A 24-hour news cycle and thousands of global television and radio networks, coupled with an immense array of online resources, have challenged our long-held perceptions of

information management.

Rather than merely possessing data, we must also learn the skills necessary to acquire, collate, and evaluate information

for any situation.

This new type of literacy also requires competency with communication technologies, including computers and mobile

devices that can help in our day-to-day decision making.

Every day, we are inundated with vast amounts of information.

Some first steps to lifelong learning: Library and Writing Faculty Partnerships & Information Literacy Assignments.Michele Burke, Librarian FacultyKate Sullivan, English Faculty

Welcome

We will teach ways to incorporate micro-information literacy assignments into existing curriculum. We couch the discussion in terms of consciousness-raising around information literacy and the need for librarians to work with faculty in all disciplines, not just writing.

Why all the paper?(The case of the missing skateboard)

Life long learners

“Ultimately, information literate people are those who have learned how to learn. They know how to learn because they know how knowledge is organized, how to find information, and how to use information in such a way that others can learn from them. They are people prepared for lifelong learning, because they can always find the information needed for any task or decision at hand.”

The American Library Association Presidential Committee on Information Literacy

(January 10, 1989, Washington, D.C.)

Characters:

Who are they?Students and their parentsOre. Senate (Senate Bill

342)Oregon University SystemJBAC and CIA

Who are we?Librarians Writing faculty

(OWEAC)Ore. IL SummitsOre. CC Library

Assoc.ACRL-OregonHow do we talk to each other?

AAOT – IL OutcomesILAGO modeled on OWEAC

PSU’s Critical and Creative Thinking Outcome:

Students will develop the disposition and skills to strategize, gather, organize, create, refine, analyze, and evaluate the credibility of relevant information and ideas.

Challenges of Course Integrated Instruction

• Many Faculty do not see addressing IL skills as part of their jobs (they see IL as the purview of librarians, only)•Faculty who may be sympathetic often fear the increased workload from IL instruction•Faculty underestimate how much IL they already teach• In the case of assigning written work, research on the teaching of writing has shown us that evaluation, synthesis & integration of source materials=no simple, straight-forward matter•IL instruction does translate into a revision of curricula, and it’s potentially messy when student research dictates some of the content/readings for the class•Dissatisfaction with traditional research reports

IL outcomes in Writing Courses

• WR 121: 1. Practice active reading of college-level texts, including: annotation,

cultivation/development of vocabulary, objective summary, identification, and analysis of the thesis and main ideas of source material

2. Use a database and the Internet to locate information and evidence

3. Evaluate source materials for authority, currency, reliability, bias, sound reasoning and validity of evidence

4. Demonstrate an ability to summarize, paraphrase, and quote sources in a manner that distinguishes the writer's voice from that of his/her sources

5. Produce at least one paper that demonstrates an ability to synthesize sources to support an assertive or argumentative thesis through summary, paraphrase, and integrated quotation

6. Credit source material using a discipline-appropriate documentation

IL Outcomes cont.• WR 122 (in addition to the outcomes for WR

121):– Use argument as a means of inquiry as well as persuasion– Use library resources, online databases, and the internet to locate information and evidence,

recognizing that there are different resources available for different purposes/subjects– Use some advanced research techniques to locate sources (subject indexes, Boolean search

terms, etc.)– Record and organize information resources to track the research process– Demonstrate an ability to summarize, paraphrase, and quote sources in a manner that

distinguishes the writer's voice from that of his/her sources and that gives evidence of understanding the implications of choosing one method of representing a source's ideas over another

– Demonstrate the ability to evaluate source material for authority, currency, reliability, bias, sound reasoning, and validity of evidence. These abilities may include but are not limited to: distinguishing between observation, fact, inference; understanding invalid evidence, bias, fallacies, and unfair emotional appeals; distinguishing between objective and subjective approaches

– Assemble a bibliography using a discipline-appropriate documentation style

The Combined Goals of IL and WritingThe Combined Goals of IL and Writing

IL Goals

Students learn to:

• Identify gaps in their knowledge and recognize when they need information

• Find information efficiently and effectively, using appropriate research tools and search strategies

• Evaluate and select information using appropriate criteria

• Treat research as a multi-stage, recursive learning process

• Ethically and legally use information and information technologies

• Create, produce, and communicate understanding of subject through synthesis of relevant information

