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

website of the Confederation Bridge (http://confederationbridge.com/en)2, aWikipedia article on the Confederation Bridge(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederation_Bridge)3 and a personal website for theConfederation Bridge (http://www.tourcanada.com/cbridge.htm)4. Students were asked toassess the accuracy, authority, bias, audience level, and currency of each of the web sites.Students were then asked reflection questions, to help them transfer the critical thinking skillsused in this exercise to their assignments and everyday life.Selected learning objectives for this station, as stated in the handout, were to: • Reflect on the quality of habitually used online resources; • Use the criteria of accuracy, authority, bias, audience, and

Conference Session

Information Literacy: Preparing Students for the Real World

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eugene Barsky, University of British Columbia; Annette Berndt, University of British Columbia; Aleteia Greenwood, University of British Columbia; Carla S Paterson, University of British Columbia

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

projects but also for their professionallives.While the majority of science and engineering students favour GS, students are also initiated intoinformation-seeking behaviour specific to their discipline through textbooks and lecture notes6,which in turn reflect epistemological values. Because the study of engineering is directlyinfluenced by industry standards, we look to Anderson et al’s 3 work on the information sourcesused by engineering professionals, specifically those in the aerospace industry, as an example ofthe professional behaviour that both undergirds the information seeking of engineering studentsand may serve as a model for students when they are on coop work-terms or complete theireducation and enter the work force.Information

Conference Session

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

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Mark Chrimes, Institution of Civil Engineers

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

. Page 22.326.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Civil engineering in a time of change: the response of the Institution of Civil Engineers LibraryAbstractRapid changes over the past decade in the UK public and academic library landscapes havebeen reflected in changes in special and learned society libraries. While the former sectorsbeen widely researched and reported on in the UK, the same is not true of the specialengineering sector. In a period characterised by the disappearance of traditional libraries andtheir partial replacement by knowledge management systems and a naïve belief in the powerof Google, engineering societies have considered alternative responses

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

skills and how to assess them. Shuman et al suggest thatstudents be able to • Demonstrate Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking Skills • Demonstrate an Awareness of What Needs to be Learned • Follow a Learning Plan • Identify, Retrieve, and Organize Information • Demonstrate Critical Thinking Skills • Reflect on One’s Own Understanding iiiShuman’s outcomes correlate well iv with the ACRL Information Literacy standards for Science andTechnology, which briefly are • Determine the extent of information needed • Access the needed information effectively and efficiently • Evaluate information and its sources critically • Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base

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

is your job now to findout if this is really a problem and if there are viable alternatives to its use as packaging.”After further discussion it was decided to divide the tutorial into modules that reflected the mainmanagement themes of Enggen303 and covered the information resources these required. All ofthese modules contained tips, self-tests and interactive exercises as detailed above. Most alsocontained short videos which showed students how to access particular types of information. Themodules became:Module 1 - ‘Is polystyrene bad?’ There are varying opinions on the environmental impact ofpolystyrene and you will need to do your own research. ‘Finding articles’ introduces students toeffective ways of searching using Google and Google

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

successfully partake in learning how information is organized. Because the librarianshave one shot at this class they do not have the opportunity to revisit the class, ask forfeedback and allow students to reflect on their experience. However, the librariansalways make themselves available for Science 101 students and generally about a third ofthem contact the librarians every year with follow up questions and comments.Why Are Librarians Involved With This Class?The librarians believe that the presence of libraries in this class’ curriculum expands thestudents’ knowledge base in the sense of understanding that they are welcome to thecampus and should avail themselves of the services available. Since the library representsaccess to information the work

Conference Session

Evolving Engineering Libraries: Services, Spaces, and Collections

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Scott A. Curtis, University of Missouri, Kansas City

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

several formatsthat other researchers have grouped under grey literature, as well as a grey literatureclassification (e.g. separate classifications for government documents, patents, technical reports,and standards). If these findings were combined, Eckel’s data would indicate that, for allMasters’ theses in all majors in the College of Engineering, citation of grey literature wasroughly 25-30% of all citations in the theses. Eckel was also able to show that Ph.D. dissertationscontained more journal articles, fewer web sites, and on average had older resources over a Page 22.876.5longer span of time than the Masters’ theses, perhaps reflecting a

