Bridging the information literacy gap between university and professional practice

Skills For Success: Bridging the Information Literacy Gap Between University and Professional Practice

Erich Hartmann. James Joyce's "Bloomsday." Dublin. 1964 http://www.magnumphotos.com/

Siobhán Dunne | @dunnesiobhan | Dublin City University

IFLA World Library and Information Congress 2014

• Graduate Attributes• Embedding information literacy• Resource Creation• Professional Practice

DCU Library

DCU Library

Information Literacy – A Graduate Attribute

Students will be encouraged to develop a high level of information

literacy that encompasses a sophisticated, considered and critical

approach to sourcing, organising, evaluating and using information.

“Preparing students for success in life and especially in the workforce now means equipping them with a set of personal skills to enable them to navigate the challenges of a globalised society and an increasingly knowledge based workplace”

Last year we integrated a new resource into the advanced feature writing module for final year journalism students.

It was targeted at providing more advanced research techniques for the journalists and some of the practical aspects such as advanced boolean search techniques proved extremely useful.

The students benefitted from understanding how to search library sources on company databases and many went on to use these in investigative features.

"The DCU Journalism degree offers a great variety of practical and theory modules, allowing students to choose the subjects they are most interested in. Before I came to DCU, I thought I had no interest in print journalism but the experience of newsdays where the class divides into two teams and carries out the work of a newsroom, producing a radio news programme or newspaper at the end of each day, has completely changed my mind. Now I would be glad to work in broadcast or print media. The 8 week INTRA placement at the end of the final year is extremely beneficial because students get the opportunity to put all their journalism skills into practice."

BA Journalism Graduate, 2010

BA Journalism - a practical, hands on degree

Source: http://www.starfm.com/tag/office/

Embedding Information Literacy into the JR3 Programme

Teaching Online Module – Learning Outcomes

• Evaluate your teaching & identify opportunities to include technology in your teaching

• Critique range of e tools & identify how appropriate they are to your own competencies

• Reflect on your own experience of being a learner and how it informs your teaching

• Develop learning resources to be incorporated into at least one module

Develop learning resources to be incorporated into at least one module

A fellow student - a lecturer teaching on the JR3 programme - would be my ‘champion’.

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/trees_are/4420379696/

Our Learning Resource Plan

Literature Review (1)

MacMillan, M., 2009. Watching Learning Happen: Results of a Longitudinal Study of Journalism Students. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 35 (2), p132 -142.

• Development of an I-SKILLS résumé to prompt journalism students to reflect on, assess, and describe their information skills

• The results of a five-year study provides insights into what students use and how that usage evolves, and have implications for information literacy instruction.

• Using the I-SKILLS résumé , the author watched learning happen in response to classes, work, and the changing information environment.

Literature Review (2)

Field, T., MacMillan, M., 2011. Toward Development of Collaborative, Comprehensive Information Literacy and Research Skills Program inside the Journalism Curriculum. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator. Summer 2011, 66 (2), p176 -186.

1. Determine the extent of information needed2. Access the required information effectively & efficiently3. Evaluate information & its sources critically4. Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base5. Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose6. Understand the economic, legal & social issues surrounding the use of

information & access & use information ethically & legally.

Literature Review (3)

ACRL, 2011. Information Literacy Competency Standards for Journalism Students and Professionals

• Standard One: PLAN. Identifies needed resources, determines where to find them and estimate time & financial costs to access information.

• Standard Two: FIND. Begins research using search strategies that are effective and efficient

• Standard Three: EVALUATE. Appraises information gathered for accuracy, balance and relevance

• Standard Four: DRAFT & CREATE. Writes the story by integrating the information gathered

• Standard Five: ETHICAL & LEGAL. Applies professional standards throughout the research process

Resource 1: Portal for content and assignments (created in WordPress)

Resource 2: E News Tutorial (created in Articulate Studio)

Assignment 5: Search Strategy

“Just to let you know I had the best feedback with regards to our library session. They were all extremely positive and indeed said it should be on offer to every year and they wished they had it earlier in their careers here it would have been so much help. One even asked if there could be a whole module of it!”

Dr. Jane Suiter, DCU School of Communications

“The embedding of the library's digital literacy skills within the journalism module allowed students to put their learning into practice in an immediately rewarding and practical manner.

In this particular instance, the students were able to use these skills for their assignments, but also realised that proper use of the library's digital resources would be of great use to them in their later professional lives.

This initiative has transformed the integration of library training skills into the mainstream of journalism education”.

Martin MolonyDCU School of Communications

Future Directions

“I’ve had an initial think. I was considering dividing the students into beats (courts, local authority, crime, entertainment, business, editing etc) and getting them to get real news out there in the community and then publishing it online somehow with room for podcasts. “(JR3 Lecturer)

Possible Task

Get students to create a Storify about their specific beat topic. They are often surprised by how much work is involved in curating social media. “It’s a journalism skill that needs to be learned. Otherwise it’s just a bunch of social media comments.”

Source: 4 ways journalism educators are using Storify as a teaching toolhttp://www.poynter.org/how-tos/journalism-education/153565/4-ways-journalism-educators-are-using-storify-as-a-teaching-tool/

Professional Themes: TwitterCitizen Journalism: from content creation to content curation

http://www.datajournalismhandbook.org/1.0/en/introduction_0.html#sthash.VapX7NrH.dpuf

Professional Themes: Data Journalism

Thank You!

[email protected]@dunnesiobhan