Information Literacy
CSS101
Martin J. Crabtree
MCCC Library
October 2004
Agenda
• So just what IS information literacy?
• Why information literacy is so important in the 21st
century
• So what do I look for – Picking a topic
• Finding books in a college library & using the
catalog
• Searching electronic resources
• Databases and Web information
• Some library paperwork
• A short quiz
What IS information literacy?
•Information literacy is a skill that you will need
both in college and as part you the rest or your
life!
•You will need it to do thing in college like
researching & writing a term paper
•You will also need it for things like:
–Finding a job
–Deciding which car to own
•Anytime where you need to “find something
out”
What is information literacy?
Information literacy is the ability to:
• Realize that you need information to
find something out/answer a question
• Know where to go to get the information
you need
• Ask the right questions to get the
information you need
• Put all the information you found
together to answer your question
For example say you decide
to go out on a date
First you need to decide…
• Who you want to go out with
– That’s your choice
• What you want to do
– Go to a movie?
– Go out to dinner?
– Go to a concert? – Let’s do that!
Who do we want to see?
Now we need find something out
Now we need to find out who will
be playing in the area
Is Twista on tour?
• Yup, but we just
missed him, darn!
• So who else is
coming?
With some more searching we
find…
• That there is a great
show coming on Halloween
with:
R. Kelly
Jay-Z
Now that we’ve found a show,
we still need to find out more
Now we need to find out…
• Where the show is
– Continental Arena in Rutherford, N.J.
• What time does the show start?
– 7:00 PM, doors open at 6:00 PM
• How much are tickets?
– $37, $49.50, $77, & $127
• How do I get there?
– You can find that out on line
So what does this have to do with
college?
• In college, just like going on
a date, you must be able to
find out what you need to
know.
• Now let's watch a little TV...
Information literacy is NOT the
same thing as computer literacy
• Computer literacy is the ability to use a
computer effectively
– To use computer programs
– Access the web
– Print, email, save files, etc.
• Information Literacy is the ability to
find information and what to do with
the “stuff” you found.
Selecting a research topic
Figuring out what you want to
find out about
Selecting a topic
• Make sure you understand your assignment
completely.
• Look at general resources like an encyclopedia to
find out more about the broad topic, looking for
things that may interest you.
• Think of a topic that both will fulfill your
assignment and be interesting to you personally.
• Use the library catalog to find books on your
topic.
• Use library databases and indexes to find
periodical (magazine, journal, newspaper) articles.
Finding Books
• Books are put on the shelves
grouped by subject.
• You may be familiar with the
Dewey Decimal System which is
used by many school and public
libraries.
• MCCC like most colleges uses a
different system called the
Library of Congress (LC) system.
• The LC system used both letters
and number
Library of Congress System
• Organizes knowledge into twenty-one broad
categories.
• The twenty-one categories (labeled A to Z,
but missing I, O, W, X and Y) are further
subdivided by adding one or two additional
letters and a set of numbers.
• The first letter of a Library of Congress call
number indicates the general subject area.
• The second letter indicates the specific
subject section within the general category.
Library of Congress vs. the
Dewey Decimal Systems
Dewey Decimal System
Library of Congress
• Ancient Olympic
Games: 796.48 PER
• Ancient Olympic
Games: GV23.S9 1999
• Fiction books are all in
the same place:
F DIC
• Fiction books are part
of the system:
PZ3.D55 T3
• Biography books are
also in the same place:
B EDI
• Biographies are mixed
into the collection:
TK140.E3 J75
•
Using The MCCC Card Catalog
to find books and more
The catalog is available
online. Used to find books,
videos and other material
both in the MCCC collection
and the Mercer County
Public (MCL) libraries.
•
You can have materials from
MCL brought to the college.
Deliveries arrive Tuesday and
Friday afternoons. (DVD’s not
available from MCL)
•
You will need to have your
student ID card to borrow
books or use the library’s
computer lab
The link to the catalog is on the
library’s web pages.
Periodicals
• Periodicals include:
– scholarly journals
– newspapers
– Magazines
• Periodicals represent the bulk of
published scholarly information.
• The library has a number of periodicals available in print,
on microfilm, and especially via electronic databases.
• The library staff can help determine if a specific
periodical is available from the library.
Starting An Electronic Search
Keywords
• Keywords are used when searching electronic
databases and web search engines
• First step - Generate a list of words (keywords) often
nouns that describes or is commonly used when
discussing your topic. For example:
– Ozone
– Layer
– Depletion
– Atmosphere
– Hole
Starting An Electronic Search
Boolean Searching/Logic
• Boolean searching - Connecting keywords with
the terms
– and
– not
– or
• For example
– eagles NOT football
– (car or automobile) and exhaust
• More Terms = Fewer “Hits”
Searching More Than Just Keywords
Phrases & Truncations
• To search for a phrase, use quotation
marks
– “weapons of mass destruction”
• Truncations allow for searching related
words all at once
– The * is usually used. For example:
• “child*” would include: child, children, childhood,
childproof, etc.
Electronic Databases at the
Mercer Library
Electronic Databases at MCCC
In General
• Over 40 databases available
• Many contain periodical articles
• Some are useful for searching specific
subjects like business, art, or criminal
justice.
•Others are also useful
tools like the Encyclopedia
Britannica and the Oxford
Dictionary
Electronic Databases
In General
• Accessible at any computer
on the MCCC/JKC campus
network
• Most are available off
campus, need to request a
password.
• Can print/e-mail/download
what you find
Using the World Wide Web
Using the internet/world wide
web
• Before using the web for most college
research, try using databases first:
– You will have fewer hits to go through
– You’ll likely find some good information
quickly
– The information is always high quality
• The internet & web are not the same
thing
Some things to consider when
searching the web
• Everything is NOT on the web and may
never be
• No search engine covers the entire web
• The “invisible web” is huge!
• Though there has yet to be consensus,
estimates put the size of the invisible
web between 2 and 500 times bigger
than the “visible” (or surface) web.
Searching the World Wide Web
Search Strategy
• Searching the Web is much like database
searching:
– Put together a list of keywords describing the
information you desire
– Use Boolean logic (and, not, or) to better define your
search, use double quotes for phrases, etc.
• When searching the web, also:
– Consider which search engines/sites may best suit your
search needs. Different search engines yield different
results.
– Use the search engine’s “advanced search” to select
limiting parameters (language, date, domain, etc.)
The “Invisible Web”
• Much web information can not be
“found” by traditional search engines.
• This information could be in:
– databases (such as the ones on the
Library’s website)
– Adobe pdf (portable document format)
– sites accessible only by password
• Very recent information is likely to
be missed as well
Some helpful invisible websites
• www.lii.org - searchable annotated directory of
Internet resources
• www.freepint.com/gary/direct.htm - Direct Search,
large listing of free databases
• infomine.ucr.edu [NO www] - good for searching
academic information
• completeplanet.com [No www] blend of database,
directory, & search engine information.
• www.firstgov.gov - search federal government sites
Is this
stuff any
good?
Evaluating Web Sites
Evaluating Web Sites
• Quality varies greatly from site to
site
• YOU are the sole evaluator of the
quality of information a site
provides
Five Web Info Evaluation Criteria
1. Accuracy - is it reliable?
2. Authority - is author qualified on
subject?
3. Objectivity - is the information biased?
4. Currency - is the information “new”
enough?
5. Coverage - does the info completely
cover the topic?
Next time
• Short review of today’s material
• Your turn to:
– Search the MCCC library’s catalog
– Use the databases
– Evaluate some web information
• Now for a bit of paperwork & the quiz