First-Year Information Literacy Program: English 101

This short video from Project Information Literacy makes a good discussion-starter on students' research difficulties.

The library session for Composition I may be based on one or more of the following learning outcomes. It is recommended that you choose no more than two for one session. Traditionally, most sessions have been based around outcome 3, but you should consider the nature of your assignment and which focus might best help students to complete it.

1. Examine the information landscape and how information is produced and disseminated on the Web and in print in order to determine where to find information for a particular need.

2. Examine the scope and content of the library catalog and an article database in order to determine the most appropriate place in which to search for particular types of information.

3. Develop strategies for keyword and subject searching in order to find relevant information effectively.

4. Perform searches for full-text articles from different types of periodicals in Academic Search Complete or Academic OneFile in order to identify usable and credible sources for a class assignment.

The Library 101 learning module contains instructional materials for each of these learning outcomes, allowing for a "flipped" classroom format, which gives more time for hands-on searching with assistance from the librarian, and for you to assign additional instructional material to students as needed. When scheduling your session, discuss your assignment and which learning outcomes you want to focus on with the librarian conducting your session.
 

Your students who are also enrolled in University 101 will have an introductory library component early in the semester. They are required to complete the Library Tour module, a research project, and may have an optional library session. The introductory activities teach students to know:

• The major services, collections, and physical layout of the USC Upstate Library, including the basic organization by Library of Congress Classification. This includes a brief introduction to electronic resources.
• Understand the basic concept of information literacy and how it relates to both daily-life and academic research.
• Know on a basic level to look for books in the library catalog and full-text articles in Academic Search Complete. (The goal of this is simply to make sure students can find books and articles before they learn more extensive search strategies in the English 101 library session.)

We strongly recommend that your students not also enrolled in University 101 complete the Library Tour module before their English 101 library session, as this information will not be covered during the session.