Volume 1, Issue 3, June 2009

What’s News in the VPLRC?

• The Learning Resources Center has new summer hours:
  o Monday – Thursday 7:30-9:00
  o Friday 8:30-4:30
  o Saturday 8:00-2:00
  
• College Center for Library Automation (CCLA) has successfully upgraded our library management system to better serve our patrons.


• June is National Safety Month. Visit your Learning Resources Center learn more about this themes.

Did You Know?

One of the services that Edison State College Libraries offer is information literacy instruction. According to the Association of College and Research Libraries (2009), information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information." Additionally, it is equally important to communicate information effectively. These skills sets are also identified in the U.S. Department of Labor’s SCANS report that emphasized the need for educational institutions to teach these skills in order to prepare students to enter the workforce. There are numerous ways to approach research however the Big6 Research Model created by Mike Eisenberg and Robert Berkowitz has made the research process easy to understand and implement across all disciplines. There are six steps:

1. Task Definition
1.1 Define the information problem
1.2 Identify information needed (to solve the information problem)
~What is my current task?
~What are some topics or questions I need to answer?
~What information will I need?

2. Information Seeking Strategies
2.1 Determine all possible sources (brainstorm)
2.2 Select the best sources
~What are all the possible sources to check?
~What are the best sources of information for this task?

3. Location and Access
3.1 Locate sources (intellectually and physically)
3.2 Find information within sources
~Where can I find these sources?
~Where can I find the information in the source?

4. Use of Information
4.1 Engage (e.g., read, hear, view, touch)
4.2 Extract relevant information
~What information do I expect to find in this source?
~What information from the source is useful?

5. Synthesis
5.1 Organize from multiple sources
5.2 Present the information
~How will I organize my information?
~How should I present my information?

6. Evaluation
6.1 Judge the product (effectiveness)
6.2 Judge the process (efficiency)
~Did I do what was required?
~Did I complete each of the Big6 Stages efficiently?

Learning how to learn is an essential attribute to possess. For more information about research strategies, visit http://www.big6.com/ or request individual or group instruction at an Edison State College library near you.

Focus On…
The website of the month is the Florida Photographic Collection from the State Library and Archives of Florida. The Florida Photographic Collection is the most complete online portrait of Florida available--one that draws its strength from family pictures, the homes of Floridians, their work, and their pastimes. Florida Memory features over 158,000 digitized photographs from the State Library and Archives of Florida. These online photo exhibits introduce some of the themes and collections that make up the Florida Photographic Collection which includes Historic Hurricane Photos, selected images from 1896 through 2005.

VPLRC Quotable Quotes…

“To add a library to a house is to give that house a soul.” ~Cicero