ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 496 /C&RL New s ■ M a y 2001 C o l l e g e & R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s News It’s not just for term papers Solving real-life problems in an information literacy course by Sarah Kaip A fter living in Montana for o n e year, I decided it was time to assimilate into the state’s culture by buying a gas-guzzling, air- polluting 4x4-sport utility vehicle. Impulsively, I stopped at a dealer one day on my lunch hour to look at two used Ford Explorers. I k n ew no car d ealer w o u ld ev er take advantage o f an in n o cen t-lo o k in g , little li­ brary lady lik e m y self, so h o w co u ld I doubt him w h en he said th ese Ford E x ­ plorers w ere a co u p le o f the b est on the market? However, w h en I returned to work, a qu ick g la n ce at n ew sp a p er articles re ­ trieved from “L e x is /N e x is” rev ea led that 1 9 9 2 -9 4 Ford E xp lorers w ere und er in v e s­ tigation due to 135 rep orts o f fires o r thick sm oke in th e v en tilation s y s te m s .1 I re a l­ ized how fo o lish I w ould have b e e n to m ake su ch a big d ecisio n w ithout doing an in vestigation o f my own. Designing a credit course About the sam e tim e I w as in th e hunt for a SUV, I was also pursuing the d esign o f a creative p ro je c t for my tw o-cred it In fo r­ m ation Literacy co u rse taught at the M on­ tana State U niversity C ollege o f T e c h n o l­ ogy in G reat Falls. Th e previous year, I had students w rite a research p ap er bu t fou n d that n o t only w ere students u nin sp ired by y et an o th er term paper, but they finished the class with a view o f re sea rch as som eth in g n eed ed sim ply to co m p lete an assignm ent. This tim e I w an ted students to s e e how infor­ m ation em p ow ers us to m ak e re sp o n sib le and in fo rm ed d ecisio n s in our p erso n al lives, su ch as buying a n ew v eh icle. T h e re fo re , th e n ew fin a l p r o je c t r e ­ qu ired e a c h stud ent to “so lv e ” a p erso n al p ro b lem by the en d o f the sem ester using in form ation he o r sh e g ath ered throu gh­ out the co u rse. Students w ere e x p e cte d to e n a ct their so lu tio n som etim e during the s e m e s te r u sing w h at th ey le a rn e d from their research and then report the outcom e. T h e stu d en ts’ p ro b lem s varied dram ati­ cally. O n e student c h o s e to research how to sell h er hou se. She had n ev er sold a h o u se b e fo re and w as very an x io u s to get the b e s t p rice p o ssib le . A nother student, a substitu te te a ch e r for a s c h o o l district that in teg rates d e a f ch ild ren into regular cla s s ­ room s, w an ted to k n o w how to te a ch d eaf ch ild ren effectiv ely . A nother stud ent was asked to co a c h a te en a g e h o ck ey team , but she k n ew nothing about the sport. O ne stu d en t’s grandfather was re cen tly diag­ n o sed w ith prostate cancer, and he w anted to k now h o w to h elp his fam ily c o p e with the p sy ch o lo g ica l effects o f having a fam ­ ily m em b er w ith cancer. I was more con cern ed with the process than the result. If students failed to solve their About the author Sarah Kaip is reference librarian at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, e-mail: skaip@wilson.edu mailto:skaip@wilson.edu C&RL News ■ M ay 2001 / 497 p ro b le m , th e y c o u ld e x p la in w h y th e y w e re u n a b le to so lv e it. If th a t w a s th e c ase, I w a n te d to k n o w w h e th e r th e ir in fo rm atio n w as in a d e q u a te , irrelev an t, o r e v e n a n o b ­ stacle fo r co m in g u p w ith a solu tio n . F o r e x ­ am p le, th e in fo rm a tio n I fo u n d a b o u t fires in th e v en tilatio n system s o f F o rd E xplorers w as a n o b sta c le fo r b u y in g th e SUV m o d e l a n d y e a r I w a n te d . F u rth erm o re, this w a s n ’t sim