Designing Library Research Assignments

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Designing Library Research Assignments

• Co-operating with Instructors to Create
  Successful Assignments
• OLA session 918, January 31, 2004

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STUDENT PERSPECTIVEON TIME

• Hours in a week 168
• Student use of time
• 5 courses, excluding labs (15 hrs/wk)
• class prep, 1 hr/wk per course (5 hrs/wk)
• works part-time (10 hrs/wk)
• 30 minute commute to campus (5hrs/wk)
• socializes 2hrs/day (14 hrs/wk)
• sleep 8hrs/night, meals 3hrs/day (77hrs/wk)
• misc 1hr/day (7hrs/wk)
• Total 133 hours
• Amount of time left to complete assignments and
  study for exams 35 hrs/wk 1 hour/day per
  course.

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ASSIGNMENT 2ND YEAR COURSE

• 10 page essay on a recent topic,
• with a Canadian focus.
• To be completed in 4 weeks.
• Assignment is handed out at end of class with
  little or no explanation.
• Student files it away without thoroughly reading
  it. Knows its about doing an essay.

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SUGGESTIONS

• Read over the assignment with the class.
• Explain expectations, format, focus, etc.
• Explain that the search and research processes
  needed to prepare for the writing of the essay
  are key parts of the assignment.
• Keep the actual assignment brief. Add
  suggestions, guides and comments as supplementary
  material. Dont hand out a 10 page assignment for
  a 5 page essay.

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ANXIOUS PROCRASTINATION

• Student postpones work on the assignment for 10
  days because of 2 tests and 2 smaller assignments
  due earlier.
• Student also concerned about lack of research
  experience.
• Recognize that postponing happens, advise
  students how to do this wisely.
• - realistic assessment of time needed for a
  project.
• - preliminary search.
• Be aware that anxiety can lead to
• - procrastination and disinterest, difficulty in
  planning,
• inability to think clearly, etc.
• Make students aware of the realities of research
• - slow, erratic, inconvenient despite electronic
  resources
• some services like Interlibrary Loan require
  time.

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FINALLY GETTING DOWN TO WORK

• 2 1/2 weeks before the assignment is due, student
  reads the assignment thoroughly and goes to the
  library.
• Student does not ask for help in the library,
  because this is considered an exceptional
  practice, done only as a last resort.

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THE LIBRARY SEARCH

• Student searches library catalogue using
  keywords.
• Does not consider
• general encyclopedia, dictionaries or course
  readings as a starting point to define and
  review a topic.
• different synonyms for keywords.
• Boolean search techniques.
• Library of Congress subject headings.
• use of books versus periodical articles, etc.
• use of government material.
• use of the Internet.

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STUDENTS RESULTS

• Student finds little relevant material. Two weeks
  (one half of the time) is gone and the student
  has accomplished very little.
• Prepare students by requiring them to take
  necessary library tutorials before an assignment
  or as part of an assignment.
• Make student aware that the research process is
  not a neatly compartmentalized process. They
  should be reading some materials while they are
  still searching for others.

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CONSULTATION WITH THE FACULTY

• Student waits 2 days for scheduled office hours.
• Prof. recommends a journal article.
• Cites source as the journal of NATIVE STUDIES
• cites source verbally only does not check what
  student writes down.
• Student gets impression that the cited article
  will solve all assignment problems goes to
  library and searches for JOURNAL OF NATIVE
  STUDIES. Nothing found!
• Frustrated, student takes a day off to calm down.

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BACK TO THE LIBRARY

• Next day, 10 days before due date, student goes
  to library, without the assignment, and asks for
  help.
• Students explanation of the assignment leaves
  out some key points.
• Journal reference from prof. is cited
  inaccurately, but eventually it and 9 other
  articles are found 5 are in the library, 5 must
  be ordered on ILL, it will take at least 1 week
  to receive them.
• Student has enough resources for the paper 3 days
  before the due date puts off looking at any of
  the material until then.

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THE ESSAY

• Student finally reads material but has done no
  preliminary thinking about topic and so has not
  developed a focus or question to bring to the
  reading and to develop into a discussion for the
  essay.
• The 8 journal articles used give a very disparate
  view of the topic and so a coherent understanding
  of the topic is not achieved.

