{"id":42934,"date":"2016-10-27T09:35:22","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T13:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=42934"},"modified":"2016-10-27T09:35:23","modified_gmt":"2016-10-27T13:35:23","slug":"reliable-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2016\/10\/27\/reliable-information\/","title":{"rendered":"Reliable information"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mandy<\/a>

Mandy Shannon, coordinator of library instruction and assessment, instructs students in a Research Toolkit workshop, which teach how to use search engines more surgically and effectively by filtering the information. (Photo by Erin Pence)<\/p><\/div>\n

Call it what you want \u2014 information overload, information fatigue, information obesity. The World Wide Web has simply created too much information to digest.<\/p>\n

This issue has long been recognized by Wright State University, which has a robust Information Literacy program to help students navigate the information universe and develop skills to effectively and efficiently mine and use that information.<\/p>\n

And recognition of the importance of information literacy has been spreading across the country. President Obama declared October National Information Literacy Month in 2009. Most recently, Gov. John Kasich proclaimed this October as Information Literacy Month in Ohio, making it the 21st state to do so.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s proclamation says the ability to work confidently with digital information and understand its power is becoming essential in holding high-level jobs and competing successfully in the global economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe landscape of information is very different than it was 10 years ago,\u201d said Mandy Shannon, coordinator of library instruction and assessment at Wright State University Libraries<\/a>. \u201cStudents have access to more information than you or I ever did as undergraduates, but that brings with it a whole host of new problems. It\u2019s hard to manage that much information and to make well-informed decisions without knowing how to filter and process it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This past summer, Dunbar Library\u2019s Reference and Instruction Department librarians developed learning outcomes \u2014 or objectives \u2014 for information literacy. They include skills in determining the information needed, finding it, evaluating it, using it, presenting it and reflecting critically on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve all gotten to the point where you want to throw your device out the window because you\u2019re not finding what you need,\u201d said Shannon. \u201cInformation literacy helps you avoid those moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shannon said students often have an overinflated sense of confidence about their ability to navigate the information landscape. They can be very good, she said, at using the most popular search engines to get quick answers to \u201cwhat\u201d and \u201cwhere\u201d questions about a subject.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s not really what academic research, what professional research, is about,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s where you get into the questions of \u2018why\u2019 and \u2018how.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The librarians offer a series of workshops called Research Toolkit<\/a> that teach how to use search engines more surgically and effectively by filtering the information. The workshops also introduce students to scholarly databases, teach them how to read a scholarly article and how to evaluate information sources.<\/p>\n

In addition, the librarians partner with faculty in various disciplines to teach students information literacy skills. The dozen different subject librarians cover every program in every college through instruction in classes. Students are also encouraged to work with the librarians one-on-one.<\/p>\n

Students are taught when to refer to books, when to refer to online information, when to refer to scholarly databases. They are taught to corroborate and to evaluate the sources\u2019 authority, agenda and bias.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to do it effectively and efficiently so that you\u2019re not relying on information from Angry Blogger Joe in his basement,\u201d said Shannon.<\/p>\n

There is also a focus on reflection and critical thinking about how information is produced, at what point, by whom and for what purpose. And students are taught to understand the information cycle \u2014 the kind of information it is, when it becomes available and the target audience.<\/p>\n

A study conducted by Shannon and her husband, Vaughn Shannon, associate professor of political science<\/a>, indicated that incorporating information literacy in classes such as political science resulted in papers that used more sources, better sources and used the sources better to advance the students\u2019 arguments. Results of the study are to be published in the Journal of Political Science Education.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see information literacy instruction making real differences in student work,\u201d said Shannon.<\/p>\n

She said an increasing number of studies also show that information literacy improves graduation and retention rates. And a study by Project Information Literacy, based at the University of Washington, showed that nearly every job filled by college graduates requires information skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo this is really critical outside of school and professionally,\u201d said Shannon. \u201cIt\u2019s increasingly important because we\u2019re deluged with so much information. We are bombarded with information literally from the minute we wake up to the minute we go to bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shannon said information literacy is also important for Americans as citizens. For example, she said, they need the skill in order to fact-check assertions by political candidates for themselves.<\/p>\n

The Research Toolkit workshops are free and open to all students, including graduate students. Each of the eight different workshops lasts under an hour, is built into the same time blocks as classes and offered on differing days and times.<\/p>\n

Registration is required<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Students can attend as many of the workshops as they like. Each workshop stands on its own \u2014 it is not necessary to attend the workshops in any sequential order and there is no requirement to attend one workshop before attending another.<\/p>\n

For more information, contact the University Libraries\u2019 information desk at 937-775-2925, Ask A Librarian<\/a> or visit the University Libraries blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wright State University Libraries’ Information Literacy program helps students navigate the information universe and develop skills to effectively and efficiently mine and use that information. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":42936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,729,711,2060,725,2114,715,18,2061],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-around-campus","category-faculty-staff","category-graduate","category-home-news-sidebar","category-libraries","category-news","category-research","category-undergraduate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42934"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42940,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42934\/revisions\/42940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}