p ly a p ro c e ss o f g a th e rin g in fo rm a tio n a n d th e n solv in g a p ro b le m . As th e y m a d e d e c isio n s th ro u g h ­ o u t th e sem ester, s tu d e n ts c o n fro n te d n e w a n d u n a n tic ip a te d p ro b le m s, w h ic h m a d e it n e c e ssa ry to g o b a c k a n d d o m o re research . T h e s tu d e n t c o a c h in g a h o c k e y team , for in stan ce, re a liz e d th a t s h e stru g g le d to as­ sim ilate in to th e h o c k e y c u ltu re b e c a u s e sh e w as unfam iliar w ith th e p la y e rs’ lan g u a g e a n d jargon. T his le d h e r to re a d p o p u la r h o c k e y m ag azin es, w h ic h h e lp e d h e r c o m m u n ic a te w ith h e r p la y e rs o n th e ir level. F o r m a n y stu d e n ts, th e s e a rc h fo r s o lu ­ tio n s in v o lv e d ju g g lin g th e ir a c tio n s a n d k n o w le d g e w ith th e ir n e e d fo r a d d itio n a l in ­ fo rm a tio n a n d vice versa. A rtic u la tin g a problem and ch o o sin g sources T h e first ta sk w a s to articu late th e p ro b le m , tell w h y it w a s a p ro b le m fo r th em , a n d fig­ u re o u t w h a t th e y th o u g h t th e y n e e d e d to k n o w to so lv e th e p ro b le m . This is h a rd e r for stu d e n ts th a n m ig h t b e ex p e c te d . Students te n d to z e ro in o n o n e specific a s p e c t o f a p ro b le m a n d h a v e a h a rd tim e lo o k in g a t th e b ig p ic tu re a n d its d ifferen t c o m p o n e n ts. For e x a m p le , w h e n th e s e m e ste r b eg a n , C ara, th e s tu d e n t s e llin g h e r h o u s e , w a s m ostly c o n c e r n e d w ith g ettin g a fair price. As sh e p ro g re sse d , s h e w a s ab le to articulate m o re sp ecific th in g s s h e n e e d e d to k n o w . T h ese in c lu d e d h o w to c h o o se a realtor; w h a t to e x p e c t fro m a realtor; w h a t h e r re s p o n s i­ bilities w e re as a seller; w h a t to e x p e c t from a b uyer; w h a t p a p e rw o rk sh e s h o u ld b e c o m e fam iliar w ith ; h o w to p re p a re th e h o u s e for view ing; h o w to n e g o tia te a price; a n d h o w to c lo se a d eal. S tudents w e re th e n a s k e d to th in k o f ch ar­ acteristics o f in fo rm a tio n th a t w o u ld b e a p ­ p ro p ria te fo r th e ir situ atio n . Cara th o u g h t in ­ fo rm a tio n th a t w a s g e a re d to a g e n e ra l a u d i­ e n c e , c u rre n t, a n d w ritte n fro m th e p e rsp e c - . . . I w anted students to see how in fo rm a tio n em pow ers us to m ake responsible and inform ed de cisions in o ur personal lives . . . tive o f b u y e rs a n d sellers ra th e r th a n real esta te a g e n ts w o u ld b e best. She k n e w m o st o f h e r in fo rm atio n w o u ld b e o p in io n a te d , b u t so m e th in g s w o u ld h a v e to b e factual, su c h as th e w o rth o f h e r h o u se . After stu d e n ts th o u g h t o f g e n e ra l c h a ra c ­ teristics, I a s k e d th e m to th in k m o re specifi­ cally a b o u t so u rces. Since C ara k n e w n o th ­ ing a b o u t h o w to sell a h o u s e , sh e sta rte d w ith D u m m ie s a n d Id io ts b o o k s to give h e r a n o v erv iew . She also lo o k e d fo r p e rso n a l W eb p a g e s a u th o re d b y sellers a n d b u y e rs fo r tip s a n d advice. P e rso n a l in terv iew s fro m frie n d s w h o h a d so ld h o m e s p ro v e d to b e v a lu a b le reso u rces, as w ell. I e n c o u ra g e d stu ­ d e n ts to b e cre a tiv e a n d th in k o f s o u rc e s o u tsid e o f th e library. Part o f th e assig n m en t w as g ra d e d o n h o w w ell stu d e n ts w e re ab le to justify u sin g th e ty p e s o f in fo rm a tio n th e y c h o se. O b v io u sly th e s tu d e n t c o a c h in g h o c k e y d id n o t n e e d to h a v e p e e r-re v ie w e d journals. H ow ev er, th e s tu d e n t le a rn in g h o w to te a c h d e a f c h ild re n w a s e x p