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User:TinyDynamo/UNIV 190L - Demystifying Library Research

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Course name
UNIV 190L - Demystifying Library Research
Institution
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Instructor
Kate Freedman
Subject
Information Literacy
Course dates
2015-01-21 – 2015-05-06
Approximate number of student editors
15



This course is an exploration of the process of college-level research. In this course, students will learn efficient and effective methods for managing "information overload" and for finding, using, evaluating, organizing, and presenting information.

The way that students will learn these skills will largely be through evaluating and editing Wikipedia articles. Wikipedia is a major secondary source for advanced research, used by both college students and scholars alike. By placing Wikipedia at the center of this course, students will gain an intimate understanding of how Wikipedia works and where this key information resource fits in the research process.

Each student will edit two Wikipedia articles. First, they will work as a class to edit the article on the W. E. B. Du Bois Library. Second, they will edit an article that is related to their personal or academic interests. As part of this process, students will also peer review each others' work on Wikipedia.


Course Goals and Objectives

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Students will gain an understanding of information literacy as a lifelong learning process as well as a vital skill set in a competitive job market.

This course covers:

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  • Practical approaches to developing information literacy skills that support college-level research and lifelong learning.
  • Exploration of efficient and effective methods to manage “information overload” in order to find, use, evaluate, organize, and present information.

What is information literacy?

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Information Literacy is the ability to:

  1. Ask good questions
  2. Find high quality information in order to answer these questions
  3. Effectively communicate the answers
  4. Do all of this in a legal and ethical manner

Learner Outcomes

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  • Understand the value of information literacy as a set of lifelong learning skills.
  • Develop the scope of a research project
  • Demonstrate the ability to effectively search for information using library resources.
  • Select and access information sources (e.g. books, articles, images and primary resources).
  • Analyze and critically evaluate information (e.g. websites/online information, magazines, and scholarly journals).
  • Organize and synthesize information, including citation formats and the use of citation management software.
  • Use and apply information effectively.
  • Recognize the importance and ethics of citing sources.
  • Become comfortable seeking subject expertise support available at the library.

Required Readings

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Bernnard, Deborah, and Greg Bobish, Daryl Bullis, Jenna Hecker, Irina Holden, Allison Hosier, Trudi Jacobson, Tor Loney. THE INFORMATION LITERACY USER'S GUIDE: AN OPEN, ONLINE TEXTBOOK. Geneseo, NY: Open SUNY Textbooks, Milne Library, 2014.

Grading

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All work for this course will be graded on a Pass/Fail grading system. All assignments must be completed to receive a final grade of pass.


  5%  
   Completion of Wikipedia training
  15%  
   Early Wikipedia exercises
  20%  
   Annotated bibliography and article outline
  10%  
   Article peer review
  25%  
   Quality of your main Wikipedia contributions
  15%  
   Online Discussion
  10%  
   Reflective essay

Completion of Wikipedia training: 5%

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For this assignment, you will complete the online training for students. It takes about an hour. When you have completed this training, please post this certification on your Wikipedia user page to verify to me that you have completed the training. Doing this will give you full credit for this activity.

Early Wikipedia exercises 15%

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These include the Wikipedia article evaluation in Week 4 and the Wikipedia article editing exercise in Week 5. For the article evaluation, you will be expected to answer the following questions about the article you have chosen to review and post them to your Wikipedia account page:

  • Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
  • Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
  • Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
  • Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that biased noted?
  • Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
  • Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
  • Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

Your responses will be graded on a 9-point scale, based on quality and depth of response.

For the article editing exercise, you will be asked to add 1-2 sentences of properly sourced content to the W.E.B. Du Bois Library article.

