CHECK
THESE OUT!
by Mary Pagliero Popp, popp@indiana.edu
It's Fall, a time for new beginnings in school and academic libraries. Even if you are not in one of these settings, there is always something new!
NEW!
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has just released the final version of the first ever national standards for information literacy. If you have not seen them, check out the following web site: <http://www.ala.org/news/v3n24/v3n24d.html>.
Gradowski, Gail, Loanne Snavely, and Paula Dempsey, eds. Designs for Active Learning: A Sourcebook of Classroom Strategies for Information Education. Chicago: American Library Association, 1998.
- The Instruction Section of ACRL premiered
this new book on active learning at the ALA Annual Conference. It
contains 54 proven strategies for active learning in the library instruction
classroom (from high school to college and beyond) as well as a computer
disk containing forms, handouts, and exercises. Strategies are divided
into five areas: Basic Library Instruction, Searching Indexes and
Online Catalogs, Search Strategies for the Research Process, Evaluation
of Library Resources, and Discipline-Oriented Instruction.
TEACHING EVALUATION OF WORLD WIDE WEB SOURCES? HERE'S HELP:
Junion-Metz, Gail. "Surf for: The Art of Evaluation." School Library Journal 44 (May 1, 1998): 57-58. (Also available online:http://www.bookwire.com/SLJ/surf-for.article$9276.)
- Resources for teachers and public librarians
who want to plan lessons for children.
- Five criteria on Web evaluation created
to be digestible even to a student to whom research speed is important.
Includes a sample handout.
GOOD READING:
Faraino, Richard L. "Teaching Medical Informatics a la Carte: A Curriculum for the Professional Palate." Medical Reference Services Quarterly 17(Summer 1998): 69-77.- The author describes a modular curriculum
at the New York University Medical Center designed to meet the needs of
clinicians, basic scientists, residents, medical students, and students
of nursing and allied health. The focus of the program is on identification
of primary areas of medical informatics needed in the daily work of health
professionals.
- Graves, an instructional designer from
the Library of Congress National Digital Library Program, describes ways
to develop and use a pathfinder (either on the web or as a diskette) containing
a customized web page linking users immediately to web sites on a particular
topic. Includes step-by-step instructions. Particularly useful
for school and public libraries.
- A concise overview of the psychological
theories and the research that support cooperative learning. The
authors also offer practical tips for use of cooperative learning techniques
in the classroom, for both short-term (a few minutes or a class period)
and long-term activities, and in formal and informal ways.
- For those of us providing more and more
instruction on the web, the issues in this excellent overview are very
important. The author describes web tools for accessibility, gives
practical tips for page design, citing example pages, and includes a list
of URLs to consult for more in-depth information.
- A report on the program presented by the
authors at the American Association of Higher Education to help college
administrators plan for information literacy. Included are a "test"
to help determine the institution's readiness, a compilation of information
literacy competencies/outcomes for undergraduates, and descriptions of
model programs.
- Reviews theories of motivation, recent
research and useful models. Provides suggestions for use in school
library instruction, ideas for further research, and an excellent bibliography.
A good overview for librarians in all educational settings.
- Whitmire studied data from the national
College Student Experiences Questionnaire and found that grades, class
year, focused academic library activities, informal faculty interaction,
active course learning, and conscientious attention to writing all resulted
in critical thinking gains.
IN BRIEF
Adalian, Paul T., et. al "The Student-Centered Electronic Teaching Library: A New Model for Learning." RSR 25.3/4(1997): 11-22.Braun, Linda W. "Building a Better
Web Site: A Practical Guide to Interactivity for Libraries."
School Library Journal 44(July
1998):24-27.
Hawkins, Randolph and Arthur E. Paris. "Computer Literacy and Computer Use Among College Students: Differences in Black and White." Journal of Negro Education 66(1997): 147-158.
Massey-Burzio, Virginia. "From the Other Side of the Reference Desk: A Focus Group Study." Journal of Academic Librarianship 24(1998): 208-215.
Shirato, Linda and Joseph Badics. "Library Instruction in the 1990s: A Comparison with Trends in Two Earlier LOEX Surveys." Research Strategies 15 (1997): 223-237.
Simpson, Antony E. "Information-Finding and the Education of Scholars: Teaching Electronic Access in a Disciplinary Context." Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian 16.2(1998): 1-18.
Mary Pagliero Popp is Information Technologies Public Services Librarian at Indiana University Bloomington Libraries.