UCLA College Library Information Literacy Assignment Ideas

Information literacy Assignment Ideas
Are your students information literate? Do they know how to identify, locate, evaluate and use information effectively? These are examples of assignments which will strengthen your students' information literacy (IL) skills. College Library librarians would be happy to work with you to customize these assignments for your course, or to teach a class in person.

1. If they need to find overview information on a topic:
Use a print & a web-based encyclopedia (general or subject-specialized) to gather background information on your topic (e.g., the print & licensed online versions of Encyclopaedia Britannica http://search.eb.com/ and the freely available web-only "The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy" http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.html). Compare and contrast the information you find in each.

2. If they need to define terms related to a particular topic or discipline:
Use a print subject specialized dictionary (e.g., The Facts On File Dictionary of Environmental Science, College Library Reference: TD 9 S74 1991 & on online dictionary (e.g., "EPA Terms of Environment" http://www.epa.gov/ocepa111/OCEPAterms/index.htm) to define terms related to your research topic or project. Note discrepancies between the two dictionary definitions.

3. If they are doing assignments related to famous or important individuals:
Compare & contrast a biography in a print biographical reference source (e.g., Current Biography, College Library Reference: CT 100 C93) to a web-based or another print biography. Base your comparison on the expertise & bias of the biographer, the sponsoring organization or group, recency, & completeness. Note any disagreement on the "facts."

4. If they need to examine and analyze published materials:
Use a print & an online index to book reviews to identify two book reviews of a non-fiction book on your topic. (Print example: Book Review Digest, College Library Reference, Z 1219 B64. Online index: "MLA Bibliography" or "Expanded Academic ASAP." Go to the California Digital Library Collections page http://www.cdlib.org/collections/ Select MLA Bibliography or Expanded Academic ASAP from the list of article databases. Click on the link for UC Los Angeles. Search for reviews by entering some of the book title words and the word REVIEW. Incorporate your analysis of these reviews into your own analysis of the book.

5. If they need to do historical research of any kind:
a. Identify & locate two useful journal articles on your topic, using "America: History and Life" or "Historical Abstracts" (both licensed online indexes: http://sb2.abc-clio.com:81/). Compare these articles to two web sites on the same topic.
b. Identify and locate two useful up to date articles on personalities or issues by using Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe's "General News" database (licensed online index: http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe). Compare these articles to two web sites on the same topic.

6. If they need to write opinion pieces:
Identify & locate 2 opinion pieces on your topic by using Alternative Press Index (print: College Library Reference, Z 7164 S66A46) or "Alt-PressWatch" http://apw.proquest.com/apress.htm , and "Expanded Academic ASAP". (Go to the California Digital Library Collections page http://www.cdlib.org/collections/ Select Expanded Academic ASAP from the list of article databases. Click on the link for UC Los Angeles.) Critique the opinion pieces from an alternative press index and Expanded Academic ASAP in your own position paper on the topic.

Research & Web Site Evaluation Skills

7. "Flow of Information"
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/flow/index.htm
Review this web site and write a brief essay describing where you should search for information on your topic and why.

8. "How to Narrow or Broaden Your Topic"
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/topic/index.htm
Review this page, then use the "Research Topic Focusing Worksheet" to come up with 2 research paper topics.

9. "Hoax? Scholarly Research? Personal Opinion? You Decide!"
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/hoax/index.htm
Click on a web site evaluation criteria from among those listed, & in a brief essay, evaluate 2 sites listed for that criteria.

10. "Who Dunnit: What Kind of Web Page is This??"
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/whodunnit/index.htm
Select 1 of the 5 topics listed (e.g., global warming). Review all sites on the worksheet for that topic, answer the questions, & write a brief essay comparing & contrasting these sites.

For any of these, you might consider asking students to turn in an annotated bibliography cited in the style used for your discipline, along with copies of web pages they used.