New Books in the Library

Most academic libraries buy books. Yes, they often buy lots and lots of books in order to support ongoing research. Depending on the discipline, some fields of study publish more books than others. For example, hundreds of titles get published in English, history, art, philosophy, political science, and so on. Generally speaking, the hard sciences, such as biology, medicine, engineering, mathematics, do not publish quite as many books. These disciplines tend to publish their research findings predominantly in scholarly and peer-reviewed journals.

In many cases, patrons of academic libraries can browse some of the new books in a reading room. (Admittedly, not all new books go onto the "New Books" shelf. Typically, the most attractive or eye-catching titles go on the "New Books" shelf.) Some professors like to view the recent acquisitions in the Library, especially if they have helped with the selection of the titles.


New books can also be browsed online in many library catalogs. Below is a link to a tutorial that shows how to browse new books with the Eli M. Oboler Library's catalog:
New Books in ISU's Oboler Library. Another link to this tutorial can be found on the Eli M. Oboler Library Tutorials site.

The tutorial suggests that students can browse new book titles to discover potential research projects. It seems that deciding on a topic remains one of the biggest problems students face in the research process. If they wait too long, then they will not have enough time to research the topic, they will not become as interested, and they final result may not be quite as polished.

On the other hand, browsing the new books might introduce them to a subject that piques their interest. If they go and check out a new book, then they may only need to go and find a few more sources, thus saving them time. This strategy could save them time, especially if they utilized the list of references (the bibliography) within the book. A simple title search could save time, where a keyword search might take a bit longer. Additionally, like I often express in teaching situations, if they find a "new" book they like, they can go to the shelf where that book will be located after it is no longer "new" and look around to see other books on that same topic, thus expediting the search process even further.

Finding Full-Text Access

Students often come to ask for assistance with their research at the reference desk. One student yesterday wanted to find access to articles within particular journal titles, so I showed him how to use the A-Z Journal List, which can sometimes be a bit cumbersome. As a result I thought it might be helpful for the student if I created a quick Jing tutorial. As it turned out, I ended up creating two tutorials, so I thought I would share.

The first one demonstrates how to use the A-Z Journal list. It also shows how to search within a publication inside the ProQuest Central database.

The second tutorial shows how to use the Resources by Subject pages. These pages point students to databases which will help them with their discipline-specific research.

Phrase and Proximity Searching

Last week on the information literacy and instruction listserv, someone asked about changes to EBSCOhost's search function. When searching for a phrase, she surrounded the phrase with quotation marks: Ex. "reality tv." Results highlighted these words even when they appeared separate from each other. Only results that include the phrase itself will be returned; however, wherever either of the words appear it will be highlighted.

Changes to their software make it so that any terms entered into their search are defaulted as both a phrase and a proximity search. In the past the searcher needed to enter w/5 to specify a proximity search. Now the proximity search takes place simultaneously with the phrase search. Another contributor to the listserv suggested the following kind of search: geoffrey chaucer not "geoffrey chaucer". Within the Academic Search Complete database, 348 results came back today. "geoffrey chaucer" brought back 702 results, but geoffrey chaucer without any quotes returned 1050, the sum of the other two results.

It seems that most searchers rarely use proximity search commands, but in many instances it may yield more relevant results that just a plain keyword search. Personally, the help section on proximity searching contains some cool, though probably arcane search tips. A search for child* w/3 obesity would return results with the words child, children, childhood, etc. within three words of obesity, but child would always come before obesity.

EBSCOhost's help page gives a great example of the near command. tax n5 reform* would bring back results where the words "tax reform" appear as well as "reform of income tax," because they are within five words of each other.

Narrowing Down a Topic

Students must choose a topic before they begin their research. At this stage, students can do many things. Some find it helpful to talk to their friends or family for ideas. They might ask others what they know about a particular topic, which can elicit a wide range of responses. These conversations might even be useful in discovering aspects of the topic which might be useful to avoid or aspects that would narrow the topic to a more manageable size.