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

evidenced by the student whothought Wikipedia was a peer-reviewed source. Repetition and experience with actual peerreviewed sources will reinforce the concept over time. Finally, we’re not convinced that this isan appropriate learning outcome for first-year students. They are just being inducted into thescholarly community of engineers, and their information needs may be better served by lesstechnical articles.Student ConfidenceOn the pre- and post-tests, in addition to probing for students’ knowledge and experience withresearch concepts and tools, we asked one confidence question. Angelo and Cross6 suggest that aconfidence survey helps instructors to identify where students feel comfortable and where theydo not, and reflecting on confidence

Conference Session

Information Literacy: Theory and Practice

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mysore Narayanan, Miami University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

2Strongly Disagree or Unacceptable 1 Page 22.254.10APPENDIX D: W.S.U. CRITICAL THINKING RUBRIC Source: http://wsuctproject.wsu.edu/ctr.htm 1. Identifies, summarizes (and appropriately reformulates) the problem/question/work assignment.This dimension focuses on task or issue identification, including subsidiary, embedded, or implicitaspects of an issue and the relationships integral to effective analysis. 2. Identifies and considers the influence of context and assumptions.This dimension focuses on scope and context, and considers audience of the analysis. Context includesrecognition of the relative nature of context and assumptions, the reflective

Conference Session

Evolving Engineering Libraries: Services, Spaces, and Collections

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jody T. Hoesly, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Anne C. Glorioso, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

time the pull list was created, librarians would batch modify thestatus of that pull list so that no indivudual work needed to be done to change the status of thosevolumes. Students would take the pull list, fill a cart, go back to the processing area, box theitems and label the boxes. Here is an example of a monograph work order for sendingmonographs to dim storage: Page 22.417.15VERIFICATIONSince we relied on student help to pull and process the majority of materials, we devised aprocess in which librarians would verify item status and make sure the items were properlyreflected in the catalog (or not reflected, as in most cases). Verification

Conference Session

Evolving Engineering Libraries: Services, Spaces, and Collections

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Megan Sapp Nelson, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

before the research project with a plan.Involvement in data requires a librarian’s subject expertise to move upstream in the researchproject, just as our involvement in research is moving upstream in the research/publicationcycle.1Familiarity with the needs and common practices of engineering researchThe most useful reading time spent for truly understanding the reality and scope of data issuesfor researchers is reading reports by LIS researchers who interviewed scientists and engineersabout their data management practices and problems. It is invaluable to be introduced to thelifecycle of specific data sets through the eyes of the researcher, as they reflect on how theyproduce the data, how they manage the data, and their own expectation for the

Conference Session

Evolving Engineering Libraries: Services, Spaces, and Collections

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adriana Popescu, Princeton University, Engineering Library

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

evolution is reflected inthe departmental affiliation noted for each publication in the collection. Many of the centers,departments or laboratories that issued reports during that period of time are no longer inexistence, either due to consolidations or due to completion of projects. SEAS reports wereproduced mainly as a record of publicly funded research undertaken at the University. Whileresults of the research were often published in peer-reviewed literature, the reports frequentlycontain results of experiments, computations and primary data that are not included in thepublished literature. Some reports, especially those in high demand, have been catalogedindividually and holdings information has been accurately maintained for retrieval purposes

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

, which more nearly reflects the environment in which a professionalengineer will have to work; students must learn how to function as a team by planning theteam’s activities and the tasks associated with a project, all within the framework ofmilestones and the deliverables.As we have discussed in our earlier paper [1], one of the major assignments has been theresearch-based final report – a necessity in a course where the students come fromdifferent disciplines and represent different levels of experience within an engineeringprogram. While some, like Irish, might argue that such an assignment is an academicrather than an engineering genre, the final report is far more than just an exercise in“knowledge assembly” [17]. “Staged” assignments are