“First years' information literacy backpacks: What's already packed or not packed?”

This survey-based research explores whether first-year college students who have had previous interactions with library instruction, services, and resources at the high school level are better prepared to undertake information literacy challenges and are better equipped to adapt to the rigors of academic research. In this collaborative project, academic librarians across six colleges in New Jersey surveyed first-year students regarding their research preparation and their experiences in high school and in their first year of college. Additionally, the team surveyed a group of vetted, certified high school librarians in New Jersey regarding their resources and instructional practices and followed members of their senior class to college Based on student survey responses relating to their high school experiences, the team was able to identify, study, and compare three groups of first-year students: novice researchers, non-novice researchers, and a subset of non-novices from the high schools with vetted librarians. These were labeled alumni non-novices. The team found that students with prior high school research experiences (non-novices), especially those followed from schools identified as having certified librarians (alumni non-novices), felt more prepared for academic research and performed at a higher level relating to their understanding and use of research tools and strategies. The results point to equity concerns and suggest that students require differentiated attention at the college level.     

How does web-based collaborative learning impact information literacy development?

This qualitative study documents evidence of first year undergraduate students' collaboration processes and information literacy learning while completing research assignments in groups during a semester-long course. Focus group interviews and artifacts collected in the web-based tool Evernote allowed us to conduct an in-depth analysis of students' collaborative behavior in terms of their actions, feelings, and thoughts during information seeking behavior (Kuhlthau, 2004), and of the potential of collaboration for fostering information literacy development.Our analysis revealed that certain conditions should be present to facilitate information literacy learning through collaboration: 1) Technology that enables real-time interaction and both active and passive sharing; 2) Meshing of students' interests through the assignment framing; and 3) Students' acceptance of the collaboration technology as a worthwhile tool.In addition, multiple factors determined the extent of the information literacy learning developed through the collaborative assignment tasks, including group dynamics, prompts for students to teach each other information skills, encouragement of students to share exemplars of notes or written assignments, exposure to different points of view, and time management.     

How do fans purposively create information to promote a celebrity? An analysis of fans' information practices and literacy improvement

Fans purposively creating information aiming specifically to inform the public positively about a celebrity has become a significant practice within contemporary Chinese fan culture. “Celebrity promotion” information creation offers an important opportunity to understand how people intentionally create information beyond internal user groups and existing information needs. Based on unobtrusive observation and semi-structured interviews, findings show that fans create positive online content and conduct offline advertisements to boost a celebrity's specific works, reputation, and fan base. Fans also intentionally develop strategies and improve their information literacy to make informational materials more visible and appealing, while critically separating “celebrity promotion” from enjoyment-centered fandom activities. As fans adapt to the current information environment, the intentionality of their practices stems from beliefs that 1) they are the actor(s)’ shareholders/partners and 2) by creating “promotion” information, fans can achieve their goal of helping the actor(s).     

Do you Mini-Med School? Leveraging library resources to improve Internet consumer health information literacy

Popular for engaging public interest in medical science while promoting health awareness, Mini-Med School (MMS) programs also afford important if largely unrealized opportunities to improve the health information literacy of attendees. With a growing population using the Internet to make health decisions, needed venues for improving Internet Consumer Health Information (CHI) literacy may be found in the MMS platform. Surveyed directors of MMS programs understand the need to include CHI, and successful programs at SUNY Stony Brook and elsewhere demonstrate the potential for collaboration with affiliated health sciences libraries to integrate CHI instruction into MMS curricula.     

Is information ambivalent or monosubstantival? (Instead of a Review)

The monograph by A.V Sokolov “The Philosophy of Information” (St. Petersburg, 2010) is reviewed, which is dedicated to the conceptualization of information as one of the philosophical categories. Doubts are expressed about the legitimacy of the author’s treatment of the phenomenon of information from the perspective of dualistic monism recognizing the existence of a substance with two opposite “hypostases,” which cannot be reduced to one another, namely, about the author’s statement that the nature of information is neither ideal nor material but ambivalent, i.e., it is an indissoluble unity of the material (in this case, the carrier) and ideal (meaning) principles. This doubt is based on the premise that the ideal is not an independent substance, along with the material, but is just one form of existence of matter. Therefore, in our review it is proposed to treat information not as an element of ambivalence that belongs to the two principles of substantival, which is characteristic of dualism, but as an element of a monosubstantival principle, as a type of matter.     

Sharing MedlinePlus®/MEDLINE® for information literacy education (SMILE): a dental public health information project

The SMILE project represented a partnership among the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Libraries, the Gateway Clinic in Laredo, and the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. The project focused on improving dental practitioners' access to reliable information resources and integrating the best evidence into public health dental practice. Through its training program, SMILE cultivated a set of "power information users" among the dentists, dental hygienists, and community health workers (promotores) who provided public health preventive care and oral health education. The dental public health practitioners gained information literacy skills and increased their knowledge about reliable sites such as blogs, PubMed?, and MedlinePlus?. This project fostered opportunities for expanded partnerships with public health personnel.     