Let me echo others. Students should choose a topic that interests them. They will engage more readily with the material, likely spend more time researching and writing, and deliver a more-polished paper to their instructor, who may have delight in reading their final work.

Reference resources, such as encyclopedias, Wikipedia, or CQ Researcher, can also be valuable to students, since they offer basic background information that their instructor may already expect them to know beforehand. Reference articles, like a trusted friend, can identify specific aspects of a topic which might be even more interesting than the general topic. A bibliography or list of references at the end of a reference article can also launch them into their research immediately. At any rate, students should aim for a specific topic, especially if their paper can only be a few pages long.

Creating a concept map, a spider graph, or other brainstorming activities can guide students to discover what interests them the most, as well as make a better decision about how they want to specifically narrow down their topic.

My supervisor has identified three ways in which a researcher can narrow down their topic:
Three Ways to Narrow a Topic

1. Population
2. Location
3. Time

A person interested in the obesity epidemic can narrow down that huge topic by selecting a population group, such as children, teenagers, Generation X, middle-aged, whites, Hispanics, lower income, etc. Likewise, they could also limit even further to a geographic location: rural, urban, a specific state (Idaho, Utah, South Carolina, etc.), or a region (Western U.S., the Midwest, the South, etc.). Last, a time limitation can shrink the scope of the research quickly: last 3-5 years, the 90s, the 19th century, and so on. True, there probably was no obesity epidemic in the 19th century, unless it occurred among the nouveau riche, fat cats, or the robber barons as many called them.

If you are interested in a multimedia screen cast that discusses this same idea of narrowing down a topic, take a look at a Prezi presentation I created not long ago: Narrowing A Topic.

Embedded Librarian: Working in the Course Management System

For the first time, I am working as an embedded librarian this semester. I met the class on the second day they met. I have given them instruction in the Library. Now I am offering assistance with research by monitoring a discussion forum with their course management system (CMS). (We use Moodle.) My first post alerted them to recent multimedia tutorials I had created, as well as some older ones. In checking the forum today, no student had asked me any questions about research or asked for help, so I decided to offer a quick search tip, which appears below; this post.

Students tend to wait until the last few days before an assignment is due, before they really begin their research and writing. When this happens they do not have time to ask for assistance, or they might be embarrassed. Sometimes librarians have gone home for the day or the reference desk has closed already by the time they think to ask for help. Perhaps some of these tutorials and tips can be useful for them, since they can be accessed at any time. As long as they think to look at some of these resources, it could be useful for them.

Like other CMS software programs, Moodle allows the instructor to send a mass email to everyone in the class. Perhaps I should take advantage of this function to alert students to the resources they have available to them. Who know? Maybe they will be appreciative of a reminder to conduct their research and actually get an earlier start on it.

Do you have time-tested techniques for reaching students at their point of need? What do you do?

Tip: Did you know you could expand your results with an asterisk or a question mark? This can be helpful if you need more results.

For example, if I were searching for information on prescription drug abuse, I could "truncate" each word to get more results. Ex: prescri* and drug* and abus*. This tells the database to search for variations of the different words: prescribing, prescribe(s), prescription, drug(s), druggie, abuse(s), abusing, abusive, etc. When your search returns many results, this strategy is not recommended, but when you are getting too few results, then it may be helpful.

Note: the asterisk (*) is the truncation code used in the majority of databases (Ebscohost, LexisNexis, ProQuest, etc.). The question mark (?) serves as the truncation code in the Library catalog. Therefore, pigment? would return records with the following words: pigment(s), pigmented, pigmentation, pigmenting, etc. Truncating back to "pig*" would not be so helpful, since it would return results about "pigs" the animal, about humans acting like pigs, about guinea pigs, about skin pigments, etc. in addition to painting with pigments, etc.

