scholarly journals Wikipedia editing and information literacy: a case study

2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 5-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia Dawe ◽  
Ainslie Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Student Work ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Information Literacy Skills

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate the success of a Wikipedia editing assessment designed to improve the information literacy skills of a cohort of first-year undergraduate health sciences students. Design/methodology/approach In this action research case study (known hereafter as “the project” to differentiate this action research from the students’ own research), students researched, wrote and published Wikipedia articles on Australia-centric health topics. Students were given a pre- and post-test to assess levels of self-confidence in finding, evaluating and referencing information. Student work was also analysed in terms of article length and quantity and the type of information sources used. Findings Tests revealed that students’ self-confidence in their information literacy skills improved overall. Analysis of student work revealed that students wrote longer articles and incorporated more references than expected. References used were of appropriate quality relevant to the article despite minimal instructions. Originality/value There are few studies that investigate information literacy development through Wikipedia editing in Australian universities. This study shows that Wikipedia editing is an effective way to carry out student assessment prior to essay writing and an innovative platform to improve information literacy skills in undergraduate students.

Agoge: an information literacy game for transfer students

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 314-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Kearns ◽  
Breanne A. Kirsch ◽  
Virginia Cononie
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Interactive Game ◽  
Library Resources ◽  
Information Literacy Skills ◽  
Admissions Process

Purpose This paper aims to describe a successful outreach to transfer students through an interactive information literacy game. While the main purpose of the game is to introduce students to research and university library resources, it also allows for an analysis of incoming students’ information literacy skills. Design/methodology/approach This case study outlines the evolution of the game from a test-like tutorial administered through the Blackboard course management system to an interactive game in two iterations, describing the game in relation to game design and best practices and discussing how the artwork for the game was created. An analysis of data from student answers to the game questions over time shows what librarians have learned about the information literacy skills of incoming transfer students. Finally, student feedback about the game collected through a survey is presented along with ideas for future modifications. Findings This paper provides insights into the design and creation process of an interactive information literacy game and a model for how similar games can help librarians assess students’ information literacy skills. Practical implications Transfer students are hard to reach as a group at many institutions. An interactive game targeted to transfers during the admissions process is a potentially effective way to reach out to them. Originality/value This paper brings together two important issues in the library literature: how to reach out to transfer students and educational library games. Librarians involved with these issues will benefit from the paper’s insights and practical advice.

Are transfer students lagging behind in information literacy?

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 286-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Tong ◽  
Carrie Moran
Keyword(s):  
Sample Size ◽  
Transfer Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Library Instruction ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Literacy Proficiency ◽  
Information Literacy Skills

Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess the information literacy proficiency of transfer students. This assessment of skills was undertaken to improve the services provided to transfer students in academic libraries, with a particular focus on information literacy instruction. Design/methodology/approach The Project Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (SAILS) test was administered to assess the information literacy proficiency of a cohort of undergraduate students taking courses on two regional campuses of a four-year institution. In total, 114 students participated, and SAILS test scores were compared to several demographic characteristics using one-way and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Findings Results showed that undergraduate students generally lack information literacy skills, even at the junior and senior levels. Previous library instruction had a positive impact on scores for two of the Association of College and Research Libraries information literacy standards, suggesting that library instruction programs can be effective at improving these skills. When examining performance across the board on the various information literacy skills, there was no significant difference between transfer and native students in this result set. Research limitations/implications This study had a limited sample size, and only tested students taking courses from two regional campus locations. Follow-up studies could broaden the scope to include main campus transfer students to form a larger sample size. Originality/value It was difficult to find original research within the library literature that directly addressed information literacy skills in a mixed population of transfer and native students. Further research in this area can serve to improve the services offered to all students within academic libraries.

Information literacies of self-identified sadomasochists: an ethnographic case study

2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Tuomas Harviainen
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
National Level ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Ethnographic Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Information Literacy Skills

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present findings on the way in which self-identified sadomasochist apply their information literacy skills, and to analyse those applications in the context of existing research on information literacies (IL). Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on the author’s two decades of ethnographic work within a national-level sadomasochist community, supplemented by interviews with 30 practitioners and an extensive literature survey. Findings – Sadomasochists avoid the social stigma associated with their activities by developing highly refined ILs. Central among these is the ability to learn from other practitioners by reading and interpreting their actions as “texts.” They furthermore stockpile potentially useful information for later use. Their ILs not only make sadomasochists more skilled in their practices, but also provide them with safety. Originality/value – By examining its subject community, the paper develops the ideas of embodied information literacy, currently strongly associated with workplace learning, to the hobby and lifestyle sectors, as it deals with a particularly corporeal set of ILs. This radical example allows scholars to conduct research on the ILs other communities of practice, in which the activities may be less obviously corporeal, but the literacies just as based on embodied interpretation and the reading of others’ activities as texts.

Information Literacy Skills among Undergraduate Students of Women Colleges in Trichy, Tamil Nadu: A Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 68-71
Author(s):  
C. Ranganathan .
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Undergraduate Women ◽  
Creative Learning ◽  
Information Literacy Skills

With the development of a wide variety of technologies, the amount of information available to people at large is growing rapidly. Colleges as a place and education as a mean to disseminate and transmit information have to keep up with this development. The diverse forms of technology make access to information easier and colleges have to seize this opportunity in order to produce students who are socially, intellectually and academically adopt. The application of the rapidly growing technology development in college can create an attractive, interactive and creative learning environment. To achieve this goal however, action must be taken systematically so that students can benefit from the information for learning purposes. This study focused on the information literacy skills possessed by women undergraduate college students. Next, it explores the specific important skills of information literacy skills that is locating and selecting skills. The data on sources of information preferred by the undergraduate women students would reflect the skills possessed upon using those sources. Hence the problem of the study is Information Literacy skills of undergraduate students of women colleges in Trichy city.

