Treading New Paths:
How Creative Collaboration Transformed
Teaching the Research Process to USC
Upstate’s First-Year Students
Andrew Kearns
Coordinator of Library Instruction
University of South Carolina Upstate
LOEX 37th Annual Conference
Albuquerque, New Mexico
May 2, 2009
University of South Carolina Upstate
• Spartanburg, SC (along the I-85 corridor between
Charlotte and Atlanta)
• Enrollment: 4,500 – 5,000
• Freshman class rapidly growing – approx.
730 in Fall 2008 (+50 students per year)
• Approx. 40% first generation
First-Year Information Literacy
Program
Louise Ericson – Center for
Student Success
Brenda Davenport – First-Year
Composition
Andrew Kearns – Coordinator
of Library Instruction
University 101
• Fall semester college success course
• 3 credit hour elective
• Approximately 75% of Freshmen
Louise Ericson and University 101
Instructors
• Concerned about the quality of student research
paper.
• Questioned appropriateness for a research
paper without any focus on students’ research
preparedness.
• Felt that students needed a foundation in
research through learning information literacy
skills.
• Provide students with tools to complete class
assignments and support work in other courses.
English 101/102
• Transition from Fall Semester “learning to write”
and Spring Semester “writing about literature”
courses to two-semester composition sequence.
• 90-95% of all freshmen
• Common reading and writing program (Preface)
• Learning research skills, how to use the library,
library instruction sessions in both courses.
• Research process identified by English faculty
for greater emphasis in courses.
Librarians
• How should the University 101 and
English 101 library sessions be
differentiated?
• Concerns about the quantity of material
they were expected to cover in one period.
English 101
University 101
Sessions will include the following elements:
1. Username/Password (logging on to system and finding
Library pages)
2. Asking for Help
Ask a Librarian (where to find, form)
Reference Desk
Call to Reference Desk
3. Searching for a Known Item
Library Catalog (Title, Author)
Call Number / Availability (from results list and
bibliographic record)
LC Classification (introduction to system as distinct from
Dewey)
Periodical Search (Title in TDNet)
Citation (parts of)
Periodical Location (, Bound, Electronic Databases)
EBooks (how to find) Current
4. Searching for an Unknown Item
Books and Media in Library Catalog (Keyword, Subject
[subject heading links from full bibliographic record])
Periodicals: popular vs. scholarly journals
Periodical indexes and databases (searching, Full Text
availability)
Finding article if not available as Full Text link from
database (TDNet)
Inter-Library Loan (What it is, how to find on Library home
page, show form)
•Tour of the Library
Basic Functions of the Library
Library First Floor
Reference; Circulation; General Circulating Collection;
Periodicals; Newspapers; Computers in the Library;
Audiovisual Area; Study Rooms
Library Second Floor
General Circulating Collection; Quiet Study Area
•Types of Materials Found in a Library
Reference Collection; General Circulating Collection; Periodicals;
Audiovisuals
•Library Home Page
Basic Information about the Library, which can be obtained through
the library’s home page
•Library Catalog
•Electronic Databases, including TDNet
English 102
•Review of some of the information, including the Library’s web site,
that was covered during the English 101 library instruction session.
•Review of electronic databases including TDNet
Database Descriptions.
What databases are available for the students to access.
Citations — Elements of a citation will be covered.
Abstracts — What are abstracts?
•Distinguishing between different information formats, such as full-text,
PDF, microfilm, bound periodicals, reference books, etc.
•Brief description of Interlibrary Loan.
What are the needs of our
first-year students in learning
the research process?
®
The iPod (mp3) Tour
Goal is to get students familiar with
the library’s resources and layout in a
hands-on learning environment
Students complete iPod tour
assignment for U101 and
provide proof to English
101/102 instructors
Library Instruction Sequence
University 101 = Library 101
• Students will be introduced to the concept of
information literacy (research process), library
resources, services and organization, and will be
able to find a book or an article using the library
catalog and databases.
• Partially covered in required iPod Tour and
Library Assignment.
Library Instruction Sequence
English 101 = Research 101
• Students will understand the stages in the
research process necessary for completing a
class assignment and will develop the skills
needed to find and use library resources
appropriate for that assignment.