Teaching Undergraduate Students--Attitudes

Before a recent class I asked the students what their instructors do to make their classes more interesting. One student at the back of the class piped up: "They let us out early." Perhaps I should have laughed and joked along, but this answer deflated me a bit and did not seem to help improve my attitude regarding teaching on that day.

Admittedly, in the last month I have felt more pressure and taught more classes, which may have contributed to my too-serious attitude. Yet, classroom experience is not always positive for one reason or another. Following is a list of possible reasons why library instruction sessions may not always be so wonderful:

• Library instructor is not adequately prepared.


• Librarian feels overworked = not enough librarians or staff.


• Library instructor is trying out some new activities or methods.


• Students evince negative attitudes regarding library instruction.


• Student(s) have already received instruction in the library and know all there is to know already.


• Students have not chosen a topic for their research project.


• Students and/or instructors have not had enough sleep.


• Class takes place at a time when many are low on blood sugar = lunchtime.


• Class period occurs when many are drowsy (afternoon) or just waking up for the day.


• Students do not like reading, researching, and school in general. They may not value education or understand why they are still going to school.


• Students may only be around to get the degree, rather than learn.


• Student may be experiencing personal or family problems.

It seems that focusing on the negative really breeds a downward spiral as far as performance and attitude goes. Sometimes I sense negative feelings from individuals in the classroom, and I let it get to me more than I ought to do. What should a teacher do? Should they ignore negative comments? Students can and sometimes do sabotage instruction.

Last weekend I heard someone talking about teaching--that teachers need to have positive attitudes. I needed to hear this, because I had begun to focus on students and all of their perceived faults. While some students may have less than desirable attitudes, that does not mean instruction should suffer. Consider some of the following suggestions to remain positive during the class:

• Smile. : )


• Look around the classroom and make eye contact with as many as you can.


• Move around the classroom. This helps students pay attention more easily and show you are not afraid of them. Don't hide behind a podium or lectern.


• Insert some appropriate humor periodically.


• Ask students to explain to their neighbor something you have taught. Let them ask questions afterward.


• Find a friendly face or two and feed off of their positive energy.


• Share examples of how the content can be applied to life or various situations.


• Tell students how the content will be useful to them in their lives. This sounds the same as the previous point, but I believe it's slightly different. Telling students what they will learn at the beginning of class can sometimes be useful--just make sure you teach them what you said you would. Sharing examples throughout the class can make it come alive.


• Do something you like during the class. If you like music, literature, or sports, maybe you can find opportunities to demonstrate a search on a topic of your interest if that is what you are doing.

Anyway, in my office I have a whiteboard with Post-it notes on it. It adds some variety with the different colors, but that is beside the point. In workshops I have taught on active learning or teaching-related issues, sometimes I like to ask participants to write down descriptors of their favorite teacher. Invariably, one or more participants (usually the majority) says their best instructor was enthusiastic about the material. Sometimes they use the word "passionate" or some other variation of the idea.

Other students will say the teacher that impacted their lives the most cared about them. All instructors, including library instructors, need to remember these things once in a while, especially if they intend to make a difference in student lives. Yes, I definitely need a reminder once in a while.

New Tutorials Created with Jing!

Take a look at some tutorials I recently created to help students become familiar with our databases, so they can find articles more easily and know how to take advantage of the search interface as best they can.

Database Features (4:06)

The following tutorial shows the steps Idaho State University students, faculty or staff might take for finding scholarly articles with resources available to them through the Library's resources:

Finding Scholarly Articles at ISU (2:23)

Ever wondered how to narrow down your topic to a more manageable size? Writing on global warming, gun control, abortion, or any other huge issue can be daunting. This tutorial covers some general tips to help narrow down just about any topic, including by population, time, and location/geography. This tutorial used Prezi--The Zooming Presentation free software to create the presentation. Jing allowed me to add audio.

Narrowing a Topic (4:59)

Do you have an opinion about any of these tutorials? Let me know what you like about them and what could be improved.

