to pop up. Apparently, though, you have to enter your search and select what you want before this limiting function appears. In this case "Dan Fogelberg" was a big enough or unique enough name (though I don't recall having ever heard of him in all my born days before today), so that Google could tell he was a musician. The logic follows that if you want to know more about this musician, maybe you would like to learn more about other musicians.

I wonder how much information behavior has changed because of the Google algorithm. My limited understanding is that it returns results according to their popularity as determined by the number of links pointing to particular webpages. The more sites pointing their hyperlinks to a particular page, the more likely you are to find it by just surfing the internet. Anyway, something to think about.

Yeah, Dan Fogelberg definitely appealed more to the generation that preceded mine. Chances are that I've heard some of his music without learning about him--that he was the artist.

Google Information Behavior

Google Analytics allows people to see how many people are coming to their website, which sites referred them to the site, and which terms they entered in a search engine to find the site. It's interesting and flattering to find out that people from India, Australia, Russia, England, etc. have visited my site before. Of course, the vast majority if individuals viewing my blog come from the United States and Canada.

Don't worry, I have no reason to be cocky as soon as I see how long people stay on any given page. My bounce rate is too high. It does feel good to see which entries get looked at the most and for the longest amount of time. At any rate, looking at this usage data does motivate me to write more posts to my blog. The more blog posts I write, the more that people will likely see my blog

Currently, my blog is up 9.27% over the last month in number of visitors, with 271 visits who averaged one minute twelve seconds (1:12) on my site. In the last month only 9.96% were repeat visitors, indicating that a clear majority found my site via a search engine. Actually, the "Traffic Sources Overview" shows that 8.49% came to my site directly, 15.50% came from referring sites (sites with lists of information-literacy/library blogs), and 76.01% from search engines. Increasing my post frequency and quality would likely increase my number of repeat visitors.

It's particularly interesting to me to see which Google search terms brought individuals to my blog. "College reading strategies" always seems to draw several people to my blog each month. It's often at the top of my most-viewed posts, but not far behind that is my post on the difference between a catalog and an index, though the searchers often use different sorts of terms and combinations of terms to find it. Many have found my site looking for a la carte menus for library instruction. It seems that my most faithful audience out there consists of other librarians, which totally makes sense, considering the subject matter of my posts.

Quite a number of individuals have found my site by conducting various searches on the differences between the Greek gods, Dionysus and Apollo, and their philosophies.

Of the 186 searches that found my site, there were 106 searches that contained more than three words. People understand they can enter lots of words, including prepositions, into a search, and this will often yield the right kinds of results they are seeking.

The person who conducted this search "inblogtitle:"information literacy" university" stayed on my site the longest (26 mins.) and actually viewed 4 different pages. (Thank you, and I hope you come back.) It's probably a librarian or a library-science student. In second place, someone who searched on the following terms: "scholarships and grants reference book," stayed on the site for 20 minutes and visited two pages. Third place goes to the information seeker who used these keywords: "craap test worksheet activity quiz" with a time of 7:28.

Particularly for librarians, it is interesting to think about the information behavior and practice of different individuals, which reminds me that I need to go back and look at that post to remember what the difference is between information behavior and information practice.

Thank you for visiting my blog. : ) Please comment and let me know what you think.

Knowing How to Find Information

Information-literacy skills will help individuals recognize when they need information, where they might go for information, how to find it, and how to use it. Today a patron came asking for the salary of department chairs in a California State University. Initially, I thought he was asking for salaries of ISU faculty. (We have two spiral-bound books that list the salaries of all persons working at ISU. By government mandate, all government employees must have their salaries freely available to the public.)

Once I found out he needed salary ranges for engineering chairs in California I went to Google. We found a few results that looked somewhat useful. He asked that I email him a URL, so he could look at it on his own.