Making a difference? Measuring the impact of an information literacy programme for pre-registration nursing students in the UK

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether an information literacy programme for pre-registration nursing students at a UK higher education institution is effective in developing their skills and confidence: examines students' skill levels, factors affecting their confidence, and relationships between skills, confidence and demographic characteristics. METHODS: Quantitative and qualitative techniques were used: pre- and post-tests to measure changes in students' skills and self-assessed confidence levels after two key sessions in their first semester (n = 29); semi-structured interviews to explore factors affecting confidence (n = 5). RESULTS: Findings demonstrated positive impacts on skills and confidence. Key areas of skill development included: identifying journal articles, selecting search terms and evaluating website quality. Factors affecting confidence included: successful 'mastery' experiences in searching for information and the programme itself, especially small-group sessions, handouts and staff support. Evidence on links between skills, confidence and demographic factors was inconclusive. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrated the programme's effectiveness and identified areas for development, including the need to help students understand the relative merits of search engines and other sources. Evidence has contributed to a change in departmental policy, making attendance at sessions mandatory. Further studies have been recommended.     

Building a successful information literacy infrastructure on the foundation of librarian–faculty collaboration

Building a successful information literacy infrastructure begins by creating a foundation of strong faculty–librarian relationships in conjunction with faculty development programs. This paper chronicles the faculty–librarian collaboration at Towson University in the development and teaching of information literacy instruction. Findings from the faculty survey and information literacy instruction statistics indicate that this close collaboration yields a seamless blend of core subject information and information seeking/evaluation skills.     

Don't they teach that in high school? Examining the high school to college information literacy gap

College librarians express concern over incoming students' information literacy skills and lack of skills preparing them for college-level research. However, it is unclear whether information literacy skills are not being taught at the high school level, whether they are not being retained or transferred as students move on to college, or whether there is a disconnect between the skills taught in high school and those expected of incoming college students. This study explores these questions through a set of parallel surveys sent to a national sample of high school and college librarians. Findings suggest that high school and college librarians agree on the importance of most skills though they vary in their emphasis on their importance, and that information literacy skills are being taught in high school but do not seem to transfer to college. The paper concludes with suggestions for increased communication and collaboration to bridge the high school to college transition.     

Health information,what happens when there isn't any? Information literacy and the challenges for rare and orphan diseases

This feature looks at the challenges for information literacy in rare and orphan diseases. In particular, it focuses on the information difficulties faced by those living with a rare condition or awaiting a diagnosis, and also those of the health professionals in charge of their care. The feature also highlights some of the key issues that library and information professionals need to be aware of when providing information support in such circumstances. H.S.     

Gender differences in information behavior concerning Wikipedia,an unorthodox information source?

This study examined gender differences in information behavior concerning Wikipedia. Data were collected using a Web survey in spring 2008. The study used a convenient sample that consisted of students who had taken an introductory undergraduate course at a large public university in the Midwestern United States. A total of 134 out of 409 students participated in the study. As information consumers, male students used Wikipedia more frequently than their female counterparts did. With respect to the purposes of Wikipedia use, male students used Wikipedia for entertainment or idle reading more than their female counterparts, while there were no gender differences regarding Wikipedia use for other purposes. Male students were more likely to discount the risks involved when using Wikipedia information compared to their female counterparts. Furthermore, male students had higher ratings than female students regarding most aspects of Wikipedia, including outcome expectations, perceptions about its information quality, belief in the Wikipedia project itself, emotional states while using Wikipedia, confidence in evaluating information quality, and further exploration. Finally, there was no gender difference regarding the number of years of Wikipedia use. However, male students reported having more positive experiences with the information quality of Wikipedia than their female counterparts. Overall, the findings of this study were consistent with those of previous studies concerning gender. Given the acknowledgment of the knowledge value of Wikipedia in recent literature, it seems that there are more advantages to using Wikipedia than there are disadvantages. The current study shows that male students seem to enjoy such benefits more than female students and may have more opportunities to develop their information literacy skills than female students by actively using Wikipedia. This suggests that educators need to encourage female students in particular to explore Wikipedia strategically as an initial information source so that they can develop their information literacy skills for unconventional sources.     

“Living encyclopedia” or idle talk? Seeking and providing consumer information in an Internet newsgroup

The article investigates the character of the Internet newsgroups as fora of information seeking, and reviews the potentials of “weak and strong ties” proposed by Granovetter and the prospects of newsgroups as a “living encyclopedia” suggested by Rheingold. An empirical study in the field of consumer issues was conducted by focusing on a Finnish newsgroup sfnet.kuluttajat. The research questions deal with the nature of information needs and the ways in which the participants provided help regarding requests addressed to the group. About 9% of the 894 messages contained questions indicating explicit information needs. Attention was also paid to the sources and channels used by participants providing help to information seekers. About 24% of messages contained answers to questions. Help providers preferred their own experience as an information source. Both successful and unsuccessful attempts at information seeking were explored. Surprisingly, there was practically no dialogue between information seekers and providers, even though newsgroups provide opportunities for interaction.     

教化or消费?

我认为,任何读物都不必端起架子来教训人,少儿读物尤其如此。但流行时尚究竟是否适合融入少儿读物,或者换句话话,少儿读物是否足以适合定位成纯粹的消费,也令人颇费踌躇,恐怕需要一些讨论吧。     

Does privatization affect access to government information?

This article defines and discusses privatization of government information. As the authors note, privatization is effective when it is used appropriately, and ineffective when it is applied as a panacea to all management problems.     

Survey or Standards?

The literature emphasizes the service factor in libraries and information centres, yet the designing of user service courses is difficult. While the definition of "the user" is improving, definitions of "service" are not. The concept has altered considerably over the years, changing from an adherence to "standards" as the measure of service, to the idea that the results of "surveys" should be the guide to services. This paper examines the implications for service policy in these approaches and the parallel issue of evaluating service success. It considers the significance of these theories in designing courses in public services for the curriculum in professional schools.