Learning to use information: Informed learning in the undergraduate classroom

Informed learning is a pedagogy that focuses on learning subject content through engaging with academic or professional information practices. Adopting the position that more powerful learning is achieved where students are taught how to use information and subject content simultaneously, the research reported here investigated an informed learning lesson. Using phenomenographic methods, students' experiences of the lesson were compared with observations of how the lesson was enacted in the classroom. Based on an analysis of student interviews using variation theory, different ways of experiencing the informed learning lesson emerged. Some students understood the lesson to be about learning to use information, i.e., researching and writing an academic paper, while others understood it as focusing on understanding both subject content and information use simultaneously. Although the results of this study are highly contextualized, the findings suggest criteria to consider when designing informed learning lessons.     

LETOR: A benchmark collection for research on learning to rank for information retrieval

LETOR is a benchmark collection for the research on learning to rank for information retrieval, released by Microsoft Research Asia. In this paper, we describe the details of the LETOR collection and show how it can be used in different kinds of researches. Specifically, we describe how the document corpora and query sets in LETOR are selected, how the documents are sampled, how the learning features and meta information are extracted, and how the datasets are partitioned for comprehensive evaluation. We then compare several state-of-the-art learning to rank algorithms on LETOR, report their ranking performances, and make discussions on the results. After that, we discuss possible new research topics that can be supported by LETOR, in addition to algorithm comparison. We hope that this paper can help people to gain deeper understanding of LETOR, and enable more interesting research projects on learning to rank and related topics.     

Re-framing information literacy: Problem-based learning as informed learning

This study explores an online information literacy module that uses problem-based learning (PBL). The goal was to enable students to experience information literacy in a richer way, by moving away from a focus on locating information sources to one of information use in the construction of knowledge. A content analysis of the research journals and reflection papers of students (N = 15) in a distance education school library media administration endorsement program suggests that PBL was an effective approach for some students, but not others. Some students were motivated by working on authentic problems, and at least half the students engaged deeply with information and discovered new questions and angles for research during the process. These students applied more sophisticated evaluation strategies and were more metacognitive in their thinking, assessing their progress and shifting strategies as they progressed through the module.     

构建学习型图书馆的基础、核心与保障

构建学习型图书馆是当代社会经济发展的客观要求。结构再造是构建学习型图书馆的基础，化重塑是构建学习型图书馆的核心，机制创建是构建学习型图书馆的保障。     

Local information upload strategy in building up rural community information pages on the Internet: An approach to attending the information needs of rural Sri Lanka

The rural population in Sri Lanka consists of about 78.5% of the total population. Even though they contribute to a considerable portion of the GDP, most of them live in disadvantaged socio-economic conditions. The rural communities are equally enthusiastic in obtaining information for their daily lives, as are urbanites in facing challenges of the modern world. In planning development projects, the ‘information’ component is often overlooked. A SWOT analysis was done in the information environment to assess the feasibility of launching this kind of project. Information need categories were also identified by a mini-survey conducted in a rural area. This paper discusses a strategy to fulfill information needs by building up community information pages and using existing administrative structure. It is also important to upload the information generated at the local level. Two strategies are presented in collecting local information. The information upload strategy discussed in this paper is established on district and provincial administrative levels. Lower levels of administration are used to collect locally generated and specialized information.     

An inquiry-based learning approach to teaching information retrieval

The study of information retrieval (IR) has increased in interest and importance with the explosive growth of online information in recent years. Learning about IR within formal courses of study enables users of search engines to use them more knowledgeably and effectively, while providing the starting point for the explorations of new researchers into novel search technologies. Although IR can be taught in a traditional manner of formal classroom instruction with students being led through the details of the subject and expected to reproduce this in assessment, the nature of IR as a topic makes it an ideal subject for inquiry-based learning approaches to teaching. In an inquiry-based learning approach students are introduced to the principles of a subject and then encouraged to develop their understanding by solving structured or open problems. Working through solutions in subsequent class discussions enables students to appreciate the availability of alternative solutions as proposed by their classmates. Following this approach students not only learn the details of IR techniques, but significantly, naturally learn to apply them in solution of problems. In doing this they not only gain an appreciation of alternative solutions to a problem, but also how to assess their relative strengths and weaknesses. Developing confidence and skills in problem solving enables student assessment to be structured around solution of problems. Thus students can be assessed on the basis of their understanding and ability to apply techniques, rather simply their skill at reciting facts. This has the additional benefit of encouraging general problem solving skills which can be of benefit in other subjects. This approach to teaching IR was successfully implemented in an undergraduate module where students were assessed in a written examination exploring their knowledge and understanding of the principles of IR and their ability to apply them to solving problems, and a written assignment based on developing an individual research proposal.     

A long-tail inspired measure to assess resource use in information services

A measure for the assessment of resource use in information services provides an application within the information services area of the long tail concept. The analysis quantifies the long tail concept and is applicable to all libraries and information services, independent of their size and circulation properties. The paradigm of the Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient from macroeconomics is adapted in the context of information services. The Gini coefficient examines the skewness of the Lorenz curve against an ideal cumulative distribution that is represented by a 45-degree line. In this context, the Lorenz curve depicts the cumulative percentage of collection items versus the number of loans and identifies the different levels of library resource use on the part of users by measuring how close the Gini coefficient is to the unity (i.e., the Gini of the 45-degree line is identified).     

