Report on the Thirteenth Off-Campus Library Services Conference

I recently had the privilege of visiting Salt Lake City, Utah for a library conference. It was the Off-Campus Library Services Conference. I had a great time and really enjoyed visiting Utah. In addition to attending many great sessions, I presented a paper on publishing for librarians. It is in the conference proceedings already and I also hope to get the paper up on the Central Michigan University Digital Repository soon. I also visited some attractions in Salt Lake City such as Temple Square.

I enjoyed the conference and hope to go again next time this conference is held. Here are a few PowerPoint slides from some sessions held dealing with library instruction or information literacy:

Using Online Tutorials to Reduce Uncertainty in Information Seeking Behavior

Visual Tutorials for Point- of-Need Instruction in Online Courses

How It’s Done: Examining Distance Education Library Instruction and Assessment

Creation, Management, and Assessment of Library Screencasts: The Regis Libraries Animated Tutorials Project

Information Literacy Successes Compared: Online vs. Face to Face

The Defense of Hidgeon: The Plague Years

According to The Shifted Librarian, "Karen Markey is a faculty member in the School of Information at the University of Michigan. Earlier this year, she received a small grant from the Delmas Foundation to build a prototype online board game that teaches students information-literacy skills. Her game prototype is now fully operational and is being tested and evaluated by a class of 75 undergraduates at the University of Michigan. They’ve just finished conducting interviews with student game players, but they haven’t had sufficient time to mull over interview data and analyze game play logs. They already recognize that the incentive for playing the game is a critical issue and future games must be intimately connected to a class assignment or project."

Although the game is not online for everyone, what information out there on it looks good. Good library instruction games/tutorials are few and far between.

Here are a few information links:

Information on their Storygame Project

Manual for playing the game

And here is a video of the game:

Connecting Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences Theories Through Learning Strategies: An Online Tutorial for Library Instruction

LIBRES has an interesting library instruction article online. It is Connecting Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences Theories Through Learning Strategies: An Online Tutorial for Library Instruction by May Ying Chau. It is in the March 2006 issue, Volume 16, Issue 1.

From the abstract:

Although the Dunns’ learning styles and Gardner’s multiple intelligences theories are two distinct areas of research, they do not oppose each other and can be used together to improve learning. The design of this tutorial is an attempt to integrate students’ learning styles and their unique blend of intelligences in the library research process. The goal is to encourage higher-order thinking so that learners can make meaningful associations among information acquired during research. The means used to integrate these two theories is sequenced learning strategies. This tool-kit provides a favorable environment so that participants can learn the styles in which they learn best and intuitively apply their own blend of intelligences.

Librarians Tackle Information Illiteracy

Inside Higher Ed has this article titled Librarians Tackle Information Illiteracy by Andy Guess. The article looks at different approaches such as tests and tutorials to deal with the situation.

I found this comment from a reader very interesting, "Perhaps requiring students to take discipline specific methods courses early in their majors would help. Perhaps, requiring multiple books with multiple points of view in first-year courses (or anthologies with multiple views), especially in the social sciences and the humanities, might help. A single tutorial cannot do it alone, nor can tutorials divorced from content courses. There needs to be a wider approach to a deep and complex problem."

From the site:

It came as no surprise to many of those attending the annual meeting of the Association of College and Research Libraries this weekend that the typical liberal arts freshman believes Time and Newsweek to be legitimate scholarly sources. Groans and laughter accompanied this and other non-surprising factoids — 100 percent of incoming liberal arts freshmen surveyed use online sources, most think it’s easy to know when to document a source but nearly half couldn’t determine when one was required — that are familiar to anyone who works at a college library.

But while the problems of “information literacy” and the limitations of otherwise tech-savvy students’ abilities to differentiate between legitimate and unacceptable sources are well known, there is yet to be a unified, coherent approach to combating them.

