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What do you want to see? Assessing students’ skills
Ph.D. candidate
Yusuke Ishimura

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Connection to This Class
Students’ research
process in a real
environment
Very
personal, messy
process
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010
How?
Why?
What IL skills?
Complete
picture of
the research
process
Implications for
librarians

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3
Research Questions
What are Japanese students’ information behaviours during
their research tasks as compared to Canadian students?
•
What factors (e.g., personal, social, and linguistic) are involved in
information behaviour during the research task?
•
What are their actual behaviours in relation to information literacy
standards?
•
What differences and similarities in behaviour exist between the
two groups of students?
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Conceptual Framework
Information behaviour model
(Process oriented)
Information
needs
Information
seeking
Information
use
Corresponds with
Outcomes
Outcomes
Information literacy standards
(Quality oriented)
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010
Outcomes
Users’ context
Potential
effects
- Cultural
- Educational
- Linguistic
- Personal
- Psychological
- Social

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Data Collection
Interviews
• Reveal context of behaviour
Flowcharts
• Visualisation of entire process
Portfolios
• Collect evidence
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Data Collection Timeline
Assignment
schedule
Portfolio
(Ongoing)
Interviews
Start
Start
1st interview
- Guidance for the study
- Past experience
Flowchart
Assignment submission
End
2nd interview
- Contemporary experience
- Reflection on meaning
Making flowchart
Portfolio analysis
Analysis
Full analysis starts
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

7. Length of stay
Psychology
5 years
Male
Economics
6 months
Female
Political Science
5 years
Female
Marketing
6 months
Female
Religious Studies
6 months
Female
Education
-
Female
English literature
-
Male
History
-
Female
History
-
Male
History
-
Female
Political Science
-
Female
Linguistics
-
Female
Political Science
-
Male
Canadian
Selected paper discipline
Female
Japanese
Gender
History
-
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Sample Flowchart
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

9. Information Behaviour & Literacy
Low IL skills
Feedback
Informatio
n needs
Informatio
n seeking
Informatio
n use
Feedback
High IL skills
+
9
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010
Informatio
n needs
Informatio
n seeking
Informatio
n use

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Finding Focus

Starting points
•
•
•

Process characteristics
•
•
•

Class topics
Previous knowledge
Personal interests
Often vague
Start with brainstorming
Information availability is key
Action
•
•
•
•
•
Searching catalogues
Searching databases
Searching Google
Searching Wikipedia
Talking with instructors
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Starting Points: Quote
“I picked that one [out of 15 topics provided by the professor]
because Diefenbaker and Eisenhower are both very long names.
If I write a paper that uses those names a lot, it makes [my
paper] longer.” [P20]
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Characteristics: Quote
I think I'm thinking more in terms of keywords than anything else, not in
full sentences, at least not at first.
For example, thinking of things like:
•
historiography of conservation
•
Utah
•
John Muir
•
Parrots (Southern USA)
[P12]
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Action: Quote
“To start my research, I went to Wikipedia to get a general overview
and see what kinds of references they used. On the Wikipedia webpage
for 'preventive diplomacy' it lists the UN mission to Macedonia as a
notable example of successful preventive diplomacy.” [P16]
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Action: Quote
“Yeah. The best strategy, I've always found, is to find 1 book, at least.
Papers are really good, they're various focused and everything, but if
you have 1 book that something to do with your topic, it gives you this
big background . . . I just read it really quickly because I can sort of
you can skip through something or skim really, really quickly through
some parts… Yeah, just read the big bulk of it and from there, that gives
you all the issues or things you are looking for. And theoretically, it would
give you the articles where he [the author] went to. If it’s a good book, it
will mention the other people who talked about it and like the other rival
scholars or something.” [P10]
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Locating Information

Searching library catalogue
•
•

Single/multiple/changing keywords
Browsing by LCSH
Searching journal databases
•
Single/multiple databases
•
Single/multiple/changing keywords
•
Advanced search options

Browsing shelves

Searching Google (including Scholar & Books)

