INTEGRATING INFORMATION LITERACY THROUGHOUT THE CURRICULUM

Julie Cavender

Manager, Library Development & Services

Jones e-global library

What we will cover today

• What is information literacy• Why is it important• Who needs it• Where to start• How to integrate with the curriculum

WHAT IS IT?Information Literacy

Courtesy of heathbrandon@flickr

Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to “recognize when

information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use

effectively the needed information.”

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?Information Literacy

• Assessment• Accreditation• Student retention• Lifelong learning

Assessment

36%Of students experience no significant improvement in learningover four years of higher education(as measured by the Collegiate

Learning Assessment) .

http://www.collegiatelearningassessment.org/

Accreditation

"[Baccalaureate programs] also ensure the development of core learning abilities and competencies including, but not limited to, college-level written and oral communication; college-level quantitative skills; information literacy; and the habit of critical analysis of data and argument."

WASC Standard 2.2a of “Teaching and Learning”

Retention• Improve student success and retention rates

WHO NEEDS IT?Information Literacy

WHERE DO I START?Information Literacy

Collaborate

ACRLInformation Literacy Competency Standards

for Higher Education

1. determines the nature and extent of needed information;

2. accesses needed information effectively and efficiently;3. evaluates information and its sources critically and

incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system;

4. uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose;

5. understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally

Assessment Tools• Self-report• Tests

• SAILS

• Classroom Assessment Techniques• Performance Assessments

Create a Workable Plan

• Institution commitment

• Standards• Strategic plan• Collaborate

Information Literacy

Plan

HOW TO INTEGRATE WITH CURRICULUMInformation Literacy

First Steps Tips• Clear focus on information literacy standard for every

activity• Work on standards one by one • Promote IL activity• Work in teams• Be clear about IL objectives

Program Integration• Map information literacy skills

Learning Outcomes• ACRL• Sample criteria

• Level of reading• Use of information to support point of view• Citing and referencing• Critical evaluation

Problem-Based Learning

1. Annotated bibliographies

2. Documenting search and retrieval process

3. Find and critically evaluate opposing positions on a topic

4. Contact a librarian

Online Environment• Quizzes• Discussion boards and chat• Collaborative work• Guides to resources• Tutorials

USEFUL TOOLSInformation Literacy

Tutorials & Quizzes• Google docs: http://www.docs.google.com/• Udutu: http://www.myudutu.com/• Glomaker: http://www.glomaker.org/

Screencasts• CamStudio: http://camstudio.org/• Jing: http://www.techsmith.com/jing/• Wink: http://www.debugmode.com/wink/• Screenr: http://www.screenr.com/

• Captivate• Camtasia

Podcasts• Benefits of podcasts• Creating podcasts:

– Short, simple and entertaining– Need digital recorder and microphone connected to PC

• Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Videos/Movies• YouTube• Talk to your librarian• Enlist experts to create videos• Create your own!

Games

Social Bookmarking• Delicious: http://del.icio.us/ • Diigo: http://www.diigo.com/

Comprehensive list found here: http://www.philb.com/iwantto/web2pagebookmarking.htm

Image Websites• Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/search• Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org• Stock.xchng: http://www.sxc.hu/• Image*after: http://imageafter.com/

General Websites

• Lifelong Information Literacy: https://sites.google.com/site/lifelonginformationliteracy/

• Teach Information Literacy & Critical Thinking: https://sites.google.com/site/teachinfolit/

• Information Literacy Visual Bibliography: http://www.mindomo.com/view.htm?m=b93aa8ef223445ff8919191fbc3ed23c

IDEAS FOR ASSIGNMENTSInformation Literacy

10 Crucial Information Literacy Proficiencies

Research Process

1. Conduct a research process

2. Searchable concepts/keywords/synonyms

3. Choice of resources and databases

4. Evaluate information5. Citations: documenting

sources6. Plagiarism

Scholarly Communication

7. Communication within a discipline

8. Types of publications: format/focus/currency

9. Popular vs. scholarly

10. Primary vs. secondary

Research Strategy• Log topic changes and evolution of research

• State the question/research problem; consider kinds of information sources needed to answer

Searchable Concepts• Describe topics in a few sentences; “diagram” research

statement

• Demonstrate Boolean operators

• Ask students to keep a research log

Choose resources/databases• State resources used to find information

• Consult two reference sources ; note other uses for the tool

• Conduct a search for the same topic in two different databases and compare/contrast the results

Evaluate Information• Small groups examine texts/websites and evaluate them

• Evaluate Web Resources

• Use examples of various criteria and an opportunity to “Test your own critical thinking.”

Citations: Documenting Sources• Provide copies of a variety of sources; identify parts

needed to create a citation

• Turn in citations in the proper format with early drafts of papers; require a bibliography early on with citations in the proper format

Plagiarism• Give students excerpts from books/articles; practice

paraphrasing, quoting, and properly citing the material.

• Provide both acceptable and unacceptable paraphrases. How do they differ?

Communication in Discipline• Write brief outline of ordering, production and

dissemination of research might shape the development of new knowledge.

Types of Publications• Compare and contrast treatment of a specific

topic/question/issue in a book and in an article.

• Contemporary account of historic event

• Identify a topic for which the majority of published information would be in article form

• Apply the flow of information discussion above to a given event/trend/theory

Popular vs. Scholarly• Identify and compare a scholarly and popular article

• Give students several scholarly articles and ask them to identify the common features among the articles.

• Provide students with a variety of resources and have them make arguments about whether, and why, they would classify each as being scholarly.

Primary vs. Secondary• Provide research questions/theses; make a list of the

kinds of primary resource materials scholars might seek

• Evaluate a primary source

• Consider a particular source, the circumstances under which it might be considered a primary source or a secondary source

• Review past writing and discuss whether these materials would be considered primary or secondary sources, and under what circumstances.

Top Tips for Successful Integration• Contact your librarian• Engage support• Work with staff• Consider how LMS can help students• Always be explicit

“Information literacy empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create

information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational

goals. It is a basic human right in a digital world and promotes social inclusion in all

nations."

HOW DO I LEARN MORE ABOUT IT?Information Literacy

References

• Academic Literacy: A Statement of Competencies Expected of Students Entering California’s Public Colleges and Universities, 2002, <http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/senate/reports/acadlit.pdf>. Accessed 7 October 2011.

• ACRL | Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, <http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm>. Accessed 3 October 2011.

Contact Me

Julie Cavender

jcavender@jonesknowledge.com

303.784.8370 | Cell: 303.562.6072

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/juliecavender

Twitter: @Global_Library

Thank you!