Health Information Literacy and Competencies of Information Age Students: Results From the Interactive Online Research Readiness Self-Assessment

Health Information Literacy and Competencies of Information Age Students: Results From the Interactive Online Research Readiness Self-Assessment (RRSA). This article is by Lana Ivanitskaya, Irene O’Boyle, and Anne Marie Casey. All three of these individuals works at Central Michigan University and Ann Marie Casey is my boss. The article appeared in the Journal of Medical Internet Research 2006, 8(2).

From the article:

As society moves toward evidence-based medicine [1], health providers, health educators, and health care consumers must acquire not only basic health information literacy skills but also more advanced competencies [2]. These competencies include evaluation of the quality of health information resources, obtaining health information documents on narrow topics by conducting advanced searches, judging the trustworthiness of health information sources, and understanding the advantages and disadvantages of different media. The last point is of special concern because many individuals have come to rely on the Internet as a main source of health information. This research addresses the Healthy People 2010 Objective 11-2, currently worded as “to improve the health literacy of persons with inadequate or marginal literacy skills,” but which may be expanded to the entire US population instead of only to those with marginal or inadequate literacy skills [3]. In addition, it aims at providing needs assessment information that may aid in accomplishing Objective 11-3, which is related to increasing the proportion of health communication activities that include research and evaluation, and Objective 11-4, set to increase the proportion of health-related websites that disclose information that can be used to assess the quality of the sites.

Recent reports suggest that over 55% of Americans with Internet access seek health information online [4]. One of the most common complaints about online health information searches is the amount of time required to process the documents that are found [5], but this observation is likely to be related to the general nature of the searches conducted—few information consumers use advanced search features, precisely specify their keywords, or limit their searches in some other way. While Internet search engines help identify a very large number of health-related documents, their use calls for advanced competencies that not all information consumers may possess. For example, the vast majority of documents found on the Internet have not passed a rigorous peer-review process. The ability to conduct one’s own review is clearly an advanced skill. Arguably, health information consumers will be at a greater risk of making health decisions on the basis of noncredible information if they conduct a Google search as opposed to a search in a scholarly library database. This risk will be particularly high for individuals with poor health information competencies. Research comparing clinical evidence to Internet information reveals numerous examples of erroneous and potentially harmful information on such popular topics as cancer rates, smoking cessation methods, and fever management in children [6-8].

Collaborative Role of the Academic Librarian in Distance Learning - Analysis on an Information Literacy Tutorial in WebCT

Collaborative Role of the Academic Librarian in Distance Learning - Analysis on an Information Literacy Tutorial in WebCT. A new issue of E-JASL is up. Of the articles, I think this one is the most interesting from an information literacy perspective. It is by Xiaoli Shirley Fang. This is from v.7 no.2 (Summer 2006).

Of note, my article on Collegiality and Libraries is also up in this issue.

From the Fang article:

This article profiles a project to expand our general Information Literacy Tutorial into WebCT for students taking online courses. The Tutorial has provided online learners with a grasp of information competencies. The process of the project has confirmed the importance of academic librarians’ collaborative role in distance learning community. It presents both opportunities and challenges for academic librarians to collaborate with faculty and educational technology specialists in integrating information literacy education into the course management system. More active multi-aspect collaborations are required to ensure effective teaching information literacy via the courseware.

As course management systems have became a popular support to distance learning on campuses, integration of library presence into the courseware “has had a challenging agenda”, citing Campbell’s phrase (2006), to academic librarians. This challenge applies especially to those with related position titles, such as a Distance Learning Librarian. It has been recognized that academic librarians “must seek to integrate their resources into online courses delivered via course management systems, in order to ensure that libraries continue to remain vital to higher education.” Collaborations are crucial to ensure successful integration of the library into the course management system. (Fang & Kortz, 2005) This paper examines our experience in expanding information literacy instruction into WebCT at New Jersey City University, to define academic librarians’ collaborative role in the distance learning environment. Future improvements in teaching information literacy via WebCT will be dependent upon the librarians’ more active collaboration with faculty members, educational technology specialists and librarian colleagues, as well as new information technologies. This analysis will benefit further cooperative ventures among the campus community to advance distance learning students’ information skills in the ever-changing and increasingly prevalent digital world.

