Games to Improve Students Information Literacy Skills

Abstract

As digital natives enter higher education, there is the need to improve their information skills but they often overestimate their information research skills and are unfamiliar with the library. The serious games give the opportunity for innovative and engaging approaches to information literacy learning. The paper describes NAVIGATE - Information Literacy: a Game-based Learning Approach for Avoiding Fake Content, a project funded by Erasmus?+?program. The Project aims to improve the competences to avoid fake content of the higher education students in the Humanities. The paper focuses on the comparative analysis of the students’ skills gap and the difficulty of actually assessing the learning improvement achieved by games, highlighting the lessons learned and the open issues.     

Paper Trail: One method of information literacy assessment

Assessing students' information literacy skills can be difficult depending on the involvement of the librarian in a course. To overcome this, librarians created an assignment called the Paper Trail, where students wrote a short essay about their research process and reflected on what they would do differently. Through reviewing and grading these papers, librarians determined whether students understood the difference between the library catalog and article databases, evaluated the students' search terms to see if they used effective topic keywords and Boolean operators, and learned more on how the students reflected on their research process.     

Student Satisfaction with Electronic Library Resources at Wayne State University

ABSTRACT

This paper reports the results of a survey of student satisfaction with electronic library resources other than the online catalog at Wayne State University. Undertaken in Fall Term 2000 as a class project for a marketing course, a student team designed, administered, and analyzed a survey of a random sample of students. Almost 40% of the responding students said that they were unaware of electronic resources though 53.8% of these same students answered subsequent questions about use of these resources. Students aware of electronic resources learned about them much more from their professors (38.3%) than from library efforts to publicize them (18.5%). Students were generally satisfied (68%) except when things went wrong. A high percentage of all students (92.4%) answered that the library should continue to expand electronic resources.     

Not just another BI: Faculty-librarian collaboration to guide students through the research process

Many students assigned independent research investigations as class projects do not recognize the role that library research plays in project development. They often have trouble applying their basic library skills to a more sophisticated review of the literature and relating their own survey data to published research. In order to coordinate research guidance for a senior-level class at the University of Delaware, a library instruction session was expanded into a program of continuous faculty-librarian support for students completing the class project. A flow chart of project steps was modified successfully to include opportunities for instructor and librarian consultations and checkpoints for problem identification.     

Creating Provider-Neutral Records for E-Books

After boxes of uncataloged microforms were discovered at my library, we learned that many of the titles were available as free electronic books, so I added bibliographic records to the local catalog for the e-versions. Some bibliographic records existed in OCLC WorldCat for the electronic versions, but they were not always provider-neutral. I learned how to create the new provider-neutral record and want to share my experience. Other librarians may want to replicate my project at their institutions, weeding their microforms and supplanting those records with e-book bibliographic records, thereby providing instant online access to these resources for their patrons.     

Interconsortial Cooperation for Resource Sharing: MOBIUS and Prospector

ABSTRACT

Academic libraries are desirable work locations for undergraduate students and graduate library science interns alike. However, using undergraduate and graduate library science students only to perform task-oriented work within a traditional, hierarchical supervisory structure does not provide the maximum benefit to the student or the library, as it removes opportunities for students learning from each other. Our model proposes to create a team-based framework that engages students around a project and makes uses of myriad centers of expertise in the library. We employed this framework around the Douglass Alumnae Oral History Project, which provided opportunities for students to build their skills in digital projects, communication, teamwork, and community building.     

Searching for a New Way to Reach Patrons: A Search Engine Optimization Pilot Project at Binghamton University Libraries

ABSTRACT

Search engine use is one of the most popular online activities. According to a recent OCLC report, nearly all students start their electronic research using a search engine instead of the library Web site. Instead of viewing search engines as competition, however, librarians at Binghamton University Libraries decided to employ search engine optimization strategies to make their Web site more visible on the search engine result pages. Although search engine optimization is used frequently by commercial Web sites, few libraries have attempted to optimize their own sites. This article describes Binghamton University's experiences in developing and implementing an optimization pilot project. The research presented in this article has importance for libraries who may be considering an optimization project for their own sites.     

