This document provides an overview of information literacy and resources available through the Capital University Library. It discusses key concepts like determining information needs, searching strategies, evaluating sources, and citing sources properly. Library resources like OneSearch, databases, reference librarians, and subject guides are presented to help students develop lifelong independent learning skills.

1. Class:INFORMATION LITERACY
Presentation available at http://www.slideshare.net/seansocha7/information-literacy-67192936

2. By the end of our time together, you should
have a better understanding of
 What Information Literacy is and why it is valuable
 What resources are available on the Library’s website
 Catalogs – OneSearch, Classic, and OhioLINK
 Databases
 LibGuides
 How to develop a search strategy
 How to implement some search techniques
 How to ethically and legally use information
 How to evaluate information
LEARNING OUTCOMES

3. What is Information Literacy?
According to the Association of College and
Research Libraries (ACRL), an information
literate individual is able to:
 Determine the extent of information needed
 Access the needed information effectively
and efficiently
 Evaluate information and its sources
critically
 Incorporate selected information into one’s
knowledge base
 Use information effectively to accomplish a
specific purpose
 Understand the economic, legal, and social
issues surrounding the use of information,
and access and use information ethically
and legally
Information
Literacy is vital
to all students
and future
professionals.
It is nearly
impossible to
learn everything
you need to
know for your
future
profession.
Information
literacy skills
will help you
become an
independent
lifelong learner.
WHY
SHOULD I
CARE?
From ACRL, “Introduction to Information Literacy”, http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency

4. EVERY MINUTE ON THE INTERNET
From “Data Never Sleeps 4.0”, by Josh James, 6/28/2016, https://www.domo.com/blog/data-never-sleeps-4-0

5. BIG DATA STATS
From VCloudNews, “Every Day Big Data Statistics – 2.5 quintillion bytes of data created daily”, 4/5/2015,
http://www.vcloudnews.com/every-day-big-data-statistics-2-5-quintillion-bytes-of-data-created-daily/

6. FAKE NEWS, CLICKBAIT, AND
TRUTHINESS
From Stanford History Education Group, “Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Learning”, 11/22/2016,
https://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/Executive%20Summary%2011.21.16.pdf
 Compounding the issue of already too much information is that a lot of it
is distorted, misleading, or just patently false.
 Many online media outlets lack the traditional editorial mechanisms that
undergird journalistic ethics and professionalism.
 Improved website design makes it difficult to tell real news from the fake.
 The study looked at students at 3 levels – middle school, high school, and
college – and assessed their ability to evaluate information sources.
 Described the results as “dismaying,” “bleak,” and “[a] threat to
democracy.”
 College students, for instance, on average could not “look beyond a .org
URL and ask who’s behind a site that presents only one side of a
contentious issue.”
 From the Executive Summary: “Never have we had so much information at our
fingertips. Whether this bounty will make us smarter and better informed or more
ignorant and narrow-minded will depend on our awareness of this problem and our
educational response to it. At present, we worry that democracy is threatened by the
ease at which disinformation about civic issues is allowed to spread and flourish.”
STANFORD STUDY – EVALUATING INFORMATION: THE
CORNERSTONE OF CIVIC ONLINE REASONING

7. From NPR’s All Tech Considered:
 Pay attention to the domain and
URL
 abcnews.com = 
 abcnews.com.co = 
 Read the "About Us" section
 Is it straightforward? Who leads the
site/company/org?
 Look at the quotes in a story &
who said them
 Researchers? Studies? Direct quotes?
Look them up!
 Check the comments
 Do they say it’s fake?
 Reverse image search
 Right click an image in Chrome to
search for it in Google
From FactCheck.org:
 Consider the source
 Read beyond the headline
 Usually designed to draw you in
 Check the author
 Is there one? Credentials?
 What’s the support?
 Look up what they cite
 Check the date
 Is there one? Distorting a real,
previous story?
 Is this some kind of joke?
 Check your biases
 Beware the echo chamber
 Consult the experts
 Factcheck.org/hot-topics,
Snopes.com, Washington Post Fact
Checker, PolitiFact.com
STRATEGIES TO EVALUATE WEBSITES
OXFORD DICTIONARIES’ WORD OF THE YEAR: POST -TRUTH
Def: “[R]elating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in
shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”
Davis, Wynne. "Fake Or Real? How To Self-Check The News And Get The Facts." All Tech Considered. NPR, 5 Dec. 2016.
http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/12/05/503581220/fake-or-real-how-to-self-check-the-news-and-get-the-
facts?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20161211&utm_campaign=bestofnpr&utm_term=nprnews
Kelly, Eugene, and Lori Robertson. "How to Spot Fake News." FactCheck.org. 18 Nov. 2016. <http://www.factcheck.org/2016/11/how-to-
spot-fake-news/>.