Customizing and Using a Popular Online Information Literacy Tutorial: One Library’s Experience

Customizing and Using a Popular Online Information Literacy Tutorial: One LibraryÂ’s Experience. This article is in the Spring 2006 issue of Library Philosophy and Practice. It is by Robert Flatley and William Jefferson.

The article notes, "Online information literacy tutorials are becoming increasingly popular. Many colleges and universities use a version of TILT (the Texas Information Tutorial) or Searchpath, a modification of TILT by Western Michigan University. Both of these popular tutorials are made available through an open license arrangement, which means individuals may download the tutorial files and modify them as needed. This paper describes our experience customizing Searchpath for Kutztown University's Rohrbach Library."

Central Michigan University developed an information literacy tutorial several years ago based on Searchpath. It is P.L.O.T. (Park Library Online Tutorial). Although it still has good information, after only a few years it is showing some age. The authors note this as well when they wrote, "Another challenge is to keep the tutorial relevant and current. We plan to make several significant changes to Searchpath and then pilot it once again." I guess it is time for me to give P.L.O.T. some serious scrutiny with an idea for making appropriate updates.

Anyway, anyone thinking about creating a TILT or Searchpath clone will probably find this article of interest. I believe online information literacy tutorials can be effective. The key is getting faculty to support the library by assigning students to use the tutorial. Students rarely drop in on their own and decide that it would be a good idea to learn about information literacy. If you create a turorial, market it hard to faculty.

Evaluating Internet Health Information: A Tutorial from the National Library of Medicine

Evaluating Internet Health Information: A Tutorial from the National Library of Medicine. This is a neat little tutorial on information literacy as it relates to health information. The tutorial is described, "This tutorial teaches you how to to evaluate the health information that you find on the Web. It is about 16 minutes long."

The content is good but I do not like that it runs automatically and has very little interaction with the user. Some students will find this useful though and it might be a good spot to mine for content for other tutorials.

Special thanks to the Krafty Librarian for helping me to locate this tool.

Beginner’s Guide to Business Research

Beginner’s Guide to Business Research. Kognito Solutions LLC has released this new information literacy tutorial which focuses on business. This site uses flash and has sound. Do not try to load this unless you are at the library or have broadband at home. Overall, I think this is a good product.

From the site:

Welcome to "Beginner’s Guide to Business Research", an information literacy tutorial developed in conjunction with Baruch College of the City University of New York.

This interactive tutorial provides students with hands-on, self-paced instruction on where and how to find the best, most accurate information via the Web when conducting business research.
The tutorial includes interactive activities, library database simulations, and an interactive quiz with customized feedback.

Please contact us if you are interested in discussing customization of this tutorial for your institution or development of similar cutting-edge resources.

inflite

inflite. This is a third generation information literacy tutorial that incorporates content from TILT (http://tilt.lib.utsystem.edu/) and Searchpath (http://www.wmich.edu/library/searchpath). This version was modified by Meg Atwater-Singer at the University of Evansville Libraries during the summer of 2005.

From the site:

inflite consists of six separate modules:

identifying sources -- explains types of information sources that can be used to answer personal interest or research questions.

choosing a topic -- explains pre-searching activities.

finding articles -- explains how to use periodical databases to locate articles for your research.

searching ACE Catalog -- explains how to search the University of Evansville Libraries' catalog.

using the Web -- explains how to get the most out of searching the web.

citing sources -- explains citing information sources, plagiarism, and copyright.

City University of New York Information Competency Tutorials

City University of New York Information Competency Tutorials. I discovered this excellent site the other day. I always like tutorials like this.

