Responding to Project Information Literacy 2012 workplace study. What are instruction librarians doing to help students with the social side of research?
1. The
Social
Side
of
Research
Michele
Van
Hoeck
CSU
Maritime
Project
Information
Literacy
April
5,
2014,
San
Jose
2. Project Information Literacy
A large-scale study about early adults and their research habits
“Learning Curve:
How College Graduates Solve Information
Problems Once They Join the Workplace”
3. Who?
2012
Research
Team
Beth
Black
Ohio
State
University
Libraries
Sue
Gilroy
Harvard
University
Libraries
Michele
Van
Hoeck
CSU
Maritime
Library
Jordan
Eschler
University
of
Washington
Sean
Fullerton
University
of
Washington
Director:
Dr.
Alison
Head
20. 1.
Engage
team
during
research
process
We
need
someone
who
will
explore
on
their
own
and
then
come
back
to
the
team
and
say,
‘Here's
my
best
take,
what
do
you
think?’
They
need
that
ability
to
invite
discussion
and
be
able
to
redirect
on
the
fly.
21. They
believe
the
computer
is
their
workspace,
so
basic
interactions
between
people
are
lost.
They
won’t
walk
over
and
ask
someone
a
question.
They
are
less
comfortable
and
have
some
lack
of
willingness
to
use
people
as
sources
and
also
have
a
lack
of
awareness
that
people
are
a
valid
source
of
information.
22. 2.
Use
variety
of
formats
There
were
many
graduates
who
just
looked
in
one
place—
the
Internet—and
that
was
the
problem.
It’s
a
whole
bag
of
tricks
you
need
for
doing
research
today.
23. 3.
Find
Patterns
difficulty
distinguishing
the
noise
from
the
solid
material
get
stuck
in
the
mud
trying
to
figure
out
what
it
all
means
24. 4.
Be
thorough
I
don't
think
there's
a
lot
of
that
desire
to
go
deep.
They
expect
information
to
be
so
easy
to
get,
that
when
it's
not,
it's
frustrating
to
them.
26. We
asked:
“What’s
challenging
about
solving
information
problems
in
the
workplace?”
“Which
college
learning
experiences
have
been
most
applicable?”
27. My
job
feels
like
there’s
a
perpetual
thesis
due,
but
my
job
is
literally
about
finding
information
that
does
not
exist.
My
information
needs
have
changed
and
intensified
since
I
was
an
undergraduate.
28. Workplace
challenges
1.
Increased
sense
of
urgency
2.
Little
structure
or
direction
3.
Highly
contextual
and
fundamentally
social
29. What
transferred?
Ability
to:
• Systematically
evaluate
sources
• Critically
analyze
published
sources
• Synthesize
large
volumes
of
content
30. Overlap:
Workplace
research
is
social
The
biggest
hurdle
for
me
was
getting
used
to
talking
to
strangers.
They
need
to
look
beyond
their
computer
screens.
Recent
grad
Employer
31. Opposing
views
Grads
perceive:
fast
pace
Employers
need:
persistence,
thoroughness
32. Workplace
research:
• Is
social
(and
socially
iterative)
• Synthesizes
a
variety
of
sources
• Requires
persistence
• Requires
openness
to
continuous
learning
33. Why
aren’t
grads
better
at
doing
research
in
teams?
34. Communities
of
Practice
Most
learning
does
not
take
place
with
the
master;
it
takes
place
with
journeymen
and
other
apprentices.
Lave
&
Wenger
35. What
do
Communities
of
Practice
do?
Problem
solving
Requests
for
information
Seeking
experience
Reusing
assets
Coordination
and
synergy
Discussing
developments
Documentation
projects
Mapping
knowledge
and
identifying
gaps
41. 1.1a
Confers
with
instructors
and
participates
in
class
discussions,
peer
workgroups,
and
electronic
discussions
to
identify
a
research
topic,
or
other
information
need.
1.2a
Knows
how
information
is
formally
and
informally
produced,
organized,
and
disseminated.
