English 1201 Faculty: ENGL 1201 Library Instruction

"We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely."

-- E. O. Wilson, from Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge

"Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning."

-- The Association of College and Research Libraries' Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education

In the summer of 2019, library faculty met with Ed Jones and Kelly Shea of the English department to clarify research competencies that all first-year students in ENGL 1201 should have acquired by the end of the semester.

Below are the learning outcomes we developed:

1201 Library Instruction Learning Outcomes:

• Students will be able to (SWBAT) identify the source requirements of their research project by locating or deducing this information from their 1201 assignment and/or syllabus.
• SWBAT understand the difference between research topics and research questions by creating mind maps of their research topic.
• SWBAT use background information to start the research process by deriving and recording simple search terms from the background information content.
• SWBAT search both SHUSearch and one multidisciplinary database by searching them to locate, select, and record, at a minimum, one relevant source for their research project.