Information Literacy Learning Goal B:

B1. Test your topic to see if it's viable.

Coach your students on selecting an appropriate topic and/or have them refer to Lesson 5 of the Information Literacy Basics tutorial which provides tips on selecting appropriate topics.

Then, have your students work through the following:

• State your topic as a research question or a hypothesis, so it is a full sentence.

• What is the disciplinary area for your topic? (History, Nursing, Literature, Engineering…etc.) Does it span more than one discipline?

• Pick three library databases to run searches on your topic. Describe your process for finding and choosing appropriate databases on the Cline Library website. Then, explain which databases you decided to search and why.

• Search for sources using the fewest most essential keywords that represent your topic. Note the keywords you chose and explain why you chose those keywords. 

• After you've run your search, consider whether you need to find certain types of sources, or sources published within a certain date range. If so, look to see if the database has refinements you can set to match those parameters. Refinement options are usually to the left of your results. Describe any refinements you used and why.

• Check to see how your results are sorted and make sure they are set to sort by relevance. Look through the first two pages of results for each of the three databases you searched. Do you see results that describe source relevant to your topic? Does it look like you'll find enough relevant sources to write about your topic?

• Describe any concerns you have about your topic and what adaptations it might need, if any.

B3. Design search strategies for different topics. 

Provide students with a variety of topics and have them design and refine search strategies for those topics. That way they can compare how they would approach different topics with different search strategies. Consider having them tackle the following questions for the topics you provide:

• Where would you search for information on each topic and why? How would you go about choosing databases Cline Library has to offer and which would you choose? Where else would you search and why?

• What keywords would you use to search each topic and why?

• For each topic, try searches in some of the databases you have chosen. Note which databases you searched and the keywords you used. Look over your results and see if you come across other keywords that might be useful to try in your search. For example, if you were researching how peer pressure effects the behavior of teenagers, you might notice that some of your results use the word 'adolescent' instead of 'teenager.' This should be a signal to you that it might be useful to try your search again with the word 'adolescent.' 

• Try looking up some of your keywords in ChatGPT and ask it to offer synonyms. Would you search any of the synonyms it offers? If so, which ones?

• Which databases and keywords provided the best results? Speculate on why!

• Did some databases perform better for some topics than others? If so, why do you think that was the case?

• Different databases offer different search refinements and features -- such as options to limit your search to publication years, document types, etc. or the ability to sort in a variety of ways. Would you use any of these features for any of the topics you were provided? 

• Did any of your databases offer especially relevant features for your particular topic? For example, PubMed is a database that offers cool features to refine results to particular types of research studies - such as randomized controlled clinical trials - which can be really useful when doing medical research. Did any of the databases you used offer features that could be especially helpful in this way?

You could modify this assignment so that students are researching topics that might come up in a career scenario after college, when they no longer have access to most Cline Library databases. That means they'll need to search for information in tools they'll likely have access to in their career. Consult your librarian for advice on what those tools might be (Google, Google Scholar, free databases like PubMed, ERIC, or other government databases, etc.) and adapt the questions above accordingly.

B5. What efforts contribute to source reliability and quality? 

Note: This assignment is applicable to Learning Goal B or C.

Have your students explore the processes that are (or aren't) in place to bolster the quality and reliability of different types of sources in your discipline – such as peer-review, editorial review, fact-checking, accreditation, standardization, formal reviews, user reviews, endorsements, etc.

Students could also work through some or all of the following questions:

• For which types of sources is reliability and quality most important and why?

• Which efforts to promote reliability and quality are most/least effective?

• How do efforts to promote reliability and quality affect the credibility of different sources?

• Can you envision improvements to these processes? How could we do a better job at ensuring sources are reliable?

• What happens when a source is found to be unreliable and inaccurate? What are the repercussions for the author and/or the publisher (if any)? What are the repercussions for the user of the source, or for society?

Depending on your discipline, you might also want to investigate the replicability crisis, or websites like RetractionWatch and/or Data Colada. Or, you could explore current or historical scandals in information quality.

B7. Select credible sources for different research topics.

Note: This assignment is applicable to Learning Goal B or C.

Present your students with one or more research topics such as:

• a scholarly research topic

• a personal research topic (like personal healthcare, finance, etc.)

• a potential career research topic

For each topic, provide students with a wide variety of sources to consult (10 to 15?) that provide information on that topic. Ensure they have a mix of credible sources, questionably credible sources, and some that are definitely not credible. Have them sort the sources into these three groups and then explain their thought process for each source. Finally, show them how YOU would sort the sources and why. That way they can see how an expert would make choices about which source to use.

B9. Choose the most appropriate and credible Google results.

Note: This assignment is applicable to Learning Goal B or C.

Have students pick a topic, or present them with one or more research topics such as:

• a scholarly research topic

• a personal research topic (like personal healthcare, finance, etc.)

• a potential career research topic

Have them conduct Google searches to put together three to five of the best sources they found in their Google searches. Have them annotate the best choices by what makes them:

• relevant

• credible

• useful

• appropriate 

Have them also note three to five sources they clicked on to explore, but ultimately rejected. Have them explain why they rejected these sources. Review their choices and let them know if any of the best sources they picked are inappropriate or questionable.

You could also give the entire class the same topic and see what sources students converge on as the best ones, and which they reject as worst, and discuss those that fall on the fence. Show them how YOU would assess the results compared to the strategies they are using.

B11. Know where to find information in your career job.

Note: This assignment is applicable to Learning Goal B or C.

Work with your librarian to develop a list of databases and other resources that students can leverage in their career when they need to seek information. Depending on the situation, these resources could include any of the following or more:

• free databases like Google, Google Scholar, PubMed, ERIC, etc.

• government databases

• state library databases

• public library databases

• college and university library databases

• special library databases

• company databases

• free web resources specific to a profession such as discussion forums, expert websites, society websites, etc.

Ask your librarian to show students where to find these databases and how to use them. Also have your librarian show strategies for obtaining the full-text of needed sources. Then, present students with one or more hypothetical employment scenarios that requires conducting a thorough search for information. Have them write up a strategy for where and how they would search to find the information they need. 

B13. Where and how do professionals search thoroughly for information?

Note: This assignment is applicable to Learning Goal B or C.

Identify some professionals from your discipline who regularly need to search for information as part of their job. Invite one or more of them into your classroom to talk to students (in person or via Zoom) about how they solve information problems in their job. Have them describe where and how they seek information, and how they know when they have found enough information. 

Then, present students with one or more hypothetical career scenarios where they need to come up with a strategy for finding information. Have them write up their strategy including where and how they would collect information. Ask them to follow their strategy, then document any problems with it. Have them also document new ideas for improving the strategy that they discover as they are searching.

B15. Provide proper citations for sources.

Provide students with the URLs for various types of sources available on the internet. Have them identify the type of source it is and construct an appropriate citation for it. Note where they are having difficulties and give them extra practice on the sources they are having problems with.