The Information Literacy Land of Confusion

It is great to see this being taught to students! ...

2008-08-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

It is great to see this being taught to students! All universitise need to be teaching similar courses!

Hey, would you mind sending me a copy of your syllabus? I'm trying to convince my boss that we need this course....

I'm here as well and twittering with #ocls.

2008-04-23T12:32:00.000-07:00

I'm here as well and twittering with #ocls.

Self promotion is allowed. Why do you think blogs...

2008-04-09T06:13:00.000-07:00

Self promotion is allowed. Why do you think blogs ever got started. :]

Thanks for the plug. Now I don't have to do any s...

2008-04-08T21:16:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the plug. Now I don't have to do any shameless self-promotion. {grin}

Nancy

A rather good idea. Most kids will roll their eye...

2008-02-18T17:42:00.000-08:00

A rather good idea. Most kids will roll their eyes at the "work" this requires, but so be it.

I read an article somewhere, I can't remember wher...

2008-02-16T13:25:00.000-08:00

I read an article somewhere, I can't remember where about teachers using wikipedia for an assignment by requiring their students to analyze a wikipedia entry and explain how they could make it better and to point out the problems with it. clever.

I usually teach wikipedia in my sessions as a "jum...

2008-02-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

I usually teach wikipedia in my sessions as a "jumping off point." It can be a great place to get search terms, especially for international students who may not have the same familiarity with English, and the bibliographies at the end often provide a way to segue into using the library catalog with a particular title in mind.
To engage the students, sometimes I divide them into 3 "teams" and have them argue the advantages of wikipedia, google (or google scholar) or the resources available from the library homepage. When we discuss their ideas as a group, I place tally marks for each point/advantage under the name of each resource. This warm up activity allows me to get an idea of how much students may know about the library, to justify that content I will present is relevant to the students, and to emphasize that wikipedia can be a nice introduction--but that they will ultimately want to end up at the library. ~Rachel Slough

If you ignore the fact that everyone in the video ...

2008-02-10T14:34:00.000-08:00

If you ignore the fact that everyone in the video is white and that the administrators were all men, it is a pretty amusing video.

Nancy, Thanks for the post. Only 13 students? Ou...

2008-02-07T09:06:00.000-08:00

Nancy,

Thanks for the post. Only 13 students? Ouch. How can any generalization be made.

Any study about the sources students use should factor in requirements or grades in someway. I always feel that we can't condemn students if they can turn in Internet based resources and pass with flying colors.

It's a discussion that needs to be with both students and faculty.

Thanks Nancy

"Pooh Pooh" would have been bad (and imagine revie...

2008-01-27T19:43:00.000-08:00

"Pooh Pooh" would have been bad (and imagine reviewing the book on the air. I bet someone had to... and I suspect more than a few listeners gasped.

Thank you for the positive comments Michael... and...

2008-01-26T05:11:00.000-08:00

Thank you for the positive comments Michael... and congrats on your 3rd place finish.

If anyone is interested in more details about the information literacy sessions we conducted on fantasy football, please follow the following link to my Research Quest blog:
http://researchquest.blogspot.com/search/label/fantasy%20sports

Thanks for the link. It will be interesting to se...

2008-01-18T12:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the link. It will be interesting to see how people make use of it. Opening up tools for librarians and students to use for game creation will (in time?) result in new opportunities to engage students with info lit.

Thanks and let's see what we can do with the Alice software.

paul

Steven, I suggest you contact Karen Markey and ask...

2007-12-23T09:57:00.000-08:00

Steven, I suggest you contact Karen Markey and ask her your questions, as she is the single best source to answer your questions. She may also be able to give you a login so that you can see later stages of the game. As you know, primary sources are good things. :)

Jenny Levine

We are a library that is offering Kindles to our p...

2007-12-18T12:30:00.000-08:00

We are a library that is offering Kindles to our patrons url.http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6512445.html
We checked with Amazon and they were surprised to hear our question concerning disabling the order feature on the unit because they didn't see its use other than for individuals.

So we've circumvented the problem this way: patrons may select one title to add to the unit, and may purchase other title BUT they will be billed for the purchase. They are aware of this restriction when they borrow the device. Very simple!

When I looked at the video a few weeks ago it appe...

