Kean University Library



Kean University Library

Information Literacy Program

Lesson Outline for Library Instruction

Prerequisites (Assumptions) for Students Attending the Library Instruction Session:

It is assumed that students in the class are senior English majors (although some qualified juniors may be enrolled with the department’s permission).

Equipment and Materials:

Computers with Internet access in a dedicated computer lab; library handout; examples of print periodical types (scholarly/professional, popular magazines, and newspapers).

Goals and Objectives for Library Instruction Session:

General goals-

The student:

1. Has knowledge of the physical layout, service points, and circulation procedures of the library, i.e., library barcode and online book renewal processes.

2. Has the ability to articulate his or her research topic of interest.

3. Has the skills needed to find course-related information in books from the Reference and Main Collections.

4. Has the skills needed to find course-related information in newspapers, popular magazines, and scholarly/professional journals.

5. Has developed the critical thinking skills needed to select the information access tools, keywords, and information sources that are most appropriate for the course-related information need.

Objectives-

(Cited in parentheses are the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards, Performance Indicators, and Outcomes* that will be met upon satisfaction of the objective.)

The student:

1. Is aware that individualized research assistance is available by telephone, e-mail (Ask a Reference Librarian), and in person at the Reference Desk. (Standard 2.2.c)

2. Knows how to formulate a research focus and refine the research focus if a more specific and relevant focus is identified. (Standards 1.1.a; 1.1.b; 1.1.d;1.3.c; 1.4.a; 3.6.a)

3. Understands that subject encyclopedias and other Reference books often provide helpful background information on course-related topics, as well as ideas for relevant keywords and key concepts. (Standards 1.1.c; 1.1.d; 1.1.e)

4. Knows how to search the Kean Catalog by author, title, subject, and keyword to determine the call numbers for library books that contain subject matter addressing the information need. (Standards 1.1.c; 2.2.b).

5. Understands how to find books in the library by locating specific call numbers within the appropriate library collection. (Standard 2.3.b)

6. Knows how to use the Periodicals list to find journal titles held by the library in its electronic, print, or microform collections. (Standard 2.3.b)

7. Understands that journal articles on a particular subject or by a particular author are accessed through periodical indexes in both print and electronic formats.

a. Knows how to select a periodical index database in electronic format appropriate to the course-related information need (i.e., Literature Resource Center, MLA International Bibliography, Lexis Nexis Academic, or ProQuest Newspapers). (Standard 2.1.d)

b. Knows how to access the database, navigate within it, construct a search strategy, and execute a basic search using appropriate keywords, in order to retrieve citations, abstracts, and, in some cases, full text for relevant articles. (Standards 2.2.b; 2.2.d; 2.2.e; 2.3.a)

c. Understands how to utilize the Periodicals list and Kean Catalog to check for an article’s availability in print or microform format so that the article may be retrieved even when it is not available in full-text format through a database. (Standards 2.3.a; 2.3.b)

d. Recognizes the difference between scholarly journals (such as Journal of Narrative Theory), popular magazines (such as Newsweek or People Weekly), and newspapers (New York Times and Village Voice). (Standards 1.2.d; 3.2.a)

e. Understands that scholarly and reputable information sources are more readily accessible by searching in a library’s subscription databases, than by searching in freely available Internet search engines and directories (such as Google and Yahoo). (Standard 3.2.a)

f. Recognizes the difference between primary and secondary sources, and identifies the value of each of these source types when doing research. (Standard 2.2.e; 2.2.f)

g. Understands criteria to consider (authority, currency, objectivity, accuracy, and coverage) when evaluating retrieved information sources, and checks that the retrieved information sources are relevant to the topic of interest. (Standards 1.2.d; 2.4.a; 3.2.a; 3.4.a; 3.4.g; 3.7.a)

8. Can identify and understands the importance of recording the pertinent parts of a bibliographic record retrieved in the Kean catalog and in periodical index databases. (Standards 2.5.c; 2.5.d)

9. Understands that the concept of academic integrity requires that, when information is used, the source of information must be cited in order to avoid committing plagiarism.

a. Knows that sources must be cited whether the information is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized. (Standards 3.1.c; 5.2.f)

b. Knows that MLA style provides guidance in formatting manuscripts and in proper use of the English language. (Standard 5.3.a)

c. Knows that MLA citation style requires using a system of parenthetical cross-references to a works cited page. (Standards 2.5.c; 3.1.c; 5.3.a)

d. Understands that examples and explanations of MLA style may be found in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, which is shelved in the Reference Collection. (Standard 5.3.a)

* The ACRL standards satisfied by meeting the aforementioned objectives are available in full at the following Website: American Library Association. Association of College and Research Libraries (2003). Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Retrieved July 20, 2004 from the World Wide Web:

Lesson outline prepared by librarians Linda Cifelli and Caroline Geck, July 2004.

[Last revision 08/26/04 LC]

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Course: Senior English Seminar

Course Number: ENG 4800

Kean University Undergraduate Catalog Course Description: “Intensive study of literature, language, and/or literary criticism, culminating in a substantial critically informed research paper on a topic of the student’s choosing.”

Typical Course Research Assignment:

Students must choose a topic, then search for and locate 8-10 articles on the topic from scholarly journals and books. Ultimately, students will write a 7-10 page research paper with at least 8 sources cited using MLA style format.

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