1 Library Research Skills Needed by New College Students Richard Eissinger Southern Utah University

2 David T. Conley, College Knowledge An ever-increasing proportion of high school students in the US today aspire to college. Percentage of college students receiving bachelors degrees has remained relatively constant over the past 25 years. It now takes on average 5 years to get a 4-year college degree. Between 30%-60% of students now require remedial education on entry to college, depending on the type of institution they attend.

3 Introduction & Background CIRP - Cooperative Institutional Research Program FYE – First Year Experience Information Literacy SCANS - Secretarys Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills Goals 2000 AASL Information Power ACRL Information Literacy ICT - Information & Communication Technology (ETS) High School to College Issues Millennial students

4 CIRP Freshman Survey* HS grade inflation: A- or higher: 20% to 48% C+ or lower: 22% to 5% HS student – frequently felt bored in class 1985: 29% > 2004: 43% Studying 6+ hours per week 1987: 47% > 2004: 34% Faculty perspectives on student preparedness 45% agree that most students they teach lack the basic skills for college level work *

5 CIRP Freshman Survey* *

6 First Year Experience* Increased freshman retention National average: 63-70% SUU: before FYE 51% - after FYE 59% 58.9% report increased persistence to sophomore year 58.4% report improved student connections with peers 51.2% report increased use of campus services 50.6% report increased student satisfaction with the institution 45.0% report increased out-of-class faculty/student interaction 41.6% report increased level of student participation in student activities 36.0% report increased academic abilities 31.1% report increased student satisfaction with faculty 26.7% report improved grade-point-averages 18.3% report increased persistence to graduation *

7 Information Literacy 1991 – SCANS, Secretarys Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills, US Dept. Labor Goals 2000, Dept. Education Information Power, ALA Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, ACRL ICT – Information & Communication Technology, ETS

8 High School to College Transition The best predictors of whether a student will graduate or not are academic preparation and motivation. High schools focus on making students college- eligible – to meet admissions requirements. They may or may not be college-ready. Many students enter college with poor time management and study skills.

9 High School and College Differences Change from a teacher-directed to a student- directed environment. High school teachers often spend considerable time attempting to motivate students to learn. Experience culture shock when they enter learning environments that different from their past experiences.

10 Instructor Expectations Do not always collect homework – fewer tests Professors are trained experts in their field & not in teaching methods Extra credit usually not available Students are expected to synthesize concepts between textbooks, class readings, and the real world College classes larger, longer, don't meet every day More writing required in college More academic freedom High school is more textbook focused; college more lecture focused In high school the parent is held responsible; in college student is held responsible for actions (FERPA) In high school the school creates social, cultural activities to enhance students education in HS; in college student must seek out social interactions High school students can remain in school despite poor academic performance; can be dropped in college.

11 Beloit College Mindset List* Gas has always been unleaded. An automatic is a weapon, not a transmission. Stores have always had scanners at the checkout. They don't remember when "cut and paste" involved scissors. Libraries have always been the best centers for computer technology and access to good software. Digital cameras have always existed. Photographs have always been processed in an hour or less. Money put in their savings account the year they were born earned almost 7% interest. *

12 New Students: The Millennials Echo boomers, net generation, gamers Most ethnically diverse generation in US history Tend to be visual learners, get bored quickly (lectures) Hold a positive view of technology Its been suggested that these students are often overconfident because they equate their technology savvy with information literacy. OCLC white paper on information habits of college students found that 80% of undergrads use web search engines for all or most assignments, while only half used the librarys subscription-based resources.* *

13 Millennial Searching Habits Many high school teachers endorse the internet as a good research resource. Tend to find information in a chaotic fashion, focusing on speed and convenience. Show little evidence of coherent search strategies. Easily accessible information enables students to stop at the first answer they find. They expect the research process to be easy – like Google. still a fixture in teens lives, but IM is preferred. Size of wired population surges at the 7th grade mark They may be whizzes on communication devices, but their communication skills – both in writing and in person – have a long way to go.

14 The SUU Experience

15 LM1010: Information Literacy 1 credit - general education information literacy requirement Taught by library faculty (9) Designed & maintained by faculty Offered completely online using WebCT Exposure to online learning

16 LM1010: Information Literacy Skills Survey Test-Out Exam Four chapters/quizzes/assignments 1. Choose a topic 2. Find information 3. Evaluate information 4. Cite information Final Exam

17 LM1010: Information Literacy

18 LM1010: Information Literacy

19 Skills Survey > Test-Out Exam

20 Skills > Test-Out > Final

21 Boolean searching by class

22 Scholarly vs popular by class

23 Learning outcomes

24 LM1010: Evaluation

25 Necessary Library Research Skills

26 Library anxiety New college students indicate that they are not comfortable with library research Size of library is intimidating Lack of knowledge about terminology and locating items Dont know how or where to begin Different buildings Dewey vs. LC – numbers are subjects and a classification system

27 Library Phobias * *Research Strategy: Overcoming Library Phobias. BYU

28 What you can do … Visit local university libraries and develop a relationship with a local university librarian Teach searching a university OPAC Online chat Libraries are frequently the only place to go after 5 pm to get answers Ask a librarian!

29 Searching skills Dewey decimal vs LC Boolean searching Look for the help page Databases operate in similar ways Reading an index Using a table of contents or index (chapters in an OPAC)

30 Searching skills – Boolean, etc. Boolean terms – and, or, not Truncation and wildcards OPAC vs online resources – understanding difference between electronic record and full text Selecting an index – where to begin Subject headings vs keywords subject headings usable across databases especially good in subject indexes

31 Searching skills - keywords Your results are only as good as the keywords you use Brainstorm using a thesaurus (Tools in Word) Note how often their keywords show after searching (Edit/Find in Word) Use multiple keywords Correct spelling is important

32 Locating sources Abstracts vs citation colleges have abstract and citation databases available some try to use abstracts as the full text dont understand what a citation is Microfilm, microfiche – colleges have variety of formats available Full text Bound periodicals Interlibrary loan – usually within school districts; colleges have ILL

33 Scholarly sources Understand academic journals vs. magazines Peer-reviewed, refereed, scholarly, academic Scholarly research Start them in high school to understand these distinctions (e.g., in Utah MasterFILE Premier is used as the high school default database) Google

34 Evaluating sources MLA authority, accuracy/verifiability, currency Source / authority Purpose Content / coverage Currency Bias Why evaluate? Students will need to defend their information choices to their professors

35 Citing sources Style guides dont know about the different styles and formats by discipline Plagiarism Most students have not been taught the skills of paraphrasing, quoting and summarizing Citation machines ProQuest, Questia Citation Machine, EasyBib, NoodleTools, RapidCite

36 Notetaking Systematic notetaking leads to good research RefWorks, EndNote, Reference Manager Cornell method, outlining, graphic organizers Microsoft OneNote

37 Microsoft OneNote

38 Conclusions Discuss how their skills are transferable Prepare them for the size of college libraries Help your students see librarians are their best resource

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