After he left I wondered whether or not one of the librarians at this university in California could find the salary ranges that we needed, so I googled the university and found its library. They had a nifty chat-reference service embedded on one of their webpages, which I found to be easy to use. The librarian on the other end thought that this listing of salaries at their institution would be online, but after she/he couldn't find it, they told me they would retrieve the print copy. (When you are waiting for an answer on a chat service, two minutes seems like an eternity. We are spoiled with our quick technology.)

Not too long afterwards, the librarian returned and provided the salary range (they have more than one engineering department, thus they have more than one engineering chair) and a few other bits of information that she/he thought would be useful. Since I had previously emailed the patron, I was able to send along this additional information.

When someone asks for information about a specific institution or locale, it may not hurt to consult a librarian at that institution, or a librarian at the nearest public library.

Apollo vs. Dionysus

Since I started using Google Analytics, I have noticed trends over time. One trend seems to perfectly match a phenomenon my humanities teacher at Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) brought to my class's attention. He commented that Apollo ruled the college campus on Tuesday night (perhaps even Monday and Wednesday nights), while Dionysus reigned over the weekend.

Apollo, the god of reason, guides humans to intellectual endeavors and contributing to society. Dionysus, on the other hand, was the god of wine and revelry. This blog, with its focus on finding information (particularly in an academic/education) setting, seems to be accessed most during the middle of the week, notably on Tuesdays, while it is not uncommon for it to go unnoticed on the weekends.

Information behavior of the population at large is probably rather predictable. No doubt, there are probably articles written about this and that marketers and advertisers understand this phenomenon.

Evaluating E-mails, Urban Myths, and Legends

Not too long ago I received a forwarded email that warned me about solicitors being able to contact me via my cell phone. It said that I should contact the Do Not Call Registry to place my cell phone number on the list before a specific date, so telemarketers would not call on my cell phone. From experience I decided to double-check this information on Snopes.com, and I learned that the claim made in the email was "false."

The website even provided examples of the false email, how it originated, and information about cell phone directories. It mentions that cell-phone providers must gain permission from their customers before they can list their cell-phone numbers in a directory. Cell phone users may still choose to put their phone numbers on the Do Not Call Registry; however, this may not be necessary, because Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations already block nearly all telemarketers' phone calls.

New legislation was passed in 2007 that made it so your phone number on the Do Not Call Registry will not expire after 5 years; this according to the Federal Trade Commission.

How can we trust Snopes.com? This site includes hyperlinks to other sites that verify their information, and they also include a list of references with each entry. If you receive emails that detail dire situations and call you to act immediately, then you might consider verifying that information to find out if it is true or false. It might be a rumor.

Of course, it is also important to check out the sources, or the authors of a site to look at its authoritative nature. Barbara and David P. Mikkelson created the website, and you can learn more about them through this Wikipedia article.

Using Google Analytics to Track Usage of Your Websites or Blogs

Not too long ago I learned that it was possible to track the number of visitors who come and visit your website or blog. I decided to give it a try and began an account with Google Analytics. This account remains free to me for now. I do not know enough about it right now to say whether or not it would charge for more specific data gathering or crunching.

Anyway, I largely forgot about this, until recently I wondered if it had gathered any statistics for me. It shows a report of the last month's activity on my site. Apparently, 139 people have viewed my blog in the last month, but these people have visited it 149 times. It's likely that I am the only repeat visitor. Please tell me if this is not the case. 70.75% found my blog via a search engine. 19.05% found the site from a referring site, perhaps a blog reader. That leaves 10.20% who visit this blog directly, so I guess that would be me. 50 pages were viewed a total of 216 times.

How should I interpret this data? I do not know for sure, but the cool thing I liked about the report was it's feature that showed me which pages were visited the most. It gave a top four list:
1. Library Instruction A La Carte Information Literacy
2. Updated Teaching Philosophy
3. Active Learning Ideas
4. How Do You Know if it's Scholarly

I like how it shows the average amount of time a person viewed your page. The "Updated Teaching Philosophy" averaged about 8 minutes a view, while the "Active Learning Ideas" page was viewed about 6 minutes a view. It's just fascinating to me that I can track this now. I'm not sure how this will affect what I do with my blog. It seems that the proprietors of the blog applications and the analytics applications would want you to understand a bit how you are reaching out to the world, perhaps that would inspire the blogger to write a bit more and consider topics that would appeal to a larger audience.

