Academic Information Literacy Research Articles

Impact of multimedia on academic information literacy instruction in libraries

Impact of multimedia on academic information literacy instruction in libraries

Application of ChatGPT in Information Literacy Instructional Design

Recent developments in generative artificial intelligence tools have prompted immediate reactions in the academic library community. While most studies focus on the potential impact on academic integrity, this work explored constructive applications of ChatGPT in the design of instructional materials for courses in academic information literacy. The starting point was the use of openly licenced information resources or content infrastructure as facilitators in the creation of educational materials. In the first phase, course teaching material was developed using a prompt engineering strategy, predefined standards, and a prompt script. As a second step, we experimented with designing a custom chatbot model connected to a pre-defined corpus of source documents. The results demonstrated that the final teaching material required careful revision and optimisation before use in an actual instructional programme. The experimental design of the custom chatbot was able to query specific user-defined documents. Taken together, these findings suggest that the strategic and well-planned use of ChatGPT technology in content creation can have substantial benefits in terms of time and cost efficiency. In the context of information literacy, the results provide a practical and innovative solution to integrate the new technology tool into instructional practices.

Translanguaging and Spatial Repertoire: Academic Information Literacies of Multilingual International Doctoral Students

This paper presents a case study of the academic information literacy practices of two Chinese international doctoral students in the United States, drawing on the theoretical concepts of translanguaging and spatial repertoire. This investigation is situated within and against the deficit discourses surrounding the information literacy of international students, especially those who use English as a second language in western English-dominated academia. Using phenomenological interviewing, weekly information-seeking diaries, and focus group data, the study shows that these two students gather online information in multiple information ecosystems through the mobilization of multiple languages and diverse spatial repertoires. The results highlight the role of situated assemblages of linguistic, semiotic, and multimodal resources for successful information seeking and call for an expanded conceptualization of information literacy for multilingual international students. This paper concludes with a discussion on the importance of adopting an asset-based perspective when examining the information literacy of these students and provides recommendations for faculties, librarians, and research supervisors to consider when designing information literacy education for multilingual international doctoral students.

Information literacy and relation to workplace: a review of the literature

Purpose This study provides a critical review of the literature on information literacy in the workplace and its relevant issues. The purpose of this study is to examine two elements: how the predominantly academic information literacy is experienced in the workplace; and review how academically based information literacy frameworks can be used to increase performance in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach A critical approach to information literacy was implemented for the introduction and background information by searching for scholarly publications referring to information literacy and information literacy in the workplace. Overall, 65 published articles in English were selected and found suitable. Findings According to the existing literature, very few frameworks tailored to specific workplaces have been discovered and were all found to be pertinent to academic settings that included researchers. The review revealed the perceived positive role of information literacy in raising work performance. The paper concludes that the benefit for information literate employees and employers is apparent, but those differences in academic information literacy and workplace information literacy are significant. Originality/value Information literacy frameworks for the workplace, when used, are still heavily reliant on the educational sector and need to be further researched in order for them to adequately address specific workplace contexts and their socially collaborative information literacy activities.

Exploring the Influence Mechanism of Chinese Young Researchers' Academic Information Avoidance Behavior

Researchers can obtain and use information from different channels in the network era, and the explosive growth of information may lead to researchers' academic information avoidance behavior. However, the influence mechanisms of academic information avoidance behavior are unclear. Two studies were conducted to address this issue. In Study 1, we chose young researchers in universities as the research objects to summarize influencing factors including academic information overload, information independence, research task difficulty, time pressure, academic information literacy, negative emotions, and cognitive dissonance of academic information avoidance behavior using social cognitive theory (SCT) and grounded theory. In Study 2, we analyzed the different configuration and key characteristics of academic information avoidance behavior for young researchers using the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method. Our results showed that there were four configurations for the formation of academic information avoidance behavior, which were summarized into three types: “time-driven” with time pressure as the core condition, “information-cognitive-driven” with information independence and cognitive dissonance as the core condition, and “emotion-driven” with negative emotions as the core condition. Our study helps to enrich the theory of academic information avoidance behavior, and provides recommendations for young researchers and university libraries in academic research and information services.

Information Literacy Is a Social Practice: A Threshold Concept for Academic Instruction Librarians

This article proposes that understanding information literacy as a social practice is a threshold concept for academic information literacy librarians. While the social nature of information literacy has been theorized for more than 25 years, the noted theory-to-practice gap in this area suggests a new question to be raised. This study explores how practicing academic librarians come to adopt this understanding, if at all. The article reports on the development of a grounded theory to explain the theory-to-practice gap. Participants were 17 academic instruction librarians who participated in interviews. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data and found that a threshold concept might explain a shift from seeing information literacy as skills-based to practice-based. Implications for LIS education include explicit discussion of this threshold concept as well as including the related concept of information landscapes in the LIS curriculum.

