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Faculty Toolbox for Information Literacy St. Vincent College August 27, 2010 Dr. Pat Duck Director, Pitt-Greensburg

What is Information Literacy?. 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."Information literacy also is increasingly important in the contemporary env

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Faculty Toolbox for Information Literacy St. Vincent College August 27, 2010 Dr. Pat Duck Director, Pitt-Greensburg

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    1. My other hat at the University Library System is that of chair of the ULS Information Literacy and Assessment Working Group. This group is made up of librarians from all 5 Pitt campuses. In 2006 the University Library System (ULS) developed a long range plan for 2007-10. One of our goals was to Develop an information literacy program involving librarians from units across the ULS, building on the Middle States guidelines for information literacy and the ACRL/ARL Project SAILS assessment tool My other hat at the University Library System is that of chair of the ULS Information Literacy and Assessment Working Group. This group is made up of librarians from all 5 Pitt campuses. In 2006 the University Library System (ULS) developed a long range plan for 2007-10. One of our goals was to Develop an information literacy program involving librarians from units across the ULS, building on the Middle States guidelines for information literacy and the ACRL/ARL Project SAILS assessment tool

    2. What is Information Literacy? 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.” Information literacy also is increasingly important in the contemporary environment of rapid technological change and proliferating information resources. As you probably already know there are various definitions for the term “information literacy.” There are also other kinds of literacy such as visual or media literacy. I don’t think there is any one right or wrong answer. This one is taken from Project SAILS which is a program located at Kent State University that has been marketed to academic libraries for several years. Pitt has been officially using this program for about 3 years. As you probably already know there are various definitions for the term “information literacy.” There are also other kinds of literacy such as visual or media literacy. I don’t think there is any one right or wrong answer. This one is taken from Project SAILS which is a program located at Kent State University that has been marketed to academic libraries for several years. Pitt has been officially using this program for about 3 years.

    3. What do we want to know? How do we know if students are information literate? What are students' entry skills upon admission to the university, and is there a significant change in skill levels from the freshman year to graduation? How does the library contribute to information literacy? Does information literacy make a difference to students’ academic success and retention? These are some of the deceptively simple questions identified by Project SAILS that universities hope to answer when they start an information literacy program. These are some of the deceptively simple questions identified by Project SAILS that universities hope to answer when they start an information literacy program.

    4. What College Faculty Say Freshman Students Don’t Do Know how to ask for research help Follow research process steps Estimate time required for research Define a research question or topic that’s not shallow or “pop” Understand that web search engines rarely locate college-appropriate information Conduct effective searches Interpret search results Weed through search results to find adequate and accurate information Evaluate information using standard evaluation criteria Distinguish between popular and scholarly articles Analyze data and statistics Write without plagiarizing Cite sources properly At the last ALA conference in Washington DC (2010) I attended a session entitled “Yours, Mine and Ours: Moving Students through the Information Literacy Ladder from High School through Community College to the College/University Level.” Two of the presenters, Pat Owen and Megan Oakleaf developed a presentation on “Using Evidence to Bridge the 12-13 Gap.” Here is an interesting list of some of the things faculty say freshman don’t do. At the last ALA conference in Washington DC (2010) I attended a session entitled “Yours, Mine and Ours: Moving Students through the Information Literacy Ladder from High School through Community College to the College/University Level.” Two of the presenters, Pat Owen and Megan Oakleaf developed a presentation on “Using Evidence to Bridge the 12-13 Gap.” Here is an interesting list of some of the things faculty say freshman don’t do.

    5. Library Instruction vs. Information Literacy “Information literacy involves mastery over a complex set of concepts and skills and their interplay…knowledge of library skills is an integral part of information literacy… serving as tools for realizing its higher goals.” Sharma, Shikha “From Chaos to Clarity,”Journal of Academic Librarianship, v. 33, no. 1 (Jan. 2007) You may ask what the difference is between library or bibliographic instruction as opposed to information literacy at this point. This definition from a paper by Sharma illustrates the key difference between library instruction and information literacy. Essentially for years libraries have been providing users with a set of skills to develop their information literacy competence. Now we are collaborating with our institutions to develop a mastery of all the skills that encompass information literacy. You may ask what the difference is between library or bibliographic instruction as opposed to information literacy at this point. This definition from a paper by Sharma illustrates the key difference between library instruction and information literacy. Essentially for years libraries have been providing users with a set of skills to develop their information literacy competence. Now we are collaborating with our institutions to develop a mastery of all the skills that encompass information literacy.

    6. Why Incorporate Information Literacy Into Your Classes? Assessment Requirements at St. Vincent College Middle States Commission on Higher Education Other Assessment Agencies For example: ABET There could be a number of reasons why you decide to incorporate information literacy into your classes, but one of the chief reasons from the perspective of the institution is assessment. There could be a number of reasons why you decide to incorporate information literacy into your classes, but one of the chief reasons from the perspective of the institution is assessment.

