How To - Introduce Students to Library Research: Information Has Value

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Creation of information and products derived from information requires a commitment of time, original thought, and resources that need to be respected by those seeking to use these products, or create their own based on the work of others. In addition, information may be valued more or less highly based on its creator, its audience/consumer, or its message.

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• Give credit to the original ideas of others through proper attribution and citation.
• Recognize the meaning of intellectual property in the United States.
• Understand that intellectual property is a social construct that varies by culture.
• Articulate the purpose and distinguishing characteristics of copyright, open access, and public domain.
• Know how to find open access materials.
• Differentiate between the production of original information and remixing or repurposing open resources.
• Manage their online presences responsibly.
• Decide where their information, as knowledge creator, should be published.

Tutorial

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• Provide students with a list of citations and ask them to identify the types of sources represented by the citations (books, chapters, periodical articles, etc).
• "Read the References:" ask the students to select a research article and read the articles cited by it. The students are instructed to:
  • explain how each article is related to the original article;
  • consider under what circumstances it is appropriate to cite other papers;
  • differentiate what different purposes the citations serve
• Have students track down resources used by other students in their bibliographies. Have students “grade” each other’s works cited page for correct style and completeness of citations (as well as appropriateness of sources cited).
  • Exercise: Authorship, rights of authors, and responsible use of others' work
    The following questions can be discussed in small groups with a summary to follow:
    • Are you an author? Name some of the things you have created.
    • What or who is the author? What does it mean to create something?
    • Why is it important to cite sources when writing or doing other kind of research?
    • Suppose your college/program had an essay contest and you won it. You received a certificate and a handshake form the dean of your college. Then you find out that your roommate sent your essay to a magazine essay context with his or her name instead of yours. Your roommate won $5,00 and a spot on a popular TV show. How do you feel about what happened? What can you do about what your roommate did?
    • In the same scenario suppose your roommate took your ideas, changed the language just a little, and still won the money. Now how would you feel?
    • In the scenario above suppose your roommate took only one paragraph of your essay and still won the money and the TV experience. Would you feel any differently?

(Modified from Burkhardt, J.M., MacDonald, Mary C. (2010). Teaching information literacy: 50 standard-based exercises for college students. Chicago: ALA).

Assignments for the frame Information Has Value from the Community of Online Research Assignments (CORA).