Resources
Most Recent
Posted On:
This is an outline of a session conducted by the Texas Tech Librarians in February 2025. Includes workshop description for entirely online workshop.Session Description:Many of the databases that you may be using (Web of Science, JSTOR, Scopus) are developing generative AI features. This workshop will discuss how search engines work, what adding generative AI has done to searching, and the interesting ways in which RAGs (retrieval-augmented generation) is being applied in the databases. This session was conducted solely online.Learning Objectives:Participants will learn which databases are developing generative AIWhat a RAG is and how databases and other library search functionsHow to use these generative AI models in the databasesTo make the session more interactive, create a padlet and allow particpants to "rate" or "thumbs up" a particular resource, and ask if they are planning on using it in the future and why or why not. Also give participants time to try the resources.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Searching as Strategic Exploration, Framework as a Whole
Contributor: Erin Burns
Resource Type(s): Learning Object, Lesson Plan
Posted On:
This is an outline of a session conducted by the Texas Tech Librarians in October 2024. Includes workshop description and sample Padlet questions for an interactive, hybrid (in-person and online) workshop.While some may want to believe the hype around generative AI and what it might be able to do for us, and we wonder if it is possible to be able to use this technology in responsible way. In this session, we will discuss aspects around responsible technology, including facets around Trust and Safety, especially privacy issues and the environmental issues surrounding the building and using of the tech, and how AI technology could possibly be used in the academic research process. This session will also act as a wrap-up session, and we will be available to answer any other questions you might have about the topic.This outline includes learning objectives.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Framework as a Whole
Contributor: Erin Burns
Resource Type(s): Activity, Lesson Plan
Posted On:
Resource is an outline of a workshop the Texas Tech Librarians gave in October 2024. Includes workshop description and sample Padlet questions for an interactive, hybrid (in-person and online) workshop.We’ve all seen deep fakes, misinformation, disinformation and “fake news” go viral on social media. With the current election season, it’s more important than ever that engaged citizens are able to evaluate and understand the things that go viral. Please see the second in our series for more about evaluation. This workshop will discuss the various ways in which AI is being weaponized in disinformation and misinformation campaigns to sway voters. However, we will also discuss ways that AI is being used in other democratic processes. This will include case uses from a variety of public sectors, looking with a critical eye towards using “big data” to make choices for the populace under the auspices of “neutrality.”This will be a discussion-based workshop. We will have some slides and/or demo a few tools or guides, but we also want to hear from you, the participants, about these topics. Come with your lunch, your questions, and your experiences. Learning ObjectivesUnderstand how AI effects democracies around the worldCritically evaluate any AI content related to the current election seasonWork to understand the ”bad actors” on social media platforms that produce misinformation, disinformation, “fake news,” cheap fakes and deep fakes
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Framework as a Whole
Contributor: Erin Burns
Resource Type(s): Activity, Lesson Plan
Posted On:
Outline of a workshop session which includes description and sample questions for a discussion Padlet. This session was conducted in October 2024 in a hybrid learning environment (online and in-person participants). Artificial intelligence has had a hold on human imaginations from time immemorial—including robots, androids, cyborgs, and more. This session will discuss how AI is being seen in the visual art and other media industries, including things like AI beauty contests, and critically evaluate how these visions of electric sheep and robotics are undercutting the value of human produced work. This is also includes how AI is seen and sold in media, and we will discuss how it’s actually being applied in different contexts. This will be a discussion-based workshop. We will have some slides and/or demo a few tools or guides, but we also want to hear from you, the participants, about these topics. Come with your lunch, your questions, and your experiences. Learning Objective 1: How AI is being applied in the visual arts and other consumable mediaLearning Objective 2: The ways in which AI affects intellectual property rights and copyright
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Framework as a Whole
Contributor: Erin Burns
Resource Type(s): Activity
Posted On:
What is one to do when asked to experiment with instructional strategies needed to integrate critical information literacy (CIL) into the university curricula? Design a Tabletop Role Playing Game (TTRPG) of course! The Metaliterati Project TTRPG (working title) is a customizable TTRPG where and instructor can set parameters and conditions for success on a collaborative task for 3-5 players who use CIL skills to research and compose an argument.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Information Has Value, Research as Inquiry, Scholarship as Conversation, Searching as Strategic Exploration
Contributor: Christopher Stuart
Resource Type(s): Activity
Posted On:
In the Data Justice Workshop, students will:Reflect on their personal identities & characteristics and their positionality within social power structuresExplore data collection practices and the disparate impact of its use in algorithmic decision-making systemsExamine discriminating systems across society to challenge tech power's inevitability
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Information Has Value