From the site:

In 2000 the Council of Chief Librarians of the City University of New York (CUNY) charged a CUNY Tutorial Working Group with developing a library skills and information literacy tutorial. The tutorial would be selected from one that had already been created, and would then be acquired and modified for use at CUNY.

The Tutorial Working Group was made up of librarians from across CUNY libraries. During the 2000-2001 academic year we carefully investigated and assessed a number of excellent tutorials. We selected the tutorials from the Information Competence Project developed at the California State University Libraries for modification and use at CUNY. As a first step in modification, the Tutorials Working Group met extensively to carefully review the CSU tutorials. We made decisions regarding modifications and changes to the tutorials so they would best meet the needs of CUNY students. The next step was to make the modifications and create the CUNY Tutorials. Mariana Regalado, who chaired the group, did the bulk of this work using Dreamweaver 2.O, Adobe Photoshop 5.5, Corel Photo House and Macromedia Flash 5. Anita Ondrusek created the CUNY+ portion of Tutorial 3, Locate and Retrieve Relevant Information. Throughout the process, Professors Killoran, Ondrusek and Roccos provided critical suggestions for improvement and ongoing proofreading.

As of January 2002, the Tutorial Working Group has modified the first 4 of the 9 tutorials.

CSU Libraries: Library Tutorials and Quizzes

CSU Libraries: Library Tutorials and Quizzes. This is a very nice collection of libarry instruction tutorials created by Cathy Cranston at Colorado State University. There are tutorials for basic and advanced Boolean searching, choosing databases, Web evaluation, and several more. I am sure that most of us could "borrow" and modify content here for use in our own instruction programs.

Search for the Skunk Ape: An Information Literacy Quest

Search for the Skunk Ape: An Information Literacy Quest. This is a fun information literacy tutorial created by Florida Gulf Coast University. I think using the skunk ape (AKA bigfoot in Florida) will hold the attention of most students. I sighted bigfoot when I was a teenager in Ohio so I have belief...

From the site:

Search for the Skunk Ape: An Information Literacy Quest" is a self-guided web tutorial that you can use to enhance your library and research skills. Intended for students who are at the beginning of their college education, the tutorial is part of a comprehensive plan the FGCU Library has developed to help our users take advantage of the wealth of resources we provide.

If your instructor is requiring you to complete this tutorial for your class, you will need to create an account. In addition, you will also need to complete a brief survey, take a pre-test, and take a post-test. If you have any problems, you'll find that help is available from our Reference Staff in person, by phone, or by e-mail.

It may be more effective for you to work through the tutorial from beginning to end in one sitting. If you wish, however, you can leave the tutorial and come back to it at your convenience as many times as necessary. If you are completing this tutorial as part of a course assignment, and you log off before you have completed it, the computer will return you to where you left off the next time you log on.

UW-Parkside Information Literacy Tutorial

UW-Parkside Information Literacy Tutorial. I was sent an e-mail over the holidays asking what I thought about this tutorial. Basically, I like it. It is a nice straight forward tutorial with good information. It has a few bell and whistles but not enough to distract from the message. Students might not be enamored with it but many of them will learn.

From the site:

What is Information Literacy?

"Information literacy is defined as the ability to know when there is a need for information, to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively use that information for the issue or problem at hand" (The National Forum on Information Literacy).

What is the Information Literacy requirement & does it apply to me?

All students entering UW-Parkside with fewer than 90 credits must complete the Information Literacy requirement. Most first-year students are introduced to the requirement in their English 101 class. Transfer students usually complete the requirement independently.

Why is being "information literate" important?

As a student who is information literate, you will be able to locate and use resources for your classes through both the library and the World Wide Web. You will also be able to use these resources effectively at each stage of a project, from defining a topic to critically evaluating the information found. Some of the information literacy skills you'll learn in this tutorial include developing research strategies, learning search techniques, and effectively evaluting resources.

Park Library Online Tutorial - This is a new tutorial created by my library at Central Michigan University. It is based on TILT. I like the design.