Undergraduates' Use of Periodicals-

Undergraduates need relevant information while faculty and graduate students need the right information. These needs are quite different and imply special considerations in library services. Undergraduates are not well served in libraries that aim their services primarily to the needs of researchers. Libraries serving undergraduates should have an easily accessible basic collection of popular periodicals keyed to general indexes with reference help nearby. Undergraduates should also be offered library instruction when they are working on a library research project. The Earlham College model of faculty-librarian cooperation and the term paper consultation are ideal in that they blend reference service and library instruction.     

The role of medical libraries in undergraduate education: a case study in genetics

Between 1996 and 2001, the Health Science Center Libraries and Department of Zoology at the University of Florida partnered to provide a cohesive and comprehensive learning experience to undergraduate students in PCB3063, “Genetics.” During one semester each year, a librarian worked with up to 120 undergraduates, providing bibliographic and database instruction in the tools that practicing geneticists use (MEDLINE, GenBank, BLAST, etc.). Students learned to evaluate and synthesize the information that they retrieved, coupling it with information provided in classroom lectures, thus resulting in well-researched short papers on an assigned genetics topic. Exit surveys of students indicated that the majority found the library sessions and librarian''s instruction to be useful. Responses also indicated that the project facilitated increased understanding of genetics concepts and appreciation for the scientific research process and the relevance of genetics to the real world. The library benefited from this partnership on a variety of fronts, including the development of skilled library users, pretrained future clientele, and increased visibility among campus research laboratories. The course and associated information instruction and assigned projects can be considered models for course-integrated instruction and the role of medical libraries in undergraduate education.     

Assessment for library instruction: The Cross/Angelo Model

Classroom assessment, a major component of classroom research in higher education, is a quick and easy way for instruction librarians to monitor what is being learned by their students and to adjust their teaching accordingly The process of adapting classroom assessment techniques to the discipline of library instruction has begun and is documented in this article Examples of classroom research from higher education are given in an attempt to lead librarians to the next logical step of integrating the process into their everyday teaching (one-time, course-related, or credit course) and publishing the results of their findings Whether classroom assessment remains in relatively isolated divisions such as the library or becomes a pan of a total campus improvement endeavor is a question for each institution to answer     

The Library as Service-Learning Partner: A Win–Win Collaboration with Students and Faculty

ABSTRACT

This case study of a quarter-long collaborative service-learning project, repeated over several quarters, involves technical communication students and librarians at Eastern Washington University. The librarians needed to promote RefWorks, while the technical communication faculty needed a client with a computer-based tool for students to learn and then teach to others. Working in teams, fifty-eight students planned and executed fifteen RefWorks workshops for students. The majority of students liked using RefWorks and gave successful presentations to their peers. This project increased awareness and usage of RefWorks while also affording librarians a student-centered perspective on teaching and using this tool. In this win–win collaboration, students learned useful skills in addition to developing a sense of community with the library.     

Out of Sight,But Not Out of Mind: Surveying Library Use Among Students Studying Abroad

Pepperdine University's six international campus libraries are not staffed by librarians. However, the library serves overseas students with small print collections, course specific LibGuides and highly trained student assistants. A goal of the LibGuides and student workers is to make students aware of library resources and services while studying abroad. Students studying overseas were surveyed to determine their use and awareness of library resources. In addition, to determine if the library could have an important role in supporting study abroad programs, students were asked if they had research assignments that required outside resources. While the results of the survey revealed that the majority of students are aware of library resources and services, the library should take additional steps to better serve overseas students.     

