Go For The Gold

James Madison University
http://library.jmu.edu/library/gold/modules.htm

Narrative || Tutorial Contents || Checklist



Narrative

This is an extremely comprehensive presentation of IL material for required courses. Its best feature is the high degree of interactivity via a double screen. Each module presents a quiz, which may be taken while the information in the module can be scanned, or online databases searched for the answers. In fact, some questions require that information be looked up during the quiz. Test results are E-mailed to the students and are also accessible to course instructors. Quizzes may also be retaken to improve scores, and a final classroom test must be taken. In addition, faculty information is provided, including suggested assignments for each module.

However, motivation to learn the material appears to be extrinsic, not the most educationally sound for later recall and use. This approach seems to entail the presentation if information first, with its application required later, in the final module. Although a great deal of excellent material is presented, such abstract to concrete organization is not effective either for natural use motivation or for one capability to be built upon another. For example, search strategies should really precede evaluating and citing sources. Moreover, the text is long and wordy with few engaging graphics, and the amount of detailed information could be overwhelming to a beginning student.


Tutorial Contents

Module 1
Orientation to Carrier Library
Module 2
Introduction to the Information World
Module 3
Searching an Electronic Database
Identify and locate services and collections
  • Reference
  • Electronic reference area
  • Interlibrary loan/Document delivery
  • Current and bound periodicals
  • Government Documents
  • Media Resources
  • Circulation
  • The student will:
  • Describe how information is organized in libraries
  • Given a need for a particular type of information, identify an appropriate type of source
  • Interpret a bibliographic citation
  • Characterize the quality of information found on the Internet vs. in libraries
  • The student will:
  • Define the terms database, record and field
  • Define three types of information databases: bibliographic, full text, numeric
  • Determine the subject, scope and years of coverage of a given database
  • Identify the main concepts of a research topic and generate a list of search terms
  • Build a search strategy using Boolean operators
  • Compare and contrast a free text search with a controlled vocabulary search
  • Define truncation, nesting, field-specific searching, and phrase searching
  • Module 4
    Finding Information Resources
    Module 5
    Using Internet Resources
    Module 6
    Evaluating sources of Information
    The student will:
  • Use LEO (OPAC) to locate all types of material
  • Find relevant background information on a topic
  • Locate and effectively use the following types of information:
    periodical articles
    news sources
    biographical information
    primary sources
    critical reviews
    government information
    statistical information
  • The student will:
  • Locate a specific website given a URL
  • Construct an Internet search on a given topic
  • Compare and contrast a database search with an Internet search
  • The student will evaluate information using the following criteria:
  • Authority of the author or producer
  • Appropriateness of the date of publication
  • Supporting documentation
  • Purpose of work
  • Review process
  • Module 7
    Information Ethics: Citing Sources and Fair Use
    Module 8
    Search Strategy for Research Papers and Speeches
    The student will:
  • identify the bibliographic elements essential for properly citing an information source
  • define plagiarism
  • Apply appropriate ethical guidelines to the use and citing of information
  • The student will define and apply an efficient search strategy for a research paper or speech to include:
  • Choosing a topic and identifying its main concepts
  • Narrowing the focus of the topic
  • Identifying reference books, indexes and Internet sites appropriate for researching the topic
  • Using a variety of sources
  • Evaluating the sources found for appropriateness and quality



  • Checklist

    Research
    Understanding information needed Yes
    Narrowing research topic Yes
    Database definition Yes
    Catalog Searching Yes
    Article Searching Yes
    Keyword searching Yes
    Boolean searching Yes
    Controlled vocabulary Yes
    Primary vs. Secondary Resources Yes
    Scholarly vs. Popular Materials Yes
    Peer Review Weak
    Evaluating Sources Yes
    Locating Materials Yes
    Organization of Library Materials Yes
    LC Call Number System Yes
    Citing Sources Yes
    Plagiarism Yes
    Reference Resources Yes
    How to get Reference Help Yes
    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
    Look
    Wordy vs. Terse Too wordy
    Use of Graphics Very weak
    Interactivity
    Passive vs. Active User Interactive use is its strongest feature.
    Ongoing Testing/Quiz Yes
    Navigation
    Clear vs. Confusing Clear
    Technology
    Minimum Browser Requirements None mentioned
    Sound Card No
    Java ?
    Shockwave No
    Assessment
    Pre-test No
    Post-test Yes
    Users Registered Yes
    Feedback
    Ongoing vs. At the end Both - an offline student test is required.
    Printable Certificate Results of each of the module tests is E-mailed to the students, and is viewable by the teacher.
    Credits
    In-house vs. licensed code

    "Go for the Gold was developed specifically for use at James Madison University; however, others may copy and customize the original content and design of Go for the Gold for nonprofit educational purposes. Whenever using either the entire or partial contents, design, or organization of the web pages comprising Go for the Gold, please provide credit to Carrier Library, James Madison University. Any content that had not been created by Carrier Library is clearly labeled, and users of this material from Go for the Gold web pages should acquire separate permission for their own applications."

    From: http://library.jmu.edu/library/gold/modules.htm



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