CSCU Information Literacy Toolkit

Submitted by:  Tabbi Heavner, Asnuntuck Community College

Contact info:  theavner@acc.commnet.edu 

Description:  Video tutorial with directions for accessing eBooks from home

Skill Set:    Basics      Researching  

Resource Type:    Videos & Tutorials  

ACRL Frame:    Searching as Strategic Exploration    

Audience:   First Year, Second Year, Third Year, Fourth Year, Graduate

Length of Lesson: Less than 5 mins

Materials Used:   None

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion?  No

Submitted by:  Tabbi Heavner, Asnuntuck Community College

Contact info: theavner@acc.commnet.edu

Description: Provides instructions for logging into Blackboard

Skill Set:    Basics      Other  

Resource Type:   Handouts & Instructional Materials     

Audience:   First Year

Length of Lesson: Less than 5 mins

Materials Used: computer (home or school), printout of instructions

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion?  No

Submitted by:  Tabbi Heavner, Asnuntuck Community College

Contact info:theavner@acc.commnet.edu

Description: Directions for accessing the New York Times online. Must be a student, staff, or faculty member.

Skill Set:    Basics        Researching     

Resource Type:   Handouts & Instructional Materials    

Audience: First Year, Second Year, Third Year, Fourth Year, Graduate

Length of Lesson: Less than 5 mins

Materials Used: Computer (home or school), handout.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion? No

Submitted by:  Joy Hansen, Central CT State University

Contact info: jhansen@ccsu.edu

Description: Activity worksheet that is completed within a class session after instruction, collected, and reviewed by the librarian. It can accompany any research guide and can be tailored to any lesson to assess if the session objectives have been met. 

Skill Set:    Basics       Researching  

Resource type:    Assessment Tools 

ACRL Frame:    Searching as Strategic Exploration  

Audience:  Undergraduate

Length of Lesson: 15-30 minutes

Materials Used:  Paper handout or a digital version using Google Forms or other tool

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion? No

Submitted by:   Michael Zych, Tunxis Community College

Contact info:  mzych@tunxis.edu

Description: Fun, informative video that shows advanced modifiers in Google searches with a reminder that internet searches are only the very beginning of research.

Skill Set:    Basics        Researching  

Resource Type:    Videos & Tutorials  

ACRL Frame:    Searching as Strategic Exploration    

Audience:   First Year, Second Year

Length of Lesson:  Less than 5 mins

Materials Used:   Internet-capable device

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion?  No

This video by Michael Zych at Tunxis Community College is licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Submitted by:   Joy Hansen, CCSU

Contact info:   jhansen@ccsu.edu

Description:   The original activity was presented to a freshman Sociology class and it can be easily adapted to other classes. The professor wanted me to review the definition of peer-reviewed, what constitutes an academic source, and how to evaluate for credibility. Also, she wanted me to visit her classroom and provide an interactive activity but not all students had laptops. My lesson plan shows the learning objectives and what needs to be covered in class (it's a one shot) before the activity. The source handouts will need to be replaced depending on what subject you are teaching...they provide an example only. And the powerpoint that was shown in class along with the demonstration and Q and A can also be adapted (and the slides with the source examples replaced once you decide which ones you are using). How it ran: 1. I did a general library show and tell reviewing what I needed to for the activity. (see lesson plan) 2. I broke the class into groups of 3-4 and each group received a different information source type and answered three questions (see slide in the powerpoint). (7-8 minutes group activity – discussion went fast) 3. Got back together and I projected each source type on the screen (from the ppt) and whatever group reviewed it answered the questions. Lots of wrong answers which meant classmates could help them figure it out AND we cleared up a lot of confusion! It was a lot of fun, it covered the main objectives, and the professor loved it.

Skill Set:    Basics    

Resource Type:    Activities and Lesson Plans     

ACRL Frame:    Authority Is Constructed and Contextual       Information Creation as a Process     

Audience:   First Year

Length of Lesson:  Longer than 60 mins

Materials Used:   White board, teaching workstation, ppt, handouts

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion?   Yes

Submitted by:   Joy Hansen, CCSU

Contact info:  jhansen@ccsu.edu

Description: 

Provide a notes worksheet highlighting the key points of your instruction that students fill in during your presentation. The final question is a one-minute reflection. Take 5-6 minutes at the end of class to review any questions and share some responses to the reflection. Send faculty a copy of the completed worksheet for uploading into their class in Blackboard.

Skill Set:    Basics     

Resource Type:    Handouts & Instructional Materials     

ACRL Frame:   Research as Inquiry       

Audience:   First Year, Second Year, Third Year, Fourth Year, Graduate

Length of Lesson:  5-15 mins

Materials Used:   Handouts

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion?  No

Submitted by:  Jillian Maynard, Central CT State University

Contact info: j.maynard@ccsu.edu

Description: A visual timeline that helps students begin to understand the way information is created and how it evolves. Just because a new source of information becomes available does not mean the prior sources stop. For example, when books are published on a topic or event, there may/will still be social media posts, magazine articles, etc. published. Each block of time also explains how that source might be used in a scholarly research paper.

A possible accompanying activity is to have students look at four sources related to an event and decide the type of source and where each source fits on the timeline. There is a lot of nuance with this idea of the timeline and what is presented here is a simplified version for the sake of introduction. The activity opens up some potential for good conversation around the construction of info, what voices are heard, and what voices are left out.

Skill Set:    Basics       Evaluating  

Resource type:    Handouts & Instructional Materials  

ACRL Frame:    Information Creation as a Process       Information has Value  

Audience:  First Year

Length of Lesson: 5-15 minutes

Materials Used:  A way to project the image

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion? No

This instructional material by Jillian Maynard at Central CT State University is licensed under CC-BY.

Submitted by:  Joy Hansen, Central CT State University

Contact info: jhansen@ccsu.edu

Description: This is an online program patterned after Jeopardy that can be easily edited to create a fun competitive activity to assess comprehension after instruction. For example, I have provided a library resource overview and then divided the class into two teams to play online Jeopardy.  I've created categories such as "Library Website" or "Using the Online Catalog" or "Finding a Book" and created answers on what I felt are the most important takeaways from my instruction. Students need to answer in the form of a question!

Skill Set:    Basics   (or other categories depending on answers)

Resource type:    Software Use  

ACRL Frame:    Searching as Strategic Exploration   (or other categories depending on answers)

Audience:  First-Year

Length of Lesson: 15-30 minutes

Materials Used:  Computer

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion? No

Submitted by:  Wendy Hardenberg, Southern CT State University

Contact info: hardenbergw1@southernct.edu

Description: Minute paper-style survey designed to capture where students are after their first-year seminar library instruction session.

Skill Set:    Basics  

Resource type:    Assessment Tools  

ACRL Frame:    N/A  

Audience:  First-year

Length of Lesson: < 5 minutes

Materials Used:  Paper handouts (recommended) or a digital version of the same using survey software (reduces rate of return)

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion? No

Submitted by:   Tabbi Heavner, Asnuntuck CC

Contact info:  theavner@acc.commnet.edu

Description: Short video defining plagiarism, discussing consequences, and suggesting ways to avoid it

Skill Set:    Basics        Citing       Other

Resource Type:    Videos & Tutorials  

ACRL Frame:      Information Has Value     

Audience:   First Year, Second Year, Third Year, Fourth Year, Graduate, faculty

Length of Lesson:  5-15 mins

Materials Used: Internet connection, screen, projector  

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion? No