Our Goal:
Better Information Literacy integration at the course and program level to improve the academic performance of students.
- Embed into the research process of the course or program
- Collaborate with the instructor(s)
- Always tie instruction to the assignment
In order to research efficiently and effectively, students need:
- Collaboration between faculty and librarians
- Connection between research paper process and everyday life research
- Context: background, vocabulary, expectation, gathering resources
- Librarian as informational coach
- Frequent explanations of research concepts across courses and years from faculty and librarians
The Reality:
The research process is more difficult with information abundance:
- Technology issues now complicate research concepts further
- Too many information choices, not enough orientation
Things students feel:
- Anxiety
- Annoyance
- Stress
- Overwhelmed
- Fear
- Confusion
- Excitement
- Dread
- Uncertainty
Things students say:
- "I have no idea [about the dates or details of my topic]."
- "I can't find this article in the catalog."
- "This magazine isn't online, so I can't get it."
- "There is not enough on my topic; I have to change it."
- "I don't know what a primary or secondary source is."
- "My professor said to use scholarly sources...what are those?"
- "Am I cheating if I use someone else's bibliography?"
Things students do:
- Procrastinate
- Spend 3 hours on research, 2 hours writing
- Go to Wikipedia for context and to pre-search
- Go to the Internet for sources
- Do "good enough" research to get by
The result:
- Papers aren't as good as they could be
- Research is associated with negativity
- The Library is not a source of support
How the Library Can Help:
Librarians can help faculty to:
1. Create better research assignments
- Process over product
- Tiered paper approach
- Suggest alternatives to the 5-7 pages
- Annotated bibliography
- Literature review
- Bibliographic essay
- Evaluate and edit a Wikipedia entry
- Grant or research proposal
2. Create tiered research assignments
- Thesis/topic meeting
- Research log/journal
- Preliminary bibliography
- Outline/introduction
- Mid-point check
- Drafts
- Final paper
3. Embed smaller research components
- Explain citations
- Explain source types
- Suggest disciplinary sources
- Explain terminology (primary vs. secondary)
- Explain information cycle
4. Teach Ubiquity
- Research is not disconnected from the classroom
- Research is not an outside skill
- Research skills are necessary for all students' work