From the site:

Module 1: Starting Smart

This module covers types of information sources you can use for your topic. When you have completed this section of PLOT you should be able to:

identify a variety of information sources
distinguish between popular and scholarly periodicals
identify characteristics of information on the Web
identify characteristics of library resources

Module 2: Choosing a Topic

This module covers topic selection and how to identify keywords to search your topic. When you have completed this module you should be able to:

broaden or narrow a topic
identify keywords for a topic
use connectors and truncation in constructing a search
understand the difference between keyword and subject searching

Module 3: Using Centra

This module covers how to search Centra, the CMU library catalog. When you have completed this module you should be able to:

use Centra to find books by title, author, keyword or subject heading
identify the location of books
read a call number and use it to find items in the library

Module 4: Finding Articles

This module covers how to use article indexes to identify articles on a subject. After completing this module you should be able to:

choose an article database appropriate to your information need
use it to identify an article on a topic
search Centra to locate the periodical that contains your article

Module 5: Using the Web

When you have completed this section of PLOT, you should be able to:

understand the organization of the Internet
identify the major types of Web sites
use search engines and metasearch engines to search the Web
interpret and evaluate Web search engine results

Module 6: Citing Sources

This module covers citing sources, plagiarism, and copyright. When you have completed this module of PLOT, you should be able to:

recognize different parts of a citation
describe when to cite sources used in your work
list ways to avoid plagiarism
understand the reasons for copyright

Can an online tutorial pass the test for library instruction? This is by Marion Churkovich and Christine Oughtred. It is an evaluation and comparison of library skills instruction methods for first-year students at Deakin University.

From the site:

An online, interactive tutorial, Smart Searcher, was introduced at Deakin University as part of the library's information skills program in late 2000. As liaison librarians responsible for library skills training we wanted to compare and evaluate this mode of instruction with our normal face-to-face delivery of library instruction. This study found that students with face-to-face instruction did, in fact, gain higher post-test mean scores than students completing the online tutorial. Also, students attending these library sessions felt more confident about their library skills than those in the online tutorial only session.

TILT - Texas Information Literacy Tutorial

TILT - Texas Information Literacy Tutorial This is a nice information literacy tutorial. It has a straight content version as well as a media rich version that requires plug-ins. What is really great is that there is an Open License for this tutorial. This means you can take TILT and create you own version of it for your students. You can keep it as it is and place your own name on it or change what you don't like. This a great and a wonderful way to share an information literacy resource.

Here is the first part of the Open License:

"The Open Publication works may be reproduced and distributed in whole or in part, in any medium physical or electronic, provided that the terms of this license are adhered to, and that this license or an incorporation of it by reference is displayed in the reproduction.

All modified versions of documents covered by this license, including translations, anthologies, compilations and partial documents, must meet the following requirements:

The modified version must be labeled as such.

The person making the modifications must be identified and the modifications dated.

Acknowledgement of the original author and publisher must be retained according to normal academic citation practices.

The location of the original unmodified document must be identified.

The original author's (or authors') name(s) may not be used to assert or imply endorsement of the resulting document without the original author's (or authors') permission.


Proper form for an incorporation by reference is as follows:

Copyright (c) year by author's name or designee. This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the TILT Open Publication License (the latest version is presently available at http://tilt.lib.utsystem.edu/yourtilt/). " Full text of license at: http://tilt.lib.utsystem.edu/yourtilt/agreement.html.

Tales from the MSU Stacks

Tales from the MSU Stacks I did an orientation for new faculty the other day. I did a stand up act that delivered my information but still kept them entertained. As I work on delivering orientation information to different groups on campus, I remember the big project I worked on at Michigan State University back in 2000. The Tales from the MSU Stacks tutorial has 30 minutes of video (good PBS TV station filmed and edited video) with some web links and interactive content. I am still amazed how well it came out. It also does a good job of entertaining students. Be warned, if you don't have a digital or network Internet connection, the streaming video may be too much for you to download and view.