Academic Libraries in the Net Generation Embracing Technology to Infuse Information Literacy through

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Academic Libraries in the Net GenerationEmbracing
Technology to Infuse Information Literacy
throughout the Curriculum

• Pamela A. Jackson
• April 14, 2005

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Net Generation Students

• Also called Net Gen, Generation Y, Millennials,
  Echo Boomers, Boomlets.
• Born after 1981.
• Net Gen students grew up with digital media
  integrated into their everyday lives (WWW, video
  games, chat rooms, Blogs, IM, cell phones, etc).

A boomlet born in 1992.
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Placing the Net Gen in Context

• Do you remember when handwriting letters was a
  necessity, not a vintage mode of communicate?
• Did you wait in line to see Star Wars in the
  theateron its first release?
• Was your first hyperlink in a Choose Your Own
  Adventure book?
• How many of you were regularly using a computer
  by the ages of 3-8?

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Circa 1981 A Techno Turning Point

• MTV goes on the air debuting Video Killed the
  Radio Star by The Buggles.
• Supreme Court rules to allow television cameras
  in the courtroom.
• Commodore Vic-20 debuts in May 1981 and becomes
  the first personal home computer to sell more
  than a million units.

Pacman-mania swept the nation.
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Learning Characteristics of Net Gen Students

• Comfortable with the digital environment.
• Accustomed to independent navigation of the Web.
• Visually-oriented.
• Accustomed to figuring things out themselves
  (trial-and-error, experimentation).
• Enjoy collaboration and teamwork.
• Multitaskers.
• Expect immediate results and instant
  gratification.

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SDSU Students

• Average Age 24.2
• Undergraduates 22.6
• Graduates 30.9
• International Student Enrollment 4.2 of student
  population (SDSU ranks 13th in nation for hosting
  international students)
• Source SDSU Office of Analytic Studies Fall
  2004 Data for San Diego Campus

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International Net Gen Students

• Todays international students are globally
  connected and techno-savvy.
• Like domestic students, they think in terms of
  their lives as they relate to computers and
  computer access.

Source Jackson, Pamela. Incoming International
Students and the Library A Survey. Reference
Services Review, 33(2). (Forthcoming 2005).
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Net Gen Students and Academic Libraries

• May be confused by library resources and the
  research process.
• Find library resources are difficult to figure
  out on their own.
• Rely heavily on the Internet for research.
• Approach research in a nonlinear fashion.

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Information and Communication Literacy (ICT)

• Net Gen students
• are web-smart, but may not know how to make
  appropriate use of technology to communicate
  ideas in presentations or class assignments
• need information literacy instruction to develop
  critical thinking and evaluation skills
• need help constructing effective search
  strategies.

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Information Seeking Activity

• Pretend you are a Net Gen student who lives
  on-campus. You need to write a research paper
  for a sociology course. Its due in 3 weeks.
  Rank the following resources in the order that
  you would seek the information
• ___ Photocopy an article from the current
  periodicals section in Love Library
• ___ Search Google for the American Sociological
  Associations Website
• ___ Request a book through Link
• ___ Link to the full-text of an article from
  Academic Search
• ___ Get a book from the Asian collection on the
  4th floor
• ___ Obtain a newspaper article from microfilm on
  the 1st floor
• ___ Order an article through interlibrary loan

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Technology-Enhanced Academic Library Services

• E-journals
• Electronic Reserves
• Virtual Reference (chat, email, text messaging)
• Open URL Linking (SFX)
• PDA/Cell Phone/Smart Phone/iPod access to library
  resources
• Digital Collections (images, audio, video)
• Federated Searching

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Live Online Reference

• Makes use of digital media with which Net Gen
  students are comfortable
• Available 24/7
• Can work well for office hours
• More research needed--convenience doesnt equal
  quality

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Technology-Enhanced Information Literacy
Instruction

• Although technology is not the answer to every
  instructional problem, it can
• enhance student learning
• keep academic libraries relevant and on the
  cutting edge
• make library material more visually oriented
• actively engage Net Gen students
• help students interact with digitally-rich world
  of information

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Infusing Information Literacy across the
Curriculum

• Employ innovate technologies to enhance
  student learning and facilitate articulation of
  InfoLit into the curriculum.
• Embed digital library resources into Course
  Management Software (BlackBoard, WebCT, ANGEL)
• Create Self-paced Interactive Web-based Tutorials
• Explore Emerging Technologies (RSS Feeds, Blogs,
  WIKIs, Gaming)

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Interactive Web-based Tutorials

• Tutorials are innovative ways to stimulate
  student learning. Students learn important
  research skills
• at their own pace
• outside of traditional class time and classrooms
• when it is convenient for them (24/7)
• in ways suited to individual learning styles

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Interactive Web-based Tutorials

• Tutorials can influence changes in ILI
• Students learn at their own pace, outside of
  physical classrooms and traditional class time.
• Offers a progressive reinforcement of information
  literacy skills.
• Students gain a common foundation of knowledge
  before the in-person library instruction session.
• Face time with students can be advanced and
  student-centered when tutorials precede in-person
  library instruction.

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Gaming

• Net Gen students are growing up with
  edutainment/infotainmentHow will Higher
  Education respond?
• Role Playing Games (RPGs)
• Science experiments
• Online Coloring Books and Puzzles
• Interactive Public Service Announcements

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Blogs (Online Journals)

• Yes, students do still read and write.
• Academic Library Blogs
• promote services, collections, events
• highlight resources and instruction
• subject-specific for departments or classes
• Potential ILI use
• Student research process blog

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RSS (Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site
Summary)

• RSS feed is usually a group of headlines, brief
  summaries, and links to full text.

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RSS (Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site
Summary)

• Push out information that students and faculty
  can pull in to their personal web portals.
• Partner with technology centers on campus to
  offer RSS feeds and links to trusted freeware
  aggregators.
• Embed library RSS feeds into CMS.

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WIKIs

• Collaborative content composition software
• Potential ILI use
• Plagiarism instructiongroups of students can
  work collaboratively to read original passages,
  then write and edit paraphrases until they are
  satisfied as a group that they have avoided
  plagiarism.

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Google Smoogle

• Are libraries becoming less relevant to our
  user community?
• Calm down, its just another search interface.
• Students need critical thinking and evaluation
  skills.
• Role of information literacy is to teach students
  how to interact with information.

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Blended Librarianship

• Librarians need to embrace the scholarship of
  teaching and learning
• instructional design
• teaching pedagogies
• assessment of student learning
• Blended Librarians help faculty to achieve
  student learning outcomes by designing learning
  tools and objects that facilitate the mastery of
  information literacy skills.
• Source collaborate conference

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Campus-wide Partnerships for Information and
Communication Literacy

• Campus-wide responsibility for graduating
  information literate students
• Build partnershipseveryone plays a role
• Information Literacy House

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Get the Students Involved

• Librarians should consult with students in
  the design phase of services and incorporate
  students on teams that make decisions about the
  implementation of those services. Making use of
  the imagination, creativity, technical skills,
  and perspectives of Net Gen students is the best
  way to ensure that new services will be
  responsive to both their needs and their style
  (13.9)

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Challenges for Academic Libraries

• Advances in technology have a significant impact
  on staff
• Funding
• Technology fluency required of librarians
• Need for professional development opportunities
  and support

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• Further Reading

• Questions/Comments?
• Thank You.