Part 2: Research and Information Literacy Learning Unit [Resource]

This resource begins in Part 1

Research Journal Assignment Sheet

After studying and practicing how to find and evaluate sources (with 6.2 and 6.3 in the textbook Informed Arguments), students will demonstrate their ability with the skill in a short write-up that should also benefit them moving forward toward the completion of a research essay. Each student will select one source, any source, that they feel relates to the topic of their upcoming research essay. This can be any source at all – primary or secondary, popular or scholarly, print or electronic, written or visual. Students will select only one source for this task. This could be academic, like a book, a scholarly article, or electronic, like a webpage, a blog entry, or something more visual, like a commercial, TV show, video, or advertisement. Please note: students cannot and will not be successful without selecting a source to address.

Evaluating Sources in an Essay

After selecting a source related to their research topic, students should complete a short essay about it by following the prompt (set of questions below). In other words, students should answer all of these questions in their essay:

If students need clarification about any of these questions, one can look over 6.2, 6.3 and 7.6 in the textbook Informed Arguments). The questions are drawn from its lessons about finding and evaluating sources. While the textbook and writing resources (like a citation style handbook, a dictionary, etc.) may be used for reference, students should not try to incorporate other sources in their journal essay. In other words, students should just focus on one source for this assignment, and not worry about consulting, paraphrasing, or quoting any other websites, articles, books, etc. (expect the one they select to address; just focus on one source). The only question that might require a student do a small amount of outside additional research, such as a Google search, is the question about the author. If a source does not state much about the author, try your best to find out more about them. The majority of the writing should be in the student’s own words, but students may also wish to quote their source with proper citation.

Discussion: Researching and the Library

In preparation for your future research essay, you have been asked to start researching your topic. By now, it is likely that you are familiar with how to find sources and might have done some or even a lot of research. This discussion is aimed at ensuring you start your research or giving you a chance to share that with your peers. Select just one of the following and answer the questions for your initial post.

1. Name one scholarly journal (not just an article title, but the journal title) you have located in the library’s materials that looks like it contains useful sources for your topic. Where did you find this journal, or how could we access it (what database, search terms, etc.)? What is the journal focused on (education, health, art, etc.)?

OR

2. Name one database with the library’s resources that you have located that helps you find sources for your topic. What types of sources does the database help you find? Describe how we could locate the database — How did you find it?

OR

3. Name one academic author (so an expert) who seems to be producing sources about your topic. What are some sources they have written and published? How did you find this author’s name?

You will then select the post of one of your classmates to reply to. Comment on their search strategies or the journal, database, or author they found in how they might be helpful. You might also suggest other strategies or journals, databases, or authors to them. Share advice, share tips, even share sources or authors you know! Ask questions! This discussion gets you one step closer to understanding the scholarly conversations about your topic.

Research Journal Rubric

Quiz on Finding and Evaluating Source Material: Ensuring Credibility

After reading Informed Arguments 6.2, please take the following multiple choice quiz to test your knowledge of biases, agendas, and credible source material.

1. The textbook asks us to understand that various source material formats mean understanding some considerations about each. What is a consideration we should make about sources from social media?
   1. They go through what is called a peer-review process.
   2. Anyone can create or contribute to social media and nothing that’s said is checked for accuracy before it’s posted for the world to see.
   3. They may be best treated as primary sources, or the objects under study rather than sources of information on a topic (such as information that would serve as evidence in an essay).
   4. They been a staple of the research process since Gutenberg invented the printing press because a topic can be covered in more depth in a book than in most other types of sources.
   5. both b & c
2. According to the textbook, websites, even those published by an educational institution or a government entity, are considered popular and not scholarly sources. True or False?
3. Clues to a source’s level of ____ are closely related to thinking about how the source was produced, including what format it was published in and whether it is likely to have gone through a formal editing process prior to publication.
   1. quality
   2. price
   3. authority and authenticity
   4. accuracy
4. A bias is a pre-judgement, prejudice, or dogma that renders a conclusion illogical or suspect. Biases occur when someone expresses a view that claims a definitive without consideration for information that might negate what they believe. What does the textbook suggest to look for when we want to identify and avoid biased information?

1. 1. dramatic language and images
   2. poorly supported evidence against an opposing viewpoint
   3. a strong (often unsubstantiated) leaning in one direction
   4. all of the above

5. This characteristic is key for evaluating sources. In fact, it might be helpful to think of this characteristic as a culmination of all the other criteria you have used to evaluate a source. This concept could be summarized in the following question you may ask yourself: how likely am I to use this source? What is this characteristic?

1. 1. 1. publication year
      2. citation style
      3. inspirability [sic] inspiration (?)
      4. credibility

6. Authority and reputation of a source’s creator are important. You want to know how an author or creator knows what they share. You will also want to know their motivations for sharing information and if people trust them (for example, do they have a financial or political gain at stake?). To figure this out, you will want to know things, such as their expertise, training, experiences, and ethics or honesty. The reputation of a publication can also be investigated through reviews, word-of-mouth by professionals in the field, or online databases that keep track of statistics related to a journal’s credibility.  In a few sentences, explain some other ways the textbook said you can learn about an author’s authority and reputation?

(Students could mention looking at biographical information that is available as part of the source. Looking to see what else the author has published and whether this information has positive reviews.)

7. The textbook taught us a lot about evaluating sources. Explain what it said about the chain reaction that can happen if you incorporate unreliable source material into your own essays. Hint: the example used in the textbook was the consequences of using the book Our Virginia.

(Students could explain how the author using a biased source as part of her research as well as the inaccurate information she got from that source affected the quality of her own work. Likewise, if anyone had used her book as part of their research, it would have set off a chain reaction, since whatever information they cited from Our Virginia would naturally have to be called into question, possibly diminishing the value of their own conclusions.)

8. According to the textbook, you already evaluate sources regularly in your day-to-day life. You evaluate which movie to see this weekend, which new restaurant to try out, and which section of a required college class to take next semester. True or false?

Further Information Resource Guide: Research, Information Literacy, and the College Classroom

Framework: Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education by ACRL

Professional Development: Conferences & Online Learning by ACRL

Article: Information Literacy in Higher Education, A Review and Case Study by Bill Johnston and Shelia Webber

Article: Writing Information Literacy in First Year Composition: A Collaboration among Faculty and Librarians by Donna Scheidt, et. al

Video: ACRL Presents… “Teaching Information Literacy Threshold Concepts ” (Tips for teaching)

Article: Faculty Perspectives on Undergraduate Research Skills by Boglarka S. Huddleston, et. al

Article: That Was Then, This Is Wow: A Case for Critical Information Literacy Across the Curriculum by Margaret Rose Torrell

Book: Teaching Critical Reading and Writing in the Era of Fake News edited by Ellen C. Carillo and Alice S. Horning