Writing Goals (WR 121)

Students learn to:

• Use a database and Internet to locate information and evidence (2)

• Evaluate source material for authority, reliability, accuracy, currency and bias/point of view (3)

• Demonstrate an ability to summarize, paraphrase, and quote sources in a manner that distinguishes the writers voice from that of her/his sources (4, 6)

• Develop and organize essays using logic, examples, and illustration, and research to support his/her ideas (6)

• Write at least one paper that demonstrates an ability to synthesize sources to support and assertive or argumentative thesis through summary, paraphrase, and integrated quotation (2, 3, 6)

• Credit source materials (5)

Composition Theory’s Contributions to IL

• New Rhetorics--writing and IL as situated literacies; writing is not merely repository of thinking, it’s a form of thinking

• Writing Program Administrator (WPA) hierarchy of proficiencies– Rhetorical Knowledge– Critical Thinking, Reading & Writing– Processes– Knowledge of Conventions

Goodbye to the old model of the research paper

•Research as situated and conversational•Abandon primary emphasis on form/conventions•New emphasis on weaving rather than patchwork, strudel/streusel, not apples•Hello to Learning-centered curriculum and resource-centered learning = independent learner

Goodbye to the old model of the research paper

•Research as situated and conversational•Abandon primary emphasis on form/conventions•New emphasis on weaving rather than patchwork, strudel/streusel, not apples•Hello to Learning-centered curriculum and resource-centered learning = independent learner

A few good sources• Writing instructors are often more concerned with

students choosing a few good sources. Rather than a patchwork quilt of sources, we want a weave.

• Ability to Form a Problem (rhetorical competence/sensitivity):– Comparison of two film articles that disagree about a

subject (the rhetorical problem is built into the assignment)• Find 2 that disagree and talk about why they disagree (more

interesting analysis and a move away from just description)– Find an article that supplements/complements materials

from class (rhetorical problem is not supplied for the students)

Two Big Outcomes• Use a database• Use the internet to locate information and

evidence

What skills do these proficiencies involve?

(proficiency #2)

Two-part Research Project--Micro assignments

• Keywords assignment– Help students understand how to narrow search

terms– Help students understand how to do an effective

internet search– Help students understand how/why evaluation of

sources is important– Require that students write a summary of their

source & that they present their source to student groups.

Micro Assignment, cont.

• Database search– Recursive: students revisit and refine the search terms they created

for the internet search– Academic: students use scholarly databases (Academic Search

Premiere & ERIC)– Evaluative: students have to find an article that is appropriate to

course materials and to their level of lexile sophistication, in addition to other evaluative tasks (authority, currency, reliability, bias, sound reasoning, and validity of evidence)

– Synthesis: requires students to summarize/paraphrase/use integrated quotation in a critique of the source

– Integration: ultimately, students use this source in concert with other materials from the course in their final argumentative essay

Introduction to research concepts• Mind mapping• Keyword warm up to get the brain moving • Keyword Searching Tutorial (Chris Niemeyer‘s)• Database exploration (students work in small groups

exploring databases, share findings with larger group)• Research as conversation (of sources) and intro to

affective domain (Paula McMillen and Eric Hill from OSU)

Products• mission statements and vision

statements• proposals• constitutions• legislative bills• definitions• diagnoses• white papers• marketing analyses• opinion surveys• feasibility studies• problem solutions• social, political, or artistic

criticism • annotated bibliographies

• formal arguments from principle• arguments generalizing from

particulars• news articles• magazine feature articles• reports• encyclopedia articles• historical fiction• ballads• plays, TV, or film scripts on

course-related issues• advertising campaigns• political speeches• editorials• literature reviews

More Ideas

Information Literacy Writing Assignmentsfrom Auburn University Libraries

Idea jogger: 10 Sample Assignments from the Ohio University Libraries

These sample assignments teach a broad range of information literacy proficiencies.

NATIONAL INFORMATION LITERACY AWARENESS MONTH, OCTOBER 2009

National Information Literacy Awareness Month highlights the need for all Americans to be adept in the skills necessary to effectively navigate the Information Age.

- - - - - - -BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

OF AMERICAA PROCLAMATION

Brainstorming Topics & Keywords