42. 2.3c
Uses
specialized
online
or
in
person
services
to
retrieve
information
needed
…
(professional
associations,
community
resources,
experts
and
practitioners).
2.3d
Uses
surveys,
letters,
interviews,
and
other
forms
of
inquiry
to
retrieve
primary
information.
43. 3.6
Validates
understanding
and
interpretation
of
the
information
through
discourse
with
other
individuals,
subject-‐area
experts,
and/or
practitioners.
(3)
44. 4.3
Communicates
the
product
or
performance
effectively
to
others.
(4)
45. 5.1
Identifies
and
discusses
issues
related
to
privacy
and
security,
free
vs.
fee-‐based
access
to
information,
censorship
and
freedom
of
speech.
(3)
5.2.a
Participates
in
electronic
discussions
following
accepted
practices
(e.g.
"Netiquette”)
46. • “Develop
student’s
ability
to
work
in
teams”
• “Pair
undergrads
with
faculty”
• “Use
class
time
for
collaborative,
active
learning
assignments”
• “Multimedia
assignments”
• “Information
systems,
data
sources,
tech
applications”
• “Information
technology”
• Really?
Higher
Ed
Landscape:
Instruction
Librarian
Opportunities?
47. What
are
we
doing
to
prepare
students
for
the
social
side
of
research?
56. Highlights
from
LOEX
• Team
Based
Learning
• Incorporating
student
peers,
TA’s
in
IL
instruction
and
reference
• Using
social
media
to
make
social
construction
of
knowledge
more
transparent
• Teams
compete
in
library
orientation
game
60. More
ideas
• Encourage
team
consultations
with
librarians
• Partner
with
faculty
to
design
assignments
that
include
expert
consultation
• Reach
out
to
extracurricular
groups
on
campus
61. “We
began
to
see
that
not
all
knowledge
worth
collecting
for
a
library
was
written
down
–
much
of
the
creative
skills
and
expertise
of
artists
and
makers
in
the
community
was
only
accessible
by
talking
and
learning
from
them.
The
best
way
to
collect
this
information
is
through
partnerships
and
programming.”
63. Further
reading
Behrens,
K.,
&
Damon-‐Moore,
E.
B.
and
L.
(2013).
The
Library
as
Incubator
Project
wants
YOU
to
look
at
Programming
as
Collection
Development.
In
the
Library
with
the
Lead
Pipe.
Retrieved
from
http://inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2013/the-‐
library-‐as-‐incubator-‐project-‐wants-‐you-‐to-‐look-‐at-‐programming-‐as-‐collection-‐
development/
Head,
A.,
Project
Information
Literacy
(2012).
Learning
Curve:
How
College
Graduates
Solve
Information
Problems
Once
They
Join
the
Workplace.
http://projectinfolit.org/
Head,
A.,
Van
Hoeck,
M.,
Eschler,
J.
&
Fullerton,
S.
(May
2013).
What
information
competencies
matter
in
today’s
workplace?,
Library
and
Information
Research,
http://
www.lirgjournal.org.uk
Wenger,
E.
(n.d.).
Communities
of
practice:
A
brief
introduction.
Retrieved
from
http://
wenger-‐trayner.com/theory/
64. Image
credits
• “Sea
of
Blue”
by
Flickr
user
Ben
Stephenson
• Etienne
Wenger
by
Wikimedia
Commons
user
Beverly
Trayner
• Jean
Lave
from
UC
Berkeley
Graduate
Council
Lectures
• "Lonely
chair
in
study
carrel"
by
Flickr
user
quigs1975
• “Campus
life:
Students
in
conversation
at
Boston
College
dormitory"
by
Flickr
user
Burns
Library,
Boston
College
• "Getting
help
at
the
ref
desk"
by
Flickr
user
Wendt
Commons
•
“Seminar
Bard
College
Berlin,
2013”
by
Wikimedia
Commons
user
Irina.stelea
Hinweis der Redaktion
How effective is information literacy instruction at preparing college students for the workforce? After all the research papers, team presentations, senior projects, how much do they apply what they’ve learned outside academia? what skills do they really need to find and use information in the work world?
