Library Skills TutorialGrand Valley State University
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This is an excellently organized, thoroughly comprehensive presentation of important concepts, beginning at the most elementary level. The repeated message to "ask a reference librarian" is especially valuable, as is the detailed coverage of periodical resources and database searching.
Although the content is excellent, the weakness here lies in the presentation. Pages are long, and the graphic effects are little more than colorful text with links, although the floor plans of the library are effective. There is some interactivity in quizzes and a library Research Profile to be filled out at the end; however this is not consistent, nor extensive enough.
A combination of this content with advanced technological features, shorter pages and engaging graphics would make an impressive tutorial.
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Getting Started |
How is a library arranged? |
Start with Reference Materials |
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Database Searching |
Finding Periodical Articles |
Government Documents |
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References Full Text Full Images Pictures Other Title screen, keyword searching, narrowing your search, using AND, NOT, NEAR, quotation marks, refining, refining in Alta Vista, broadening your search, using OR, broadening with truncation, relevancy, etc. Elements of a Web page Using search engines How to choose a Search Engine What should I look for on a web page Authority and the WWW Internet resources evaluation checklist |
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Evaluating Sources |
Citing Sources |
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| Research | |
| Understanding information needed | Yes |
| Narrowing research topic | Yes, good |
| Database definition | Yes, excellent |
| Catalog Searching | Yes, excellent |
| Article Searching | Yes, excellent |
| Keyword searching | Yes, good |
| Boolean searching | Yes, excellent |
| Controlled vocabulary | Yes |
| Primary vs. Secondary Resources | No |
| Scholarly vs. Popular Materials | Yes, excellent |
| Peer Review | Yes |
| Evaluating Sources | yes, good |
| Locating Materials | Yes, excellent |
| Organization of Library Materials | Yes, excellent |
| LC Call Number System | Yes, excellent |
| Citing Sources | Yes, excellent |
| Plagiarism | Yes, excellent |
| Reference Resources | Yes, excellent |
| How to get Reference Help | Yes, excellent |
| Web Searching | |
| Understanding the Internet/Web (what it does and doesn't do) | Yes |
| Search Engines vs. Subject Directories | Yes |
| Evaluating Internet Resources | Yes |
| Web search operators (+/-) | No |
| Web vs. other resources (content) | Yes, weak |
| Look | |
| Wordy vs. Terse | Too wordy |
| Use of Graphics | Yes, weak |
| Interactivity | |
| Passive vs. Active User | Too passive - some practice and quizzes. |
| Ongoing Testing/Quiz | Some |
| Navigation | |
| Clear vs. Confusing | Clear |
| Technology | |
| Minimum Browser Requirements | ? |
| Sound Card | No |
| Java | ? |
| Shockwave | No |
| Assessment | |
| Pre-test | No |
| Post-test | Yes |
| Users Registered | No |
| Feedback | |
| Ongoing vs. At the end | Both, but not enough |
| Printable Certificate | No |
| Credits | |
| In-house vs. licensed code | This appears to have been don in-house with links to Internet and specific library sites. The tutorial does not contain a credits page nor a description of how it was done. The Information Literacy Coordinator of the library is listed as Kim Ranger, rangerk@gvsu.edu. The "Structuring your Database Search" section has an author listed as Kathryn Waggoner. |