Subjects
information literacy; textbooks; basic communication course; ACRL standards; library skills training; librarians
Document Type
Research Article
Abstract
This inquiry subjectively examines selected basic communication textbooks for information literacy concepts from the communication discipline point of view. Librarians can build on these concepts in library skills instruction sessions for first-year communication students. This analysis reveals that communication textbook authors are addressing information literacy concepts and standards with content, exercises, examples, and most importantly, context, and they are often utilizing their own discipline-specific terminology to do so. Since finding, using, and evaluating information is a cornerstone of communication education, and because the most successful information literacy efforts result from learning its tenets in a variety of contexts, librarians supporting communication classes should consider reviewing discipline-specific textbooks when planning course-specific library instruction. Further, it is recommended that class textbooks in other disciplines be analyzed, especially in classes with multiple sections. By focusing on many classes where students share a common textbook, librarians can maximize their information literacy efforts to reach large numbers of students with more discipline-specific instruction.
DOI
10.15760/comminfolit.2011.5.1.102
Downloads prior to this publication
2262
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/22454
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Gains, M. A., & Stoddart, R. A. (2011). Supplementing a Librarian's Information Literacy Toolkit with Textbooks: A Scan of Basic Communication Course Texts. Communications in Information Literacy, 5 (1), 55-67. https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2011.5.1.102