Information%20Literacy%20and%20Electronic%20Resources%20@%20your%20Library

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Information Literacy and Electronic Resources _at_
your Library

• Markham Public Libraries
• Andrea Cecchetto
• Meg Kwasnicki

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Session Outline

• Developing Information Literacy service _at_ the
  Public Library
• Different service groups K-8 and Teens
• Foundations for Information Literacy as a core
  service of the Public library

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Markham Public Libraries Profile

• 6 Branches 5 main branches 1 neighborhood
• Growing suburban community pop. 260,000
• High mobility New Canadian community

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Developing IL The Need

• I need a book on
• Pioneers
• Canadas Trading partners
• Prime Ministers
• etc
• And we dont have any

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Developing IL The Need

• But Im not allowed to use the Internet!
• Databases are perceived as the Internet

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Developing IL The Need

• Kids in the INFORMATION AGE
• are Googleized
• Blindly searching where
• everyone has searched before

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Developing IL The Need - Teens

• Internet use is not restricted teens prefer
  Google
• Still looking for print but specifically print
• You can lead a horse to waterbut you cant make
  it use the online databases

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Developing IL The Need - Reference Service

• Training - Professional knowledge in this area
  inconsistent
• E resource education complicated for a 5-10 min
  reference interview

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Developing IL The Need

• Information Literacy
• is bigger than unused
• E-resources

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Research and Implementation
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Task Force Enormity of the topic

• Information Literacy Theory is Everywhere
• ACRL standards
• K-12 standards OSLA
• What about Dewey?

OSLA K-12 Standards
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Task Force Enormity of the topic

• Boils down to 4 major themes
• Access
• Evaluation
• Relevance/Use
• Understanding/Application

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Task Force How to start?
Build it Brick by Brick?

• Dive in ?

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Teen Services Past Attempts at Info Lit

• One-on-one tutorials
• Effective communication but time intensive
• In house programming
• Good facilities, easy for staff but attendance is
  a problem
• Classroom training
• Poor absorption but captive audience

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Initial Assumptions teens and research

1. If teens can use Google, they will
2. They underestimate the importance of good
   research
3. They overestimate their own research skills
4. They are not aware of the online databases

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The Horses Mouth what the teens say

• Research Methods
• 1 challenge research methods (defining
  research topics, identifying key concepts,
  applying research to topic)
• Are not frustrated by research
• Claim to use variety of sources

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Teen Survey Results cont

• Library use
• Most use library all have library card
• Likes variety of books (23) organization
  (18) quiet (14)
• Dislikes time consuming (23) materials
  unavailable/checked out (20) dont know how to
  find info (15)
• Basic library skills

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Teen Survey Results cont

• Internet use
• Teachers allow use
• Confident in quality of information 63
• Poor search skills - keyword searches, dependent
  on Google
• Do not know how to evaluate sites/determine
  quality of information

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Teen Survey Results cont

• Online Databases
• High awareness many have tried the DB
• Ambivalent about DB easy to use, found what
  they needed, dont like them
• Dislikes irrelevant info didnt understand how
  to use them access
• Preferred training method library class (19)

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Input from the TAG

• Need solutions on demand
• Willingness to learn/improve
• No incentive to improve research skills
• Get out to the schools

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What the teachers have to say

• Majority dissatisfied with students research
• Research is important to 100
• Student Weaknesses Website evaluation Poor web
  research skills dependency on web
• Needs improvement research beyond Google
• Any training would help preferably in the
  library if transportation isnt an issue

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Our New Assumptions

• Competition with Google is not the issue
• Teens lack foundations of IL problem is beyond
  search skills
• Need new approach to Online database
  instruction/promotion
• Need for flexible, user-centric solutions

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Childrens services Teacher Librarians

• Two focus groups elementary school Teacher
  Librarians
• York Region Catholic SB and York Region Public
  SB

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Teacher Librarians - Questions

• Focus in schools for electronic resource
  instruction
• Levels and abilities of different grade levels
• Facilities in schools for electronic resource
  instruction/ ability to come to the library
• Role of the public library Information literacy
  instruction

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eResource instruction in Schools

• eResource and Internet alternatives top concern
• TLs teach database use- schools or Public
  librarys
• Problematic Resource inconsistency

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TLs - Levels and Abilities

• K-12 Standards Designed by OSLA
• Mid level grades 3-5s specific and focused
• Intermediate level 6-8 - Database vs. Internet -
• Abstract reasoning and evaluative skills

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Levels and Abilities Grades 3-5

• Focus on a single application
• logging in
• Bookmarked lists
• Single databases
• Controlled searches
• Research skills
• Narrowing topic
• Synonyms and Keywords

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Levels and Abilities Grades 6-8

• Design cumulative curriculum over 4 weeks (1
  hour/week)
• Concepts build on one another
• Website evaluation
• Search engine mechanics
• Database use and search skills

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Teacher Librarians - Interest with PL

• Instructional Success Tie into assignments
  Good Grades
• Awareness Media tools and promotions from
  Public Library
• Ideal have Information Literacy skills tied
  into curriculum

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Solutions Pilot Projects
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Awareness - Media

• Posters with Web Evaluation Criteria
• Bookmarks with login description and database
  description
• Brochures highlights only relevant databases

