Conference Session

To Boldly Go... Engineering Librarians Explore New Connections with Users

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anne Parker, University of Manitoba

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

: Using the Liaison Librarian Model to Integrate Information Literacy into a Faculty of EngineeringIntroductionThis paper will update our earlier work on an integrated approach to information literacy[1] . Our initial goal was to integrate information literacy into a technical communicationcourse in the Faculty of Engineering and to explore whether two pedagogical outcomeswere achievable within this framework: first, instantiating the benefits of an engineeringresearch report in a field where applications and design exigencies are paramount and,secondly, determining whether engineering research skills – far from being “short-termcompetencies,” as some would suggest [2] – are valuable additions to a student’s learningrepertoire

Conference Session

Information Literacy Programs for First-Year Engineering Students

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michelle Baratta, University of Toronto; Alan Chong, University of Toronto; Jason A. Foster, University of Toronto

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

AC 2011-1407: THE RESEARCH STUDIO: INTEGRATING INFORMA-TION LITERACY INTO A FIRST YEAR ENGINEERING SCIENCE COURSEMichelle Baratta, University of Toronto Michelle Baratta has held positions in academic and public libraries, as well as a corporate setting. Her education includes a Master’s degree in Information Studies (2007) and an Honours Bachelor of Science degree (2004), both from the University of Toronto. She is currently a Reference and Instruction Librarian at the University of Toronto’s Engineering & Computer Science Library.Alan Chong, University of Toronto Alan Chong is a Senior Lecturer in the Engineering Communication Program at the University of Toronto. His pedagogical research is primarily in the

Conference Session

Information Literacy: Preparing Students for the Real World

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patsy Hulse, University of Auckland; Dahlia Dantang Han, University Auckland, Engineering Library; Emil Melnichenko, University of Auckland; Susan Brookes, University of Auckland, Engineering Library

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

. Individual help from theappropriate subject librarian is also offered.It had always been difficult to integrate information literacy into the third year programme. Onlyone paper was common, and compulsory, for all 550 third year students. This is EngGen303 whichcovers “An introduction to modern theory and practice of management, including project, qualityand financial management appropriate to the engineering profession”. When there was a change ofdirection in the course, the new teaching staff were receptive to the idea of library collaboration.They realised that the students need to find and use information that is not necessarily strictly‘engineering’, and need to know how to do this quickly and efficiently.Subject librarians and faculty

Conference Session

Information Literacy Programs for First-Year Engineering Students

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Melissa Bowles-Terry, University of Wyoming; Larry Schmidt, University of Wyoming

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

accreditation.3 Papers by Oakleaf4 and by Riley,Piccinino, Moriarty and Jones4 have pointed out the overlap between ABET accreditationoutcomes and ACRL/ILST standards.6 There are significant commonalities between the two setsof standards, which librarians can capitalize on to embed information literacy lessons in theengineering curriculum. Students are bound to benefit from a focus on “the ability to engage inlife-long learning” -- one of the ABET criteria and a foundation of information literacyinstruction.Our institution requires all students to have at least one class with an embedded informationliteracy component.7 For engineering students, that class is ES 1000, which has the statedobjectives of teaching students to “pose a research question

Conference Session

Information Literacy: Preparing Students for the Real World

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jon N. Jeffryes, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

interested in integrating information literacy skills intothe engineering curriculum. This level of integration has not been an easy sell with engineeringfaculty. Overall our results bolster the argument that information seeking and evaluation skillsare important to engineering education, as all respondents mentioned having to do at least someinformation seeking in their on-the-job activities. This study provides us with new information tobring to faculty and administrators that demonstrates the information-seeking activities thatstudents encounter in the workplaceThrough the survey findings and our literature review, we identified when and where studentsare introduced to different information types. Consistent with our previous assumptions

Conference Session

Information Literacy: Theory and Practice

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jay J. Bhatt, Drexel University; Larry Milliken, Drexel University; Lloyd Ackert, Drexel University; Eleanor J. Goldberg, Drexel University Library

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

not properly cite sources from handbooks and webresources. Google still appeared to be the preferred choice to find scholarly papers even thoughlibrary instruction clearly demonstrated the importance of library-subscribed electronicresources.The engineering librarian has observed that many students in their middle college years contacthim for more research help, and sometimes these students are asking basic questions, so it isclear that students would benefit from more library instruction geared towards this specificgroup. As Nerz and Weiner have described, an approach to integrating information literacyinstruction into the engineering curriculum across each year of the undergraduate program can bean effective way to meet this need (2001)3

Conference Session

To Boldly Go... Engineering Librarians Explore New Connections with Users

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Aleteia Greenwood, University of British Columbia; Eugene Barsky, University of British Columbia

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

knowledge and enthusiasm whichhas also helped shape the library presentation.The very first library workshop in 2001 was given in a classroom, with a combination oflecture and hands-on activity. The librarian demonstrated how researching a topic wasdifferent based on whether students used the UBC catalogue, journal indexes or theInternet. She included a process to help the students start their research with an academicpaper, and discussed the differences between primary and secondary sources. Shefocused on how to find information on topics gleaned from the course curriculum, suchas tsunamis, volcanoes, supernovae, and glaciers and demonstrated how to find thesetopics in encyclopedias and handbooks as well as how to find videorecordings, books

Conference Session

Information Literacy: Preparing Students for the Real World

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John B. Napp, University of Toledo

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

in teams to solve a problem posed by an industry partner. Information literacy skillswere incorporated into the curriculum and related to the real-life industry problems. This was afor-credit, semester-long course making it different is some ways than the other studiesmentioned here as well as the one conducted for this paper. David H. Jonassen, who delivered aDistinguished Lecture during the 2010 ASEE Annual Conference wrote a book entitled Learningto Solve Problems: A Handbook for Designing Problem-Solving Learning Environments. Page 22.1676.3Jonassen, while never mentioning information literacy, does provide a detailed framework

Conference Session

Information Literacy: Theory and Practice

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mysore Narayanan, Miami University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

multiples modes of delivery techniques. Such a method has been suggested by Fleming and Mills. Lectures, Reading, Writing, Visual Aids, Tactile and Kinesthetic modes of delivery help to reach students with diverse learning skills.DECIDE: Finally, there should be an assessment of the course, the curriculum, the learning environment, the student body, and the instructor. It is important to conduct separate assessment of all the above-mentioned five. Once the five sets of data are in placed in their appropriate context, one can judge the impact of problem based learning on the learning environment itself.Source: Narayanan, Mysore. (2010

Conference Session

Information Literacy Programs for First-Year Engineering Students

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Meagan C. Ross, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Michael Fosmire, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Ruth Wertz P.E., Purdue University, West Lafayette; Monica E. Cardella, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Senay Purzer, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

, and M. Nanny. 2003. “Turning techno-savvy into info-savvy: au- thentically integrating information literacy into the college curriculum.” Journal of Academ- ic Librarianship, 29(6), 386-98.xv Kuhlthau, ibid.xvi Holliday, Wendy, and Qin Li. 2004. “Understanding the Millennials: updating our knowledge about students.” Reference Services Review 32(4), 356-366.xvii Purzer, Senay, Meagan Ross, Ruth Wertz, Michael Fosmire, and Monica Cardella. “Assess- ing Engineering Students’ Information Literacy Skills: An Alpha Version of a Multiple- Choice Instrument.” In Proceedings of the ASEE National Conference, June 26-29, 2011 Vancouver, BC