Annotated Bibliography and Article Outline: 20%

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Generate a list of around ten sources related to the topic of your Wikipedia article. Choose six different sources from this list to annotate. Post those annotations on your Wikipedia account page. Annotations should use a consistent citation style (APA, MLA, etc.) and each annotation should include 5-10 sentences summarizing the content of the source and how it relates to the larger topic of the Wikipedia entry. Your annotated bibliography will be assessed Pass/Fail based on the consistency of your citations, the clarity of your summaries, and the appropriateness of the source for researching your topic.

After you have created your annotated bibliographies, you will write a draft outline for your Wikipedia entry. This outline should strive to cover the topic comprehensively and take into account all viewpoints on the topic. Your outline will be assessed Pass/Fail, based on clarity of organization and thoroughness.

Article peer review: 10%

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As part of this course, you will be asked to review another student's Wikipedia article. For the article review, you will be expected to answer the following questions and post them to the article's Talk page:

  • Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
  • Is everything in the source relevant to the source topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
  • Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
  • Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that biased noted?
  • Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
  • Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
  • Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

Your responses will be assessed Pass/Fail, based on quality and depth of response.

Quality of your main Wikipedia contributions: 25%

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You will be assessed Pass/Fail on the contributions you have made to your main Wikipedia editing project. You should not confuse "quality" with permanence. You will be judged on your contributions to the Talk page of your article, and potentially by content that is removed by another editor, as much as you will be judged by the content that remains in the article at the end of the semester. The key to a good grade in this assignment is to show me that your research is sound and cited, and that you have thought critically about all aspects of the topic of your article. Your contributions for this assignment will be assessed Pass/Fail.

Online Discussion: 15%

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Your participation on the Blackboard site will be graded Pass/Fail. Your grade in this area will be based on your contributions as a discussion leader during your designated week, and the content of your contributions to the conversations started by other discussion leaders. You will also be assessed upon the civility and consideration you demonstrate towards the other members of the class.

Reflective essay: 10%

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The reflective essay is a 2-4 page essay, with citations, addressing the question "What did you learn about the research process through editing Wikipedia?" It should incorporate what you learned through textbook readings and discussion as well as your actual experiences creating a Wikipedia article. It will be assessed Pass/Fail.

Academic Honesty

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The University’s policies on plagiarism apply to ALL work in this course. If you feel overwhelmed, talk to me, don’t plagiarize. Taking a sentence, a paragraph, or and entire paper from an Internet or any other source without using proper citation (quotation marks and a reference citation that states where you found the quote), or handing in someone else’s writing as your own, counts as plagiarism. So does handing in a paper that you have written for another course.

Accessibility/Access Statement

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The Library is committed to providing an equal educational opportunity for all students. If you have a documented physical, psychological, or learning disability on file with Disability Services, you may be eligible for academic accommodations to help you succeed in this course. If you have a documented disability that requires accommodation, please notify me as soon as possible so that I can create a fair and comfortable learning environment for you. If you have a documented disability or if you think you might have a physical, learning, or psychological disability, I strongly urge you to contact Disability Services for consultation. Their number is: (413) 545-0892, or visit their website.

Having problems in the course?

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Please contact me immediately if any problems arise for you during the course; the sooner we address any difficulties, the more time we have to find a solution to the problem together. If you are having problems in the course, please don't sit in silence or just stop participating. Contact me so we can set up a meeting (if you live locally), a telephone call, or a chat. I want everyone to succeed in this course and I am here to help make that happen!

Timeline

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Week 1 (2015-01-19): Wikipedia essentials

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Course meetings
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
In class
  • Overview of the course
  • Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
  • Wikipedia is a community: a brief overview of its rules, expectations, and etiquette
  • Handout: Editing Wikipedia (available in print or online from the Wiki Education Foundation)


Assignment (due Week 2)

Week 2 (2015-01-26): Editing basics

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Course meetings
Wednesday, 28 January 2015
In class
  • Basics of editing
  • Anatomy of Wikipedia articles, what makes a good article, how to distinguish between good and bad articles
  • Collaborating and engaging with the Wiki editing community
  • Handouts: Using Talk Pages handout and Evaluating Wikipedia brochure


Assignment (due Week 3)
  • Read: Chapter 5 - Evaluate: Assessing Your Research Process and Findings
  • Discuss Evaluating and Assessing Information on the Blackboard forum.
  • Create an account and then complete the online training for students. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia. Make sure that you add the star for completing the training to your account page - this is what will show me that you have completed this assignment.
  • Create a User page, and then click the "enroll" button on the top left of this course page.
  • To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself on the user talk page of one of your classmates, who should also be enrolled in the table at the bottom of the page.
Milestones
  • All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.

