Information Literacy Showcase: Effective Practices from Public, Academic, and School Libraries

Information Literacy Showcase: Effective Practices from Public, Academic, and School Libraries

Looking for new ideas to build or enhance the information literacy program at your library? During this session, panelists will share examples of teaching and learning strategies and technologies that have been successful with key library audiences, such as young adults, college freshmen, and senior citizens. Stop by the Teaching and Learning Center afterwards to meet the panelists and learn more about their programs.

Moderator: Kelly Jo Woodside, Information Literacy Librarian, Simmons College. Panelists : Sara Marks of Fitchburg State, Julie Krass Westwood Schools, Daniel Barbour Shrewsbury Public Library, Matthew Jaquith Springfield Public Library.

Jaquith

Springfield Public Library Reference. Formerly @ Brown.

Information Literacy is the a competency find, decipher, manage and share information in our society. Adapted from ODLIS : Online dictionary for library and information science by Joan Reitz. See http://lu.com/odlis/about.cfm

Also from ODLIS: Media Literacy defined: The ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create messages in a variety of forms (print, audio, film/video, Internet, etc.) based on an informed, critical understanding of the nature of mass media, the techniques used by producers of media, and the impact of those techniques on the individual and society. An interdisciplinary field, media literacy has evolved as a necessary response to the complex, pervasive, ever-changing electronic communication environment of the 21st century. Click here to connect to the homepage of the Center for Media Literacy. Compare with information literacy.

Classes @ SPL http://www.springfieldlibrary.org/hitech.html

Why should public libraries teach information literacy? Information is a society need. People have different levels of need. Spectrum of literacy topics: Information literacy - He does a readers' advisory class using novelist - using OPACs etc to find materials using relevancy, bibliographic instruction - database use, Many classes at Springfield focus on basic computer literacy- there's a typing class a word, excel, powerpoint classes usually 2 session, 90minutes each, folder management. typing class has been very popular. media literacy- browsing, searching in many areas to find actually useful information.

Barbour - Shrewsbury PL http://www.shrewsbury-ma.gov/department/division.php?fDD=17-53

Uses his communication and marketing background to attract YAs

Some of his fun programs for grades 5-12: scavenger hunts (treasure hunts, haunted house themes), races. Teens hate bookgroups, Kings and Queens Grant teaching how to write. Natalie Perkins lead groups. She's has written First Daughter serues. Filmed them reading what they have written, then kids vote on the library blog. Shrewsbury PL checks out games. After the games were in the library, book circulation actually increased 25%. They have an IMLS grant which provides a shuttle service from the Middle School. They have a SPLAT advisory team. They have a manga collection development group which recommends books for purchase. They use Tutor.com to offer online tutoring.

Krass - Information Literacy in the Elementary School Libary. Westwood Schools.

She recommends starting early. Kindergartners learn the difference between fiction and non-fiction through readalouds. They play a fiction came. Children make up something fictional. She uses rhythm and a little song: Numbers mean nonfiction. She recommends the Jenkins book Actual size (Jenkins, Steve. Actual Size. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. ) with a document camera.

First Grade children learn sections in the library- Easy, etc. ; Children collaborate to create a table of contents for nonfiction; learning about favorite authors. She uses picture Icons to create an easy bibliography.

Marks Fitchburg State College Library

See her bookmarks at http://delicious.com/librarygurl/mla09

Sara's opinion: College students don't spend their time using traditional research methods. They crave interactivity and online access. Collaborative knowledge is growing. Librarians should quit fighting Wikipedia because this is a battle that will ultimately not be won. Better to teach how to evaluate materials critically. Eventually, collaborative wiki types of information will be mainstream as the value of collective knowledge becomes the norm in many fields.

LibGuides http://www.springshare.com/libguides/

LibGuides concentrate on ACCESS, feature media, accessible

Statistics available from LibGuide, have just added Google Analytics, so there will be more.

Very good support from folks who know libraries, hosted by LibGuides. Library A la Carte. Free, but you have to have very good resident IT tech support.

Cost for LibGuides. At $900/year, nothing pays better.

Their cost for Academic Search Premier $.27/search, Credo $.40/search, Libguides $.04/search.

After implementing, there was a slight increase in database use and a notable increase in Academic OneFile.

Ask a Librarian makes a live Meebo chat connection on the right sidebar, there's a twitter aspect

They have the ability to use delicious and digg, but they don't use

They have embedded a quick opac search widget.

Most popular, blackboard Libguide - There is a tour of the library on YouTube which is embedded.

They add Libguides to Blackboard.

BROWSE http://fsc.libguides.com/browse.php

Outcomes and rubrics for information literacy are there. http://fsc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=6334

Crime on Television is a Libguide. http://fsc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=23758

Web 2.0 Brownbag series http://fsc.libguides.com/web20

Blackboard LibGuide http://fsc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=2346 includes a video college tour which is on Youtube.

Source citations http://fsc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=4896

Advanced Research methods. http://fsc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=37164

ALA Let's talk about it Discussion series is on a libguide http://fsc.libguides.com/LTAI involves the community as well as the college.

