InfoSearch: a bilingual online information skills tutorial

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InfoSearcha bilingual online information
skills tutorial

• Bethan Wyn Jones
• 9 October 2004

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Why go online?

• Increasing student numbers
• Distance learners and Non-traditional students
• Non-attenders
• Back-up for face-to-face sessions
• Need to make material available remotely
• Need to present material visually

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Why in-house?

• Bilingualism
• Need to show students how to find information in
  local context
• Cost!
• Availability of expert technical support

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InfoSearch site
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Introductory Page
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Books
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Books
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Journals
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Online databases
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The Web
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Referencing
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Quizzes
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Assignments
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Bilingual issues

• Created one bilingual site
• Extensive use of folders
• More material presented visually
• Welsh interface

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Experience of delivery

• Used with 1st year social scientists,,
  psychologists, and education students, as
• part of foundation skills modules.
• Brief demo on how to use
• Students asked to work through specific sections,
  then carry out tasks
• Multiple-choices quizzes and online assignments
• Student response generally positive

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Benefits

• Face-to-face session times cut down
• Eliminates handouts!
• Distance learners have free access to all
  materials
• Provides a visual as well as a textual
  explanation of the searching process
• Multiple choice questions make it easy to assess
  students understanding of basic searching
  concepts
• Information searching becomes part of the
  teaching and learning process

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The future

• User evaluation
• Expansion of information literacy content what
  is a journal? How do you assess the quality of
  websites?
• Extension to other subject areas and library
  branches
• Completion of section on using online databases
• Links from library catalogue to help users at
  point of access self-registration