    7. Assessment Requirements at St. Vincent College? I do not know what the assessment requirements are at St. Vincents, but you can look at the Pitt website to see what we have been working with for the past few years. I do not know what the assessment requirements are at St. Vincents, but you can look at the Pitt website to see what we have been working with for the past few years.

    8. Middle States Commission on Higher Education Several skills, collectively referred to as “information literacy,” apply to all disciplines in an institution’s curricula. These skills relate to a student’s competency in acquiring and processing information in the search for understanding. I think both St. Vincents and Pitt are governed by the Middle States Commission. I think both St. Vincents and Pitt are governed by the Middle States Commission.

    9. Determine the nature and extent of needed information; Access information effectively and efficiently; Evaluate critically the sources and content of information; Incorporate selected information in the learner’s knowledge base and value system; Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose; Understand the economic, legal and social issues surrounding the use of information. Middle States Commission on Higher Education If you look at the Middle States Commission guidelines, you will note that they use the same skill set as ACRL and Project SAILS. If you look at the Middle States Commission guidelines, you will note that they use the same skill set as ACRL and Project SAILS.

    10. Other Assessment Agencies You may have other assessment agencies you work with that are program specific; for example, Engineering usually works with ABET. You may have other assessment agencies you work with that are program specific; for example, Engineering usually works with ABET.

    11. Where Do You Start? Faculty should work collaboratively with librarians and administration Explore/visit the ACRL site Investigate SAILS or other tests Visit the Pitt IL site Develop a workable plan So hear are some starting points for information literacy. The best plans and programs are at small colleges and institutions such as St. Vincent. So hear are some starting points for information literacy. The best plans and programs are at small colleges and institutions such as St. Vincent.

    12. ACRL ACRL pretty well covers all the bases.ACRL pretty well covers all the bases.

    13. SAILS is used by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). Project SAILS is based on ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. This Web-based tool allows librarians, in collaboration with faculty, to document information literacy skill levels for groups of students and to pinpoint areas for improvement. SAILS SAILS is a nice tool to gather aggregate data. At a small institution it is ideal for comparing and contrasting what students have done over their four years at your institution. SAILS is a nice tool to gather aggregate data. At a small institution it is ideal for comparing and contrasting what students have done over their four years at your institution.

    14. Forty-five questions from a randomly generated list of hundreds of questions. Takes approximately thirty minutes to complete. Answers are collected, scores and reports can be generated by class, department or school. Institution will be compared to “like” institutions. SAILS Questions Here is a capsule of what the SAILS test covers. When you create the test at the Kent State site, you define your institution. For example, Pitt is a doctoral institution. Here is a capsule of what the SAILS test covers. When you create the test at the Kent State site, you define your institution. For example, Pitt is a doctoral institution.

    15. Sails Sample Questions: Test Your IL Skills! You have to find articles on raising children. Which search is more comprehensive? A.) Subject heading: child rearing B.) Keyword: raising children 2. To find books about the American poet Maya Angelou, which search is more effective? A.) Author: Angelou B.) Title: Angelou C.) Subject: Angelou 3. You are writing a paper on economic development in China. You search a research database by typing in, “economic development in China” and retrieve no results. Which of the following actions would help you retrieve a good number of relevant results? A.) Omit one of the search terms B.) Add search terms C.) Try searching for: econ* and dev* and Chin* D.) Try searching for: economic development and China E.)Try searching for: economic development China Test your knowledge. Here are 3 actual SAILS questions. Answers: #1 A-child rearing; #2 C-subject; #3 D-economic development and china. Test your knowledge. Here are 3 actual SAILS questions. Answers: #1 A-child rearing; #2 C-subject; #3 D-economic development and china.

    16. Pitt-Greensburg IL Site and/or ULS IL Site All of our information is online and available to anyone. You can start at either the Millstein Library site or go to the general ULS IL site. Here we have links to our tutorials, rubrics, and information about the SAILS instrument, as well as All of our information is online and available to anyone. You can start at either the Millstein Library site or go to the general ULS IL site. Here we have links to our tutorials, rubrics, and information about the SAILS instrument, as well as

    17. How to Incorporate Information Literacy Skills A general guideline - No slide show is complete without a graphic displaying the process .A general guideline - No slide show is complete without a graphic displaying the process .

    18. Consider the possibilities…. Communication New webpage Testing Tutorials New Products Screencasts Here are some thoughts to get you started. Publicize what you are doing, consider new products, find out what your students will respond to. Screencasts, for example, is a free program used with Twitter. Check out this one from ASU.Here are some thoughts to get you started. Publicize what you are doing, consider new products, find out what your students will respond to. Screencasts, for example, is a free program used with Twitter. Check out this one from ASU.

    19. Questions/Discussion/Exercise

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