Re:Learn

Librarians and writing tutors in higher education are working intensely to teach information literacy to students. But the extent to which this work is done collaborative or separately differs greatly between the universities. 
 •How can we facilitate collaborative learning on questions regarding the teaching of academic information literacy?
 •How do we relate this teaching to various national and international frameworks and guidelines?
 •How do we find new ways and methods for writing tutors and librarians to work together?
 •Is it possible to create a platform to facilitate the exchange of ideas and tools?
 These are some of the questions that led us to start this project: to develop an open web course on student learning of information literacy in higher education. But instead of targeting students in higher education the target group for this course is librarians and writing tutors at Swedish universities. The project is funded by the Swedish library Association.The purpose of the course is to:
 •Place information literacy in an academic context, where academic writing is included together with information seeking, referencing, plagiarism etc.
 •Develop national cooperation on issues related to the teaching of information literacy and academic writing
 •To facilitate online peer learning between collegues on issues related to teaching information literacy and academic writing
 •Develop a platform for sharing experiences regarding tools and methods
 The participants will get the opportunity to participate in workshops and PBL-inspired group work on themes regarding the teaching of information literacy in higher education. In this way we hope to facilitate a creative and collaborative learning environment. The first iteration of the course will take place April-May 2021. This presentation will be about the development of the course and what we have learned so far.

“Hay muchos Méxicos”: A New Approach to Designing International Information Literacy Instruction

The globalization of campuses has led to increasing numbers of international and exchange students. However, librarians often develop instructional opportunities for students from other countries with little understanding of how academic information literacy (IL) differs around the world. Using Mexico as an example, this study employs survey and focus group methods to examine how Mexican librarians understand and teach for IL within higher education. Findings from this study are subsequently used to explore the design of more culturally appropriate learning experiences for international students in the United States.

Research on the Cultivation of Critical Thinking in the Review of Postgraduate Information Literacy for the Graduation Thesis

Improving the academic information literacy of overseas postgraduate students studying in China is an important part of the postgraduate education. It has been noticed that the review section has become the bottleneck of the quality of both graduate degree theses and dissertations. The use of rich and complicated information sources to conduct an efficient, accurate and comprehensive literature review of the dissertation/thesis has become an urgent problem to be solved. According to the questionnaires, for the information quality and the review writing ability of graduate students, a total of 123 Ph.D. and Master’s Degree students studying at the Harbin Engineering University were randomly selected as research samples, and several solutions were proposed for the problems arising from the investigation results.

Transfer of academic information literacy skills to workplace contexts

This paper reports preliminary results of a study analyzing transfer of information literacy skills learned in a compulsory undergraduate course at the University of Pretoria. Twenty-three alumni with a range of disciplinary backgrounds, and currently working in a diversity of workplaces, participated in critical incident interviews which explored transferability of the skills learned in the course, and information practices in the workplace.

A Case for a Critical Information Ethics

Information ethics as taught in academic information literacy treats students as consumers, largely ignores the broader sociopolitical context of academic knowledge creation and, through a lack of critical analysis, reproduces Eurocentrism and colonialism in the information literacy classroom and literature. We propose applying a critical information ethics inspired by research justice that emphasizes solidarity with marginalized people and communities, respect for community knowledge, and moral integrity related to situated knowledge versus capitalist notions of information as a commodity.
 Pre-print first published online 01/20/2019

Information Literacy Practices of Spanish-Speaking Graduate Students at the University of Kansas

Recognizing the importance of designing educational opportunities that draw upon students' prior knowledge and experiences, this paper uses focus groups to explore how Spanish-speaking students in a graduate program at the University of Kansas (KU) in Lawrence understand academic information literacy practices within their new cultural contexts. This paper demonstrates that a variety of interwoven scholarly and sociocultural pressures mediate graduate student information activities. Findings from this paper broaden understandings of information literacy within today's diverse information environments while also highlighting the need for librarians to engage with the complexity of graduate student experiences.