Week 3 (2015-02-02): Exploring the topic area

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Course meetings
Wednesday, 4 February 2015
In class
  • Explore topics related to your topic area to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized. What areas seem to be missing? As you explore, make a note of articles that seem like good candidates for improvement. Use the "choosing an article" handout for guidance.
  • Explore the list of Wiki Projects to find ideas for articles you might edit.
  • Handouts: Choosing an article and How to get help


Assignment (due Week 4)
  • Read: Chapter 6 - Manage: Organizing Information Effectively and Ethically
  • Discuss ethics of information use on the Blackboard forum.
  • Evaluate an existing Wikipedia article linked from the W.E.B. Du Bois Library article, and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's talk page.
    • A few questions to consider (don't feel limited to these):
      • Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
      • Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
      • Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
      • Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that biased noted?
      • Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
      • Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
      • Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?


Week 4 (2015-02-09): Using sources and choosing articles

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Course meetings
Wednesday, 11 February 2015
In class
  • What is plagiarism?
  • Workshop on Wikipedia citation markup.
  • Workshop on Turnitin (demonstration of what Turnitin looks like from the administrator’s POV)


Assignment (due Week 5)
  • Read: Chapter 1 - Identify: Understanding Your Information Need
  • Discuss understanding information needs use on the Blackboard forum.
  • Your instructor has created a list of potential topics for your main project. Choose the one you will work on.
For next week
  • Instructor evaluates student's article selections, by next week.

Week 5 (2015-02-16): Finalizing topics and starting research

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Course meetings
Wednesday, 18 February 2015
In class
  • Chapter 2 - Scope: Knowing What Is Available
  • Discuss figuring out your scope on the Blackboard forum.
  • Discuss the range of topics students will be working on and strategies for researching and writing about them.
  • Workshop on searching for and finding sources.
  • Begin to compile a bibliography of relevant, reliable sources and post it to the talk page of the article you are working on.


Assignment (due Week 6)
  • Read: Chapter 3 - Plan: Developing Research Strategies
  • Discuss developing research strategies on the Blackboard forum.
  • Mark your article's talk page with a banner to let other editors know you're working on it. Add this code in the top section of the talk page:
{{course assignment | course = User:TinyDynamo/UNIV 190L - Demystifying Library Research | term = Spring 2015 }}

Week 6 (2015-02-23): Drafting starter articles

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Course meetings
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
In class
  • Read: Chapter 4 - Gather: Finding What You Need
  • Discuss finding the information you need on the Blackboard forum.
  • Talk about Wikipedia culture and etiquette, and (optionally) revisit the concept of sandboxes and how to use them.
  • Q&A session with instructor about interacting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing.


Assignment (due Week 7)
  • Compile a six-source annotated bibliography of relevant, reliable sources and post it to your user page.
  • Write an outline of the topic in the form of a standard Wikipedia lead section of 3–4 paragraphs in your sandbox. Wikipedia articles use "summary style", in which the lead section provides a balanced summary of the entire body of the article, with the first sentence serving to define the topic and place it in context. The lead section should summarize, very briefly, each of the main aspects of the topic that will be covered in detail in the rest of the article. If you are improving an existing article, draft a new lead section reflecting your proposed changes, and post this along with a brief description of your plans on the article’s talk page. Make sure to check that page often to gather any feedback the community might provide.
  • Begin working with classmates and other editors to polish your lead section and fix any major issues.
  • Continue research in preparation for writing the body of the article.
Milestones
  • All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.

