Theme: New challenges for information literacy
Author Abstracts
Karen
Harbo, Aarhus University Library, Denmark and Thomas Skov Jensen, DTU Bibliotek, Danmarks Tekniske Informationscenter,
Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark (Presenting authors)
Introduction: The DEFF project; E-learning,
information literacy and library services, supports the education policy
ambition of enhancing links between education and employment. The
project consortium includes libraries from all Danish universities,
university colleges and one business academy. It is monitored by an
Advisory Board of members of the aforementioned educational
institutions. Timeframe for the project is 2014-16. The project
understands ?employability? as: Libraries will, in close cooperation
with study programmes, strengthen students? ability to: Perform
independently and critically in a professional context by being able to
identify, collect, evaluate, organize and present information via
digital platforms. This concerns the dissemination of knowledge on
digital information literacy within the context of the study programmes;
which students will continue to benefit from in their subsequent
employment. Methods A partnership is made between the digital library
(partner libraries involved) and the virtual learning environment
(educational institutions), based on the above definition of
employability. This is done within the framework of Learning Management
Systems and Massive Open Online Courses. The libraries and study
programmes will collaborate to create e-learning objects based on the
relevant digital library systems and information resources. Departments
from 3 Danish universities will contribute by; strengthening the
participants of the project?s skills in e-didactics and the development
of e-learning objects (SDUUP, University of Southern Denmark),
developing a range of flexible concepts for the integration of the
virtual library into learning environments (IVA, Copenhagen University)
and evaluating the project?s activities (ELearning Lab, Aalborg
University). Sustainable results Train library staff to work together
with study programmes via the virtual learning environments. Developing
flexible concepts for integrating the virtual library with study
environments. Knowledge of how inputs created by the project for each
study programme should function. Conclusions The final results of the
project can be presented at the conference in June 2016.
Keywords: digital information literacy ; LMS ; MOOC
Margrethe Søvik, VID Specialized University, Bergen, Norway (Presenting author)
I
propose to present an ongoing study on information literacy practices
among nurses working on the primary care sector. This explorative study
aims at mapping and assessing needs for information, possible obstacles
and drivers for searching for and using new information in clinical
settings.
Librarians involved in nursing education spend much time
training the students to become information literate within their
field. Ideally, they will now be able to work according to
evidence-based practices when they go out in clinical practice. However,
as recent research suggests (Wahoush & Banfield 2014) we do not
know much about the transitions from nursing education to working as a
clinical nurse and how their training in information literacy is used
and implemented in practice. This is also so in a Norwegian context.
Even though we spend much time and resources training students in
information searching, there are few studies on how their working
practices look like and whether they will be able to use what they have
learnt.
In cooperation with Bergen municipality, a questionnaire
will be sent out to nurses working in nursing homes. The questionnaire
asks about familiarity with evidence based practices, previous
information literacy instruction as well as information searching
related to their work. The results from the survey will be discussed in
light of a literature review on the topic of information literacy
instruction and clinical nurses. Hopefully the results will reveal
something about how librarians, especially working in the field of
health and medical studies, should approach training in information
literacy directed at nurses. How may we provide them with tools that
form the basis for lifelong learning and continuous professional
development?
Wahoush, O. and Banfield, L. 2014. Information
literacy during entry to practice: information-seeking behaviors in
student nurses and recent nurse graduates. Nurse Education Today.
34(2):208-13.
Keywords: nurses ; instruction ; evidence-based practice
Majbritt Ursula Johansen and Kirstin Remvig, University of Southern
Dennmark, Odense M, Danmark (Presenting authors)
Information literacy implies for
many curriculums and researchers that new generations of students are
digital natives and capable. However, studies show that this is not
often the case. From these studies and our own experiences working with
multidisciplinary studies at Health Sciences we found that students were
not as information literate as required in curriculum.
Using Design
Based Research as a method (following the four phases below), we
developed a new information search process and a web-based tool with
feedback opportunities from teachers and librarians in order to qualify
the students competencies.
Problem identification: Despite earlier
initiatives from library and department, the students didn?t achieve
higher levels of information literacy.
Prototyping: Requirements and educational material were merged and tested while gathering feedback.
