Guiding Students into Information Literacy

Teachers often assume students know how to do research. However, most students lack important information literacy skills and often need guidance in order to be successful researchers. Sometimes the research projects students are assigned are not well devised or planned, and teachers often underestimate the amount of time or effort necessary to complete a project. These difficulties soon become compounded because students often have poor organizational and time management skills, which are essential in producing good research projects. The desire to make the research experience pleasant and worthwhile for students and the teacher who must assess their efforts has led authors Chris Carlson and Ellen Brosnahan to devise a logical system to help students not only gain valuable information literacy and time management skills needed but also to help the instructor have a better handle on what students are doing during the process. Information Literacy takes readers systematically through the management of a research activity, from conception to final product. Each chapter includes handouts that have been used by the authors with actual research assignments, websites for further information, and a bibliography of additional books that support the ideas in the chapter. An appendix with examples of research papers that have been done by the authors' actual students is also included.