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# of calls: 3
Projects: Working on the "Find articles" section. I will be able to finish this off next week. It's deceptively hard to translate library jargon into student-speak! But by next Sunday I should have to section done and readable.
Issues: None
# of calls-6
Projects- I spent the shift working on the section "I need to find a web source." If you don't mind CJ, I will continue working on it next week. For some reason, it took me long time to figure out how to structure it- in fact, I still am not sure I am on the right track. I will continue to think about it this week and hopefully have a good working draft by next Saturday. (Beth, your section on how to find a book was great by the way!)
Issues:
When a student picks up an ILL from one location, do they need to bring it back to the same place? I had a student who picked up an ILL from CMU and was wondering if they could bring it back to the University of Winnipeg.
I also came across a link from ASK Godot to a full text article in Proquest that was actually not full text. Who do I notify for this type of problem?
That is about it for me. CJ, if you would like me to email you the very rough draft I have so far, I can. I have to warn you though, it is not yet fit for human consumption.
Have a good weekend!
Lina
Hi Lina & Beth,
We're just moving right along here with the IL Redesign. The content that Beth did for the "finding books" part was great and definitely a model for the rest of the tutorial.
Lina, I would like you to work on the "finding web sources" and "finding primary/secondary sources" section of the tutorial. Just follow the instructions from the 17th!
Beth, I'm not sure if you had started on the "finding articles" section, but if you could work on that one this weekend then that would be wonderful!
Have a great weekend.
~CJ
# of calls: 5
Projects: Finished the "I need to find a book" section. Draft I tried to copy the MSN Help menu style of using [+] to expand topics. I also tried to take a conversational tone and use examples but I'm not sure if I succeeded, I'm sure editing will be necessary. As well I didn't go into too much searching technique because that seemed like it would be covered in other sections [I would like to learn more about search techniques] of the info lit tutorial. But I can add more content if I'm missing something that won't be covered in another section.
Also I was looking at the Concordia University Info Research tutorial and I liked the way they didn't frontload too much content. Most sections have a pop-up window that gives an example, and one that is a little quiz. It has a lot of information, but is not it is not immediately intimidating to the student and you can easily navigate to just one topic. Here's a screenshot
Issues: RAKIM timed out around 6pm, I hope I didn't miss any calls.
# of calls: 4
Projects: Working on the "Find a Book" section content. I should finish it tomorrow. I've tried to follow CJ's example of the MSN help menu.
Issues: None so far
Hi! Jeez, another week gone by already. You must be excited about being so close to being done =) A couple more weeks left!!! Classes end here on April 3rd, so we will need you for Live Help for the weekend of the 1st/2nd, but after that it will be more dead then it has been at times! I hope that works for you both.
For now, we will leave the flowcharts to the side and move on to the meat of the new Info Lit Tutorial. Like I have said before, it may not be an Info Lit tutorial per se, but we'll figure out what to call it eventually. The following is the document I created based on the work you both have done and the feedback I have received from other colleagues:
InfoLitRedesign.doc
Surely, this document is still a draft and will undergo more revisions as we go along. Feedback is always welcome!!!
Beth (I believe it's just you working this weekend), I would like you to start creating content for the "Finding Books" part (just put it in simple text document for now). I don't want you to focus on creating images and all that yet, but maybe put a place holder in the text saying that you would an image showing ... (e.g. screenshot of the catalogue interface). Do keep in mind the Crash course in Learning Theory document I had linked before.
If you happened to get finished with Finding Books this weekend, please continue on with "Finding a Journal Article".
In terms of how we are going to present the content, I haven't decided on the type of technology we should use. They may simply be static webpages, database driven webpages, a wiki, etc. However, I did come across an example of how I sort of would like to visualize it. The MSN Messenger Help menu uses headings and you can click on a + to see what is under this. It's simple, but I think it might just work for what we need.
Have a great weekend!
CJ
# of call: 1 .. not very busy
Projects: Working on the flow charts.