Week 7 (2015-03-02): Moving articles to the main space

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Course meetings
Wednesday, 4 March 2015
In class


Assignment (due Week 8)
  • Move sandbox articles into main space.
    • If you are expanding an existing article, copy your edit into the article. If you are making many small edits, save after each edit before you make the next one. Do NOT paste over the entire existing article, or large sections of the existing article.
  • Write an outline version of your article reflecting the content the article will have after it's been improved, and post this along with a brief description of your plans on the article’s talk page.
  • Continue research in preparation for expanding your article.
  • Read: Chapter 8 - Visual Literacy: Applying Information Literacy to Visual Materials
  • Discuss visual literacy on the Blackboard forum.

Week 8 (2015-03-09): Building articles, Creating first draft

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Course meetings
Wednesday, 11 March 2015
In class
  • Create or find an appropriate photo, illustration, or audio/video, and add it to the article.
    • All media uploaded to Wikipedia must fall under a "free license," which means they can be used or shared by anyone. Examples of media you can use are photos that you take yourself, images and text in the public domain, and works created by someone else who has given permission for their work to be used by others. For more information about which types of media can be uploaded to Wikipedia, see Commons:Help desk.
    • To add a media file to an article, you must first upload it to Wikimedia Commons. For instructions on how to upload files to Commons, refer to Illustrating Wikipedia. This brochure will also provide you with detailed information about which files are acceptable to upload to Wikipedia and the value of contributing media to Wikipedia articles.


Assignment (due Week 9)
  • Select a classmate's article that you will peer review and copyedit. (You don’t need to start reviewing yet.)
  • Expand your article into an initial draft of a comprehensive treatment of the topic.

NO CLASS WEEK OF 2015-03-16

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Week 9 (2015-03-23): Getting and giving feedback

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Course meetings
Wednesday, 25 March 2015
In class
  • Offer suggestions for improving one of the other students' articles, setting the example for what is expected from a solid encyclopedia article.


Assignment (due Week 10)
  • Peer review your classmate's article. Leave suggestions on the article talk page.
  • Copy-edit the reviewed article.
Milestones
  • Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.

Week 10 (2015-03-30): Responding to feedback

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Course meetings
Wednesday, 1 April 2015
In class
  • Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.


Assignment (due Week 11)
  • Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback. If you disagree with a suggestion, use talk pages to politely discuss and come to a consensus on your edit.
Milestones
  • Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.

Week 11 (2015-04-06): Continuing to improve articles

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Course meetings
Wednesday, 8 April 2015
In class
  • Continue discussing how the articles can be further improved. Come up with improvement goals for each article for next week.


Assignment (due Week 12)
  • Return to your classmates' articles you previously reviewed, and provide more suggestions for further improvement. If there is a disagreement, suggest a compromise.
  • Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on your classmates' suggestions and any additional areas for improvement you can identify.

Week 12 (2015-04-13): Continuing to improve articles

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Course meetings
Wednesday, 15 April 2015
In class
  • Continue discussing how the articles can be further improved. Come up with improvement goals for each article for next week.


Assignment (due Week 13)
  • Return to your classmates' articles you previously reviewed, and provide more suggestions for further improvement. If there is a disagreement, suggest a compromise.
  • Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on your classmates' suggestions and any additional areas for improvement you can identify.

NO CLASS WEEK OF 2015-04-20

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Week 13 (2015-04-27): Finishing touches

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Course meetings
Wednesday, 29 April 2015
In class


Assignment (due Week 14)
  • Add final touches to your Wikipedia article. You can find a handy reference guide here.
  • Write a reflective essay (2–4 pages) on your Wikipedia contributions.
Milestones
  • Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.

Week 14 (2015-05-04): Due date

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Course meetings
Wednesday, 6 May 2015
Milestones
  • Students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.
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