Contributor: Alexandria Chisholm
Resource Type(s): Activity, Instruction Program Material, Learning Object, Learning Outcomes List, Lesson Plan, Research Guide, Slide Deck, Worksheet
Posted On:
An Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) approach to crisis involves managing and conveying information before, during, and after critical events, such as corporations handling crises that threaten their reputation or government responses to natural disasters. Effective crisis communication especially relies on CIL skills to navigate the torrent and complexity of information coming from diverse sources. Each crisis is unique and could involve diverse stakeholders, making CIL essential for creating ethical and effective responses.The activity will be completed in three steps.Learning CIL: Provide the students with resources and materials to define CIL and its frameworks. The activity particularly addresses the following three frameworks:Authority Is Constructed and ContextualScholarship as ConversationSearching as Strategic Exploration2. ApplicationThe students will identify a crisis and research information from various sources. They will formulate a response to a crisis scenario for an organization or company.Sample sources: peer-reviewed journal articles (e.g., case studies, discourse analysis), news articles, social media posts from various individuals, influencers, experts, and public figures.3. ReflectionEach student will write a reflection essay. Here are a few sample reflection questions:A.One of CIL’s frames states that authority is constructed and contextual. How does this concept apply to in your research on the crisis, would you embrace or challenge this framework?B.Could algorithmic biases in your search for news and social media posts influence your response? If so, how can we address this issue?C.How could information privilege potentially affect an individual's perception and response to the crisis?D.How did different sources characterize the crisis? What similarities and differences did you find in framing, language, stakeholders, perspectives, and problem definitions?This work was developed as part of the Critical Information Literacy Immersion Program.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Scholarship as Conversation, Searching as Strategic Exploration
Contributor: Yiyi Yang
Resource Type(s): Activity
Posted On:
This literature search handout was used to teach a third year Biology course (although it can be used in any discipline) with the assistance of a Generative AI tool (Copilot). It provides students with a roadmap for the literature search process and demonstrates how they can incorporate Copilot to support their research. The TIC (Task, Instructions, and Context) Framework and Chain of Thought prompting was used to teach students prompt engineering (slides to explain these are also provided).Note: In this handout, Copilot is used for brainstorming ideas and not for finding peer-reviewed journal articles. The handout covers the following steps:Step 1: Pick a research topic and create a research question with CopilotStep 2: Identify main keywords from research question using CopilotStep 3: Use Copilot to brainstorm for synonymsStep 4: Create a search strategyStep 5: Select a databaseStep 6: Conduct your search and examine your resultsStep 7: Identify peer-reviewed articlesStep 8: Cite relevant articles
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Research as Inquiry, Searching as Strategic Exploration
Contributor: Victoria Ho
Resource Type(s): Activity
Posted On:
This is a simple lesson that can be done using a whiteboard type program (like Padlet) or with sticky notes in a classroom space. In the activity, students will practice brainstorming keywords together based on the topics they and their peers are researching. This activity is best done as students start their research on a topic. At the end of the lesson, all students should have at least a couple of keywords to use for searching based on the information they have shared about a topic.By participating in this activity students will be able to:Describe how keywords or search terms are useful for searching in databases in order to utilize them effectively.Create keywords for various topics/research questions in order to develop keywords for their own topics.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Searching as Strategic Exploration
Contributor: Elise Ferer
Resource Type(s): Lesson Plan
Posted On:
In the syllabus for the Advanced Legal Research class that I taught in fall 2024, I have included learning outcomes that are aligned with American Bar Association and American Association of Law Libraries standards as well as an overview of the topics that are discussed in class and references for these topics. Much of the information on the beginning pages is specific to the University of Virginia School of Law. Within the syllabus, I provide an overview of the assignments and Research Assignments One (The Cell Phone Search) and Three (The Vape Shop) are available in the ACRL Sandbox. The instructions for Research Assignments Two and Four are in the syllabus. I teach the class as a survey class and cover a variety of sources. The target audience for the class consists of second- and third-year law students who have taken a legal research and writing class during their first year of law school. As stated in the syllabus, students choose their own legal topics and write a research guide for these topics for Research Assignment Four. Some students choose to use Research Assignment Four to do their research for a paper that they are required to write for another class. Other students choose legal topics based on their interests or the type of law they want to practice in the future. For Research Assignment Two, students are also offered the option to create a mind map or concept map to show the progress of their initial research for Research Assignment Four. Multiple frames from ACRL's framework for information literacy can be applied to the syllabus, however, one frame that is particularly applicable to the syllabus as a whole is "Searching as Strategic Exploration."