高校合并后资料室的建设与发展

基于高校合并后资料室的特点,本文分析了新形势下资料室建设中存在的若干问题,阐述了资的地位和作用,提出了资料室建设与发展的几点建议。     

临床医生选择与应用医学信息的方法

通过查阅文献,咨询专家,与医生、数据库提供商交流访谈,对部分医院进行调研,收集整理和分析了有关资料,提出了临床医生如何合理选择与应用医学信息的方法。     

Teaching and learning in information retrieval

A literature review of pedagogical methods for teaching and learning information retrieval is presented. From the analysis of the literature a taxonomy was built and it is used to structure the paper. Information Retrieval (IR) is presented from different points of view: technical levels, educational goals, teaching and learning methods, assessment and curricula. The review is organized around two levels of abstraction which form a taxonomy that deals with the different aspects of pedagogy as applied to information retrieval. The first level looks at the technical level of delivering information retrieval concepts, and at the educational goals as articulated by the two main subject domains where IR is delivered: computer science (CS) and library and information science (LIS). The second level focuses on pedagogical issues, such as teaching and learning methods, delivery modes (classroom, online or e-learning), use of IR systems for teaching, assessment and feedback, and curricula design. The survey, and its bibliography, provides an overview of the pedagogical research carried out in the field of IR. It also provides a guide for educators on approaches that can be applied to improving the student learning experiences.     

Evolution of methods to measure student information use

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the application of the case study method to investigate the process used by students in secondary school and undergraduate academic settings to locate and use information through the library. The case study method has, in most recent years compared to investigations of 20 to 30 years ago, become established as the primary research technique used to document student thought processes in topic focus and in source selection. Direct observation and interviewing successful library users, two tools common to the case study method, may also lead to examination of student selection and critical use of evidence for research projects as students move beyond the traditional library collection. These tools have also proven to be useful as researchers in recent studies are more interested in an analysis of student use of information as evidence rather than conducting studies which only document student location and citation of resources. Selected studies which illustrate this evolution are drawn from the dissertations and field studies related to secondary school and undergraduate bibliographic instruction.     

Evidence for Informed Preservation Planning and Advocacy: A Synoptic View

ABSTRACT

We argue the need to demonstrate the value of preservation services to institutions, the public and funders, because it matters conceptually and needs to be supported and validated. To address this imperative, improved and focused data capture and its use by collection managers is advocated as the necessary first step towards the development of an evidence-based culture for preservation services and synoptic decision-making, where evidence enables us to optimise the outcome of planning. To do so, we need tools that enable us to evaluate diverse preservation scenarios. We demonstrate the potential of emerging cross-disciplinary tools and protocols developed in the recent years such as attitude surveys, computational modelling and demographic modelling. These offer evidence that informs prospective preservation planning and, importantly, provides a credible evidence base for advocacy. These possibilities are discussed within the wider context of well-established preservation planning protocols that have shaped collection management for three decades, broadly characterised as retrospective.     

Introduction to the special issue on teaching and learning in information retrieval

We present an overview of the special issue in this paper. The main objective is to provide information for lecturers on how to improve the student experience, using current knowledge in the field. To this end we present an overview of six papers covering areas as diverse as tools and methods used to support teaching and learning, pedagogical challenges in teaching mathematics for search, etc.     

Personalized Information Seeking Assistant (PiSA): from programming information seeking to learning

Online programming discussion forums have grown increasingly and formed sizable repositories of problem-solving solutions. In this paper, we investigate programming learners’ information seeking behaviors in online discussion forums, and provide visual navigational support to facilitate information seeking. We design engines to collect students’ information seeking behaviors, and model these behaviors with sequence pattern mining techniques. The results show that programming learners indeed seek for information from discussion forums by actively search and read progressively according to course schedule topics. Advanced students consistently perform query refinements, examine search results and commit to read, however, novices do not. Finally, according to the lessons learned, we propose, design and evaluate Personalized Information Seeking Assistant system to help query refinement by summarizing the search results and to provide social-based browsing history. Findings suggest that paying attention to the query history may lead to further reading events, which subsequently resulting in potential learning activities.     

Search systems and their features: What college students use to find and save information

College students have often been surveyed about their general information seeking behaviors. However, little has been done to explore what specific system features they use to find and save information when they are working on their real-life tasks. In this study, 32 college students were invited to an information interaction lab for a session in which they recalled a recently finished task and worked on a to-be-finished task using a computer in the lab. They were asked to complete questionnaires regarding what systems they used to finish their tasks and what features were helpful for searching and for saving information. Results showed that college students rely more heavily on the Internet sources than on library sources, even for their course related work. The study identified fourteen categories of system features helpful for information search and eight categories helpful for information saving. The findings have implications for designing systems that will better help people accomplish their tasks.     

Using collaborative teaching and inquiry project-based learning to help primary school students develop information literacy and information skills

Information literacy and information technology (IT) skills have become increasingly important in today's knowledge society. Many studies have shown that students from primary school to postgraduate lack crucial information literacy and IT skills, hence there is a need for an effective pedagogical approach that will develop these skills. This study investigated the effect of combining a collaborative teaching approach with inquiry project-based learning (PjBL) on the development of primary students' information literacy and IT skills. Students in a Hong Kong primary school completed two inquiry-based group projects. A collaborative teaching approach involving three teachers in different subject areas (general studies, Chinese, and IT) and the school librarian was adopted in guiding students through the two projects. Results indicate that this program had a positive impact of on the development of different dimensions of the students' information literacy and IT skills.