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There has been a long-standing interest within the academic librarian community to provide support for graduate students involved in interdisciplinary research. (more…)
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To graduate as self-guided, motivated lifelong learners, university students must become information literate. Teaching information literacy (IL) skills has long been a core role of librarians. As information and communication technology evolves, the focus of IL teaching changes with it. (more…)
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The human body is composed of multiple sensory modalities, and each of them engages a different part of the brain when stimulated. A common assumption of learning theory is that individuals prefer some sensory paths over others for learning, hence the distinction between kinesthetic, verbal, visual, and aural learners. (more…)
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Librarians and writing instructors are longtime allies that share the goal of teaching information literacy (IL). The IL concept, however, has been undertheorized in its relationship to writing pedagogy. In a series of articles on writing and IL, Norgaard challenges librarians and writing instructors to engage in an “informed conversation between writing and information literacy as disciplines and fields of endeavor.” (more…)
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Our classrooms now include an increasing number of students who learn differently, including those that have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), dyslexia, or other diagnosed or undiagnosed learning differences. This spectrum of students challenges academic librarians to develop new approaches to delivering information literacy instruction. (more…)
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Those who assist undergraduates at the reference desk know how tempting it can be, especially under time pressure, to find sources or perform online database searches for them. At the same time, reference librarians are likely to spend a significant number of classroom hours each week teaching undergraduates how to find, evaluate, and use information. (more…)
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They’ll do a database search, and they will invariably choose the first five articles in the list. Doesn’t matter if they’re good or bad, relevant or not.
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Academic librarians are currently challenged by a variety of nomenclature issues, nowhere more evident than in the expanding cluster of terms centered on concepts and processes of accessing, evaluating, and using information. This development is undoubtedly caused by the nature of library and information science itself, which is a soft applied discipline, or one without a prevailing explanatory paradigm, and with an overriding concern for application rather than pure theory. (more…)
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As librarians and instructors strive to provide optimal learning experiences in an online medium, they need to consider the different ways that students learn. Some of the questions that should be asked include: Does one’s learning style or preference for a face-to-face environment carry over into an online environment? What learning principles should be considered when designing instructional content for the Web? Are there clues that can be used from what is already known about learning styles for multicultural populations that should be considered as materials are put online? (more…)
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As more institutions of higher education recognize the importance of information literacy, the collaborative role for librarians is growing. (more…)