Iterations:
The prototype and feedback were evaluated and developed into a new
information search process, which was tested and evaluated.
Reflexion
& generalization: Initiative was taken to developing a web-based
application visualizing the steps with learning points as self-feedback,
peer-feedback and counselor feedback.
The result of the project is a
new information search process model and a web-based learning
environment called B!NKO 2.0. The evaluations have shown positive
feedbacks on both the process and the web tool. The project has opened
up new possibilities that go beyond the Health multidisciplinary
students. A new project concerning Humanities and Social Science is
incipient. In this project new functionalities are also expected.
B!NKO
2.0 has to a great extent shown its worth to help Health
multidisciplinary students to get a deeper understanding of information
literacy, and how to develop and change searches towards better results.
B!NKO 2.0 has also given a positive „side effect? on the librarians
work. Time spend on the „Book a Librarian? service have decreased for
the librarians using B!NKO 2.0.
Keywords: search process ; web-based learning environment
Lene Østvand and Helene Andreassen, University of Tromsø – The Arctic
University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway (Presenting authors)
In addition to the
demanding task of writing a thesis, PhD students face the challenge of
balancing the roles as „good scientists? and „good academics?, which in
some cases might conflict (Carter, 2015). They are expected to carry out
a laborious research project where they are responsible for keeping in
line with the norms and values of research ethics, all while building
the foundation for their research career, where a „publish or perish?
culture is currently ruling.
Information literacy teaching has
experienced a shift in focus in latter years. If libraries traditionally
have devoted their time to teaching undergraduate students the hows of
using sources, they now spend more time on the whys and the importance
of being information literate for the acquisition of knowledge. At our
university, this shift has led to reflection upon how the information
literacy needs persist, but gradually change, from undergraduate to PhD
level. In 2015, to meet the needs of the latter, we launched the
cross-disciplinary seminar series Take control of your PhD journey (cf.
https://uit.no/ub/laringsstotte#linje2).
Presently, researchers
are highly encouraged to publish text and research data open access,
thereby contributing to the integrity and transparency of science. In
this presentation, on the basis of open-ended questionnaire data
collected during Spring-2016, we aim to assess to which degree our PhD
students reflect and act upon academic integrity and open access, and
their possible conflict with assumed career-building measures. In light
of these findings, we discuss whether or not PhD students are
sufficiently aware of this challenge, and further, which actions should
be taken by university libraries to help them meet the expectations of
present-day academia.
Carter, G. (2015, August 12). Goals of
science vs Goals of scientists (& a love letter to PLOS One) [Web
log post]. Retrieved from
http://socialbat.org/2015/08/12/goals-of-science-vs-goals-of-scientists-a-love-letter-for-plos-one/
Keywords: PhD students ; academic integrity ; open access
Nadja Ylvestedt and Johanna Rayner, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden (Presenting authors)
Purpose: Uppsala
University Library offers a range of workshops and lectures to students
and researchers in order to help them improve their information seeking
skills, academic writing and critical scientific thinking. Our Library
education program mainly focuses on sources such as books or scholarly
articles but students in many subject fields such as Technology, Natural
Sciences as well as Medicine and Pharmacology often face additional
challenges since they have to handle large amounts of data. This might
involve creating data from scratch or collecting open data from
authorities. We identified the fact that we are hardly incorporating
data management in library education as a potential weakness. This
project was developed in order to determine if the library should get
involved in teaching data literacy and if so how we as librarians could
improve our teaching competence regarding data literacy in higher
education.
Method: The data literacy project will be
completed during spring term 2016 and consists of two phases. The first
phase will involve requiring knowledge on how data literacy is currently
taught at the university by conducting interviews with key scientists.
These interviews in combination with extensive research will be used to
improve the librarian?s competence in the area. The second phase of the
project consists of developing material in addition to the already
existing library education program. This will include instructions
designed with the aim to incorporate data literacy using the acquired
knowledge from phase one. This material will be tested and evaluated by a
pilot group of students. We believe data management to be one of the
current challenges for academic libraries and a key for staying relevant
for students and researchers.