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Searching as Strategic Exploration
Contributor: Latia Ward
Resource Type(s): Syllabus
Posted On:
"The Vape Shop" is a legal research exercise designed to facilitate students' use of open access (Legislative Information Management System (LIMS) and Montgomery County and American Legal Publishing's Code Library) and subscription databases (Westlaw and Lexis+) and their analysis of a legal research problem. For this exercise, the applicable frame from the Framework for Information Literacy is "searching as strategic exploration" (however, "research as inquiry" and "information creation as a process" are also applicable frames). While this exercise calls attention to county ordinances that are available in open access databases, state and federal law are also listed as sources of interest. In addition to searching in more sources than what are listed under "Sources:" (and finding these sources on their own), students should note how federal, state, and county law apply to the questions asked and that in some cases federal law preempts state and county law.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry, Searching as Strategic Exploration
Contributor: Latia Ward
Resource Type(s): Assignment Prompt
Posted On:
The most powerful wizards have gathered to battle one another. Only one will win. Wizards must use reliable sources to research incantations for the battle, or their spells will fizzle. Truly wise wizards must learn to tell the difference. Research Wizards is an information literacy card game designed to teach students ages 12+ about source evaluation. Research Wizards corresponds to the Frame Authority Is Constructed and Contextual, from the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Players will discuss and challenge the relative value of various sources, each representing a different suit in the game. The game includes four major actions/phases: Parley, when players discuss and decide for themselves the relative value of each suit; Battle, which includes competition, player actions, and Challenges; Vengeance, for eliminated players to impact and speed up the remainder of the game; and Victory.The Research Wizards website contains free game files, player directions, and printing tips for librarians and teachers who wish to use the game in their classrooms. The website includes an editable, Microsoft Publisher version of the game. Noncommercial use of the game is free for educational purposes with attribution to the author. Librarians and teachers are encouraged to adapt the game as needed for their subject areas, student needs, and as the sources in the game evolve over time. Adaptations must be shared under the same terms.Players: 3-5 per deckPlay Time: 20-30 minutes, plus discussionResearch Wizards by Lauren deLaubell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual
Contributor: Lauren deLaubell
Resource Type(s): Activity, Other
Posted On:
This classroom activity was developed and used in an entry-level Biotechnology course to help students evaluate the credibility of content generated by six different generative AI tools: Gemini, ChatGPT, Poe, Claude, Consensus, and Google's AI Overview. Working in groups, students review the text of a chat the librarian generated. They evaluate the credibility of the text, paying special attention to purpose, objectivity and bias, accuracy of content, and newness (if sources are provided by the tool). This activity could be modified to be done with any topic or prompt.The librarian used the same prompt to generate responses from the tools in advance so that students would not be required to make accounts to use any of the tools. Activity instructions:Each group will be given / assigned one generative AI tools. On 25 Sept. 2024, each tool was fed the prompt: “Provide a summary of how biotechnology can be used with plants to make plants virus resistant. Please provide evidence and sources when applicable. The audience is college students in an entry-level biotechnology course.” (Two tools had modified prompts.)Each group will evaluate the credibility of the text generated by their assigned tool. Pay special attention to:Purpose - Why does this information exist in the way it does?Verifiability (Accuracy) - Can you verify this information? Is the generated summary factual? Is there any way for you to know where the information originally came from?If it provides references or suggested resources, check them against Google Scholar. Do they exist? Or were they hallucinated?Newness - If it provides references or suggested resources, is the currency of those sources appropriate?Please be prepared to share your thoughts on these four factors for your assigned tool.Attribution:This activity is built upon a modified form of the "P.R.O.V.E.N. Source Evaluation Process" by Ellen Carey. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Searching as Strategic Exploration
