1. The Transition Years:
Evaluating Information Literacy Skills
From High School to College-Level Research
By Wendy Ikemoto, MLISc
Sr. Education Technology Consultant
Imagine Easy Solutions, LLC

2. We are Imagine Easy Solutions,
a tiny company with big ideas.

3. Who We Are, What We Do
EasyBib is an intuitive
information literacy
platform, with website
evaluation, research, note
taking and citation tools.
ResearchReady is a cloud-based
platform that enables teachers
and librarians to teach and
assess research and critical
thinking sills.

4. How are students approaching
the research process?
How can we help them?

5. I. Current State of Students
II. What Sources They Use
III. The Good & The Bad
IV. What Can We Do?
What to Expect: Outline

6. Current State of Students

7. “High school students are often not allowed enough
time to do in-depth research.
Students are often told what to learn rather than
asked to conduct self-directed research.
Standardized testing at the K-12 level makes it
difficult for teachers to emphasize information
literacy skills.”
“Bridging the Gap: Preparing High School Students for College Level Research.”

8. “What Happens Online in 60 Seconds?” Qmee

9. “What Happens Online in 60 Seconds?” Qmee
575 Websites
Created

10. “What Happens Online in 60 Seconds?” Qmee
72 Hours of
Video on
YouTube

11. “What Happens Online in 60 Seconds?” Qmee

12. “What Happens Online in 60 Seconds?” Qmee

13. This is Jane

14. High School to College Transition
Source: "Are They Ready? Exploring Student Information Literacy Skills in the Transition From Secondary to Tertiary Education."
Students overly
confident
Bad first research
experience.

16. “Perceptions of Libraries, 2010: Context and Community.”
40% of college students have never used
their library’s website.

17. Source: "Perceptions of Libraries, 2010: Context and Community,"
OCLC.

19. What Sources They Use

20. Most Popular Sources Used
in Student Writing
(2010-2011)
1. Wikipedia (8%)
2. Yahoo! Answers (8%)
3. Answers.com (3%)
4. eNotes (3%)
5. SlideShare (2%)

21. Most Popular Sources Used
in Student Writing
(2011-2012)
1. Wikipedia (11%)
2. Oppapers (4%)
3. SlideShare (4%)
4. Course Hero (4%)
5. Scribd (3%)
“The Sources in Student Writing – Higher Education. Turnitin.”

22. You may feel like this…

23. …But it’s not so bad!

25. Source: Information Literacy Learning Outcomes and Student Success
Sources Used in
Student Writing
Freshman used:
• LexisNexis Academic
• Quick Search (a federated search feature),
• Academic Search Premier
• Library catalog

26. Source: Information Literacy Learning Outcomes and Student Success
Sources Used in
Student Writing
Seniors used:
• Academic Search Premier
• Library catalog
• JSTOR
• Montana Rules of Civil Procedure
• Science Direct
• Business Search Premier

27. Source: Information Literacy Learning Outcomes and Student Success

28. Analysis of EasyBib’s Users

29. "Let's do the numbers..."
40,624,204
Number of students who used EasyBib
within the past 12 months
Source: EasyBib user data.
Our user base

30. Websites
Books
Journals
Newspapers
Photos
Other 54 types
Our most used citation formats:
Source: EasyBib data
50%
15%
6%
2%
2%
25%
“Let's do the numbers...”

31. Top 10 Sites Cited on EasyBib
Can you guess
at least 2 of the websites?
Source: EasyBib user data.

32. Top 10 Sites Cited on EasyBib
10. The Washington Post
9. CNN
8. Answers.com
7. Time Magazine
6. Associated Content (Yahoo! Voices)
5. BBC News
4. JSTOR
3. YouTube
2. The New York Times
1. Wikipeida
User-generated
content
Source: EasyBib user data.