NII「学術情報リテラシー教育担当者研修」の取り組み( 情報リテラシー)

NII「学術情報リテラシー教育担当者研修」の取り組み( 情報リテラシー)

Situated information literacy: history instruction at a high school early college

Purpose – This study aims to explore the question “how would professors teach information literacy to prepare high school students for college?” by observing two history professors at a high school early college during routine classroom instruction. Design/methodology/approach – The research took a case study approach to studying information literacy instruction, drawing from multiple data types but relying primarily on classroom observations and teaching artifacts. Findings – This research found that subjects taught information literacy by situating students as legitimate peripheral participants in the discipline of history. They did so as part of the daily fabric of classroom instruction, using pedagogical techniques such as dialogical reading, spending time with texts, writing to think and thinking historically. Research limitations/implications – This research focuses on history instruction. Future studies could include additional disciplines and directly examine the impact of teaching practices on student cognition. Practical implications – The findings suggest that taking a disciplinary approach is one way to apply insights from the field of situated information literacy to the high school to college transition. It also suggests that information literacy instruction need not be confined to research assignments, and that information literacy educators consider the possibilities these teaching techniques offer for enhancing instruction. Originality/value – This paper offers a rich description of information literacy pedagogy in an unusual but intriguing context of use to instruction librarians and educators at both high school and college levels. It also offers a bridge between situated information literacy rooted in workplace research and academic information literacy instruction.

Information Literacy in the Workplace: Employer Expectations

This study attempts to bridge the apparent divide between academic information literacy research and the perception of information literacy as a workplace skill. A qualitative inquiry of mid- to senior-level corporate managers yielded a series of recurring themes related to information use in the workplace, how information competencies are recognized in workplace settings, and how entry-level professionals are equipped to locate and use information in their jobs. To directly interpret and apply results locally, participant selection was limited to organizations with a direct relationship to the College of Business of James Madison University. The business college strives to provide a highly relevant, experiential learning curriculum to prepare students for postgraduate employment, and the intent of this study is to inform and enhance the information literacy initiatives of university libraries in support of business college programming.

Developing academic information literacy for undergraduates through inquiry based learning

AbstractThis paper describes the design and implementation of an information literacy module for first semester undergraduate students at Loughborough University. These students were taking Information Management and either Business Studies or Computing, or a degree in Publishing with English or Publishing with E-business or Web Development and Design. The purpose of the module was to enable them to work effectively in the higher education context and be able to research topics, using the resources around them and conform to the norms associated with student work. In addition, the module provided an opportunity for students to become familiar with the discipline of information science. Specifically, they were expected to identify an area where the systematic management of data, information and knowledge enabled people to learn and make better decisions. This provided the inquiry based context within which information literacy was developed in the sense that they chose the area to investigate rather than r...

Digital learning objects: a local response to the California State University system initiative

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a virtual library plan created by library directors of the 23 California State University (CSU) system campuses. The information literacy portion of the project offers a repository of high quality interactive digital learning objects (DLOs) in the MERLOT repository. Therefore, DLOs created locally at the Dr Martin Luther King, Jr Library at San José State University (SJSU) focus on topics that supplement the “core” DLO collection.Design/methodology/approachThis case study presents planning assumptions for developing local content that complements a California State University (CSU) system collection of high quality interactive information literacy DLOs. The authors also offer suggestions from the professional literature that guide their application of such Web 2.0 tools as wikis, podcasts, and tagging to create supplemental learning modules for their local information literacy instruction program.FindingsWeb 2.0 Digital Learning Objects are essential components of an efficient academic information literacy program comprised of face‐to‐face and “on demand” virtual approaches. The California State University (CSU) system has identified a core set of DLOs, which are easily available in the MERLOT open access repository. Local development efforts, then, focus on the design and creation of DLOs of local significance.Practical implicationsLibrarians at the Dr Martin Luther King, Jr Library in San José, California, USA, are developing local content for Web 2.0‐enabled information literacy instruction. These developments occur within the context of a 23 campus initiative, originating at the Chancellor's Office, which has identified high quality information literacy digital learning objects (DLOs). This core open access collection intends to fulfill academic libraries'core instructional needs and is freely available to any library through the open access MERLOT repository by any libraryOriginality/valueThis paper recommends an approach for local production of virtual information literacy content which benefits from harvesting the “best of the best” currently available on the internet.

Understanding the Adoption of TELEs — The Importance of Management

For a TELE to become adopted by the vast majority of individual learners as a tool for learning, adoption at the institutional level must be considered, because the vast majority of a population of technology users depends on external stimuli to adopt the technology. This article analyses a case where a social simulation game, a prize‐winning e‐learning product, which is based on theory of, and dedicated to, self‐regulated learning – in other words, a product predestined to succeed in supporting self‐regulated learning – was implemented for training in academic information literacy. Applying a systemic, Bateson‐inspired, understanding of learning and based on data from observation, qualitative interviews, and surveys, a number of barriers to adoption at the organisational level are identified, all requiring management initiatives if the application is to fully unfold its potential.