Tag Archives: Information literacy

Essential Reading in Information Literacy

Posted on December 2, 2009 by Stephen Francoeur

Karen Schneider’s blog post, “Must-Read Project Information Literacy Report,” alerted me yesterday to what appears to be a really great document, “Lessons Learned: How College Students Seek Information in the Digital Age” (PDF, 42 pages). I haven’t had a chance to read it yet but I am intrigued by the findings of the survey conducted by the study’s authors from Project Information Literacy:

1. Many students in the sample reported being curious, engaged, and motivated at
the beginning of the course-related and everyday life research process.
Respondentsʼ need for big-picture context, or background about a topic, was the
trigger for beginning course-related (65%) or everyday life research (63%).
2. Almost every student in the sample turned to course readings—not Google—first
for course-related research assignments. Likewise, Google and Wikipedia were
the go-to sites for everyday life research for nearly every respondent.
3. Librarians were tremendously underutilized by students. Eight
out of 10 of the respondents reported rarely, if ever, turning to
librarians for help with course-related research assignments.
4. Nine out of 10 students in the sample turned to libraries for
certain online scholarly research databases (such as those
provided by EBSCO, JSTOR, or ProQuest) for conducting
course-related research, valuing the resources for credible
content, in-depth information, and the ability to meet instructorsʼ
expectations.
5. Even though it was librarians who initially informed students
about using online scholarly research databases during freshmen training
sessions, students in follow-up interviews reported turning to instructors as
valued research coaches, as they advanced through the higher levels of their
education.
6. The reasons why students procrastinate are no longer driven by the same pre-
Internet fears of failure and a lack of confidence that once were part of the
college scene in the 1980s. Instead, we found that most of the digital natives in
the sample (40%) tended to delay work on assignments as they juggled their
needs to meet competing course demands from other classes.

1. Many students in the sample reported being curious, engaged, and motivated at the beginning of the course-related and everyday life research process. Respondentsʼ need for big-picture context, or background about a topic, was the trigger for beginning course-related (65%) or everyday life research (63%).

2. Almost every student in the sample turned to course readings—not Google—first for course-related research assignments. Likewise, Google and Wikipedia were the go-to sites for everyday life research for nearly every respondent.

3. Librarians were tremendously underutilized by students. Eight out of 10 of the respondents reported rarely, if ever, turning to librarians for help with course-related research assignments.

4. Nine out of 10 students in the sample turned to libraries for certain online scholarly research databases (such as those provided by EBSCO, JSTOR, or ProQuest) for conducting course-related research, valuing the resources for credible content, in-depth information, and the ability to meet instructorsʼ expectations.

5. Even though it was librarians who initially informed students about using online scholarly research databases during freshmen training sessions, students in follow-up interviews reported turning to instructors as valued research coaches, as they advanced through the higher levels of their education.

6. The reasons why students procrastinate are no longer driven by the same pre-Internet fears of failure and a lack of confidence that once were part of the college scene in the 1980s. Instead, we found that most of the digital natives in the sample (40%) tended to delay work on assignments as they juggled their needs to meet competing course demands from other classes.

Head, Alison J. and Michael B. Eisenberg. “Lessons Learned: How College Students Seek Information in the Digital Age.” Project Information Literacy. 1 December 2009. Web.

Schneider, Karen. “Must-Read Project Information Literacy Report.” Free Range Librarian, 1 December 2009. Web.

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A Little Help, Please

Posted on October 23, 2009 by Stephen Francoeur

Eric Frierson, a librarian at UT Arlington, mentioned in a blog post recently his library’s efforts to augment databases with sidebars offering assistance. The help provided on the side of this version of ERIC includes an embedded video from Frierson, who, as the education librarian, asks anyone who needs help to contact him or to contact a librarian using the embedded chat widget below the video. The sidebar also provides links to relevant videos:

It’s not clear to me where on the library website you can find these “assisted databases” (as Frierson calls them) or how many augmented interfaces they’ve done for other databases. Still, it’s a very intriguing way to provide instruction at the point of need (on the same page as the search boxes).

Frierson, Eric. “Are We Marketing Well?” live wire librarian, 20 October 2009. Web.

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How Students Learn Research Methods from Faculty

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Stephen Francoeur

InsideHigherEd has just given Mary George, a reference librarian at Princeton University, a blog on their web site. Titled Keywords from a Librarian, the blog features an initial post in which George explains:

Teaching faculty have immense persuasive power; we librarians do not. What we do have are sweeping views of what scholars are up to, a grasp of how researchers do their business and what evidence ensues, and a knack for identifying and locating that evidence. By and large faculty and academic librarians respect one another’s expertise and collaborate happily. But where and how do our apprentices-either undergraduates or graduate students – learn the process and logic of source seeking? That is the question that haunts me and inspires this blog.

George, Mary. “An Introduction.” Keywords from a Librarian. InsideHigherEd, 18 August 2009. Web.

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Authenticity and Teaching

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Stephen Francoeur

There’s a terrific post today by Carrie Donovan on the blog, In the Library with the Lead Pipe, in which she discusses the role of authenticity in teaching.

Donovan, Carrie. “Sense of Self: Embracing Your Teacher Identity.” In the Library with the Lead Pipe, 19 August 2009. Web.

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