The Need to Promote an "Information Skills Framework"

It is very important to promote an "Information Skills Framework" in my school. First, as an English teacher for the last three years in my school, I noticed that there did not seem to be any consistency when it came to citing, an important step in the research process. For example, I gave my students a persuasive speech assignment and I asked the students to incorporate information, complete a working bibliography, and hand in a Works Cited page with their speech. When it came time to give the speeches, the students speeches were interesting; however, the majority of students did not cite or hand in a Works Cited page (I showed visual examples, written examples; I wrote a sample Works Cited page on the side board and left it there for the entire speech unit). Consequently, I gave the students zero in the class, photocopied the speeches for administration, and started phoning home following our school's plagiarism policy. Quickly, I realized that this was not going to work--students were crying on the phone and parents were getting angry. I went to the administration and told them what my problem was so we came up with the solution that students have another chance to cite their information and hand in a Works Cited page in order to get a mark for their speech. This caused such an uproar with students and parents, but I held my ground. The administration backed me through the whole process. The problem lies in a lack of consistency in the school when it came to citing research (Outcome 2: Uses Information responsibly, p. 11). If all teachers expect citations, then the students will not feel as though they can skip that step of the research process. Also, another problem concerning research skills in our school is that many teachers allow the students to use Wikipedia.

In order to address these two areas of concern, as a new teacher-librarian this year, I ask teachers who book the library to bring a copy of their research project so I may pull the appropriate resources and then I ask if I may give the students a demonstration before they start. I also ask the teachers if they have time to book the library for three days and I break down their assignments into sections--informational books, databases, and Internet sites. For example, the first day I show students how to access information from the catalogue, use an advanced search, and Boolean logic. I talk to students about the seriousness of plagiarism. I hand out a Working Bibliography sheet and a sample Bibliography according to subject (MLA, APA, and Chicago / Turabian). Students only use books the first day. The second day, I give a demonstration on how to access the databases, show students the various features, save research in a folder, use the notes icon, and citation icon. Also, I give students a bookmark with the passwords so that they can access the databases from home. On the third day, I give the students a Web Evaluation exercise before they start their Internet research, reminding the students that they must cite their information (Outcome 4; Uses Information Critically, p. 13). I ask students not to use Wikipedia; however, they may use it to check out the references or use it for looking for certain terms for their research process. Most teachers agree to this process. However, I ran into one problem concerning research in books about careers in the foods and hospitality area. The information in the books was not as current as information on the Internet in such a dynamic industry. This three-step process allows students to access a wide range of materials; otherwise, students look up everything on the Internet and cut and paste. Some classes research in collaborative groups; presentations are completed in a variety of formats. I also encourage teachers to have students use and cite a minimum of two books, Internet cites, and one or two database articles.

Since my plagiarism issue and my new position in the library, I have definitely seen a huge improvement; however, there is still the odd teacher who does not insist that the students cite their information. One strength at my school is that teachers design lessons so that the students can use the information expressively (Outcome 7: Uses Information Expressively, p. 16).