Fixing a Hole Where the Rain Gets In: Building Information Literacy Support for International Students

Type of Presentation

Individual paper/presentation (20 minute presentation)

Target Audience

Higher Education

Location

PARB 227

Abstract

Brenau University has a 2+2 program with Anhui Normal University (ANU) in China. When the ANU students arrive at Brenau they are considered program juniors in English Literature, but they do not have a background using MLA writing and citation to avoid plagiarism. Further, they are unfamiliar with conducting research using the tools of a U.S. academic library or have not been taught to evaluate the information they choose to use in their academic work. Up until this year, the ANU students have had to rely on their English instructors, the student-run Writing Center, and instruction librarians to learn how they should research and write for the American university, all while trying to learn in their major.

Luckily, the Research and Instruction Department at the Trustee Library has successfully led an information literacy and APA writing and citation course geared for psychology majors for over 5. The success of the APA library course and the librarians’ relationship with the Humanities Department lead to a new course designed specifically to teach English majors how to conduct library research, evaluate sources, and write and cite in MLA style.

The ANU students taught the library faculty and the English faculty to think about the speed we teach and the depths that we plumb when we are engaged in information literacy and citation style education. The largest take-away being that learning to write and cite in a prescribed form is like learning a new language, it takes time, repetition, and a lot of guidance. The classes also allowed the students and the librarians to become more familiar with one another and bridge a cross-cultural library intimidation aspect that we did not even knew existed.

In this session we will illustrate how we used both the reputation and the skeleton of our APA program, close communication with the English department, and library tools to reach across campus to help the ANU students engage with academic information sources, become aware of plagiarism, and learn how to write in MLA style in accordance with Brenau University standards.

Presentation Description

Using a 2+2 international program, a relationship within the university community, and library tools to support the information literacy needs of international students.

Session Goals

Illustrate how an organization can use thier contact and successful programs to create new information literacy opportunities.

Keywords

across silo partnerships, international students, information literacy, MLA, English major

Publication Type and Release Option

Presentation (Open Access)

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Feb 21st, 8:30 AM Feb 21st, 9:45 AM

Fixing a Hole Where the Rain Gets In: Building Information Literacy Support for International Students

PARB 227

Brenau University has a 2+2 program with Anhui Normal University (ANU) in China. When the ANU students arrive at Brenau they are considered program juniors in English Literature, but they do not have a background using MLA writing and citation to avoid plagiarism. Further, they are unfamiliar with conducting research using the tools of a U.S. academic library or have not been taught to evaluate the information they choose to use in their academic work. Up until this year, the ANU students have had to rely on their English instructors, the student-run Writing Center, and instruction librarians to learn how they should research and write for the American university, all while trying to learn in their major.

Luckily, the Research and Instruction Department at the Trustee Library has successfully led an information literacy and APA writing and citation course geared for psychology majors for over 5. The success of the APA library course and the librarians’ relationship with the Humanities Department lead to a new course designed specifically to teach English majors how to conduct library research, evaluate sources, and write and cite in MLA style.

The ANU students taught the library faculty and the English faculty to think about the speed we teach and the depths that we plumb when we are engaged in information literacy and citation style education. The largest take-away being that learning to write and cite in a prescribed form is like learning a new language, it takes time, repetition, and a lot of guidance. The classes also allowed the students and the librarians to become more familiar with one another and bridge a cross-cultural library intimidation aspect that we did not even knew existed.

In this session we will illustrate how we used both the reputation and the skeleton of our APA program, close communication with the English department, and library tools to reach across campus to help the ANU students engage with academic information sources, become aware of plagiarism, and learn how to write in MLA style in accordance with Brenau University standards.