e c te d to u se p ro fe ssio n a l e d u c a tio n journals. S tudents le a rn e d th a t kn o w in g w h e n it is a p p r o p r ia te to u s e d iffe re n t ty p e s o f s o u rc e s is p a rt o f b e in g in fo rm a tio n literate. So lu tio n s S tu d en ts th e n n e e d e d to m a k e a n o u tlin e a n d w rite a p a p e r. T h e p a p e r w a s a fo ru m to tell m e w h a t h a p p e n e d . I w a n te d to k n o w w h a t ty p e s o f in fo rm a tio n w e re fo u n d a n d h o w it w a s u s e d , w h a t d e c isio n s w e re m a d e a n d w h y , w h a t u n e x p e c te d p ro b le m s a ro se a n d h o w th e y w e re d e a lt w ith , w h a t c h a n g e s a n d a d ju stm e n ts w e re m a d e , a n d w h a t w a s th e level o f satisfaction w ith w h a t to o k place. .1 w a s p articu larly im p re s s e d b y C ara’s e x ­ p e rie n c e . T h e c h a n g e in h e r level o f k n o w l­ e d g e a n d h e r a ttitu d e th ro u g h o u t th e s e m e s­ te r w a s significant. She b e g a n th e s e m e ste r frig h te n e d b y h e r o w n ig n o ra n c e . She e x p e ­ rie n c e d a g re a t d e a l o f a n x iety b e c a u s e sell­ ing h e r h o u s e s e e m e d o v erw h elm in g . T h e re 498 / C&RL News ■ May 2001 w as so m u ch to d o a n d sh e d id n ’t k n o w w h ere to start. F u rth e rm o re , re a lto rs w h o d id n o t w a n t to p ro v id e h e r w ith w ritte n in fo rm a tio n a b o u t th e p ro c e s s o f se llin g a h o u s e fru s ­ tra te d Cara. In fact, o n e re a lto r to ld h e r th a t it w a s th e r e a lto r ’s jo b to in fo rm h e r o f w h a t s h e n e e d e d to k n o w . C ara felt like re a lto rs w a n te d to k e e p h e r ig n o ra n t. She e x p la in e d to m e, “I am a p e rs o n w h o w a n ts to d o so m e se arch in g o n m y o w n so I k n o w h o w to se ll a h o u s e m y se lf.” O n c e s h e s ta rte d re se a rc h in g , s h e b e ­ g an to u n d e r s ta n d h o w th e h o u s e -s e llin g p ro c e ss w o rk e d . O rg a n iz a tio n a n d c o n fi­ d e n c e r e p la c e d h e r fe e lin g s o f a n x ie ty , co n fu sio n , a n d fru stra tio n . It o c c u rre d to h e r th a t in s te a d o f b e in g ta lk e d a t b y th e re a lto r, s h e c o u ld c o m m u n ic a te o n a n e q u a l level, w h ic h e a r n e d h e r re s p e c t from th e realtor. G iv en C a ra ’s n e w k n o w le d g e , sh e b e c a m e a p a r tn e r r a th e r th a n sim p ly a client. Changes fo r next tim e T here are tw o things I will c h a n g e if I d e ­ cide to d o this again. I will h av e stu d en ts k e e p a log o r jo u rn al in stead o f w riting a p a p e r. I w o u ld like to se e h o w inform ation h e lp e d th e m solve a b ig p ro b le m by m ak ­ ing several little d ecisio n s o v e r a p e rio d o f tim e. I g o t th e s e n se th a t so m e s tu d e n ts w a ite d until th e e n d o f th e sem ester to re ­ search a n d w rite. H ard to im agine. I also w o u ld n o t allow stu d en ts to ch o o se a p ro b le m th a t is actually a to p ic for w h ich th e y m u st w rite a p a p e r for a n o th e r class. This d e fe a te d th e p u rp o s e , w h ic h w as to sh o w stu d e n ts th a t info rm atio n is m o re th a n so m eth in g n e e d e d to finish a term paper. At th e e n d o f th e project, stu d e n ts h a d to w rite a p e rso n a l statem en t e x p lain in g w h a t th e y le a rn e d a b o u t re search a n d in fo rm a­ tion. From th ese statem ents, it w as clear m ost stu d en ts realized libraries a n d research serve a h ig h e r p u rp o s e th a n sim ply getting th em to th e g ra d u a tio n po d iu m . Note 1. A sso ciated P ress, “U tility v e h ic le fires a re p r o b e d ,” The B o sto n Globe, 23 F e b ru ­ ary 1999, sec. A7. A c c e sse d o n lin e : “LEXIS- NEXIS A c a d e m ic U n iv e rs e ,” 7 N o v e m b e r 2000. ■