8. Appropriateness
/Relevancy
Is this the right
source for my
research?
Does it pertain to
my topic?
Bias or Objectivity
What point of view
does it try to
promote?
Was it written to
inform, persuade, or
sell something?
Currency
When was the
information published
or last updated?
Does it cite the latest
information?
Does my topic require
current information?
Authority
Who is the author
of this information?
What are his or her
qualifications?
Has the author
written anything
else on the topic?
Accuracy/Detail
Is there evidence of
research?
Is the depth of
coverage adequate?
Are there spelling or
grammatical mistakes?
Evaluating
Sources

9. SEARCH STRATEGY
DETERMINE THE INFORMATION NEED
FromAZQuotes,http://www.azquotes.com/quote/526112
 Determining the extent of information needed is an important step – maybe the most
important step – in the information seeking process.
 You can’t develop a research plan until you understand the problem to be solved.
 What do I REALLY need to know? And what do I already know?
 How much information do I need? Do I need three articles from academic journals, or an
answer to a question?
 Where are the best places to look or the best tools to use to answer my specific question ?
 What words or combination of words should I use for my search? What are some synonyms or
different phrasings that might help me if I get stuck?

10. These techniques can be applied to most search engines & tools
 Boolean operators – And, Or, Not
And – narrows Or - broadens Not - narrows
 Truncation – Using an * to search for multiple words with similar roots
at the same time
 Example: photograph* finds photograph, photographer, photographs, photography
 Problems occur if you truncate to early. For example, cat* finds cats, cathy,
catholic, catfish, catheter
 Advanced Search Techniques – quotation marks and parentheses
 Use quotation marks when you want to search for a name or phrase and to
ensure that the concept is searched as a whole
 Examples: “Erich Fromm”, “positive psychology”
 Use parentheses when using multiple Boolean operators to nest keywords
 Example: (art or music) and therapy
SEARCH TECHNIQUES
ACCESS INFORMATION
American Renaissance American Renaissance RenaissanceAmerican

11. 1 – OneSearch – this is
a federated catalog of
Capital’s and OhioLINK
catalogs, as well as our
databases
2 – Classic Catalog –
Capital’s catalog
3 – OhioLINK Catalog
(121 academic libraries)
4 – Find Articles – 157
databases, OERs,
websites, etc.
5 – Use LibGuides –
research starting points
for all majors
THE LIBRARY WEBSITE
WWW.CAPITAL.EDU/LIBRARY
1 2 3
4 5

12.  OneSearch provides the widest breadth of search results, and
is an excellent way to discover and explore a topic
ONESEARCH

13. LIMITING RESULTS IN ONESEARCH
Full Text
Content
Publication
Date
Source Type Subject
Database
(Content
Provider)

14. RETRIEVING FULL TEXT IN ONESEARCH
THE FOUR POSSIBILITIES
 Search for Full Text
– searches the Full
Text Finder
 Linked Full Text –
will take you to the
publisher’s website
 Request this item
through interlibrary
loan – we do not own
this journal, but we
can get the article
from another library
(1-10 business days)
 PDF Full Text

15.  Export citations from nearly any database
 Instantly create bibliographies!
 Organize your research throughout your time at Capital
 Share your citations with other students when working on
group projects
REFWORKS

16. NEW REFWORKS LIBGUIDE
HTTP://LIBGUIDES.CAPITAL.EDU/NEWREFWORKS

17.  Ethical and legal aspects to academic research and writing
 Intellectual property and plagiarism
 Quoting and paraphrasing
 Always cite your sources!
 Use the Cite feature in most databases
 Valuable resource – Purdue’s Online Writing Lab -
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
APA STYLE

18.  Availability of books, DVDs, scores, etc., and provides call #
 Find eBooks and eJournals
 Request items through OhioLINK
CLASSIC CATALOG
CAPITAL UNIVERSIT Y’S CATALOG

19.  Searches 121 Academic Libraries throughout Ohio
 Request and receive items in 3 to 5 business days
OHIOLINK CATALOG

20. Suggested Databases for
Sociology
 Recommended EBSCO
Databases
 SocINDEX
 Sociological Collection
 Criminal Justice Abstracts
 Gender Studies Database
 LGBT Life
 Psychology and Behavioral
Sciences Collection
 PsycINFO
 Social Work Abstracts
 General Databases
 Academic Search Complete
 OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center
 Sage Stats
FIND ARTICLES
SOCIOLOGY DATABASES

21.  Search multiple databases at once – click on Choose
Databases near the top of the screen, and a window will
appear that will allow you to chose as many databases as you
like.
 The results page is nearly identical to OneSearch since EBSCO
is the common vendor.
SEARCHING EBSCO DATABASES

22.  The Capital University Librarians have created LibGuides for
every major at Capital.
 These sites provide great tips and resources to help you get
started with your research.
LIBGUIDES

23. Sean Socha
Electronic Resources Librarian
ssocha@capital.edu
614-236-6993
I am nearly always available to help you, but if you can’t reach me or
you need immediate assistance, please contact the Reference Desk in
one of the following ways:
1. Come by the Reference Desk:
Monday – Thursday: 10am – 8pm
Friday: 10am – 4pm
Sunday: 4pm – 8pm
2. E-mail the Reference Desk: refdesk@capital.edu
3. Call us: (614) 236 - 6351
4. Chat: www.capital.edu/library
5. Text us: (614) 505 - 4542
CONTACT ME
OR GET ADDITIONAL HELP

24. Please take a moment to complete a short survey about what
we discussed today.
 http://goo.gl/52WSr2
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