INFORMATION LITERACY
Some Useful Library Resources for Teaching Information Literacy
- Understanding WRLC (PowerPoint Presentation Download)
- Embedded Librarian (PowerPoint Presentation Download)
- TILT Information Literacy Tutorial
- Library Events Calendar
- Library Information Specialists by Discipline
- Library Instruction Request Form
- Plagiarism
Click on any workshop title for a complete description.
IL01 Sterling Web and the Internet
IL02 Searching Electronic Resources
IL03 Preparing the Resource-based Syllabus
IL04 Finding Educational Multimedia
IL05 Adopting e-Texts for Courses
IL07 Keeping a Research Blog (1 hr.)
IL08 Social Bookmarking with Blackboard Scholar
IL01 Sterling Web and the Internet (Founders' Library)
Prerequisite: some experience with the Internet
This class is designed for persons who have some experience with using the Internet but desire to enhance their searching skills. Topics include searching Sterling (the online catalog), exploring databases and other reference sources that are accessible via the Howard University Libraries (HUL) Homepage, and evaluating and citing Internet sources. (1 1/2 hours) To view the current schedule of classes, click here.
IL02 Searching Electronic Resources (Founders' Library)
Prerequisite: some experience with the Internet
Many Web-based databases in the humanities, the social sciences, and science and technology are accessible via the library's homepage. This session includes a selection of these databases and related Internet sites, search tips and strategy, and guides for evaluating and citing electronic resources. (1 1/2 hours) To view the current schedule of classes, click here. See also the schedule of vendor-led Special Workshops that are held periodically.
IL03 Preparing the Resource-Based Syllabus (Founders' Library)
Prerequisite: some experience with the Internet
This consultation is an opportunity for you to discuss your syllabus with a reference librarian or subject specialist. During the consultation, the information counselor will review your syllabus for logical points of intersection with information systems. You will collaborate with the information specialist to do at least three of the following:
- identify a unit in which to incorporate elements of information literacy into your course instruction.
- devise an assignment or project that promotes the development of critical thinking skills through research based on information retrieval and analysis.
- develop a rubric for grading written reports according to competency standards.
- add links to library databases, e-journals, or subject lists in your Blackboard course site.
Click here to request a consultation with a reference librarian.
IL04 Finding Educational Multimedia (1 hr.)
Prerequisite: None
Note: If you already know how to search for multimedia but would like to locate a particular object, contact the appropriate information specialist/librarian.
Have you considered using animations, simulations, video and audio clips, or other computer graphics to clarify concepts and keep students' attention? Perhaps you have, but you don't have time to create such sophisticated learning objects. Well, here's the good news: There are plenty of educational multimedia on the web ready for you to use; you just have to find them! That's what this workshop will equip you to do. By the end of the workshop, you will have learned how to do the following:
- find free and reputable collections of educational multimedia.
- adopt effective strategies for searching multimedia collections.
- use a web search engine to locate images on the Web.
- follow copyright rules for the use of educational multimedia.
IL05 Adopting e-Texts for Courses (2 hrs.)
Prerequisite: None
Before you submit your textbook adoption forms for next semester, consider all of your options. In particular, consider replacing some or all of your textbooks with digital texts, or "e-texts." E-texts enable you to customize course content, make it easier for students to search or highlight a text, and reduce the cost of buying course materials. Presented in collaboration with the Howard University Libraries and the Howard University Bookstore, this workshop will show you how to incorporate e-texts in your courses:
- how to place copyrighted and printed course material on "e-reserve" so that students can access it "anytime, anywhere."
- how to assemble an "e-pack," an online anthology of selected articles and chapters, with copyright permission.
- how to find digital collections of primary texts and free e-books.
- how to adopt e-books for student purchase.
- how to incorporate links to e-texts within a Blackboard course site.
IL06 Teaching with Wikis (2 hrs.)
Prerequisite: some experience with the Internet
What is a wiki? According to pbworks.com, “a wiki is an easy-to-use web page that multiple people can edit. It's like a shared whiteboard online." Through a wiki, students can engage in active learning and the shared construction of knowledge. For instance, they can collaborate on a class bibliography, team reports, and group PowerPoint presentations. In the meantime, you can easily see who's changed what in a wiki and, if necessary, retrieve earlier versions of the webpage. Moreover, you and your students can password-protect a wiki so that only class or team members can edit it. Best of all, wikis are free. Signing up barely takes a minute, and there’s no software to install.
If you are interested, take this workshop on the use and design of course-related wikis. Come examine existing wikis in higher education, discuss their utility in academe, and prepare to oversee development of a wiki through hands-on exercises. At the end of the session you will be able to:
- describe how teachers and students can use wikis for educational purposes.
- locate free software such as Pbwiki.
- create a wiki, using basic formatting tools.
- edit someone else's wiki and enable others to edit yours.
IL07 Keeping a Research Blog (1 hr.)
Prerequisite: None
Are you interested in an efficient alternative to private journaling and collecting a boatload of student journals? Or are you looking for a free, easy-to-access means for you and your students to document and share your experiences while working or studying abroad? Or are you trying to find new ways that you and your students can facilitate and reflect upon the research process? If so, try a blog. A blog is a website where an individual can post entries along with images and hyperlinks. Blogs are playing an increasingly useful role in higher education. For instance, by creating and maintaining a research blog, students can become active participants in a global community of scholars, researchers, and practitioners in their discipline or area of interest. And you can too!
Blogging is free, and there is no software to download. So in this hands-on workshop, you can become a blogger in a matter of minutes. Learn tips on how to maintain a blog, sign up to receive syndicated news, and search existing research blogs for useful, often cutting-edge information. At the conclusion of the session, you will be able to do the following:
- Create a blog account.
- Enter text.
- Add hyperlinks.
- Create an RSS feed.
- Search other research blogs.
IL08 Social Bookmarking with Blackboard Scholar (1 1/2 hrs.)
Prerequisite: BB01 or equivalent experience with Blackboard
What is "social bookmarking"? It is a system for sharing links to your favorite webpages. Known as "Blackboard Scholar," such a system is part of the latest version of the Blackboard course management system. Blackboard Scholar will allow you to compile bookmark collections for your courses by browsing other users' collections as well as the Web. You can build your own collections or have students contribute to a class collection, collaborate on group research projects, or save bookmarks for their own research.
To set up Blackboard Scholar, you will perform the following tasks during the workshop:
- Log into Blackboard Scholar via Blackboard.
- Register your course with Scholar.
- Search and browse for bookmarks by keyword, discipline, institution, or user.
- Save and tag resources for easy retrieval.
- Import bookmarks from Internet Explorer.
- Subscribe to an RSS feed from another user's collection or a search category.
- Embed a bookmark in your Blackboard course site as a Course Document.