Which research/tech skills do our students need?

I belong to a Listserv group called InfoLit where Liz Percy posed an interesting question -Jennie

I am really interested in hearing from College librarians regarding which research and technology skills they would like to see taught at the high school level. What do you see as your college freshman's strengths and weaknesses? Liz Percy

SURVEY RESULTS

EVALUATION OF SOURCES**(Most often mentioned)

• Be able to evaluate sources – (authority, accuracy, currency, objectivity, relevance to assignment) especially websites
• Have knowledge of journals/periodicals as resources (seems to be a gap between book & web use)
• Know the difference between a database and a website
• Know the difference between Google and Google Scholar

BASIC RESEARCH SKILLS

• Understand concept of a library catalog
• Be able to successfully use a library catalog to locate books on the shelves
• Be able to use index and table of contents of print resources
• Be able to turn a topic into a research question
• Be able to develop and use keywords
• Be able to use Advanced Search feature in databases & web browsers (along with understanding Boolean logic)
• Be able to Narrow or broaden a topic
• Be able to read critically and SYNTHESIZE from gathered sources

CITATIONS  & ETHICAL USE

• Know how to paraphrase and when to cite sources
• Be able to write and comprehend the components of a citation
• Understand there are different citation styles for different purposes (MLA, APA)

JOURNALS & PERIODICALS

• Locate journal articles from a database
• Differentiate between scholarly and popular journals
• Differentiate between peer-reviewed and non peer-reviewed journals/articles

COMPUTER SKILLS

• Have basic knowledge of Word, Power Point, etc.
• Have familiarity with wikis, blogs, multimedia

RECOGNIZE YOUR LIBRARIAN AS A RESOURCE!

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