Beyond Google: Research for College Success

WELCOME to LIB 102: Beyond Google: Research for College Success.  This is a course that focuses on the topic of Information Literacy.  We think of literacy as the ability to read; however today there are many types of literacies.  You may have heard people talk about Health Literacy, Financial Literacy, Computer Literacy, Digital Literacy, or Media Literacy.  This course is about Information Literacy--the ability to efficiently find and use information appropriately and ethically.  

Can you use a 'public tweet with comment' in your research paper? This course is designed to help you develop skills needed to become an expert in utilizing the appropriate sources you will need for your assignments, research papers, presentations, and more.  More importantly, you will find out about citing tweets, blogs, podcasts, articles, or books that you want to include in your research papers.  The course runs seven-and-a-half weeks long and consists of seven (7) lessons.  The course will utilize scaffolding strategies framed by concepts from the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (ACRL 2016).  As such, everyone who completes this course is officially considered an information literate individual!

Now to the structure of the course.  An annotated bibliography (created in drafts over 4 weeks), along with weekly mini-quizzes, discussion forums, tutorials, and videos, will aide you in understanding the concepts of information literacy. During, the first two weeks, the coursework will help you: (a) become familiar with resources and services that the library provides, (b) gain a better understanding of the research process, and (c) develop a focused research question.  The lessons of the following three weeks will address how to identify and locate the various resources (i.e. reference materials, books, articles, streaming media, and web resources).  You will learn the importance how each type of resource is evaluated for relevance, quality, or authority, and how to incorporate the various types of sources into the annotated bibliography you are preparing for this class (and for any future paper, presentation, or report).  The final two weeks' lessons will help you understand copyright issues, how to cite sources, what constitutes plagiarism, and how to avoid plagiarizing.  In the remaining half week that follows the seven lessons, you will submit your final draft of the annotated bibliography.  There is NO final exam. 

It is my hope that you will find this course useful, so much so you will continue to apply the skills you've learned here into future research projects. Now, start your engines and click on Lecture #1 to start your journey.  Cheers!

Reference

Association of College and Research Libraries. Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, 2016, http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework

• Students will learn to use appropriate tools to identify, locate, and evaluate information.
• Students will be able to develop and refine an academic research topic/question.
• Students will be able to think critically about information and communications media.
• Students will learn how to cite sources properly and avoid plagiarism.

Example Evidence that Objective Can Be Met

• Students will create and update a cumulative class project, and critically respond to weekly course assignments that explore various aspects of the contemporary information environment (e.g., social media, the news media, and scholarly publications).
• Students will produce a final research project that will culminate in an annotated bibliography on a subject of their choosing.
• Students will demonstrate an understanding of multiple perspectives through participation in classroom presentations and writing exercises.