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Poster
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Bookmark

• HELP!
• I have a school Project.
• Use MPL Electronic databases!
•  
• INFORMATION! YOUR
• TEACHER WILL APPROVE!
• Access to free Electronic
• magazines, newspapers,
• encyclopedias, photos, etc
• available from in the library or yourhome
  computer 24/7.
•  
• E-Library Elementary
• Ebscohost Kids Search
• World Book Online
•  
• LOGON TO
• www.markhampubliclibraries

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Bookmark Backside

• E-Library Elementary
• A child friendly database containing newspaper
  and magazine articles, video clips and
  photographs.
• Ebscohost-Kids Search
• Easy to use and graphically appealing database.
  Search by topic such as geography, music, sports,
  health, and arts, etc.
• World Book Online
• Search a wide variety of topics in this
  electronic encyclopedia.
•  

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Brochures

• For Children - Specific and directive one per
  age level or database
• Screen captures, callouts and arrows, reduce text
  
• E.g.

Click here for elibrary canada
Click here for World book
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Website Layout Recommended

• Make database title and contents clear
• Minimize use of Clicks choices make for
  confusion
• Task force to make recommendations for database
  access improvements

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MPL Website- under construction
We will put the kids databases on the kids
website. The list is challenging too much text
for young users
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Access issue Host DatabasesLists upon lists
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We like it! Keep it Simple Whitby PL
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Login is individual
Here there is one obvious login to bring to one
location
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Application - Pilot Programmes

• Grade 3s EBSCO Kids Search
• Grade 6s Search engines, Web sites, Online
  Encyclopedias, Online Databases
• Grade 8s Research skills, Search Engines
  Websites, Database Searching

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Grade 3s Two Sessions

• Outreach Goals
• Goal introduce EBSCO Kids search
• Search using a single keyword
• Thinking of synonyms

• K-12 Guidelines
• select information from a range of electronic
  resources
• enter simple search words

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Kids Search what it looks like
Click this for pictures only
Type your topic here!
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Synonym concept map
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Grade 3s

• Successes
• Demonstration
• Guide to use
• Results positive feedback from students

• Challenges
• Each had different terms
• Research Preparation (not enough)
• Spelling
• Concept development

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Feedback from students Teachers

• Positive responses
• Received expected results
• Found interface intuitive
• Thought they could teach it to other kids!
• Negative responses
• Did not get expected results
• Did not understand interface
• Needed more practice

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Grade 6s - Methodology

• K-12 Guidelines
• describe how information on specific Web sites is
  structured
• begin to search the Internet using single search
  engines
• retrieve information from databases

• Outreach Goals
• Introduce search engines
• Introduce website evaluation criteria
• Compare search engine quality
• Online encyclopedias
• Databases controlled searching

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World Book Online
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Grade 6s - Three sessions

• Successes
• Web - evaluation only
• Focused practice - computers
• Activities on worksheets
• Database activities

• Challenges
• Security settings _at_ schools lock out library
  databases
• Convincing that QUALITY is better than QUANTITY
• Tire of same message pretty quickly

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Grade 8s 3 sessions

• Used input from TL, teens teachers to plan
• Five weeks with two classes, three sessions
• Introduction to research methods, library
• Effective web-based research
• Introduction to the online databases

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Grade 8s 3 sessions

• Week One Intro to Research, Library
• Library orientation catalogue, collections
• Getting ready for research - concept mapping

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Grade 8s 3 sessions

• Week Two Effective Web-based Research
• Web awareness
• Website evaluation criteria
• Understanding Google
• Efficient search strategies
• Hands on practicing website evaluation

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Grade 8s 3 sessions

• Week Three Intro to Online Databases
• How databases work
• Demonstrated different databases
• Worksheet focused practice

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Career Cruising
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Info Literacy Project - Evaluation

• Feedback from Teachers
• Partnership with the public library is important
• Good teaching method combination
  lecture/hands-on
• Exposure to info is important

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Info Literacy Project The Pilot Programme

• Feedback from Students
• Most useful parts Research skills, online
  databases
• Web research not as highly received

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Universal Feedback from Teachers

• Internet complicates research
• Students waste time searching the Internet
• Yet they like it because it is fast and easy
• Demonstrating simplest tool even once is better
  than nothing at all
• E.g. World book online

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Lessons Learned before going to the class

• Students should be prepped on assignment, why you
  are there
• Younger grades- specific and detailed worksheets
• Test the technology in the classrooms

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What next?

• Focus on Research skills
• Focus on Teachers train or at least tell
  teachers about online databases
• System-wide communication training

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The Future Vision for Public Libraries

• Partnering with schools to establish local Public
  Libraries as Research Experts
• IL as core service in public library
• Need to advocate for changes to databases

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Questions?

• Andrea Cecchetto
• acecch_at_markham.library.on.ca
• Meg Kwasnicki
• mkwas_at_markham.library.on.ca
• Party On, OLA!
• Slides AVAIL on OLA Web

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Additional screen captures
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Something better than the web?

• What is a Database?
• searches by keyword
• sorts by title/author
• sorts by subject

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Controlled Vocabulary

• Each database only understands certain vocabulary
  only
• Depends on who created the database

Careers Jobs
Employment Professions
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