Contributor: Amy Scheelke
Resource Type(s): Activity, Research Guide
Posted On:
The document has included 13 knowledge briefs of data quality literacy series in one PDF file.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry
Contributor: Grace Liu
Resource Type(s): Instruction Program Material, Professional Development Material, Worksheet
Posted On:
The knowledge brief on evaluating survey data quality follows the total survey error framework to help users understand the potential quality issues of survey data.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry, Framework as a Whole
Contributor: Grace Liu
Resource Type(s): Instruction Program Material, Professional Development Material, Worksheet
Posted On:
The knowledge brief on understanding survey data and public polls help users to understand the key concepts in survey research and its methodology with examples for popular surveys and public polls.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry, Framework as a Whole
Contributor: Grace Liu
Resource Type(s): Instruction Program Material, Professional Development Material, Worksheet
Posted On:
The knowledge brief on evaluating international government data quality help users understand common data quality issues of international government data.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry, Framework as a Whole
Contributor: Grace Liu
Resource Type(s): Instruction Program Material, Professional Development Material, Worksheet
Posted On:
This knowledge brief on commercial data quality helps users to prepare conversation with researchers on data quality issues.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry, Framework as a Whole
Contributor: Grace Liu
Resource Type(s): Instruction Program Material, Professional Development Material, Worksheet
Posted On:
This knowledge brief on commercial data quality helps users to prepare the conversation of data quality issues with commercial data vendors.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry, Framework as a Whole
Contributor: Grace Liu
Resource Type(s): Instruction Program Material, Professional Development Material, Worksheet
Posted On:
The knowledge brief on evaluating commercial data quality guide users to go through a list of common data quality issues that need researchers' attention.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry
Contributor: Grace Liu
Resource Type(s): Instruction Program Material, Professional Development Material, Worksheet
Posted On:
The knowledge brief on understanding commercial data helps users understand commercial data, the benefits of using commercial data, and its limitations.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry
Contributor: Grace Liu
Resource Type(s): Instruction Program Material, Professional Development Material, Worksheet
Posted On:
The knowledge brief on evaluating administrative data guides users to go through the quality dimensions of relevance, accessibility, interpretability, coherence, accuracy, and institutional environment to assess the fitness for use of the administrative data.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry
Contributor: Grace Liu
Resource Type(s): Instruction Program Material, Professional Development Material, Worksheet
Posted On:
The knowledge brief on understanding administrative data helps users understand administrative data, the benefits of using administrative data, and its limitations.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry, Framework as a Whole
Contributor: Grace Liu
Resource Type(s): Instruction Program Material, Professional Development Material, Worksheet
Posted On:
The knowledge brief on using and evaluating U.S. federal statistics introduces the basic quality standards and guidelines that ensures the quality of federal statistics and how to assess the fit between the statistical datasets and their research needs.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry, Framework as a Whole
Contributor: Grace Liu
Resource Type(s): Instruction Program Material, Professional Development Material, Worksheet
Posted On:
The knowledge brief on evaluating dataset for research needs guide researchers to assess the fit between the dataset and the research question.
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry, Framework as a Whole
Contributor: Grace Liu
Resource Type(s): Instruction Program Material, Professional Development Material, Worksheet