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What information skills are 90% of high school graduates missing (based on Harvard research publications, MacArthur Foundation reports, and university faculty anecdotes)? What can we do to make sure our graduates are the college freshmen who know what they're doing and not the ones calling home to ask their Moms? Librarians and classroom teachers are both welcome to this discussion.
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WHAT COLLEGE-BOUND STUDENTS NEED
FROM THE LIBRARY
HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES…
Typically ill-prepared to tackle college-level research
SKILLS COLLEGE FRESHMEN LACK
Determining relevance
Evaluating information
Finding credible information online
Finding & using different resources
Searching laterally--using citations
SKILLS NEW HIRES LACK
• Knowing when to ask for help
• Using a variety of resources
• Finding patterns / making connections
• Exploring thoroughly
INFORMATION SURVIVAL SKILLS
How a library works
ASK! You’re not bothering that librarianNot everyone behind a library desk is a librarian
Know what you’re looking for
There are different tools for different information
Most libraries have similar sets of tools
INFORMATION SURVIVAL SKILLS
Research is not Googling
Corollary 1: Google does not have everything
see: Lane Wilkinson
Corollary 2: on the Internet, everyone has an opinion
How to make Google do what you want
Search engines deliberately change results
INFORMATION SURVIVAL SKILLS
How to develop a researchable topic Pre-search
Understand the topic
Wikipedia is a great starting place
INFORMATION SURVIVAL SKILLS
Developing a search strategy
Use the right tool for the job
How to find a useful book…how to use itThat thing in the front is called the table of contents
That thing in the back is called the index
How to use a databaseTwo words: advanced search
Primary vs. secondary and popular vs. scholarly
INFORMATION SURVIVAL SKILLS
How to create a citationAPA, Chicago, MLA: even if not fluent in them all
INFORMATION SURVIVAL SKILLS
Other pearls of wisdom
Separate junk from important stuff
Evaluate while you search
Not everything is digital (yet)
It’s not cheating to backtrack sources (even Wikipedia’s)
Patience
“I ALREADY KNOW HOW TO DO THAT!”
ERIAL Project:
Only 7 out of 30 students could conduct a well-executed search
Students click the first few links and quit
Critical searching skills take years to develop with research-based writing assignments, which means…
you have to teach them!
YOU COULD USE SOME HELP
Work with faculty
It helps if your teachers realize: this won’t add a lot to their workload
students don’t know how to search effectively
students need these skills
Talk with each other so expectations line up
Evaluate your work afterwards
A FEW IDEAS
Teachers should bring classes at the beginning of the assignment
Students need to know the assignmentAsk them to explain to you what they are doing
Show students a model of what’s expected
A FEW IDEAS
If you hear, “we come to the library all the time,” you’re doing a good job.
If you hear, “I already know what you’re going to tell us,” let that student run with it.
A FEW IDEAS
Why are citations and works cited important?
“When talking about bibliographies, I always talk about the way knowledge is built upon previous knowledge.”
Kathy Fester, The June Shelton School
A FEW IDEAS
Require students to critically annotate bibliographies (as they research)
Consider an annotated bib instead of a research paper
“We have the kids take a journal article and actually check the scientists on their quotes. The kids track back on the author’s sources and rate them on how they did as far as taking things out of context, whether they got it right, etc.”
CD McLean, Berkeley Preparatory School
A FEW IDEAS
Adjust due dates
Cite one journal article and one book
Design deep projects around specific, personal questions
Let the class brainstorm topics
Break it up
Build up to it
Works Consulted ERIAL (Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries) Project. Ongoing. http://www.erialproject.org/publications/presentations/ Flanagin, Andrew J. and Miriam Metzger. Kids and Credibility: An Empirical Examination of Youth, Digital Media Use, and Information Credibility. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation reports on digital media and learning. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2010. https://archive.org/details/9780262514750 Foster, Nancy Fried. “The Mommy Model of Service.” Studying Students: The Undergraduate Research Project at the University of Rochester. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2007. Gasser, Urs et al. “Youth and Digital Media: From Credibility to Information Quality.” Berkman Center Research Publication No. 2012-1. Youth and Media. 16 Feb 2012. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2005272 Head, Alison J. "Learning the Ropes: How Freshmen Conduct Course Research Once They Enter College." Project Information Literacy Research Report, December 4, 2013. http://projectinfolit.org/publications Head, Alison J. et al. "What Information Competencies Matter in Today's Workplace?" Library and Information Research, May 2013, vol. 37, no. 114, 75 - 104. http://projectinfolit.org/publications Maxwell, Connie and Johnathan Wilson. “Information Skills for College Success: Observations, Challenges, Ideas and Objectives.” AISL conference presentation. 23 April 2014. Workshop notes by Katie Archambault. http://aislconferencereport2014.weebly.com/workshop-notes.html Purcell, Kristen et al. “How Teens Do Research in the Digital World.” 1 Nov 2012. Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Student-Research Utecht, Jeff. “Why K-12 schools are failing by not teaching SEARCH.” The Thinking Stick. 19 Nov 2012. http://www.thethinkingstick.com/why-k-12-schools-are-failing-by-not-teaching-search/ Offers an interesting response to “How Teens Do Research in the Digital World.” Wilkinson, Lane. “Google has Everything! (but the Library has More!)” Sense and Reference: a Philosophical Library Blog. 10 Nov. 2011. http://senseandreference.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/google-has-everything/
Photo Credits Claremont Colleges Digital Library Flickr Pool https://www.flickr.com/photos/claremontcollegesdigitallibrary/sets/72157625200023672/
Florida Memory Flickr Stream https://www.flickr.com/photos/floridamemory/
GCSU Library Special Collections Flickr Pool https://www.flickr.com/photos/gcsuspecialcollections/
Iowa Digital Library Flickr Pool https://www.flickr.com/photos/uiowa/sets/
LSE Library Flickr Pool https://www.flickr.com/photos/lselibrary/
Ohio University Libraries Flickr Pool https://www.flickr.com/photos/ohiouniversitylibraries/with/3514262260
Ed Uthman’s Rhodes College Flickr Pool https://www.flickr.com/photos/euthman/sets/72157602878707187