• Focus on online searching and search
strategies.
• Reference sources may be covered by a presession assignment.
Library Instruction Sequence
English 102
• Students will refine and expand their research
skills and understanding of the research process
through the completion of a class assignment
using appropriate library resources.
• Builds on English 101 skills, with more focus on
advanced search techniques, finding scholarly
articles, subject-specific databases, evaluating
search results.
How do we get students to
see the process of research?
Information Literacy is . . .
•a way of defining and thinking about the Research Process
•a life skill needed for your college career and beyond
•above all, a PROCESS!
The information literate student . . .
1. Knows the nature and extent of the information needed.
•Chooses and focuses a topic.
•Develops a thesis statement or research question for a topic.
•Reads background information on the topic.
•Distinguishes and chooses information intended for scholarly or popular audiences
published in books, journal and magazine articles, or on the Internet as appropriate to
the topic.
2. Accesses the needed information.
•Knows how to use the library catalog, article and reference databases, and the
Internet to find and retrieve print and electronic books and articles, web pages, and
other documents.
•Knows how to refine searches by using subject terms, search strategies incorporating
Boolean logic and truncation, advanced search screens, and other aids available in an
online catalog or database.
•Understands the organization of information in the physical Library and online.
•Analyzes results of searches to find best information for research need regardless of
format.
How can we better bind the
library session to the course of
which it is a part?
University 101 Sequence
iPod
Tour/Assignment
• Complete the
iPod (Mp3) Tour
and Assignment
in order to learn
about the
services, major
collections, and
physical layout
of the USC
Upstate Library.
Library Session
• Investigate a
daily-life
question in order
to apply the
concept of
information
literacy and the
research
process.
• Introduce the
library catalog
and Academic
Search Premier
in order to find
books and
articles for a
class
assignment.
Annotated
Bibliography
• Students come
to library session
with a topic to
search.
• Assignment due
shortly after the
library session.
The Great Cell Phone Search
Starting Your Annotated Bibliography
English 101
• Session has a focus on “online searching,
with an emphasis on finding full-text
articles in Academic OneFile.”
• Includes search strategies, refined
searching in library catalog, other topics as
needed.
• Still assignment-based.
Pre-Library Session Assignments
• Create Your Own Pathfinder
- Students use the library catalog and
Internet to find books and websites
relevant to their topic
• Reference Books
- Students select reference books and do
background reading to help focus topic
Keeping On Track
• Teaching information literacy is
collaborative by nature.
• Many skills will be taught by classroom
instructors.
• Challenge: deepening the integration of
information literacy instruction in the three
courses.
• Challenge: Assessment
Faculty Comment
• “This year’s library session seemed more
focused and easier for the students to
navigate (compared to last year). The
written feedback I received from the
students was very positive. . .” (comment
regarding Fall 2008 University 101
session)
Student Survey Results
The iPod (mp3) Tour and Library Assignment worked together with my University 101
library orientation session to give me a good introduction to the library.
Student Survey Results
• I thought the iPod tour was valuable in knowing
where resources are in the library, but it was
way too long. By the time I finished I had lost all
interest in learning about the library.
• The most valuable thing I learned from the iPod
tour and library assignment is information about
the reference desk and obtaining help and also
pulling up journals and database resources.
• Make the tour more interesting by making the
recording more real and interactive, not boring
and script like.
• I learned my way around the library and how I
can use each resource.
Student Survey Results
• Making copies was a waste of our money.
• Thank you for taking your time to give the tour.
Your resources at the library have been very
valuable to me during my first semester!
• Try not to make it so long and time consuming.
• The tour was a good opening tool for the library,
but I believe it should be done at an early date.
• I think this assignment should be continued,
especially for freshmen, so they can learn the
resources they need now and in the future.
Collaboration
•
•
•
•
•
Communication – keep in touch!
Listen!
Articulate common concerns, goals
Be creative!
Know where you are going!
Thank You !
Andrew Kearns
Coordinator of Library Instruction
University of South Carolina Upstate
akearns@uscupstate.edu
Special Thanks to
Louise Ericson
Brenda Davenport