33. Source: EasyBib Survey

34. The Good & the Bad

35. IL: Areas of Understanding
Boolean Operators
Identify queries that narrow results
• One-third understood “AND” narrowed results
• Less than 10% believed “OR” would narrow results
Web Site Quality/Credibility
Identify three evaluation characteristics
• 23.8% selected all three
• 73.9% selected an answer with at least one
Source: "Are They Ready? Exploring Student Information Literacy Skills in the Transition From Secondary to Tertiary Education."

36. 50/50
Likelihood of student using a source with
educational value (encyclopedia, news
website) vs. less-than-credible sources
(social networks, cheat sites).
Turnitin Report
Source: The Sources in Student Writing – Secondary Education.

37. Source: "Are They Ready? Exploring Student Information Literacy Skills in the Transition From Secondary to Tertiary Education."
Areas of Improvement
Citation Recognition
• Only 23% successfully identified a journal
article
• 13% understand which bibliographic
elements are used to locate journal article in
an OPAC

38. Source: How College Students Seek Information in the Digital Age Project Information Literacy.
did not understand the
need to cite a source in
instances other than direct
quotes.
25.4%
Did not know when to cite a
source at all.
24%

39. Source: "Are They Ready? Exploring Student Information Literacy Skills in the Transition From Secondary to Tertiary Education."
Areas of Improvement
did not know what
credentials constituted a
scholarly article.
40%

40. Plagiarism
2011 Pew Research Study
College Presidents
• 55% reported an increase
• 40% noticed neither an increase nor decrease
• 2% noticed a decrease*
Of those who noticed an increase, 89% "believe that
computers and the internet have played a major role in
this trend."
*"No answer" responses not shown.
Source: "The Digital Revolution and Higher Education," Pew Research Center.

41. Source: EasyBib Survey

42. 6/1/12

43. 6/1/12
Exposure to New Tools
51% 43%
Of Freshmen said they
had a hard time learning
to navigate new tools
Had trouble making
sense of new
information
Source: Project Information Literacy

44. 6/1/12
What do Freshman
Struggle with Most?
75%
Developing Keyword
Searches
57%
Sorting through irrelevant
search results
51%
Identifying and selecting
sources
Source: Project Information Literacy

45. 6/1/12
29%
Campus Librarians
29%
English Comp. Instructors
20%
Other Professors
Source: Project Information Literacy
Who do They Go to for Help?

46. 6/1/12
17% Said they had trouble asking for help...
Source: Project Information Literacy
Who do They Go to for Help?

47. Summary

48. What Can We Do?

49. What Can We Do?

50. 6/1/12
Information literacy instruction for educators
How?
• Inservice training
• PD
Why?
• Common Core
• Familiarity with library
“Bridging the Gap: Preparing High School Students for College Level Research.”

51. Collaborate!

52. Common ground for high school
student learning outcomes
(Jefferson County, NY)
1. Task definition
2. Source selection
3. Information access
4. Make connections, draw conclusions
5. Ethical writing and presentation
6. Reflect on research
Collaborate!

53. Information Literacy Continuum Committee
(Rochester, NY)
• Document covering IL skills between H.S. and college
• Shared with teachers and parents
• Discussion forum of K-12 and academics
• Visit each other’s learning environments
Collaborate!

54. Information literacy curriculum collaboration
(Utah)
• Two library media specialists
• High school English teacher
• Two university librarians
• Instructional designer
Collaborate!
http://helios.weber.edu

55. Visit local academic libraries
• LC classification
• ILL
• Subject specialists
• Writing center
Collaborate!

56. Connect
• #infolit
• #libchat
• #highered
• Join groups
• Follow local colleges
• Explore your network
• infolit list serv
• K-20 collaboration
• lists.ala.org/sympa
What ideas do you have?

57. • Montgomery County – discussion on June 12th – Contact
Sara Frey at sfrey@colonialsd.org for more information
• Discovery services – changing how we use search
queries and narrow results.
• “concierge librarian” – special populations (ELL, etc)
• Metaliteracies and “Student-centered-ness”
What strategies or thoughts do you
have?

