I attended the CLA convention at the San Jose Convention Center in mid-November. The session entitled “Information Literacy Learning Strategies Faculty Love!” offered some suggestions to provide faculty with tools to increase information literacy through class assignments and incorporated into the class syllabus. Two librarians presented clear information on how to collaborate with teachers in an academic environment. One librarian, Barbara Quaron from CSU San Bernardino discovered professors want students who:
· are engaged in reading
· use a variety of information resources
· are well-rounded
She created information literacy assignments that address these areas and are flexible, use a variety of sources and critical thinking, and are easy to grade and update.
Barbara developed four assignments for freshmen and suggested using them individually or in sequence. Quickwrite covers reading: connecting an assigned reading to secondary sources and writing about the experience. WebWork is a tutorial that covers search engines and web evaluation through search strategies and domain searching. Step-by-Step is guided instruction to cover online tools, such as library databases. Meet the Author is an exercise for the student to think about criteria for the authority of a source. The professors found these tools beneficial for the students to connect reading and writing and think critically. A bonus to using these tools is that the professors are happy to keep them in their syllabus term after term. Samples of these assignments can be found at http://www.lib.csusb.edu/Barbara/infolit.cfm
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Library Instruction Sessions: what worked
Over the course of the fall 2008 semester the three SLIS interns taught a total of 53 English 1B classes. Most of the 75 minute sessions were taught solo, but a few were taught with one intern assisting another. In the beginning of the semester the new interns have opportunities to observe and/or assist experienced interns or librarians. One of the most helpful parts of assisting is being able to observe another’s approach to covering the basic concepts of using the library sources and web site and working with group activities. Because I was the ‘new’ intern, I was scheduled to assist during the first few library sessions and found the following observations helpful:
1. Prepare before the session by finding out the research topic from the English instructor. Try some searches in the catalog and databases to determine possible keywords and subject terms. The more communication you can have with the instructor before the session, the better. Depending on the topic, some databases are better to use than others. For example, ProQuest is good for current events. Opposing Viewpoints and CQ Researcher provide pros and cons for controversial subjects. Academic Search Premier covers many subject areas and is often the best place to start.
2. Outline your presentation with an estimated time allotment for each section.
3. Arrive at the classroom twenty to thirty minutes before the scheduled time in order to get the room unlocked, set up the projector and screen, check that the classroom computers are working with the browser open to the homepage (sjlibrary.org). Note that the computers are more stable with the Internet Explorer browser than with Firefox.
4. Write on the board your name and email address; phone numbers of the reference desk (408-808-2100) and Student Computer Services (408-808-2470); and the focus points of the session
· What you need to know about the library
· Group work with a database
· Brief presentations: Show the class how you used your database
5. At the beginning of the class tell the students how long the session will be.
6. Be explicit with goals/objectives for the group presentations.
7. Clap after each group presentation.
8. Summarize the main points about each database at the end of class and remind students that you and reference librarians are available to help them.
9. During the last five minutes of class, students should fill out the Student Evaluation on the English webpage (Library Home => Research => English & Comparative Literature => English 1B Resources).
Every class is different. You can enjoy, as well as, be challenged by the interaction with students.
1. Prepare before the session by finding out the research topic from the English instructor. Try some searches in the catalog and databases to determine possible keywords and subject terms. The more communication you can have with the instructor before the session, the better. Depending on the topic, some databases are better to use than others. For example, ProQuest is good for current events. Opposing Viewpoints and CQ Researcher provide pros and cons for controversial subjects. Academic Search Premier covers many subject areas and is often the best place to start.
2. Outline your presentation with an estimated time allotment for each section.
3. Arrive at the classroom twenty to thirty minutes before the scheduled time in order to get the room unlocked, set up the projector and screen, check that the classroom computers are working with the browser open to the homepage (sjlibrary.org). Note that the computers are more stable with the Internet Explorer browser than with Firefox.
4. Write on the board your name and email address; phone numbers of the reference desk (408-808-2100) and Student Computer Services (408-808-2470); and the focus points of the session
· What you need to know about the library
· Group work with a database
· Brief presentations: Show the class how you used your database
5. At the beginning of the class tell the students how long the session will be.
6. Be explicit with goals/objectives for the group presentations.
7. Clap after each group presentation.
8. Summarize the main points about each database at the end of class and remind students that you and reference librarians are available to help them.
9. During the last five minutes of class, students should fill out the Student Evaluation on the English webpage (Library Home => Research => English & Comparative Literature => English 1B Resources).
