Using Primary Source Documents to Teach Information Literacy and Technology

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Using Primary Source Documents to Teach
Information Literacy and Technology

• Carol A. Brown, Ed.D.
• Department of Library Science and Instructional
  Technology
• East Carolina University, USA
• browncar_at_ecu.edu

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The Problems We Face-

• K12 students indiscriminant copying and pasting
  of information from the Internet for use with
  assignments and research papers. (McKenzie,
  Jamie).
• Students lack of focused research questions.
  (Eisenberg Berkowitz)
• Assignments that place over emphasis on
  fact-gathering and little thinking processes for
  data analysis and reporting of conclusions
  (Loertscher, David).

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Information Literacy is Dependent on Technology
Literacyask any Digital Native!

• Information literacy is more important due to
  heavy use of digital information and the
  Internet. This is especially true in K12
  classrooms (St. Lifer).
• Information Literacy is a broad category that is
  defined by several special interest groups ALA,
  ISTE (standard 4.), AASL (standard III),ICT.
• http//www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes2/s
  econdary_ICT/?viewget

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Teaching Information Literacy in a Rural High
School

• There are several research models (eg. Big6) that
  have proven useful for teaching information
  literacy and research skills to middle and high
  school students.
• All the different models have one common
  characteristic, developing a focused task,
  research question, or problem statement.

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Framing the Research Question

• Begin with a competency or objective from the
  content area.
• Brainstorm for topic ideas
• Match ideas to standards
• Frame the topic around a focused research question

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Framing a Research Question
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Focused Research Questions Lead to More
Independent Evaluation of Resources

• Does the resource provide information needed to
  answer the question? Will it help solve the
  problem statement? Students begin evaluating for
  usefulness and validity of the source.

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I Couldnt Have Done It Without Them!

• Working collaboratively with the school library
  media specialist and a classroom teacher we
  investigated the use of primary source documents
  for teaching Information Literacy skills.
• It began with a common goal Stop the copy/paste
  syndrome with research projects!

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Contributions and Collaboration
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Student ProjectsSkills and Competencies for
Higher Order Thinking and Problem
SolvingIdentify BiasPerspective-TakingData
Analysis
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A Grandmothers Recollection of Dixie
MY DEAR CHILDREN         - The winter of '61 was
a most anxious one, we did not know what would be
the result of so much political agitation. In the
meantime, work was continued at Woodlawn. Soon we
heard news that Fort Sumpter had fallen, then
people began to talk of war and went to raising
companies and regiments. New Bern, being in an
exposed position, it was thought best for as many
women and children as could leave to do so. In
March, '62 the battle of New Bern occurred and
such a time of confusion and trouble! We had had
extra dinners prepared, expecting to feed the
Confederate soldiers. Instead of that, there was
a perfect panic and stampede, women, children,
nurses, and baggage getting to the depot any way
they could. Our home and hundreds of others were
left with the dinners cooking, doors open and
everything to give our Northern friends a royal
feast, which I understand they thoroughly
enjoyed.
http//docsouth.unc.edu/bryan/bryan.html
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Primary Source Documents and 21st Century Learners

• Learners use 21st century information skills,
  resources and tools to inquire, think critically,
  and gain knowledge.
• Critical Thinking gtgt
• Framing the research question
• Critical analysis of documents for bias
• Knowledge gained through multimedia

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Primary Source Documents and 21st Century Learners

• 1. Students recognize their own purpose
• in seeking information.
• 5. Students develop and refine questions.
• Framing the research questionsbringing answers
  into focus. Learning to search for specific
  answers to specific questions.

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Primary Source Documents and 21st Century Learners

• 7. Students evaluate information for accuracy,
  fact, opinion, point of view and bias and seek a
  balance in points of view.
• Students use critical thinking to identify bias,
  inaccuracies, perspective based on time and
  location in primary source documents.
• Example Diary from a former slave owner compared
  to letters from a former slave.

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Primary Source Documents and 21st Century Learners

• III. Learners use 21st century information
  skills, resources and tools to share their
  knowledge and understandings with others and
  participate ethically and productively as members
  of our democratic society.
• Use of resources from digitization projects.
  E-books, databases with primary sources, and
  email exchange with local experts.

