What information skills are 90% of high school graduates missing (based on Harvard research publications, MacArthur Foundation reports, and university faculty anecdotes)? What can we do to make sure our graduates are the college freshmen who know what they're doing and not the ones calling home to ask their Moms? Librarians and classroom teachers are both welcome to this discussion.

1. WHAT COLLEGE-BOUND
STUDENTS NEED
FROM THE LIBRARY

2. HIGH SCHOOL
GRADUATES…
Typically ill-prepared to
tackle college-level research

3. SKILLS COLLEGE FRESHMEN LACK
Determining relevance
Evaluating information
Finding credible information online
Finding & using different resources
Searching laterally--using citations

4. SKILLS NEW HIRES LACK
• Knowing when to ask for help
• Using a variety of resources
• Finding patterns / making
connections
• Exploring thoroughly

5. INFORMATION SURVIVAL SKILLS
How a library works
ASK! You’re not bothering that librarian
Not everyone behind a library desk is a
librarian
Know what you’re looking for
There are different tools for different
information
Most libraries have similar sets of tools

6. INFORMATION SURVIVAL SKILLS
Research is not Googling
Corollary 1: Google does not have everything
see: Lane Wilkinson
Corollary 2: on the Internet, everyone has an opinion
How to make Google do what you want
Search engines deliberately change results

7. INFORMATION SURVIVAL SKILLS
How to develop a researchable topic
Pre-search
Understand the topic
Wikipedia is a great starting place

8. INFORMATION SURVIVAL SKILLS
Developing a search strategy
Use the right tool for the job
How to find a useful book…how to use it
That thing in the front is called the table of contents
That thing in the back is called the index
How to use a database
Two words: advanced search
Primary vs. secondary and popular vs. scholarly

9. INFORMATION SURVIVAL SKILLS
How to create a citation
APA, Chicago, MLA:
even if not fluent in them all

10. INFORMATION SURVIVAL SKILLS
Other pearls of wisdom
Separate junk from important stuff
Evaluate while you search
Not everything is digital (yet)
It’s not cheating to backtrack sources
(even Wikipedia’s)
Patience

11. “I ALREADY KNOW HOW TO DO THAT!”
ERIAL Project:
Only 7 out of 30 students could conduct a well-executed search
Students click the first few links and quit
Critical searching skills take years to develop
with research-based writing assignments,
which means…
you have to teach them!

12. YOU COULD USE SOME HELP
Work with faculty
It helps if your teachers realize:
this won’t add a lot to their workload
students don’t know how to search effectively
students need these skills
Talk with each other so expectations line up
Evaluate your work afterwards

13. A FEW IDEAS
Teachers should bring classes at the beginning of the
assignment
Students need to know the assignment
Ask them to explain to you what they are doing
Show students a model of what’s expected

14. A FEW IDEAS
If you hear, “we come to the library all the time,”
you’re doing a good job.
If you hear, “I already know what you’re going to tell us,”
let that student run with it.

15. A FEW IDEAS
Why are citations and
works cited important?
“When talking about bibliographies, I always talk about the way
knowledge is built upon previous knowledge.”
Kathy Fester, The June Shelton School

16. A FEW IDEAS
Require students to critically annotate
bibliographies (as they research)
Consider an annotated bib
instead of a research paper
“We have the kids take a journal article and actually check the
scientists on their quotes. The kids track back on the author’s
sources and rate them on how they did as far as taking things out of
context, whether they got it right, etc.”
CD McLean, Berkeley Preparatory School

17. A FEW IDEAS
Adjust due dates
Cite one journal article and one book
Design deep projects
around specific, personal questions
Let the class brainstorm topics
Break it up
Build up to it

18. Works Consulted
ERIAL (Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries) Project. Ongoing.
http://www.erialproject.org/publications/presentations/
Flanagin, Andrew J. and Miriam Metzger. Kids and Credibility: An Empirical Examination of Youth, Digital Media Use, and
Information Credibility. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation reports on digital media and learning.
Cambridge: MIT Press, 2010. https://archive.org/details/9780262514750
Foster, Nancy Fried. “The Mommy Model of Service.” Studying Students: The Undergraduate Research Project at the
University of Rochester. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2007.
Gasser, Urs et al. “Youth and Digital Media: From Credibility to Information Quality.” Berkman Center Research
Publication No. 2012-1. Youth and Media. 16 Feb 2012. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2005272
Head, Alison J. "Learning the Ropes: How Freshmen Conduct Course Research Once They Enter College." Project
Information Literacy Research Report, December 4, 2013. http://projectinfolit.org/publications
Head, Alison J. et al. "What Information Competencies Matter in Today's Workplace?" Library and Information Research,
May 2013, vol. 37, no. 114, 75 - 104. http://projectinfolit.org/publications
Maxwell, Connie and Johnathan Wilson. “Information Skills for College Success: Observations, Challenges, Ideas and
Objectives.” AISL conference presentation. 23 April 2014. Workshop notes by Katie Archambault.
http://aislconferencereport2014.weebly.com/workshop-notes.html
Purcell, Kristen et al. “How Teens Do Research in the Digital World.” 1 Nov 2012. Pew Research Center’s Internet &
American Life Project. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Student-Research
Utecht, Jeff. “Why K-12 schools are failing by not teaching SEARCH.” The Thinking Stick. 19 Nov 2012.
http://www.thethinkingstick.com/why-k-12-schools-are-failing-by-not-teaching-search/
Offers an interesting response to “How Teens Do Research in the Digital World.”
Wilkinson, Lane. “Google has Everything! (but the Library has More!)” Sense and Reference: a Philosophical Library Blog.
10 Nov. 2011. http://senseandreference.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/google-has-everything/

19. Photo Credits
Claremont Colleges Digital Library Flickr Pool
https://www.flickr.com/photos/claremontcollegesdigitallibrary/sets/721576252000236
72/
Florida Memory Flickr Stream https://www.flickr.com/photos/floridamemory/
GCSU Library Special Collections Flickr Pool
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gcsuspecialcollections/
Iowa Digital Library Flickr Pool https://www.flickr.com/photos/uiowa/sets/
LSE Library Flickr Pool https://www.flickr.com/photos/lselibrary/
Ohio University Libraries Flickr Pool
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ohiouniversitylibraries/with/3514262260
Ed Uthman’s Rhodes College Flickr Pool
https://www.flickr.com/photos/euthman/sets/72157602878707187