Keywords: data literacy ; library instruction
Helle Brink and Tine Furbo Carlsen, Aalborg University Library, Denmark (Presenting authors)
The
presentation will focus on the challenge of unifying the librarians?
skills, knowledge, and eagerness to communicate these, with the
students? need for information literacy (IL). We propose that this is
done best by departing from the view of IL as a normative concept where
the meeting between librarian and the students focusses on teaching the
students tools and techniques for future use. We perceive it as far more
beneficial to view IL from a Limberg perspective, where focus is on the
students? learning and needs in his/her current situation and context.
Based on teaching experiences at Aalborg University Library, we will
explore the shift in approach to IL through two cases. The teaching
activities at Aalborg University are founded on problem-based learning
(PBL). PBL entails among other things that students are responsible for
their own learning and work with real problems in groups. PBL is
therefore a highly significant element in our perception of IL and a
corner stone in the teaching activities at Aalborg University Library.
Our new approach to IL specifically means that we more gradually than
before instill the students with the knowledge and skills needed. In our
teaching activities, we focus on showing the complexity of the academic
world of information, and at the same time provide the students with
basic navigation skills. Hopefully, this enables them to discover what
it is they need to know in order to become information literate in the
given situation, and if necessary ask us for assistance to achieve this.
Based on their motivation to learn, we can support our teaching with a
guidance session where we unfold the tools and knowledge required for
them to become information literate in their given situation.
Keywords: information literacy ; problem-based learning ; higher education
Torstein Låg, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway (presenting author)
Teaching
effectively with limited classroom time may be one of the harder
challenges faced by information literacy teachers. In the flipped
classroom (FC) teaching model, most of the information transmission
teaching is delivered outside of class, usually via video, freeing up
time in class for student centred learning activities.
In an
attempt to improve intermediate level undergraduate information literacy
(IL) sessions, we adopted the FC model for two groups of students in
each of two programmes of study, that had previously been taught using a
traditional (TC) model.
The aim of the present paper is to
describe and analyse the teaching model interventions, and to evaluate
their relative impact on (1) student perceptions of usefulness and
quality, and (2) student cognitions about the IL sessions.
Responses
to student evaluation forms from sessions using the TC model (N = 65),
was compared to those from the current academic year using the FC model
(N = approx. 60-70) [at the time of writing only data from one of the
two student groups in this condition are in], in effect creating a
quasi-experimental control group design. Students judged session
usefulness and quality on two 4-point Likert type scale items. Free
response cognitions were elicited with an open-ended question asking for
suggestions for improvement and other comments.
Responses to
rating questions will be summarized and compared across conditions.
Responses to the open ended question will be coded by an assistant blind
to the conditions, using a classification scheme designed to capture
both the content of cognitions as well as student general attitude
toward the IL sessions.
The comparison of the results of the
ratings and response content analyses across conditions will be
discussed in relation to the challenges faced and solutions found in the
planning and implementation of the two different teaching models.
Keywords: information literacy ; teaching ; flipped classroom
Dr.
Göran Hamrin, Rosa Lönneborg (Presenting author) and Maria Unger, KTH Royal institute of technology,
Stockholm, Sweden
The KTH Library has a long tradition of teaching
information searching to technology students. Over the last years
teaching information searching has become teaching information literacy,
including more of evaluation and source criticism. Traditionally, there
have been three forms of teaching: independent credit-giving courses,
integrated shorter modules in subject-specific courses and support via
individual face-to-face supervision.
Although evaluation and
source criticism are now important parts of our teaching, much focus is
still on search methodology. During this spring we, and our teaching
colleagues at the KTH library, will revise and develop the content and
pedagogical methodology for the courses and integrated modules in
information literacy. In doing so, we need to address important
questions on how to face the changing information landscape.
Should
the teaching be adapted to the search behaviour observed in our
students or should we keep trying to change that behaviour? Do we put
our effort into directing students to traditional scientific subject
databases or should we put more emphasis on the importance of critically
evaluating the search results, regardless of their source? How do we
find the balance between these alternatives?
Recently published
studies have already covered these questions to some extent. The
findings from a systematic literature search, together with insights
collected from our development work during Spring 2016, will be used in
an analysis of these questions in the context of teaching information
literacy for engineering students.
Keywords: engineering students ; search behaviour
