First-Year Information Literacy Program: English 102

The Composition II library session should be based on one or more of the following learning outcomes. It is recommended that no more than two learning outcomes be addressed in a single library session.

1. Examine the purpose and characteristics of scholarly journals and articles and the process of peer-review in order to find and recognize scholarly articles.

2. Find articles from citations using Full-Text Finder in order to locate articles in full-text and in print effectively.

3. Relate a topic to a subject area and disciplines in order to improve focus and find more relevant sources.

4. Explain the sources of information and statistics for local issues and how local issues fit into regional, national or global contexts in order to find relevant information to support a proposal.

Instructional materials for all of these learning outcomes may be found in the Library 201 module for Composition II. Some of these materials may be assigned to students in advance of a session for a "flipped" classroom model that will allow students more hands-on time during the session.

Students want to know how the English 102 library session differs from the one they attended in English 101. Here is how some librarians present the differences:

In English 101 you learned . . .

• Ways in which information is produced and disseminated
• Search strategies: Boolean connectors (AND, OR, NOT); exact phrase in quotes; truncation and nesting.
• Searching with subject headings and subject terms.
• Differences between the scope and content of the library catalog and an article database.
• What you search when you put your keywords into the library catalog or an article database (records of items) as opposed to the Web (full-text and metadata of web pages).
• Where to look for certain types of information (books, videos, articles, etc.).
• When the Internet might or might not be an effective search tool.
• Content notes and subject heading links in the full record of a book in the library catalog that can aid in determining the usefulness of the book and in finding similar items.
• Searching for full-text articles in an article database.
• Gained familiarity with the library catalog and at least one of the following databases: Academic OneFile, Academic Search Complete, Opposing Viewpoints In Context, Points of View Reference Center, CQ Researcher.

In English 102 you will refine and build on these skills, especially:

• Finding subject-oriented information.
• Better distinguishing scholarly vs. popular sources and understanding how to find scholarly articles.
• Essential elements of citations and finding articles by citation.
• Using Full-Text Finder to find the full-text of articles.
• Getting to know one or more specialized databases, including, though not limited to: JSTOR, Project MUSE, Science Direct, Lexis-Nexis Academic, Biography In Context.
• How to borrow books and articles from other libraries through PASCAL Delivers and Interlibrary Loan.
• Sources of local information and statistics.