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THE BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Only 3 of the 5 ILL articles arrive in time, so
  student adds the 5 books originally located to
  flesh out the bibliography, along with the 2
  articles that never arrived.
• As no style manual was recommended, the citations
  in the bibliography are listed as they were
  found.

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FINAL RESULTS

• The student gets a C-

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From a Librarys perspective, what makes a good
assignment?

• What librarians may want to show faculty in
  regards to communication problems in typical
  assignments

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Would Anarchy be a serious alternative to
democracy?

• Why is Anarchy capitalized, but not
  democracy?Assignments need to be proof-read.
• Question is extremely broad in what context is
  anarchy being compared to democracy? Indicators
  such as country, region or time period can help
  both students and Library staff save time in
  beginning research.
• Type of essay wanted (research? personal
  opinion?) is not stated. Without the limitations
  of type of essay, definitions (both provided by
  prof and/or required to be found by students),
  geography or time period, the instructor may get
  more of a philosophical or personal point of view
  in response.
• No due date, required length of essay, nor mark
  value are mentioned. These indicators help both
  students and library staff know what depth a
  user will likely have to go with this paper.

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Would Anarchy be a serious alternative to
democracy?

• No indication of use of library or types of
  resources to be used (i.e. Does the Library need
  to be used at all? If so, does the prof want the
  student to use books, articles or newspapers? How
  many? Should sources be scholarly, popular,
  propagandistic or a combination?) These
  indicators help students become aware of what
  they will have to use, and help library staff get
  users off on the right research track. They also
  allow the Library to propose alternative sources
  for research, especially if common ones are
  depleted.
• Without enough information, the Library has to
  interpret an assignment (dangerous!) or send it
  back to the instructor, via the student
  frustrating for all!

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If the UN and the US disagree on what action to
take against Iraq, being that Canada has close
socio-economic ties with the US, whom do we
support?

• This question assumes some knowledge of a current
  situation the war in Iraq. However, with any
  current, hot topic type of question, there
  tends to be a LOT of information available, via
  the press and the Web. The Library - and students
  - need indicators of what is acceptable for
  research.

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If the UN and the US disagree on what action to
take against Iraq, being that Canada has close
socio-economic ties with the US, whom do we
support?

• Information that instructors may want to include
  in a current events based assignment
• Stated permission to use news resources such as
  the press and/or the Web.
• If students can use the Web, a reference to aids
  on assessing and citing Web resources would be
  useful. (If the assignment is known ahead of
  time, a Library tutorial on finding and assessing
  current info may be organized.)
• Acknowledgement of the difficulty of finding
  unbiased materials should the point of view of
  resources be of a particular flavour? (i.e.
  American, Canadian, think tank, academic,
  personal or a mixture?)
• Reference to a similar, previous event these
  tend to provide plenty of factual and analytical
  sources from which to do research and compare.
  (i.e. Can students look at the previous Gulf War
  and compare it to now?)

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If the UN and the US disagree on what action to
take against Iraq, being that Canada has close
socio-economic ties with the US, whom do we
support?

• Knowing the PURPOSE of an assignment - is
  there a stronger emphasis for students to learn
  FACTS or a PROCESS? - can help both the Library
  and the user.

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Using at least five current, scholarly sources,
outline some of the leading procedures used to
create spatio-temporal land use maps. Specify the
datasets needed to map the Regional Municipality
of Waterloo and show how this data can be used to
illustrate changes in land use patterns over
time. This assignment will be worth 40 of your
final grade.

• Have scholarly sources been defined for
  students?
• Acceptable sources should be outlined (i.e.
  books government documents regular or
  peer-reviewed journals) and students need to
  know how to find them. (If the assignment is
  known ahead of time, a Library tutorial on
  finding and assessing scholarly information
  should be organized. )
• How current is current?
• On campus, who provides access to the needed
  data?
• If its the Library, we should be notified with
  the names of any particular data sets needed by
  the students and by the number of students
  needing the data.
• How accessible is this data? (Can it be used in
  the Library, in campus computing labs or at home?
  Do they need specific software or skill sets to
  use the data?)
• Even if not provided by the Library, it is
  helpful to know what data sets are needed, where
  students can find the data, and who can help them
  use it.