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Primary Source Documents and 21st Century Learners

• IV. Learners use 21st century information skills,
  resources and tools to pursue personal and
  aesthetic growth.
• Students experienced a personal connection with
  local history resources.

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Primary Source Documents and 21st Century Learners

• 1. Students recognize their own purpose
• in seeking information.
• Framing the research questionsbringing answers
  into focus.

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Samples of Perspective Taking
Student sample
Figure 2. An example of students ability to use
ICT tools to synthesize, summarize, compare and
contrast information.
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Analysis of Data
Student sample
Figure 1. An example of students ability to use
Information Communication and Technology tools to
Access, Integrate, Create and Communicate
information needed to answer a framed research
question.
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Solutions to Original Problem

• 1. K12 students indiscriminant copying and
  pasting of information from the Internet for use
  with assignments and research papers. (McKenzie,
  Jamie).
• 2. Students lack of focused research questions.
• 3. Assignments that place over emphasis on
  fact-gathering and little thinking processes for
  data analysis and reporting of conclusions
  (Loertscher, David).

• Use of primary sources inhibits random searches
  and copy/paste techniques
• Modeling by teacher effective for focused
  research question
• Deeper analysis with Primary Source Documents

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Conclusions and recommendations

• Location and Use of Primary Sources is
  challenging for students.
• Skills for framing a research question must be
  modeled,
• Collaboration among educators can be successful
• Primary Source documents in digital format
  provide variety and expanded availability of
  sources,
• Primary Source documents are useful for teaching
  perspective-taking, and skills in the analysis of
  information
• Use of ICT tools requires patience and
  perseverance but results are worth it for 21st
  century learners.

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Primary Source Documents

• Documenting the American South http//docsouth.unc
  .edu/
• A digital publishing initiative that provides
  Internet access to texts, images, and audio files
  related to Southern history, literature, and
  culture. DocSouth includes nine thematic
  collections of books, diaries, posters,
  artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and
  songs.
• Digital History. Using new technologies to
  enhance teaching and research.
  http//www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/
• More than 600 annotated documents from the
  Collection written by George Washington, Benjamin
  Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and many others
  dealing with American politics, diplomacy, and
  social history.
• Federal Bureau of Investigation.
  http//foia.fbi.gov/alpha.htm
• The FBIs website for Freedom of Information
  Privacy Act includes an extensive data base of
  files on famous Americans. These are public
  documents are useful for students who are looking
  for information on a famous person, historical
  event, or even themselves.
• From Revolution to Reconstruction.- and what
  happened after. http//odur.let.rug.nl/usa/D/
• 'From Revolution to Reconstruction' comes from An
  Outline of American History and is a publication
  of the United States Information Agency.
  http//usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/
• History and Politics OUT LOUD. http//www.hpol.org
  /
• A searchable archive of historically significant
  audio materials for teachers. A transcript and
  narrative abstract of contents are included with
  each file.

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Primary Source Documents

• North Carolina Fiction and History Digital
  Library. http//digital.lib.ecu.edu/historyfiction
  /
• This project brings together local history
  materials, historical fiction related to these
  localities, and museum artifacts that highlight
  Eastern North Carolina's rich past.
• Teaching with Primary Sources and Data
  http//eduscapes.com/tap/topic88.htm
• This extensive annotated bibliography was
  collected by Dr. Annette Lamb and is a link to
  her teacher/librarian website Eduscapes.
  http//eduscapes.com/
• The primary resources are supported with a wealth
  of teaching ideas and methods.
• The American Memory Project. http//memory.loc.gov
  /ammem/index.html
• The premier website for digital primary sources.
  The site is rich in lesson ideas and resources
  for teachers, librarians, and other specialists.
  Primary sources are archived in a variety of
  formats include images, audio, text, and
  broadsides.
• U.S. Historical Documents A Chronology of US
  Historical Documents. http//www.law.ou.edu/hist/
• Includes a collection of documents dating
  pre-Colonial through 21st Century.
• Using Primary Sources on the Web.
  http//www.lib.washington.edu/subject/History/RUSA
  /
• Tutorials are written by members of the
  Instruction Research Services Committee of the
  Reference and User Service Association History
  Section in the American Library Association and
  provide basic information and uses for primary
  source documents. There is also a good annotated
  bibliography of primary source websites.