2007-12-18T06:26:00.000-08:00

When I looked at the video a few weeks ago it appeared to me that the solution to every information need is to go to Google and find the answer in the first three items on the result page. I think our students already know how to do that. Am I missing something here? It's a game, but is it a game that helps students to become information literate? Maybe this is just the prototype and V.2 will start to explore more than just Google.

If a variety of books were uploaded, chosen by the...

2007-12-03T07:02:00.000-08:00

If a variety of books were uploaded, chosen by the librarians based on their patrons' interests and best-seller lists, that would diminish the privacy impact. Also, Amazon may know which books are ordered, and maybe even read, but it won't know the name of the patron who borrowed it from the library. That would be under the patron's check-out record, which would be deleted, according to the library's custom.

If the ordering function can be disabled, the only problem remaining, that I can see, is the vulnerability of the item itself. At $399, plus the cost of the items loaded onto the device, can any library afford to have a patron drop this, steal it, lose it, have it stollen, spill coffee on it, etc? How would a library recoup the money should this happen? Many patrons couldn't afford to replace it, libraries can't afford to absorb the cost, and who wants a legal headache?

Neither would I have it for in-house use, since patrons can use the online resources and print materials available, and the convenience doesn't seem worth the cost. However, as the technology improves, and comes down in price, I wouldn't be averse to reconsidering my stance on all points.

I see one problem with loaning out Kindles. Anyone...

2007-12-03T04:36:00.000-08:00

I see one problem with loaning out Kindles. Anyone who borrows the Kindle can click on a button and order a book from Amazon. There is nothing to stop a patron from ordering a lot of books. For libraries to be able to loan them out, this feature would have to be disabled - and I don't know if that would be possible.
-Isabelle Fetherston

You know in a month some library will publish how ...

2007-12-02T12:37:00.000-08:00

You know in a month some library will publish how their Kindle program is a great success, and all you other libraries suck because you don't have one. So the libraries that purchase and loan to patrons will do what with their privacy policies? Libraries delete patron borrowing records when books are returned and borrowing records are private and often protected by State statutes. And the Kindle libraries will turn those privacy policies over to Amazon. Why don't you just burn down your libraries right now because "freedom to read" and "access for all" mean nothing. If the federal government wanted this kind of access to patron reading habits, we would fight all the way to the Supreme Court, but if a public company wants the same access, we say, "wow. that's really convenient." We need to draw the line somewhere: if you buy this for your library patrons, you suck.

Nancy,Thanks for the comment. I will be in touch ...

2007-11-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

Nancy,

Thanks for the comment. I will be in touch soon.

Michael

If you get enough people to volunteer, I'd love to...

2007-11-12T08:14:00.000-08:00

If you get enough people to volunteer, I'd love to help out. I had a blog that I was using to post about a variety of library issues (IL, marketing, etc.), but I was never able to keep it up due to work, family, etc. If there are enough people posting to keep the pressure off, I'd love to contribute!

Give me an email if this works out. nancy AT infollectual DOT com

I'll nip along and take a peek.Cheers

2007-11-11T08:50:00.000-08:00

I'll nip along and take a peek.
Cheers

This really caught my eye. Who the heck uses their...

2007-10-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

This really caught my eye. Who the heck uses their current job letterhead, or any, to apply for a job. I have never seen that kind of advice in any career book or reputable website. And I don't think my classmates in library school "got their mitts" on any letterhead for their applications. I sure as heck did not. I also question the thing about teaching (not emphasizing it). One of the commenters in that blog pointed out it depends on the job. Sure, a big Research I campus could care less. Little state rinky dink U. probably wants a very good teacher.

Some of the advice was good, but I would take it with a grain of salt.

Best, and keep on blogging.

Glad to hear you're enjoying the FF Librarian and ...

2007-09-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

Glad to hear you're enjoying the FF Librarian and thanks for the kudos here. Feel free to let me know if you ever are in need of some specific FF information out there...I'd be happy to help!
Sara/FF Librarian

Thanks for the info, I will have to add it to my f...

2007-09-19T12:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the info, I will have to add it to my feeds. I am huge FF player, I love it. I have to admit that just like the FF Librarian I utilize all of my librarian sluthing skills to research before my draft and hunt for hidden gems on the waiver wire.

I've found that most profs shy away from declaring...

2007-08-30T09:19:00.000-07:00

I've found that most profs shy away from declaring plagarism and all. It is just such a sue happy world. Maybe if the punishments were more consistent....not that graphic of course....but always used!