- Brenda

Whole Brain, Open Mind: Co-Constructing Through Digital Reference for Today’s Students

Whole Brain, Open Mind: Co-Constructing Through Digital Reference for Today’s Students
Friday, May 9 11:00a - 12:15p

Dr. Lesley Farmer, Prof, Califormia State University, Long Beach. Member of the ALA Literacy Assembly. Author of: You Go, Girl: Girls and Technology (in press); The Human side of reference and information service, Digital inclusion, Teens and your library.

Who are our students?
State of information literacy
Reference as conversation

Girls are more sensitive to sound; girls tend to cross hemispheres seem to be better @ re;atopmsjo[bs

The teen brain - not just hormones
Impulsive
Aggressive
Emotionally volatile
NOT risk averse. Taking risks is part of maturing. Males = more risk behavior, Females=need encouragement to take emotional risks
Reactive to strees
Vulnerable to peer pressure
Focus is on short term payoffs, not long term consequences of behavior
Likely to overlook alternative courses of action

Concepts >>and right brain behavior
Function >> design
Argument >>story
Focus >>symphony
Logic >>empathy
Seriousness >>play
Accumulation >>meaning

Characteristics of millennials
· Gadget savvy but Information clueless. They’re not building logical connections in their information gathering, necessarily
· They value convenience and mobility
· They are quirky in their learning behavior like working together with others and also independently. Much of their information comes from friends
· There is a disconnect between academic information literacy and personal information literacy - Personally, they’re into finding gamesites, cheatsheets.

Contrast between Y, Net, Millennial Students and Boomers
Students are comfortable in simulations, game/fantasy situations - Boomers are not
Students socialize online Boomers in person
Students love multimedia immersion Boomers read books/articles
Students want to Get to the product Boomers are process oriented

Learning gap – Difficulties experienced by Students
· Confuse article with journal; keywork with subject
· Experience inertia: going beyond Google and Wikipedia can be daunting.
· Have trouble teasing out subjects and concepts; thinking of keyword synonyms
· Sometimes find it difficult to choose a topic and focus in on it. If topic yields little after 2 minutes at the computer, they’ll prepare to jump to another topic.
· Have difficulty evaluating the information they find
· Tend to be passive learner, perform for what they figure the teacher wants, wait for instructions. OVER TESTING and No Child Left Behind has reinforced this behavior.
· Have a tough time with the minutia of constructing a citation.
· Have difficulty identifying key concepts; what was the most important information found in this or that resource

Information seeking behavior of a student - Steps
1. Ask someone
2. Google for info, not use database. This has got to be quick, so I can get back to my real life.
3. Build on past success or past experiences rather than strategize information gathering. So hard to think about identifying and combining concepts.
4. Focus on the end product (the paper) rather than the meaning/context/implications of the topic (the learning)

Characteristics
· Tend to gather information, not evaluate it critically. Unable to rank importance, quality or relevance of information found.
· They are not persistent. They are easily confused, don’t want to go after information step by step, give up easily.

What kinds of websites convey the most info to teens?
· Layout “the look” is very important
· Typeface needs to be easy to read/scan quickly
· Clicks to get to the info need to be minimized
· Pictures used well
· Interactive experience - At one glance the teen needs to see how to use the page

Teen truisms
· Wikipedia is king
· Google finds everything
· Newspapers are boring, go online
· Social networking sites are good for doing your homework
· Email is for old paper. IM, twitter and texting is it.
· If it’s not on the home page, it isn’t worthwhile
· “Good enough” is good enough
· Free is good
· Downloading is ok as long as you’re not selling it
· Cut and paste is a great strategy
· Cheatsheets can save your bacon
· You can get the webpage that works for a class assignment from a smart buddy

What is reference service to a teen?
· Last resort, safety net in case I can’t find anything
· Resource based, not process based
· Fact based. The quick fix.
· The smart librarian will show you a trick that works

A source teens will love:
Pimp Your Page Free Layouts, Backgrounds & Glitter Profile. 100% Free. Download Now! MySpace.coolfetti.com

Recommendations for adults working with teens:
· Speaker recommends this: http://brownbrain.wikispaces.com/ for helping teens learn about their developing brain.
· Help students to channel their risk taking into intellectual efforts
· Encourage taking thinking breaks when stressed

Recommendations for Librarians working with teens
· Get their feedback on library website designs. Make it easy and convenient
· Keep directions simple. Emphasize BETTER information skills, not Harder work.
· Provide cheatsheets and/or BE their cheatsheet
· Teach web evaluation skills : entertain them:
· The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Website evaluati on source http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalexpl.html
· RYT bogus sites: http://www.malepregnancy.com/science/ and others from http://www.rythospital.com/about/
· Northwest Tree Octopus http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
· Encourage students to revise their search strategies. Ask them to question and reflect on each step of the strategy.
· Library of Congress Questionpoint as a source. http://www.questionpoint.org/ Factsheet for librarians http://www.loc.gov/rr/digiref/QP_best_practices.pdf
· Use Meebo IM
· Don’t do their work for them

