Services For Faculty: Scaffolded Workshop on Digital Information Literacy

Evidence-informed practice is defined as the conscientious, explicit, judicious and reasonable use of modern, best evidence in making decisions about care of an individual in conjunction with clinical knowledge and expertise related to the patient.

Emergence of new skills for students:  Evidence-informed practice requires a new set of skills for the practitioner – including efficient literature searching and the application of rules of evidence in evaluating the clinical literature.  

Life-long learning:  Evidence-informed clinical practice is a process of lifelong, self-directed, problem-based learning. It is NOT a cookbook with recipes. Caring for patients creates the need for clinically important information about diagnosis, prognosis, therapy and other clinical and health care issues.  

Practitioners of tomorrow:  The evidence-informed practitioners of tomorrow will use evidence summaries in clinical practice and help develop and update evidence-based guidelines in their area of practice.

Fall Workshop:  DATE AND TIME TBD – apx 1 hour duration (timed to support student assignment w PAT)

Frame:  Searching as exploration:
Our search for information is often nonlinear and iterative, requiring the evaluation of a range of information sources and the mental flexibility to pursue alternate avenues as new understanding develops. Encompassing inquiry, discovery, and serendipity, searching identifies both possible relevant sources as well as the means to access those sources.   Our students: 

• Utilize divergent (eg. brainstorming) and convergent (eg. selecting the best source) thinking when searching; 
• Match information needs and search strategies to appropriate search tools; 
• Design and refine needs and search strategies as necessary, based on search results; 
• Understand how information systems (ie. collections of recorded information) are organized in order to access relevant information; 
• Use different types of searching language (eg. controlled vocabulary, keywords, natural language) appropriately; 
• Manage searching processes and results effectively;
• Recognize the value of browsing and other serendipitous methods of information gathering; 
• Persist in the face of search challenges, and know when they have enough information to complete the information task.

Best practices:  seek guidance from experts such as librarians or other research professionals.

Pre-work:  review LRC Program Resource Guide for the relevant program

In-class:

•     Intro to LRC resources – Why use evidence / applying literature to practice
•     Doing a lit search using “Discover It All” search (hands-on)
•     Plagiarism discussion
•     Introduction to Zotero

Summer Workshop: DATE AND TIME TBD- apx 2 hours duration (timed to support student assignment w PAT)

Frame: Scholarship:

We are contributors to scholarship – as well as being consumers of it. Our students can contribute to the conversation at the appropriate level – via online communities, association journals, conference presentations, poster sessions.

Best practices: critically evaluate contributions; summarize changes in scholarly perspective; cite attribution.

Frame: Research is iterative:

We recognize that the spectrum of research ranges from simple questions that recapitulate knowledge to using advanced research methods to explore diverse perspectives. Our students can contribute by organizing information in meaningful ways, synthesizing ideas from multiple sources, drawing conclusions based on analysis and interpretation.

Best practices: follow ethical and legal guidelines in gathering and using information; be aware of the importance of assessing content from a skeptical stance with a self-awareness of bias; seek multiple perspectives in information gathering.

Pre-work: read “Ten simple rules for structuring papers” by Mensh and Kording 

In-class:

•  Lock in learning from Winter session: Finding images; Using MeSH
•  More advanced searching with MESH (hands-on)
• Searching for grey literature (hands-on)
• Open Access / predatory journals discussion
• Searching for evidence using Cochrane (hands-on

The LRC delivers digital information literacy instruction to Michener students based upon ACRL’s Framework for information literacy for higher education.     

Digital Information Literacy:
Digital Information Literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing:

• The reflective discovery of information
• The understanding of how information is produced, valued and accessed
• The ability to manage and communicate information cohesively and coherently
• The use of information in collaborating and creating new knowledge
• The ethical participation in communities of learning
• The understanding of digital safety and the social awareness of the digital environment

Digital Information Literacy training:
It is well-documented that libraries improve their institution’s education outcomes and that digital information literacy contributes to inquiry-based and problem-solving learning – including critical thinking, ethical reasoning, global understanding, and civic engagement. A library instruction program that has clearly defined goals for students at every level of study and a scaffolded approach to student mastery of digital information literacy skills will have the greatest impact on student learning and student success. Program outcomes make the case for project-based instruction so that students may experience sustained engagement with research resources and have opportunities to integrate these sources into research projects. 

Proposed Curriculum Outline:
Note:  We are using the frames from the Framework for information literacy for higher education developed by the Association of College and Research Libraries to inform our curriculum. 

Winter Workshop: DATE AND TIME TBD- apx 1 hour duration (timed to support student assignment w PAT)

Frame: Information creation: 
We recognize the dynamic nature of information creation and dissemination and understand how different dissemination channels and formats inform content.  Our students can access traditional and emerging information channels and can choose appropriate channels and formats for disseminating their research.
Best practices:  match information need with appropriate information channel / format / product.

Frame: Information value:
We understand the value of information in an environment where “free” information is plentiful.  Our students recognize copyright, fair dealing, open access, the consequences of plagiarism.  And they understand the commodification of their personal information and how online interactions affect the information they receive.
Best practices:  respect the original ideas of others through proper attribution and citation; make informed choices in full awareness of the commodification of personal information.

Frame: Authority:
We understand that authority is a type of influence exerted within a community and understand the need to determine the validity of information created by different authorities.  Our students are aware of the importance of assessing content with a skeptical stance and with a self-awareness of their own biases and worldview.
Best practices:  use research tools and indicators of authority to determine credibility.

Pre-work: set up Zotero account

In-class:

•     Lock in learning from Fall session: Discover It All
•     Advanced Zotero (hands-on)
•     Finding and using images (hands-on)
•     Advanced searching with MESH (hands-on)
•     (Set up consultations with students to work on assignments)