Citation chaining
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Sample Search
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Reasons: Quote
[Y] It’s interesting you’re searching for subject headings. Where did you learn this kind of stuff?
[P10] I was on the classic catalogue and I saw “subject begins with.” I clicked on it. It makes a
lot of sense.
[Y] I see. You just noticed the option is there. And then OK, like what this function is. And just try
it?
[P10] Yeah.
[Y] And then you realize.
[P10] Also like from there, I, that’s sort of, that’s in my mind and I tried that a few times, like
Poland history. Like OK. So there’s the Poland history page. Then later, I see a book and
noticed a LC subject like Poland socialism and something else, I cannot remember what found
this one. And then it would be like, oh click on that and go to the subject I was looking at. This
was great and this is nice.
[Y] I am just wondering are you familiar with LC subjects, what a LC subject is?
[P10] I have no idea.
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Reasons: Quote
[P13] Yes. Thank you. I learned a bit about Boolean, I’m not very versed in Boolean, but I learned it in
high school.
[Y] OK. So at least you learned how to search.
[P13] It was a bit more advanced training, it was a good high school, I guess. I know that a lot of people
have to learn that a lot in a university, but I didn't take any of courses specifically.
[Y] I see. When you came to McGill, did you look at all the online tutorials to learn how to search?
[P13] I was worried about my research skills being bad and I took 1 and they again told me about
Boolean and then they also explained McGill's facilities. It was like a "welcome to the library" thing. We
have online journals, here's how to access online journals, and we can go through departmental studies
if you want. Here's Canadian history and here's a list of journals and then you search multi-journals. I
think that's valuable...and I think I was lazy in my past research in that I typically go straight to JSTOR if
I am in history or English. Just go straight to JSTOR but I know that doesn't have access to everything.
And recently I've been kind of been falling on a crutch of using Google Scholar a little much. It's getting
better for something.
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Information Selection
Relevance to students’ paper content
Content quality
Content coverage

Looking at book elements
•
•
•
Title
Table of contents
Index
Looking at content of journal articles

•
•
•
•
Title
Abstract
Main text
Citation count
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Information Extraction/Organisation

Highlighting

Using sticky notes as markers
•
•

Colour coding by themes/topics
Specific kinds of sticky notes
Typing notes
•
•
Paraphrasing
•

Summarising
Copying
Making digital notes
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Writing Process

Writing paper based on outline

Writing paper section by section

Filling in information based on own ideas
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Writing Process: Quote
[Y] I see. I kind of feel you have specific ideas in your head, but you don’t know where you
want to put it in.
[P18] Yeah, Yeah.
[Y] At least you know what you want to use. Just put information and then at later stage,
print out and think about flow and structure?
[P18] Yeah, because like I was staring the computer screen for so long, sometimes it's so
hard, and scrolling and just all looks the same. So to have it on paper I find, you know, OK
I don’t need any of this... so then if I have the sheets laid out--well, like this paragraph on
page 8 and then like this paragraph on page 2, so like they need go together. So I
can see that better when it’s laid out. And sometimes not for this paper but sometimes I
have really in trouble do like highlighting and color code organization, but this was, I didn’t
find this like super hard to kind of put together because I kind of all along kind of knew the
things I was gonna talk about. So it’s just like you know, I wanna like a logical order. So.
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

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Factors Affecting Research Process

Trial & error

Motivation toward research

Serendipity (or by chance)

Past learning experience
•
High school
•
Past classes/assignments at McGill

Time management skills

Librarians(?)
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

24. Low IL skills
Time allocation
High IL skills
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GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010
Information
needs
Information use
Information
seeking
Information
needs
Information use
Information
seeking

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Findings (so far)

Process and IL skills are not isolated
•
Seeking information versus using information

Students shows certain levels of IL skills

If certain approaches work…
•

Students don’t change until the approach fails
Librarians’ presence rarely seen
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010

26. 26
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What are your questions?
GLIS 679 Y. Ishimura Nov. 11, 2010