58. • Google Hummingbird algorithm – why do we get the
results we get? When, why, who, how, etc.
• Crash course for seniors going to college. (College
research assignment, online course you create, etc.)
• Life-long friendships with HS librarians
What strategies or thoughts do you
have?

59. EasyBib forms its tools and features based
around what we learn from our users.
We analyze what they do, and find ways
to make it easy, efficient, and effective.
Through analysis, we see where they're
struggling, and strive to make the
research process more manageable.
Our Philosophy

60. A Comparison of Internet Sources for Secondary and Higher Education Students.
Rep. iParadigms/Turnitin.com, 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.
Ashbridge, Carole. Bridging the Gap for Information Literacy: Connecting High
Schools, Colleges and the Workforce. Watertown, NY: Connections Abound,
2010. PDF.
Diaz, Shelley M. "Full-Time School Librarians Boost Student Test Scores in Reading,
Writing, Says PA Report." SLJ Summit 2012. School Library Journal, 25 Oct.
2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2012.
EasyBib's Librarian Survey. 5 May 2012. Raw data. Imagine Easy Solutions, LLC,
New York.
EasyBib's Research Habit Student Survey. 5 May 2012. Raw data. Imagine Easy
Solutions, LLC, New York.
EasyBib User Data. Feb. 2012. Raw data. Imagine Easy Solutions, LLC, New York.
Head, Allison J. Learning the Ropes: How Freshman Conduct Course Research
Once they Enter College. Rep. Project Information Literacy, 5 Dec. 2013. Web
13 Feb. 2014.
Works Cited

61. Head, Alison J., and Michael B. Eisenberg. Truth Be Told: How College Students
Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age. Seattle: Project
Information Literacy, 1 Nov. 2010. PDF.
Heider, Kelly L. "Information Literacy: The Missing Link in Early Childhood
Education." Early Childhood Education Journal 36.6 (2009): 513-18. ERIC.
Web. 31 Aug. 2012.
How Teens Do Research in the Digital World. Rep. Pew Research Center,
College Board and the National Writing Project, 1 Nov. 2012. Web. 31 Jan.
2013.
Parker, Kim. "The Digital Revolution and Higher Education." Pew Social &
Demographic Trends. Pew Research Center, 28 Aug. 2011. Web. 28 Feb.
2012.
Rosa, Cathy De, et al. Perceptions of Libraries, 2010: Context and Community: A
Report to the OCLC Membership. Dublin, OH: OCLC, 2011. Membership
Reports. OCLC, 2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Works Cited

62. Salisbury, Fiona, and Sharon Karasmanis. "Are They Ready? Exploring Student
Information Literacy Skills in the Transition From Secondary to Tertiary
Education." Australian Academic & Research Libraries 42.1 (2011): 43-58.
Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts. Web. 29 Aug. 2012.
Samson, Sue. "Information Literacy Learning Outcomes and Student
Success." The Journal of Academic Librarianship 36.3 (2010): 202-
10. ScienceDirect. Web. 2 Mar. 2013.
Schroeder, Robert. "Both Sides Now: Librarians Looking at Information Literacy
from High School and College." Educator's Spotlight Digest 4.1 (2009): 5
pp. ERIC. Web. 4 Feb. 2013.
Siegler, MG. "Eric Schmidt: Every 2 Days We Create As Much Information As We
Did Up To 2003." TechCrunch. AOL, 10 Aug. 2010. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.
The Sources in Student Writing – Secondary Education. Rep. Turnitin, Jan. 2013.
Web. 17 Jan. 2013.
What Happens Online in 60 Seconds? [Infograpihc]. Digital image. Qmee. Qmee,
24 July 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Works Cited

63. EasyBib Librarians
Thank you for your time!
If you have questions or would
like to learn more about
EasyBib School Edition,
please contact:
Wendy@imagineeasy.com
@Wendy_EasyBib