Learning how to use the library and it’s resources is never high on students’ priority lists, however, when they do need us (and often that is at 3 am when they’re writing that paper for the 8 am class), we are often unavailable. In addition, when we are successful in convincing classroom faculty to bring their entire class in for a talk, we throw so much information at our captive audience (well, WE know it’s important, and more often than not, we only have 50 minutes in which to impart many years of wisdom!), they are overwhelmed well before we’re half way through.
Our creative solution is an online tutorial named PILOT, found on Ferris State University Library’s website (http://libun1.ferris.edu), and available for anyone who would like to use it. You are welcome to use it as a “guest”, although we do allow students to register so their results can be part of their coursework grade. I encourage you to try it out- although it is designed primarily with undergraduate students in mind, it is a fun way to learn about the wealth of information available in our highly technological world. If you have a high speed connection to the Internet (56k modem or faster), Full PILOT includes games, sound effects, and silly graphics designed to captivate the MTV generation, but also teaches very basic principles of research. The Lite version doesn’t use the fancy graphics and sound effects, but teaches those same research principles.
The three modules in the tutorial (which each take about 30 minutes to complete) cover the topics of selecting an appropriate source, searching for information, and evaluating what you have found. This kind of explanation is useful to anyone and everyone- particularly if you find it difficult to search the Internet (and believe me, we all do!).
It is grounded by the principles of a ‘new’ concept called “INFORMATION LITERACY”, which essentially is the skill to find the answer to a question regardless of the format of the source. An individual who is information literate knows how to use resources made available through both the library and the World Wide Web to locate needed information. They understand the purposes, strengths, differences, and similarities of each provider and how they complement each other. An information literate student is able to use information resources effectively at each stage of a project or paper, from defining a topic to critically evaluating the information found. Knowledge may be housed in many new formats, but the principles of information discovery and use have not really changed much from what you learned in school.
Take a look at PILOT, try a module or two, and I hope you will appreciate the complexity of what today’s undergraduate student is facing when attempting to “do research”. In spite of the apparent ease that computers have brought, being a student is just as difficult as ever- in fact, with more competing “sources” of knowledge (some clearly more reliable than others), “good” information is both more abundant and elusive.
After successfully completing this three module tutorial, students should be able to:
- locate and use major Library facilities and services;
- select information sources appropriate for a particular need;
- use standard research techniques to search electronic databases;
- use the library catalog to find items owned by the library;
- use a general periodical index, such as InfoTrac OneFile, to identify articles;
- locate copies of articles;
- find resources on the World Wide Web;
- begin learning to critically evaluate resources”
