integrating information literacy into the college course carol franck august 27, 1998

Integrating Information Literacy into the College Course

Carol Franck

August 27, 1998

Today’s Highlights:

• Information Literacy - What is it?

• Information Literacy at SUNY Potsdam– Current General Education Requirements– Possibilities for the future

• Faculty Assumptions about Students Abilities

• What you can do

• Where you can get more information

Definitions of Information Literacy

“Information Literacy constitutes the abilities to recognize when information is needed and to locate, evaluate, effectively use, and communicate information in its various formats.” SUNY Council of Library Directors, Information Literacy Initiative, Sept. 1997

{See tri-fold brochure}


“A new liberal art that extends from knowing how to use computers and access information to critical reflection on the nature of information itself, its technical infrastructure, and its social, cultural and even philosophical context and impact.” Jeremy Shapiro and Shelley Hughes, “Information Literacy as a Liberal Art”. Educom Review, 3.2. Mar/Apr. 1996


“The ability to locate, evaluate, and use information to become independent life-long learners” Commission on Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), Criteria for Accreditation, Dec. 1996

Information Literacy is not limited to...

Technology Literacy

Internet Literacy

Library Research Skills

It’s a combination of these elements and more

Information Literacy at SUNY Potsdam

Current General Education Requirements:

• Freshman Writing [FW] will improve students’ abilities to:– Identify publications and other resources that

would be useful for learning about a subject and know their advantages and limitations

– Locate resources in the library– Define certain information handling tools


Current General Education Requirements

• Freshman Speaking [FS] will improve students’ abilities to:– Use reference tools (including catalogs & periodical

indexes) to identify publications by subject– Find particular monographs {books} and journal

articles in the library– select among information resources for pertinence

and credibility for the task– use referencing conventions appropriate to oral and

written work


Assessment of current status based on survey

Possibilities for the future:– A Critical Thinking/Information Literacy

component of the General Education requirements {see handout of “Information Literacy Goals”}

– Separate Information Literacy Course (a 1-credit pilot course is starting this fall)

Faculty Assumptions about Student Abilities

Library Research

Internet

Technology

Assumptions: Library Research

• Process & Authority– Through general reading, students will understand

the dimensions of an issue– Students will focus on areas of interest

• Scholarly Literature– Students know and can use a variety of sources– Students can distinguish “authoritative” sources


• Scholars, Research, and Critical Thinking– Scholars worldwide are working on this issue– They have left an accessible record of their

research– It is possible and important to find out who they

are– There has been research on the topic– The character of the research changes over time


• Scholarly Information-Seeking Strategies– Students have, or can independently develop a

personal information seeking strategy

• Information-Seeking skills– The mechanics of the search are easy/obvious– Choosing a search tool is obvious– Manipulating topics/search terminology is obvious

• keywords vs. controlled vocabulary

• database manipulation (i.e. “and”, “or”)


– Librarians

Assumptions: Internet

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Assumptions: Technology

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PAUSE FOR A BREAK

Students (or anyone for that matter) can’t know what they haven’t either been told or given the background to understand.

Help already available to you

• Formal BI (bibliographic instruction) sessions

• Informal short presentations by librarians

• Satterlee site/Consultations

• Meeting with a librarian to discuss assignments

What You Can Do: Overview

Library Research, the Internet, and Technology:

• Explain concepts, not just specific tools

• Explain process, not just precise steps

• Explain why these skills are worth learning

• Teach with the idea of transferable knowledge

Concept: Library Research

• Information is available and organized

• Types of published material (newspapers vs. magazines vs. journals vs. books…)

• Publishing cycles, generation of scholarly material

• Reference resources

• Search tools (methods of electronic vs. paper)

Process: Library Research

• Topic selection

• Background research / refine topic

• Development of search vocabulary, both stated and implied concepts

• Choosing appropriate search tools (catalog vs. indexes vs. internet)

• Using those search tools effectively and evaluating search results

• Physically locating materials

Why: Library Research

• They will get better grades

• The skill is transferable to other classes

• The skill is employable

• The skill is important to life-long learning

• The skill may be vital to work

• Statistics show that library users are leaders

Concept: The Internet

• What: Computer Network (e-mail, WWW, ftp,…)

• Who: Anyone - not controlled & not edited

• Where: Worldwide, with a U.S. emphasis

• Why: Communication Medium. From military & academic interests, to commercial & amateur

• When: Not constant, changes all the time

Process: The Internet

• Understanding the structure– Domain names– Paid vs. free sites

• Choosing/using search engines/directories• Evaluating what is found

Students often don’t know as much as they think they do.

They may not know how to critically evaluate what they find

May be confused by an ambiguous assignment.

Does “can’t use internet” mean…-no use of e-mail to send questions to an authority?

-no use of subscription indexes/databases?

Why: The Internet

• Many resources with one tool

• Many diverse viewpoints

• May be most up-to-date material

• Need to be able to evaluate how others use it (Pierre Salanger)

• Necessary skill for school, work, and life-long learning

Concept: Technology

• It’s a tool, a means not an end

• Automated procedures can be more efficient

• Standardization allows sharing/joint manipulation

• Eliminates many errors

• Speeds manipulation of data

• Processes large quantities of data easily

• Not cheaper

• Should be a new paradign (catalog vs. internet)

• hyperlinks vs. card re-typing

• trade-offs (fewer people…)

Process: Technology

• Understand hardware vs. software

• Understand classes of software (word processing vs. spreadsheets vs. databases…)

• Understand peripherals (printer, modem, scanner)

• Understand methods of use (menus, mouse, command language, buttons,…)

Why: Technology

• Required skill for school and work

• Becoming a societal skill (like reading)

• Efficient tools for many tasks (i.e. e-mail)

What You Can Do

• Design assignments to include skills component checks, for example, a segmented research project which mimics a typical research process (ask for preliminary or annotated bibliographies, lists of search terminology, rough drafts, etc…)

• Define your terms. What exactly do you mean by “Primary Source” or “Research Article”?

• Lead by example. Discuss how you conduct your research.

What You Can Do

• When you create an assignment which requires information seeking, do the assignment yourself. Do they have to use the library? If you stand in the library lobby, is it obvious what steps are required? If not, determine specific steps to share with your students.

• As students rarely retain skills that are not immediately useful, discuss the details of research steps when they need them, not beforehand.

What You Can Do

• Create standard forms students can use to help themselves

– How to evaluate an World Wide Web site

– Database/index features to look for

• Plan Ahead

– Make sure the library has the resources (material, time) that the students need for an assignment

– Reserves: timeliness and consistency/accuracy

What You Can Do

• Know how to do what you’re asking your students to do.

• Put copies of your syllabus and assignments on reserve

What Not to Do

• Give assignments which are completely open-ended

Where You Can Get More Information

• handout

integrating information literacy into the college course carol franck august 27, 1998

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