If you are interested in viewing other tutorials I have created, take a look at my Google Sites page: Eli M. Oboler Library Tutorials.

Activity for Narrowing Down a Topic

Today I participated in a good class discussion about academic dishonesty, plagiarism, and narrowing topics down to a manageable size. I split the class in half, and had one set of groups talk about childhood obesity and how it could be broken down into a smaller topic for a 5-6 page paper. The other half of the class talked about "reality TV," and how it is influencing society. They were a great class to work with.

The whole activity took about ten minutes. In groups of 3-5 they discussed various aspects of the topic to consider how it could be narrowed down from a large, book-sized topic to a more workable essay-sized topic. After five minutes, a scribe wrote down answers from the groups on the board, and I inserted comments and suggested ideas. The scribe divided the board in half and wrote the ideas for obesity on one side and for reality tv on the other.

Then I suggested in general terms, that they can always narrow down a topic by population (a demographic), location (geography), and by time period.

Here are some of the results from the group discussions about narrowing a topic:

Childhood obesity

* parenting
* video games/TV (sedentary lifestyles)
* genetics (it's changing)
* future health
* junk food access/availability

"Reality" TV

* perception of reality
* distracts from life
* jackasses (society getting dumber?) Reminds me of Pinocchio movie where the boys play and do bad things, then they become jackasses.
* demographic influence

Narrowing Down a Topic (suggestions from the librarian)

* demographic = population i.e. age group, race, class, single-parent family, income, etc.
* time = last 5 years, last 10 years, the 90s, 19th century, etc.
* location = city, state, region, country, world--even urban, rural, 3rd world, etc.

For the plagiarism discussion, I used a PowerPoint presentation to drive the discussion. Each slide asked a question:

• What is academic dishonesty?
• What is plagiarism?
• What is common knowledge?
• How can you avoid plagiarism and academic dishonesty?
• Where can you go for help?

With each question, students wrote down answers on their own piece of paper. Then they discussed their answers with a neighbor before we talked about each question as a class. This method of active learning seems to yield more participation. It leads me to believe that students will more readily accept what they hear from a peer than from their instructor. Also, students like to test their ideas on each other before sharing them with the instructor and the class as a whole.

Information-Literacy Quotes

On the information-literacy and instruction listserv, several librarians shared the following quotes about the need for information literacy in today's world.

"We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely."

by E. O. Wilson from Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge

It is not the finding of a thing, but the making of something out of it after it is found that is of consequence.

by James Russell Lowell in My Study Windows

"My guess is about 300 years until computers are as good as, say, your local reference library in doing search," says Craig Silverstein. "But we can make slow and steady progress, and maybe one day we'll get there."

by Craig Silverstein, Google's Director of Technology and Google Employee #1

How important do think information-literacy competency skills are in today's society?

Promoting the Library's Learn Something Quick Workshops

Once I got going, these videos got easier to create. Here's one that highlights our Learn Something Quick workshop series.


What do you think? Did you catch any humor? Does that detract or make the video more digestible? Do you find this appealing or a good learning tool?

Succeed in the Oboler Library

Watch this longer video, which gives more in-depth information about ISU's Eli M. Oboler Library while also trying to mix in a little humor periodically. The characters' voices are machine-automated, so they sound a bit panned, or artificial. The video creator did forget to say that the reference desk is only open until 9:00 p.m. on regular weekdays.

Promoting the Library with Xtranormal Text to Video

I recently discovered Xtranormal Text to Video. It looks like it could be a fun way to promote libraries and information literacy competency skills. They do not charge money for the basic stuff, but if you want more character, actions, and settings, then you do need to pay some money. Check out this quick, introductory video:



Do you think this would be useful? How would you use this free online software? Could it offer good instructional help?

