How is PIL’s research applied in the trenches by librarians and educators? Practical PIL features examples of outreach projects from different campuses that have drawn on PIL research. If you have an example of applying PIL research you would like us to consider, drop us a line and share what you have done.
Latest Example
>> Making the Invisible Activity of Reading More Visible
Manchester Community College (NH)
How can educators and instruction librarians equip students with the critical reading skills they need for today? In a semester-long program, an instruction librarian partnered with an English Composition instructor to help students gain hands-on experience with critical reading practices for annotating critiquing and discussing different articles on QAnon. The instructors used recommendations from three PIL Provocation Series essays – Lizard People in the Library, Reading in the Age of Distrust, and Tell Me Sweet Little Lies: Racism as a Form of Persisting Malinformation – to inform their approach.
Working with Students
>> Information Literacy Skills in the Workplace Tutorial
Oklahoma State University (OK)
To help better prepare students for what employers will soon expect of them, the Edmon Low Library instruction librarians created this interactive information skills in the workplace tutorial. Librarians used PIL research findings as a starting point in the tutorial to help students assess what workplace information skills sets they may already have and what they may be missing — and still have time to acquire during college. The tutorial is being used in the Oklahoma State University’s transfer student seminar, First Year program, and other undergraduate courses, as needed.
>> Using PIL Research to Talk to Faculty about Information Literacy
Loyola Marymount University (CA)
A collection of outreach materials and a series of train-the-trainer workshops that librarians developed for talking to faculty about the role of information literacy in promoting student success. PIL findings are interwoven in the training materials to increase faculty awareness of common research pitfalls encountered by students so faculty could evaluate and improve their assignments, as needed.
>> Temple Top 10
Temple University (PA)
A condensed list of what matters most about the scholarly research process, based on what PIL has learned about student’s strategies, needs, and frustrations. Also, includes a research evaluation rubric used at Temple.
>> Faculty Workshop on Research Assignment Handouts
Phoenix College, Maricopa Community College District (AZ)
A half-day workshop for faculty of all disciplines created by librarians in the Maricopa Community College District. The workshop focuses on how to create more effective handouts for course-related research assignments. Includes checklist for evaluating sample handouts, and LibGuides for finding the best research sources.
>> Benchmarking PIL’s Data: Measuring Students’ Progress One Semester to the Next
Colgate University (NY)
It’s an age-old problem: How can the impact of information literacy instruction be measured as students’ progress through a semester? A team of librarians and professors at Colgate University re-administered select PIL survey questions to a sample of Colgate freshmen and sophomores in 40 different courses and over two semesters (n=574). Results from their innovative study showed that if students had library instruction, their evaluation skills improved by the end of the semester and they were more were likely to consult librarians on assignment.
Briefing
>> “Bridging the Information Literacy Communication Gap: Putting PIL Studies to Good Use,” Library Issues, November 2011 (authored by Stephen Bell, PDF, 4 pages, 279KB)
How do you synthesize findings from four PIL studies, which come to almost 200 pages of reading? A four-page briefing for high-level administrators and deans that sums up key takeaways from PIL’s ongoing research. Includes a discussion of the WIIFM factor (“What’s In It for Me?”) and how PIL’s research may best be applied. (Reprinted and with permission from Mountainside Publishing Company, Library Issues.)