Every class is different. You can enjoy, as well as, be challenged by the interaction with students.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Teamwork
As an intern teaching information literacy at San Jose State University, I am experiencing the importance of teamwork. I am fortunate to have joined a group whose members worked together last semester, instructing undergraduate students in a single classroom session that provides a general introduction to the library and accessing databases online. The interactions among the interns, librarians, English professors, and students contribute to the success of the literacy program. The librarians understand the importance of the three features that Grassian and Kaplowitz (2001) emphasize in a discussion of management skills: to communicate, to collaborate, and to create teams in order to contribute to ongoing growth within the information literacy program.
As the newest member of the team, I benefit from the lessons learned by both the supervising librarians and the other interns. Our main supervisor is the English reference librarian, who is responsible for coordinating the library session schedule with the classroom and instructor assignments. In the first meeting I attended the group shared email address and phone numbers, which are important lines of communication to each other as we prepare to face classes on our own.
Collaboration along with communication has played the greatest role in the enjoyment I have found in participating in the instruction internship. The group collaborated before beginning the library sessions, as the interns were asked to revise the handouts that are given to the students to list features of the library and guide the exploration of the online databases. The tasks were divided among us and ongoing discussion resulted in a format and content for the handouts, which satisfied us all. Google Documents provided the tool to make the files available in a common location to edit with each of our modifications.
Because many of the English professors teach more than class, the interns also have the opportunity to collaborate in deciding which databases to use for a particular class topic. We compare notes in our plans before the class and share observations after the session. Before I began instructing, I observed and assisted in the library sessions taught by the other two interns, incorporating the techniques that I found would work best for my student interactions.
Outside the actual library instruction, team collaboration is established in communicating with the English professors about how the library session flows and the importance of including a research assignment with which the students are involved. The students benefit most as the librarian and professors work together and the “collaborative environment equalizes the playing field by developing mutual understanding” (Montiel-Overall, 2006, p. 26). The use of evaluations provides further sharing of ideas by all involved in the learning process: the library instructors, English professors, and students.
In order for the methods used in library instruction at the undergraduate level at San Jose State University to succeed in introducing the basic concepts of database access and search, communication and collaboration must be continual. Creating teams among the librarians offers the possibility of discovering new approaches to reach the common goal of introducing tools to enhance on-going learning for the students, as well as increasing our effectiveness as librarians.
References
Grassian, E. and Kaplowitz, J. (2001). Information Literacy Instruction: Theory and Practice. New York: Neal-Schuman.
Montiel-Overall, P. (2005). A theoretical understanding of teacher and librarian collaboration. School Libraries Worldwide, 11(2), 24-48.
As the newest member of the team, I benefit from the lessons learned by both the supervising librarians and the other interns. Our main supervisor is the English reference librarian, who is responsible for coordinating the library session schedule with the classroom and instructor assignments. In the first meeting I attended the group shared email address and phone numbers, which are important lines of communication to each other as we prepare to face classes on our own.
Collaboration along with communication has played the greatest role in the enjoyment I have found in participating in the instruction internship. The group collaborated before beginning the library sessions, as the interns were asked to revise the handouts that are given to the students to list features of the library and guide the exploration of the online databases. The tasks were divided among us and ongoing discussion resulted in a format and content for the handouts, which satisfied us all. Google Documents provided the tool to make the files available in a common location to edit with each of our modifications.
Because many of the English professors teach more than class, the interns also have the opportunity to collaborate in deciding which databases to use for a particular class topic. We compare notes in our plans before the class and share observations after the session. Before I began instructing, I observed and assisted in the library sessions taught by the other two interns, incorporating the techniques that I found would work best for my student interactions.
Outside the actual library instruction, team collaboration is established in communicating with the English professors about how the library session flows and the importance of including a research assignment with which the students are involved. The students benefit most as the librarian and professors work together and the “collaborative environment equalizes the playing field by developing mutual understanding” (Montiel-Overall, 2006, p. 26). The use of evaluations provides further sharing of ideas by all involved in the learning process: the library instructors, English professors, and students.
In order for the methods used in library instruction at the undergraduate level at San Jose State University to succeed in introducing the basic concepts of database access and search, communication and collaboration must be continual. Creating teams among the librarians offers the possibility of discovering new approaches to reach the common goal of introducing tools to enhance on-going learning for the students, as well as increasing our effectiveness as librarians.
References
Grassian, E. and Kaplowitz, J. (2001). Information Literacy Instruction: Theory and Practice. New York: Neal-Schuman.
Montiel-Overall, P. (2005). A theoretical understanding of teacher and librarian collaboration. School Libraries Worldwide, 11(2), 24-48.
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