Brenda

Community Curriculum & Communication: thoughts from a successful liaison program. Thursday May 8 1:45p - 3:00p

Community Curriculum & Communication: thoughts from a successful liaison program. Thursday May 8 1:45p - 3:00p
Healther Tompkins, Reference and Instruction Librarian for the Humanities, Gould Library, Carleton College
Ann Zawistoski, Reference and Instruction Librarian for the Humanities, Gould Library, Carleton College
Gould Library home page: https://apps.carleton.edu/campus/library/

Used a liaison model for eight years. Liaisons work closely with faculty to provide reference and instruction services in departments. Their liaisons do NOT select for the general collection.
Curriculum development
Initiatives
Outreach

CONSIDERATIONS WHICH HAVE AFFECTED HOW THE CARLETON LIAISON MODEL HAS DEVELOPED
Institutional Characteristics
· Where is the library situated
· Characteristics of communication with faculty
· Librarian status
· General education requirements
· Institutional divisions
· Current successfulacademic support models
· Size of the student body
· Student demographics
· Institutional culture

ACTIVITIES
THEY EMPHASIZE ONE ON ONE WORK WITH STUDENTS: INDIVIDUAL APPOINTMENT PROGRAM http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/library/

CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION

THERE IS A SENIOR CAPSTONE PROJECT THAT EVERY STUDENT NEEDS TO DO

Statistics
Number CLASSES have stayed the same and individual appointments have Tripled in the past 8 years. Now, it’s 180+ This is face to face and email assistance within the liaison subjects.

It is very important for the
There is a very active Learning and Teaching Center, the Perlman Center for Learning and Teaching http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/ltc/ which hosts frequent talks, presentations, colloquia. Very strong, faculty and librarians together. WOW, look at their website! Great dialog, interchange with faculty.
Thu. May. 8 (Today)12:00 pm - LTC: The Program on Intergroup Relations: Lessons from a social justice education program
Thu. May. 15 12:00 pm - LTC: Visualizing the Victorian Novel
Thu. May. 22 12:00 pm - LTC: Curricular Design Issues
Thu. May. 29 12:00 pm - LTC: Integrating and Supporting the Visual: How We Work
LTC has its own library http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/ltc/library/

THE REFERENCE DESK
An opportunity to learn other areas; helps with interdisciplinary activities.

The Gould Mission and Vision https://apps.carleton.edu/campus/library/about/mission/
Information Literacy at Gould: with the Mellon Grant 2000-2003 https://apps.carleton.edu/campus/library/about/infolit/

There’s an ice cream social at the end of Spring semester sponsored by the library
Film showing interviews with students. https://apps.carleton.edu/campus/library/about/orientation/?item_id=234868

They showed the video to incoming freshmen.

I love the libe because ____________
This is what I’d do if I were the Library Director______________________
Feedback from the students
They love to sleep on the 4th floor


What are future plans for the library? Questions and what’s coming.
· They need to think about sustainability. They can’t keep adding to the Reference staff. Some areas such as quantitative reasoning or critical thinking do not break down into disciplines.
· Have they taken liaison program too far? Student: “ I know you don’t do History, but Ann’s not here…”
· More integrated support throughout campus. There will soon be an arts union building. Academic support people, information technology people, writing center etc.
· Need to keep up on curricular initiatives.

QUESTIONS FOR THE AUDIENCE
1. How would you characterize your institution? Library? Community?
2. What successful models of academic support exist outisde the library?
3. How do you see the questions you get from students and faculty changing
4. What would constitute success for your liaison program? How would you evaluate the effectiveness of the program?
5. How do you see student and faculty expectations shifting over time?
6. What methods would you use to build a sustainable model or revise an existing model?

AND
1. What about supporting and increase in diversity?
2. How can the librarians stay flexible if the curriculum radically changes?

Mellon Faculty Lifecycles Grant to Carleton and Macalester http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/ltc/initiatives/mellon/

They use Libstats from the University of Wisconsin http://swik.net/Libstats http://code.google.com/p/libstats/ Needs PHP and SQL demo http://www.slideshare.net/vacekrae/libstats-demo-and-overview/
http://www.librarytechnologysolutions.com/services/libstats.html
http://pegasuslibrarian.blogspot.com/2006/10/making-reference-desk-statistics-fun.html

First Year Information Literacy in the Liberal Arts Assessment (FYILLAA) Developed right at Carleton
http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/library/about/infolit/fyillaa/
http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/library/assets/Balt7combined.ppt
Download the survey http://www.nitle.org/index.php/nitle/content/download/5408/31218/file/ResearchPractices.pdf
Over the past two years the Gould library has taken a lead role in a MITC / NITLE grant to create a web-based assessment tool to measure the information literacy of incoming students, before they've had any college library instruction.
The assessment tool focused on five dimensions of student information literacy: Experience, or what have students done; Attitude, or what do students value; Epistemology, or what do students believe; Knowledge, or what do students know; and Critical Capacities, or how do students evaluate.