Have you ever started doing a spring or summer or fall or winter or some other time cleaning and come across books you haven’t seen or used in years? Have you ever wondered what to do with books you no longer want or need? Believe it or not, there are several wonderful options available for these books if they are in good condition, i.e. all the pages are there and readable, no mold or mildew, and the binding is…
We’ve done it, friends. We’ve reached the final frame in the ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education: Searching as Strategic Exploration. Thanks for sticking with me! “Searching as Strategic Exploration” addresses the part of information literacy that we think of as “Research.” It deals with the actual task of searching for information, and the word “Exploration” is a really good word to use because it’s evocative of the kind of struggle we sometimes feel when we approach research.…
Have you ever been interested in doing archival research, but you’re not sure where to start? Unlike most other library resources, archival collections are generally unique materials which only exist in one place. This is why they can be so valuable to research, since the information and perspective they contain often can’t be found anywhere else. But it also presents a problem: How to locate the collections which might be useful to you. Here are some tips and tricks on…
We’ve made it, everyone. We’ve arrived at my favorite frame: Scholarship as Conversation. Is it weird to have a favorite frame of information literacy? Probably. Am I going to talk about it anyway? You betcha. What does Scholarship as Conversation mean? Scholarship as conversation refers to the way scholars reference each other and build off of one another’s work, just like in a conversation. Have you ever had a conversation that started when you asked someone what they did last weekend…
Have you ever listened to a podcast and thought: "Hey, I could do that!" Well, I'm taking a class on podcasting this summer, and I can tell you that yes, you probably can do that, but there is a lot to know about the equipment, audio editing, software, storytelling, and interview preparation. To create a podcast episode you will need a recording setup and audio software to edit the recording. And guess what? The library's got you covered in the…
Onward! This week we’re talking about the Information Literacy Frame Research as Inquiry. Inquiry is another word for curiosity or questioning. I like to think of this frame as Research as Curiosity, because I think it more accurately captures the way our adorable human brains work. Inquiring Minds Want to Know When you think to yourself, “How old is Madonna?” and you Google it to find out she’s 60 (as of the creation of this post), that’s research! You had a…
Today we're talking about the third Frame of Information Literacy, which is Information Has Value. By the way, these frames aren't organized by importance —it's just alphabetical. There are a lot of different ways we value things. Some things, like money, are valuable to us because we can exchange them for goods and services. On the other hand, some things, like a skill, are valuable to use because we can exchange them for money (which we exchange for more goods and…
As part of a joint venture between the Library and the University Technology Council (UTC) to bring a video streaming service to the campus community, Mediasite was selected for a one-year pilot program in the fall of 2017. After a successful test phase Mediasite has been in full production since the fall of 2018. So, what is Mediasite and who can use it? Well in the library we use it for our video course reserve materials. Pretty much gone are…
In our April 2nd post, we discussed the Information Literacy Frame, Authority is Constructed and Contextual. Today, we'll focus on the second frame: Information Creation as a Process. So first of all, let's get this out of the way: Everyone is a creator of information. When you write an essay, you're creating information. When you log the temperature of the lizard tank, you're creating information. Every Word doc, Google Doc, survey, spreadsheet, Tweet, and PowerPoint that you've ever had a hand in—they are…
Yep, it’s a real thing, and you may suffer from it without even knowing it. Library anxiety is a common problem that can prevent people from using the library and its resources effectively, which can hurt your ability to complete coursework or possibly lower your potential grade. So, what exactly is library anxiety? Very basically, library anxiety is a fear of either using the library space, which is often seen as overwhelming and confusing, or the fear of not knowing…