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Information Literacy Guide for Staff

Embedding information literacy

Contextualized information literacy instruction promotes learning when it "connects learning targets to practical needs” [According to Booth (as cited in Kuglitsch, 2015)].

Students engage more actively in learning when information literacy concepts are embedded in an assessable task. Learning is enhanced when academics collaborate with librarians to create meaningful activities that advance information literacy development.

Create a poster

Students create a poster on a chosen topic and explain the resources they found and why they are helpful for answering the research question. Students get the opportunity to share what they learnt and to get immediate feedback. Examples of posters should be provided beforehand to demonstrate what is expected in their posters and how to design a poster.

Learning objective:

Students become aware that the authority of resources has to be assessed in context of the topic and the audience

Discuss resources in class

Ask students to find three resources on a particular topic before class. In class, ask them to discuss a possible answer to the assignment question and why the resources were helpful or not helpful (reliability, objectivity, bias, intended audience). (Buchanan, 2014)

Learning objective:

Students learn how to identify their information need depending on the topic they work on. They develop a critical view on different resources that are available to them.

Write an annotated bibliography

Students write an annotated bibliography and describe the resources they found and why they are useful for answering the assignment question.

Learning objective:

Students learn to evaluate resources and make decisions considering the context of their research topic.

Authority in context

Explain the difference between a journal and magazine for a particular topic. Students need to understand why they need to use scholarly resources such as journal articles for their assignments.

Learning objective:

Students understand the difference between journals, magazines and newspapers and their usefulness in different contexts.

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