A guide to helping student know how to use (or not to use!) the different kinds of information they may find.

This exercise gives students a model for approaching a research task, beginning with general information and ending with more in-depth sources. Discussion can focus on research as inquiry, research as strategic exploration, and the context and construction of authority. Students are required to cite their sources using both MLA and APA.

The assignment prompt and description, Exploring Expertise, is attached. It is a writing prompt for a short assignment. The prompt can be adapted to fit different non-writing performance tasks, however, including discussion or in-class individual/ small group activities. Students are provided a scenario wherein they must research the names of experts quoted in different online news articles (topic: prescription drug abuse). They must show that they have researched the "expert." Learning Outcome - Explore a source of information in order to determine the validity and credibility of their claims on a particular topic  

For a performance task/ assignment, students will be expected to find evidence to investigate a pseudoscientific claim or conspiracy theory. They will be submitting a two-page paper to their Chemistry professor in which they make a case that either supports the claim or rejects it. They will be expected to use both library and credible online sources for support. The performance task will follow a full 75-minute library instruction session in which students will learn to:construct various search phrases for use in online and library search tools  use certain evaluation criteria (e.g. CRAAP) to assess the credibility of online sources  examine sources for relevance to their research question and search need (specifically, to determine credibility of claims)Throughout the class, an example claim will be used for searches. Either one of the following is recommended:Feng Shui – or the arrangement of furniture according to Chinese philosophy – can positively or negatively impact your wealth, health, happiness, and prosperity.President John F. Kennedy was not assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald – or his assassination is the result of a conspiracy of various entities and agents. Materials included:The full sequenced instruction outline for the face-to-face library instruction session. The assignment prompt for the performance task. CRAAP handout. 

This hands-on activity was piloted as part of a teach-in on fake news at Purchase College, SUNY. To convey the idea that “fake news” exists on a continuum, we did a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey activity using a blank version of Vanessa Otero’s Media Bias chart. The chart is a useful tool for showing the nuances between nonfactual, biased, and inflammatory news sources. Participants are asked to research a news media organization and decide where to place it on the chart, then compare their choices to Otero's original infographic. Two groups can also compare their choices to each other. The ensuing discussion fits nicely with the ACRL Threshold Concept: “Authority is constructed and contextual” and can relate to "Research as Inquiry" or "Information as Value" as well, if economic factors related to the press and clickbait websites are discussed. The concept of a source being on a spectrum of “complex vs. clickbait” adds an additional layer of complexity for students who are used to focusing on binaries such as: liberal vs. conservative or “trustworthy vs. fake.” The details of how to implement this activity as well as copies of Otero's chart are attached. (P.S. An updated version of the chart was created in Fall 2017 adding more nuance along the "complexity" axis and removing some of the "PG-13" or "sassy" language. See attached PDFs).

This LibGuide is the result of our Reference Team's year-long project to create a new curriculum for our Instruction program, based on the Framework. Our project plan and documentation of our workflow is also available by request.MacPhaidin Library’s information skills curriculum is designed to teach students increasingly sophisticated research strategies throughout their Stonehill careers and to produce graduates who are adept at articulating their information needs, finding the resources to meet them, and using that data ethically to create new knowledge.By the time they graduate, students who participate in the full information skills curriculum can:Define their information needIdentify appropriate source types and research tools to meet their information needEvaluate information to determine its validity, accuracy, authority, timeliness and biasSynthesize information from research with existing understanding in order to create new knowledgeIdentify the legal, ethical, economic and social issues related to the use of information and recognize relevant intellectual property lawsUsing the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education, we’ve created a curriculum that identifies specific learning goals for the different stages of students’ studies. The stages focus on a variety of core concepts ranging from the simple – the iterative nature of searching - to the more complex – the impact of context on the value of information. The framework is designed to enhance student's information skills through faculty-librarian collaboration. This curriculum provides a template faculty and librarians can use to collaboratively craft instruction that will improve students’ information skills and, thereby, result in better work. This guide introduces our mission statement, curriculum and learning outcomes, and provides examples of the many ways librarians can assist you as your students develop their skills.

The Un-Research Project was created and implemented by Allison Hosier as part of a credit-bearing information literacy course in 2014. The project, a twist on the traditional annotated bibliography, and its connections to themes from the ACRL Framework were detailed in an article published in Communications in Information Literacy in 2015.This resource includes a list of materials associated with the project that can be adapted for use for anyone interested in implementing the un-research project or a similar one as part of their instruction.

This chapter investigates the ACRL and WPA frameworks to discuss commonalities in how they approach appropriation of information in compositional contexts.  The chapter presents two sample assignments and outlines a case study of a collaboration between library and English faculty.

Evaluating a political news story presented in social media.

Drawing on the frames "Scholarship as conversation" and "Information creation as a process," this lesson was created for students in a university-wide freshman success seminar.  An instruction librarian and writing faculty collaborated to create the lesson under the auspices of the university's Center for Academic Services and Advising, which coordinates the seminar.