We shall see if I write about this more in the future. There are certainly sites and blogs that discuss ways in which the bloggers can make their blogs more prominent and visible.

Information Behavior vs. Information Practice

Recently I read an article that discusses the theoretical meaning and the ways in which information specialists use the terms "information behavior" and "information practice." The author contends that information experts have not thought about these phrases in a reflective manner, rather they bandy them around like a tennis ball. An understanding of the usage of words and phrases can yield insightful discoveries. In this article the author tries to discover how these phrases have influenced discourses in the information realm. Here's the full citation:

Savolainen, Reijo. "Information Behavior and Information Practice: Reviewing the 'Umbrella Concepts' of Information-Seeking Studies." Library Quarterly 77.2 (2007): 109-32.

Savolainen looks at the historical uses of these terms, pointing out that "information behavior" has been around since the 1960s among information specialists. He notes that it has various forms: "The concept of information behavior may appear as a part of a longer phrase, for example, 'information-seeking behavior' or 'human information behavior.' In general, information behavior may be conceptualized as including 'how people need, seek, manage, give and use information in different contexts'" (112). If someone has a question and needs more information to answer that question, how do they go about finding that information? How do individuals keep track of that information once they have found it? Will they share it with others, and in which contexts will they do so?

Information practice refers more to the information habits individuals have established in their everyday lives. Reading the morning newspaper, listening to the radio on the drive to work, talking with co-workers, or watching the local evening news could all be construed as "information practice." Both of the phrases in question interest information professionals. For librarians, knowing the practices of an individual may offer recognizable avenues for helping a patron with an information need, thus influencing their behavior. Information-literacy instruction sessions endeavor to offer students strategies for improving their information behavior, particularly when they face a research project.

Toward the end of Savolainen's article a succinct definition and comparison of the two phrases appears: "Ultimately, the major concepts of behavior and practice seem to denote the same phenomena: they deal with the ways in which people 'do things.' The concepts of information behavior and information practice both seem to refer to the ways in which people 'deal with information.' the major difference is that within the discourse on information behavior, the 'dealing with information' is primarily seen to be triggered by needs and motives, while the discourse on information practice accentuates the continuity and habitualization of activities affected and shaped by social and cultural factors" (126).

Why is this important? I tried to address this earlier, but Savolainen cuts to the core of the matter better than I do as s/he defends this exercise as something useful and important--not just "academic hairsplitting." (How many angels can fit on the head of pin? = true discussion in the medieval universities.) Savolainen writes: "However, as the present study suggests, the preference for umbrella terms is not a self-evident or innocent choice of terminology that can be justified solely by stylistic reasons. On the contrary, there is a genuine need to generate a self-reflexive and critical attitude among researchers toward their familiar concepts in order to avoid being 'trapped' in their own discursive formations" (127).

Following are more citations that can point you to sources of the quotation marks within the quotation marks in the first and second quotations above:

Fisher, Karen; Erdelez, Sanda; and McKechnie, Lynne (E.F.) eds. Theories of Information Behavior. Medford, NJ: Information Today, 2005. [See pg. xix of the "Preface."]

Tuominen, Kimmo; Savolainen, Reijo; and Talja, Sanna. "Information Literacy as a Sociotechnical Practice." Library Quarterly 75.3 (2005): 329-45.

Essentially, this article qualifies as a review of the literature as it analyzes how scholars and experts have used and reflected on the terms of "information behavior" and "information practice." A study of all 84 of the articles and books could be useful for those wanting to steep themselves in the ideas of information literacy.