Jenny Fielding, Instruction & Outreach Librarian Fitchburg State University Center for Teaching and Learning Summer Institute – August 13, 2013

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Indices Tables of Contents Context within/related to the larger work Verso information (esp. LOC) Prefaces & Forewords Glossaries Contributors Notes, Footnotes, References We recognize that the digital landscape has removed many information guideposts, but digital native students likely don’t even realize they were once there.

 Recent research with adult readers show that comprehension is similar between reading print and reading digital text on an e-reader. (Connell et al 2012, Margolin et al 2013.)  However, additional contextual information is often excluded from commercial digital editions, and digitally created text.  Text searching is far less effective than using indices and subject searching.  Library e-resources retain these contextual “landmarks,” but students are often unaware of the information they can impart.

 Reading on the internet, however, facilitates jumping from document to document.  A current study measuring scrolling indicates this is usually before even finishing the current page. people_read_online_why_you_won_t_finish_this_article.html

 A book has an editor instead of an author?  A book is in its 12 th edition?  It doesn’t have an index?  It is a “new” edition with a preface by “insert famous person here”?  It is in Vol 2, Issue 1 vs. Vol 64, Issue 5? What might it signify about the information if:

 Have students find out more information about an earlier edition of a book you are using in class. What year was it published? Can they find out what content changed from the earlier edition to the one they have? Why do they think this is important?  Ask students to examine the table of contents for an issue of a scholarly journal in the discipline in the databases, and find another issue of the same journal in print. What, if anything is different? Why? Did they use the print journal and the database in the same way?  Short class discussion on reading lists – why this book? Why this edition? Or, conversely, if edition doesn’t matter for your syllabus, why not?