Google Sites Workshop

As part of the Library's Learn Something Quick programming, I taught a basic 15-minute workshop on how to create Google Sites. Following are some of the YouTube links worth looking at:

Introductory Videos
• Google Sites Tour: it offers examples for how you might use Google Sites.
• Google Sites: Simple, secure group websites: shows how to create the pages, how to allow others to edit the pages, and how to create group websites.
• Google Sites #1: Creating a New Site: a series of videos created by individuals from Radford University.
• Google Sites #2: How to Edit and Add Media to your Google Site
• Google Sites #3: How to Change the Appearance of Your Site
• Google Sites #4: How to Share Your Site
• Google Site Search: Quick Tour (But you have to pay for this Google search box.)

Why use Google Sites?

• Develop a pathfinder for a class or a site.
  
• Share professional information, including a resume or CV.
  
• Share personal or family information. It is possible to limit who sees it by invitation.
  
• Research items and interests
  
• Class projects
  
• Work projects
  
• Promoting the an organization or company, such as the Eli M. Oboler Library
  
• Promote an event
  
• More… Do you know other reasons why people use Google Sites? Please share a comment in the comment box.

Google Sites allows you to...

• Create page
• Edit page
• Site Content
• Privacy
• Site appearance
• Site layout
• Colors and Fonts
• Themes
• Subpages
• Insert: Images
• Links
• Calendar
• Share the site: collaborators, owners, and viewers

Types of Pages:

• Lists


• Web page


• File cabinet


• Announcements


• Start Page

Finding Free Images and Clip Art

Today I taught a workshop on finding free photos and clip art as part of our Learn Something Quick series.

Below are some of the websites I highlighted:

• Creative Commons: Open Clip Art Library
  
• Free Digital Photos
  
• iStockphoto
  
• Microsoft Clip Art
  Photoshop Tutorials Blog: Free Stock Photos (Lists many stock photo sites, including the popular Stock.xchng and Morguefile sites.)
  
• Wikimedia Commons

Google's Advanced Image Search allows individuals to look for images with varying degrees of copyright restrictions. For example, searches can be limited to images "labeled for reuse," "labeled for commercial reuse," "labeled for reuse with modification," and "labeled for reuse with commercial modification." Naturally, the default to all image searches is the all-inclusive "not filtered by license."

Information-literate individuals understand the legal and ethical issues surrounding information. Google also knows about these sticky concerns. On their Features: Usage Rights page they have included the following information:

Anyone can browse the Web, but usage rights come into play if you're looking for content that you can take and use above and beyond fair use. Site owners can use licenses to indicate if and how content on their sites can be reused.

When looking at photos, keep your eyes open for the licensing information. On the sites listed above, these notices generally appear in a visible spot near the photo.

Cognizance and ability to correctly (read legally here) apply copyright and license information relate to the last information-literacy competency standard, espoused by the Association of College and Research Librarians (ACRL). Namely:

Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally.

Best wishes as you search for free photos, images, clip art, and other files.

Information Literacy Outcomes

It seems like the following might be appropriate outcomes of for a course intending to teach students how to become information literate. I tried to incorporate Bloom's Taxonomy, so you ought to be able to insert "I" or "I can" before each of the bullets below. The link to Bloom's Taxonomy takes you to a website with the taxonomy, including verbs that you can insert into questions to focus students on develop that level of thinking.

* understand the differences between scholarly and popular sources.
* know how to access scholarly sources.
* describe ways to narrow down a topic in order to write a manageable paper.
* create an annotated bibliography.
* evaluate sources and explain why they are or are not useful for a given purpose, such as arguing a point/thesis in a paper.
* apply criteria for evaluating information sources.
* understand why information needs to be cited.
* explain why some information costs money to access and other information does not. ~ Explain why information is not equal in its quality or demand.
* show how to mold a topic into a research question.
* understand when it may be necessary to seek help from a librarian/information professional.
* identify the differences between a catalog and an index.

What other outcomes would you expect to come out of a semester-long course that incorporated information literacy?