Because I spent a long time working at a newspaper before becoming an academic librarian, I’m going to give you a newspaper-style who, what, when, where, how, and why on Project Information Literacy’s 2012 study
Team includes three instruction librarians and two grad students
23 total, many identified by college career services offices. Largest was Marriott, smallest was a 2-person non-profit in Washington DC that works with paid interns. We spoke to managers responsible for hiring, training, or evaluating recent college grads. Gathering this sample was a painstaking process, and I’m proud of the diversity in both size and industries included.
blue stars = recent grad focus groups (4 groups, 33 grads total); red stars = employer locations (23 total employers)
Funding for the 2012 study
This is a real pie chart I created with Bureau of Labor Statistics data, showing the proportion of the labor force that was an academic in 2012
This is also a real pie chart showing the proportion of a four-year undergraduates in relation to the average life span in the US
I’ll start by talking about the employer interviews. Studying information literacy in the workplace has been difficult, possible because all the research has been done from the perspective of academia. we were careful to avoid library jargon and did not use the term “information literacy” in the interviews, which lasted 30-45 minutes.
After all interviews, which were taped, research team coded responses to find trends“Habits of Mind” = thinking dispositions exhibited by critical thinkersPause for any questions re: design of the study
what employers minimally expect
This is a qualitative study so our data is quotes rather than numbers.
I’m going to spend more time talking about the gaps, or areas of difficulty. Findings: 4 areas recent grads struggle with
talk about format as people, print, online; in-house materials, multiple types of external sources
1 and 2 are about time
Grads perceive a fast pace in the workplace and believe they have to quickly deliver the right answer. Employers want grads to be more persistent and thorough, checking in with team during process
These are my take-aways from the study
Break here for audience feedback via poll everywhere
this is not actually news; not only have other term coined in 1991 in an anthropological study by Lave and Wenger; later expanded in seminal book by Wenger 1998Must tie this to organizational learning, people who share a practice of some sort: occupation, craft, etc.
Look carefully at these tasks – do they overlap with information literacy competencies? [show them] I think they do.
Conversations are ephemeral – how to cite?! how to archive?!Interviews are original research. This requires training! We don’t want to instill bad habits!Is this really library territory?!
Conversations are ephemeral – how to cite?! how to archive?!Interviews are original research. This requires training! We don’t want to instill bad habits!Is this really library territory?!
Conversations are ephemeral – how to cite?! how to archive?!Interviews are original research. This requires training! We don’t want to instill bad habits!Is this really library territory?!
Aren’t we really about published information?
[refer to handout with specific socially-oriented standards listed]Contain glimmers of social but many missed opportunities with heavy reliance on textual and published information. Some of the learning outcomes I called social are a bit of a stretch. 4.3 for example sounds social as an overarching Performance Indicator, but if you look at the 4 learning outcomes beneath it, they are strangely focused on tech and tools: choosing the right communication medium, tech applications, principles of design.
[refer to verso of handout] The draft revision of the standards has a heavy emphasis on the social aspect of knowledge production and collaborative learning. [Read final sentence out loud]. This is terrific! But look closely at the sections I have highlighted. In response to this changing landscape (green), note the suggestions made for contributions by librarians (yellow, see bullets above). Where is our role as teachers? Why is technology the response to the rise of collaborative learning? Tech is great but there are significant missing pieces here.
Not only looking for specific practices but also the overall conceptualization of students as researchers, and of the research process.
Eight years of LOEX abstracts in the word cloud. Removed information, library, literacy, some other words I deemed insignificant. What’s the “collaborative” doing there? It’s librarians collaborating with colleagues, not related to collaborative student learning.
Use a pie chart here
poll everywhere here – Do you teach or recommend expert consultations as part of research process
You suspect there is internal, unpublished material on the subject within a company or agency.As a reality check/confirmation of assumptions that only an expert can provide
xamples: Wikipedia Chemistry article – student contacted company who patented technologySenior project on America’s Marine Highway – discovered legislator’s name in document associated with project, not finding much evidence in public materials beyond marketing-type documents. very empowering when successful