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Using at least five current, scholarly sources,
outline some of the leading procedures used to
create spatio-temporal land use maps. Specify the
datasets needed to map the Regional Municipality
of Waterloo and show how this data can be used to
illustrate changes in land use patterns over
time. This assignment will be worth 40 of your
final grade.

• Phrases such as show how can be vague without
  concrete directions.
• Should students show the trends in words,
  tables or diagrams?
• Although a mark is indicated, no information is
  provided on how much each part of the assignment
  is worth, nor how much time or work is needed for
  each step.
• Instructors should be made aware that not all
  students are familiar with common assignment
  clichés (I.e. scholarly sources, show how,
  etc.). Sources (and people) needed for
  assignments should be verified or checked with
  beforehand, to ascertain that they are actually
  available. Wherever possible, the work process
  should be broken down into logical stated
  mark-weighted steps.

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Infiltrating an academic library to better
serve student research assignment needs

• Helping faculty understand what librarians can do
  to help, and how to make the most of services on
  offer.

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FIRSTLY

• Ensure faculty really understand that
  faculty/librarian collaboration is fundamental to
  successful research assignments and that without
  it the research process and assignment quality
  will suffer. Faculty must appreciate existing
  problem areas before collaboration can begin in
  earnest!

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Common barriers to collaboration

• Faculty misconceptions re student research
  skills often assume research skills sufficient
  or can be easily learned. (Leckie,1996 Lubans,
  1983)
• Existing faculty perceptions of librarians often
  do not see us as equal partners in research or
  teaching process. (Ducas Michaud-Oystryk, 2003
  Feldman Sciammarella,2000)
• Student perceptions of librarians and library
  lack clear perception of reference function,
  experience considerable library anxiety but
  faculty dont necessarily realize this.
  (Keefer,1993 Leckie,1996 Mellon,1986)

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Overcoming barriers to collaboration A crucial
first step

• Communicate with faculty re poor student research
  skills, student library anxiety, and role of
  information literacy.
• Take advantage of forums to convey this message
  instructional development sessions, library led
  assignment research workshop etc.
• Point faculty to the relevant literature develop
  a scenario to demonstrate problem areas define
  and illustrate role of information literacy in
  higher education today (ACRL standards etc.)
  highlight key role of librarians and need for
  faculty/librarian collaboration.

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Facilitating faculty infiltration

• Recognize key information literacy role offered
  in form of research assignments.
• Identify for ourselves all library
  services/resources which can help with assignment
  research.
• Invest energies in developing these
  services/resources.
• Assume little faculty knowledge of relevant
  services/resources.
• Identify media to convey the message
• Let infiltration begin!

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Relevant teaching/assignment resources to bring
to facultys attention

• One-on-One assignment consultation.
• Print or web-based guides with tips on
  collaborating with library to design effective
  assignments.
• Reference desk.
• Library instructional services tours, general
  instructional sessions, special sessions on
  request, online tutorials, established
  course-integrated IL programs, IL concepts
  definitions.
• Faculty workshops, faculty orientation events,
  etc.
• Library Web Site as invaluable gateway to key
  information subject pathfinders, guides to
  finding specific types of information (news, book
  reviews, articles, biographies), guides for
  Internet usage, e-reference shelf, faculty or
  student library newsletters.
• Print User Guides on specific resources, or
  subject areas.
• And more

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Media to convey the message Taking a proactive
stance

• Faculty listservs/e-mail.
• Library Web site prominent Whats New area,
  library home page highlighting sources of help
  with research very clearly and effectively,
  dedicated area for different campus groups.
• Flyers/Print Guides.
• Campus newspaper new developments and resources
  at library.
• Develop a library research assignment workshop
  for faculty and/or PhD students.
• Collaborate with instructional development to
  highlight librarys teaching role and benefits of
  faculty/librarian collaboration.

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Thank you for Your Attention!
Questions? Comments?