Issues: None
The flow charts idea I was envisioning were more general and not subject specific. Also it's obviously not possible to have an all-encomposing research flowchart. It would be too huge.
I think the U of T flow chart showing how different types of resources are accessed (do you need books, article, web site, etc.) would be good to support Standard 1. Basically copying this flowchart and customizing it for U of W would be good for situations where the user is new to the library and wants an overview of how to search for items or doesn't understand the difference between an index and the catalogue and the open web. As well it reduces the complexity of all the different ways to search for information from the library web site into one flowchart.
Also the flow charts I was thinking of would (like the U of T one) make use of the web by incorporating pop-up windows with more details and hyperlinks to make it more useful and the front content less heavy and intimidating.
I made two other flowcharts today to illustrate what I was thinking, they are both rough drafts. The one I made into electronic format is "How do I get the full-text of an article?" .(1.3.a.)
Download file
It doesn't have links or pop-ups, but that's what it should have to really work. For example "Click full-text" could have a pop-up showing where on a record or result list full-text article links are. Pretty much every box could have a pop-up giving additional info.
Here is the other one still on paper:View image
I think it would be a good reference for students who are stuck when there is no reference service. It would also help when we're are helping students find the full-text.. we can push them something that gives them an overview of what we're doing and they would have it for future reference.
The other flowchart I made is still on paper, I can scan it tomorrow and attach to a blog entry. It is "Is this web page good enough to use for my paper?" (3.2.a). It asks the student a series of questions in flow chart form that determine whether the web site is reliable or not.
Number of calls: 10
Projects: Okay. I am a little embarrassed, but I attempted to do a flow chart for students to figure out what type of question they have. Here is my very rough attempt at a flowchart
As you can see, I am new at this game and would welcome any help on this front. As it was very busy today, I haven't had time to refine it aesthetically either (eg. the arrows, boxes, etc.)
Issues: No real issues today except for busier than usual. I had a few students leave before i could get to the "meat" of the question but that's all. CJ, thanks for your comments from last week. They were very helpful.
Lina
I like the idea of the flow chart (the one from UofT I believe that Beth mentioned).
I would like you to work on creating one for our library. Also describe with what types of questions this chart may be useful, and types of questions that may need a different approach.
I might post more later this weekend, but that's it for now.
Have a great one!
~CJ
# of calls: 4
Projects: Mostly catching up on the IL redesign project. Learning about the viewlet software/guidelines for COPPUL tutorials project for Karen.
Issues: One student I had was looking for articles on Communication Studies curriculum being more practical. I don't think I was very helpful at all. I lost him in ProQuest, didn't even get a chance to suggest Communication Studies Sage database.
I think I've caught up on all the IL redesign stuff from last weekend.
1. Read CJ's document
2. Read the Crash Course document
3. I read over the work Lina posted about ACRL standards to include/headings/flow. Nice work. The outcomes that follow are the ones I feel are most useful in terms of creating a web resource we can point students to from LiveHelp or when the library closed but student still need assistance.
I also feel that maybe for each section Lina outlined it would be useful to have a visual representations that summarise the point of the section. Section one it might be nice to have a research flow chart like this U of T one
Similiar flowcharts that question the user about their problem/need I think would work for other sections. Besides questioning and making the person think, they also give a visual overview, kind of a map, of the concept presented. Also it would be neat to push a panicky student a nice visual page that for example shows the steps in determing and obtaining an article they've found in a database.
These are some ACRL outcomes I think would be useful to have in the tutorial.
Difference between the open web and library databases. Understanding that scholarly research for the most part is not available through Google. Understanding what the library catalogue is (books, journal titles, not articles).
1.2.a. Knows how information is formally and informally produced, organized, and disseminated
Knowing the steps to follow if the database you're in doesn't have the full-text of the article you want. Everything isn't full-text but don't panic!