Information literacy of students as a correlate of their use of electronic resources in university libraries in Nigeria

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 486-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ngozi Blessing Ukachi
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Literacy Skill ◽  
Strong Positive Correlation ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
Electronic Resources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Literacy Skills ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship existing between undergraduate students’ information literacy skills and their use of electronic resources (ERs) located in university libraries in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach – The descriptive design was adopted for the research questions, while the correlational design was adopted for the hypothesis. The purposive sampling technique was also adopted in selecting 12 university libraries which the preliminary study had revealed that they have Internet access and also subscribe to ERs in the south-west geopolitical zone in Nigeria. Questionnaire and oral interview were used for data collection. The population size consists of all the 36,116 library-registered undergraduate students in the 12 universities, while the sample size is 1,806 (5 per cent of the population) and the 12 librarians heading the ERs sections of the libraries. Findings – The findings revealed that ERs are not adequately utilized, undergraduate students do not possess adequate information literacy skills necessary for optimal utilization of the libraries’ ERs and strong positive correlation between level of undergraduate students’ information literacy skill and their use of ERs provided in the library. Practical implications – This paper provides practical insights into the impact of possessing inadequate information literacy skills on the use of ERs. Originality/value – This paper is the first to relate undergraduate students’ information literacy skills and their use of libraries’ ERs in south-western zone of Nigeria.

scholarly journals Repurposing Zotero for sustainable assessment and scalable modified embedding

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Zuege Kuglitsch
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Student Work ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Literacy Skills ◽  
Student Information ◽  
A New Technique ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – This paper aims to describe a new application of Zotero, a citation management system, for embedded librarianship and assessment. It explores student reception of this approach and maps Zotero’s capacities to represent citations to learning outcomes and information literacy frames that instruction librarians assess. Design/methodology/approach – The librarian worked with a course using Zotero group libraries for collaborative work, used Zotero to communicate with students and assess their information literacy skills and surveyed the students to determine their perception of librarian participation via Zotero. Findings – Using Zotero’s features made it possible to formatively and summatively assess student work quickly, and students were receptive to librarian participation via Zotero. Practical implications – This suggests that librarians facing difficulty embedding in online courses or those seeking to assess student work may wish to explore Zotero as a sustainable solution to both challenges. Originality/value – This paper posits a solution to common challenges for online embedded librarianship and suggests a new technique for assessing student information literacy in a context that supports information literacy.

Lessons learned from designing flipped lessons for fourth grade students: implications for school librarians

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 19-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniella Smith
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Technology Implementation ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Flipped Learning ◽  
School Librarians ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Literacy Skills

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine student perceptions of flipped learning lessons designed to teach information literacy skills. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-method design was implemented using a paper-based survey and an online focus group. The survey asked questions about the participants’ perceptions of the flipped lessons. The focus group was used to clarify the participants’ responses to the survey questions. Findings A majority of the students enjoyed completing the lessons. Responses also indicated that a majority of the students felt that the lessons helped them prepare for class. However, issues with computers and internet connectivity at home resulted in some of the students completing the lessons before or after school. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to a class of 21 students enrolled in a public school in North Texas. Originality/value There is limited research supporting the value of flipped learning in relation to the technology implementation role of school librarians. This study provides insights into how school librarians can develop flipped learning lessons in collaboration with classroom teachers to improve the information literacy skills of students.

Examining digital information literacy as a determinant of women's online shopping behavior

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Munazza Mahmood ◽  
Syeda Hina Batool ◽  
Muhammad Rafiq ◽  
Muhammad Safdar
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Online Shopping ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Shopping Behavior ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Literacy Skills ◽  
Information Professionals ◽  
Online Shopping Behavior

PurposeThe present study aims to examine the current digital information literacy (DIL) skills of female online shoppers in Lahore city of Pakistan. Data were gathered from a purposive sampling of women, aged between 20–50 years who were buying products online, not from the traditional retail stores. Out of 309 received questionnaires, 269 responses were useable and were utilized for data analysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to deduce inferences.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative research approach was employed for this study, and a survey was conducted to collect the data from the study's respondents. For data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics were used.FindingsResults revealed that the digital information literacy skills of women were good to a moderate level. However, they were not confident in applying advanced searching options. In accordance with what was hypothesized in a directional hypothesis, DIL was found to be a strong predictor of online shopping behavior of women, consequently highlighting the importance of such competencies in modern life. Other findings illustrate that participating women rarely engaged in online shopping and felt hesitation in using credit/debit card for online transactions.Research limitations/implicationsThese observations highlight the important role of information professionals in creating digital literacy among different population groups, specifically women, by planning digital information instruction through courses, workshops and trainings. This could eventually be possible with the dynamic role of librarians or information professionals in the society.Originality/valueThe present study adopts the unique approach of measuring online shopping behavior of female shoppers in connection with their digital information literacy skills.

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