American Scientist recently published a fascinating essay about how scientific research is conducted and gets reported, and about how conflicts between the publishing process and the need for replicability studies can affect what we understand about scientific discoveries. The essay raises some interesting questions about how we evaluate the credibility of scientific information, and also highlights the need to always look for multiple sources of information.
Happy Friday reading…
A little while ago, Salon.com posted a very interesting article on some of the recent issues surrounding Wikipedia, including the shrinking number of volunteer editors and the rising trend of people who are getting paid to write and edit Wikipedia articles.
The article provides a very different take on the ongoing argument about the credibility of Wikipedia articles as sources. Give it a read, and then let us know what you think. Does this change how you think about Wikipedia?
Do you sometimes find that looking for pictures using Google’s Image Search can be a little bit overwhelming?
Did you know that you can filter your image search by colour?
In this article, Google Search Educator Tasha Bergson-Michelson shows you how it works, and also gives several examples of when the colour filter can be useful (some academic, some less so…).
Give it a try, and see if this different way of narrowing your search results works for you!
Late last fall, Kurt Schick, a writing instructor at James Madison University, posted an interesting column about citation over at the Chronicle of Higher Education. I think it’s quite timely as students start to finish up their first papers of the second semester.
Schick argues that a strong focus on the mechanics of citation early on in a student’s career puts the focus too much on the mechanical aspects of writing, rather than the content and creative aspects. In his words, “students expend a disproportionate amount of precious time and attention trying to avoid making mistakes. Soon, they also begin to associate ‘good’ writing with mechanically following rules rather than developing good ideas.”
He doesn’t believe that we should not ask students to cite their sources; he simply believes that we need to emphasize strict following of style rules less and careful and thoughtful evaluation and integration of secondary sources more.
As you can imagine, his column sparked a healthy debate, including this Letter to the Editor, this blog post, and 175 comments on the column (and counting).
Take a look at what Schick has to say, and then tell us – what do you think?
What do zombies and information literacy have in common?
They are both featured in a new graphic novel called Library of the Living Dead, produced by McPherson College’s Miller Library in Kansas.
“The library has just released an online 23-page library guide in graphic novel format called Library of the Living Dead that features students taking cover in the library from zombies run amok on campus, and the flight to safety becomes a point of departure for a blood-stained lesson, replete with decapitations, in the Dewey Decimal system and other library tools.” —Library Journal
Scene from "Library of the Living Dead"
A little while ago, the New York Times reported on the growing problem of drug companies ghostwriting articles for scientific journals.
We teach students that they should judge the credibility of a source partially based on the credentials of the author. What do they do if the person whose name is published as the author isn’t the author at all? Finding credible information isn’t getting any easier…
I’m often asked for ways to incorporate research into classes, or for ideas for different methods of engaging students with library resources. In his Inside Higher Ed column, Instant Mentor, Rob Wier recently provided a very detailed and interesting description of an assignment that he uses: a book or article review. Take a look, and let me know what you think. Could you use this idea in your class?
In October of 2007, Martha Groom, Associate Professor, Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, and Andreas Brockhaus, Director of Learning Technologies, both from the University of Washington Bothell, presented a paper at EDUCAUSE2007 entitled, “Using Wikipedia to Reenvision the Term Paper”. The abstract read:
“The structure of the traditional term paper can limit its educational value. To make the assignment more meaningful, students published their papers in Wikipedia. This session will examine how publishing for a large online community motivated students to do better work and deal with issues of voice, knowledge, and community.”
Groom’s first attempt at incorporating Wikipedia into a class came in the fall of 2006, when she required her students to make a major revision to an existing article or to create one of their own, with a minimum of 1,500 words, for 60 percent of the grade. The assignment, for her course on environmental history and globalization, encompassed an initial proposal, a first draft, revisions and peer review, after which students would post the final article to the Web site. For the next semester, and after student feedback, Groom decided to lower the weight of the assignment (to 40 percent of the grade) and have students work in groups.
The notion of using Wikipedia, vilified by many an academic, will be anathema to many and an intriguing opportunity for others. For more information about this project, visit When Wikipedia Is the Assignment. This article includes a link to Groom and Brockhaus’ power point presentation to EDUCAUSE 2007. More information and commentary can be found at:
Prof replaces term papers with Wikipedia contributions, suffering ensues
Both APA and MLA citation styles have changed over the summer, and a new version of each has been published. Here’s what you need to know about these citation styles and support for them in the Library.
Did you know… the Library offers information literacy support to faculty in a variety of ways, including information literacy workshops for your students and help with research assignment design. (more…)