1.3.a. Determines the availability of needed information and makes decisions on broadening the information seeking process beyond local resources
Understanding that database content is more structured than open web content. You can't type in a bunch of keywords and get 10,000 relevance ranked results. You need to really think about your choice of keywords and how you combine them.
2.2.a.Identifies keywords, synonyms and related terms for the information needed
Also understanding that this structure means you can use controlled vocabulary to find relevant results.
2.2.b.Selects controlled vocabulary specific to the discipline or information retrieval source
4. From my perspective as a student and at the desk this is the stuff would be useful to include in the tutororial:
This is from my perspective at the desk: You're not expected to know how everything in the library works. Don't feel as if you should. Librarians and library staff want you to use the library, ask them questions, they can help. Librarians will always look busy at the reference desk but we are just dying to help you.
I felt like this was the main benefit to being good at library research when I was an undergrad: Learning how to find good scholarly information makes it easier to write good papers. It's easier to learn how academic information is organized and discovered than trying to reinvent scholarly arguments because you couldn't find substantial information on the open web. Your prof's don't expect you to reinvent the wheel, just find a few nice wheels and talk about them.
Standard 1
I DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START!
CLARIFY YOUR QUESTION
∑ How to narrow down a topic
∑ How do I do some background research?
∑ How do I match the types of information I need to my assignment?
∑ Why do I still have to go to the library? (Why print materials are still important)
∑ Help! Glossary of Library terms and contact a librarian info
∑ Remember- encyclopedia, book, article!
∑ If at first you don’t succeed…(revise
Standard 2
NOW WHAT DO I DO?
HOW TO CONSTRUCT A SEARCH STRATEGY:
∑ How to separate the concepts of your search
∑ How do I find the right term?
o How to use a thesaurus (link to glossary term)
o How to use an index (link to glossary term)
o Synonyms, etc
∑ How do I combine my concepts?
o How to use Boolean operators (link to glossary term)
o How to use truncation and wildcards (link to glossary term)
o How to use proximity operators (link to glossary term)
∑ Why is my search not working?
o Controlled Vs. Uncontrolled Vocabulary
o Refining your search
o Revising your search
∑ Why can’t I get the article?
o Full text vs. linked full text
o Inter- Library loans
o Google option
o Live help! Or Reference desk
∑ Why can’t I get the book?
o How to decipher the library catalogue (link to glossary term)
ß Location in library
ß Checked out
ß Reference book
NOW THAT I FOUND THE INFORMATION I NEED, WHAT DO I WITH IT?
∑ How to manage your citations
o What is refworks and why should I care?
o How do I use refworks?
o What citation style do I use?
STANDARD 3
HOW DO I KNOW IF A SOURCE IS RELIABLE?
∑ What to look for in a reliable source:
o Reliability
o Validity
o Accuracy
o Authority
o Timeliness
o Point of view
STANDARD 5
WHAT NOT TO DO AND WHY
∑ Plagiarism- what it is and why its bad
∑ Copyright laws and Electronic journals (or why you can’t download all the journals and make copies for all your friends)
∑ A Guide to the myriad of passwords
o Mycybrary
o webct
Number of calls: 4
Projects: I did some brainstorming for the structure of the info lit tutorial. I looked at the standards that I identified last week and tried to divide the information I thought the student would want to know in sections. Having spent a good part of two hours explaining the difference between a full text and a linked full text database, as well as what the "ask godot" button is and how to search and where to search, etc. I think a glossary of terms on its own, as well as linked to the appropriate sections of the tutorial would be a good thing to have. I also tried to base it on a FAQ sheet- where I tried to pretend I was the student asking the question. Now, I would like to reiterate that this was a brainstorming process and is very rough.It does give an idea of what I am thinking about though- so if it is totally out of left field that would be good to know! (excuse the excessive rhyming) I will post my outline in a blog entry under tasks to do.
Issues: I tried to reset somebody's password today using garfield- it didn't work. I also had two big questions at the same time and was woefully unhelpful with one of them.
Okay. That's about it for me. have a great weekend,
Lina