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Article
Publication date: 3 June 2014

Donna Witek and Teresa Grettano

The purpose of this paper is to offer a model of information literacy instruction that utilizes social media to teach metaliteracy as the foundation for information literacy today…

2094

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to offer a model of information literacy instruction that utilizes social media to teach metaliteracy as the foundation for information literacy today and articulate the effects of social media on students’ information-seeking behaviors and processes and complete the goals articulated in part one of this study (Witek and Grettano, 2012).

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted in conjunction with the course rhetoric and social media, co-designed and co-taught by the authors. Data sources consisted of student work and methodologies including textual and rhetorical analysis and observation. Findings are analyzed and presented through the lens of the Association of College and Research Libraries Standards (2000) and Mackey and Jacobson’s (2011) metaliteracy framework.

Findings

The study identified four effects of social media use on students’ information literacy practices and behaviors: information now comes to users; information recall and attribution are now social; evaluation is now social; and information is now open. Data illustrate metaliteracy in practice and tie examples of this to the authors’ pedagogical decisions.

Research limitations/implications

Article offers a model for teaching information literacy in the context of participatory information environments which can be adapted by other practitioners. Authors concede that the small sample size, limited by course enrollment, limits the generalizability of the study findings to student populations as a whole.

Originality/value

Valuable to information literacy instructors and researchers because it offers the first formal application of concepts theorized in Mackey and Jacobson’s (2011) metaliteracy framework to information literacy instruction.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 42 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 May 2012

Donna Witek and Teresa Grettano

This analysis, being part one of a two‐part study, aims to illustrate the attitudes and patterns users are being habituated to through the functionality of Facebook, relate them…

6231

Abstract

Purpose

This analysis, being part one of a two‐part study, aims to illustrate the attitudes and patterns users are being habituated to through the functionality of Facebook, relate them to information literate practices and behaviors, and speculate their application to information literacy instruction within an academic context. It also aims to lay the groundwork for part two, which is to be reported on in a later issue of this journal.

Design/methodology/approach

For this first part of the study, the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education have been aligned with common behaviors on Facebook, examining each standard, performance indicator, and outcome for possible parallels in common Facebook tools and behaviors. These behaviors have then been connected to the process of conducting research in an academic context.

Findings

Three Facebook functions – Feeds, Share, and Comment – emerged as the primary means by which information literate practices and behaviors are developed and exhibited on Facebook. In addition, information literacy in the age of social media requires a “meta‐literacy”: a critical awareness of why we do what we do with information.

Research limitations/implications

This analysis (part one) presents the conceptual framework on which the data collection portion of the study (part two) is based. In doing so, it lays the groundwork for a reexamination of what it means to be information literate in light of social media practices and behaviors.

Originality/value

This paper is valuable to information literacy instructors and researchers because it offers the first extended analysis that deliberately reads Facebook through the lens of the ACRL Standards.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 40 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2018

Sarah McDaniel

This paper aims to apply integrated academic literacies and threshold concepts constructs to the development of graduate student literacies. Western Washington University has…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to apply integrated academic literacies and threshold concepts constructs to the development of graduate student literacies. Western Washington University has developed a graduate peer-tutors program to advance integrated academic literacies and graduate student agency. Graduate peer-tutors are expert-outsiders (Nowacek and Hughes, 2015): expert in conversations about literacies and outsiders to disciplinary expertise. Peer-tutors augment a support ecosystem that includes faculty advisors, subject librarians and others. Libraries should lead innovative programs to develop integrated literacies, and librarians should leverage both subject and literacies expertise as part of an ecosystem of support.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on library, writing center and higher education scholarship, the author draws on research methodologies from writing center scholarship to explore models for integrated graduate student literacies. The author collaborates with graduate peer-tutors to connect theory and practice in the Graduate Research & Writing Studio (GRWS).

Findings

Peer-tutor models offer a valuable layer of support for graduate students engaged in thesis-writing. Peer-tutors, faculty advisors and subject librarians play important roles in advancing development of integrated literacies. The role of peer-tutors is unique in advancing integrated literacies, and addressing affective barriers and equity concerns.

Practical implications

Economic pressures have transformed higher education, ushering new populations into graduate programs. Opportunities to enhance inclusivity cannot be realized without support for development of literacies. Libraries should lead with innovative services that address barriers to graduate student success.

Originality/value

The author leverages the unique laboratory offered by the GRWS and engages graduate peer-tutors in connecting scholarship and practice. Drawing on contemporary theoretical lenses on literacies, she argues for libraries’ leadership of programs that support integrated graduate student literacies.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 46 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

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