Student voices: Re-conceptualising and re-positioning Australian library and information science education for the twenty-first century

This paper reports on the preliminary research findings of the sub-study group of a larger undertaking, the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) priority project Re-conceptualising and Re-positioning Australian Library and Information Science Education for the Twenty-first Century. It examines student experiences of library and information science (LIS) education across both the tertiary and vocational education sectors in Australia. The student sub-study group’s task was to provide the student/recent graduate perspective on LIS education in Australia. The research considered four major themes to find out how students and recent graduates felt about LIS education in Australia. The themes were: learning opportunities; learner attributes; learning experiences; and learner outcomes. In the second half of 2010, self-administered anonymous web questionnaires and focus groups were used to explore issues such as student demographics, socio-economic backgrounds, past experiences, expectations and rationale behind course choices. In addition the destinations of graduates were explored. Key findings suggest there are various pathways that students take to achieve a LIS qualification in Australia; students are generally optimistic about the future of the LIS profession, and consider that technology will continue to play a key role in future career options; they stress the importance of practical workplace experiences as part of course structure; their satisfaction levels with current courses are high and students feel confident they have been provided with the skills required to begin their professional life.     

大学生的智能手机图书馆服务使用意愿调查

采用分组讨论和问卷调查的方式对1 716名大学生进行调查的结果表明,大学生智能手机持有率显著提高,并且有相当一部分大学生拟将自己的通讯设备升级为智能手机,他们对移动图书馆服务有强烈的需求。因此,高校图书馆应联手移动通讯机构营造移动服务氛围,联手移动图书馆研发机构满足读者个性化需求,制订完善的宣传策略使移动图书馆遍及校园。     

400 Years Old and Still Cutting Edge: Applying Ignatian Pedagogy to an Online Library Orientation

The Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm is centuries old, but its focus on student-centered learning is cutting edge. When the Gonzaga University library was asked to collaborate with an online graduate studies department, the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm provided the guiding framework. The first principle of Ignatian pedagogy is Context, which involves understanding and meeting students where they are. Building on this foundation, the other principles of Experience, Reflection, Action, and Evaluation keep the student at the centre of the learning process. Reflection is the fulcrum of the paradigm, prompting students to think consciously about what they have learned and how it impacts them, thereby taking ownership of the learned material. Applying these principles to a self-paced Online Library Orientation resulted in self-reported student confidence with library resources, and the integration of better sources into their work.     

How Students Research: Implications for the Library and Faculty

This paper presents qualitative findings about the search behaviors and research habits of students interviewed at six college and university campuses in the US. Our findings suggest that students’ strategies are influenced by both their non-academic search experiences as well as the broader academic context of their research tasks. Their behaviors suggest an on-going negotiation of these influences, evidenced by the ways they incorporate Google into their research strategy while still closely adhering to faculty instruction for using library resources. Students bring a strong sense of self-reliance to the research process, yet they still experience many barriers and pain points accessing library resources. We have included recommendations for librarians and faculty who, by better understanding the journey of an academic researcher, can work in concert to reduce the barriers and increase the success of students’ research efforts.     

Embracing the Spiral: An Action Research Assessment of a Library-Honors First Year Collaboration

Librarians often use assessment methodologies to evaluate the efficacy and impact of their information literacy instruction sessions and programs. In this article, researchers use an action research methodology to explore the effect of information literacy instruction on first-year honors student assignments. The researchers explain how they implemented multiple cycles of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting in order to better understand student needs, increase the impact of library instruction, and communicate that impact to library and external stakeholders. Robust and cyclical assessment gave librarians and their strategic partners the opportunity to make iterative improvements to instruction, address issues of overconfidence in students, and make the case for additional information literacy instructional opportunities for honors students.     

Academic collaborations: Linking the role of the liaison/embedded librarian to teaching and learning

Building partnerships with faculty can be a challenging process for embedded librarians. After defining the essential role of an embedded librarian, this article chronicles the systematic process of how an embedded librarian built a partnership with a faculty member from the education department at a four-year institution. The collaborators created a two-year pilot program to integrate information literacy into a required undergraduate course. The article shares lessons learned about what worked and what did not as they moved through the planning, application, and assessment phases. Their collaboration offered the opportunity to make meaningful changes in the course based on what they learned from students about their anxieties regarding the research process.