Information Literacy Dorothy Sokowski This presentation would be given to 10th grade students.

What is Information Literacy? According to Information Power, Information Literacy is defined as “the ability to find and use information” in order to become a lifelong learner.

Are you Information Literate? Ask yourself … Can you find information efficiently and effectively? Can you evaluate the information that you find? Can you organize and use the information accurately and creatively?

Why do You need to be Information Literate? You will have a focus and know where to turn to get information quickly. You will know how to keep the information organized in a way that you can easily use it. You will learn these skills now in 10th grade and it will help you throughout your high school experience.

What is “FINDS?” Florida’s 5 step Research Model Developed by the Florida Department of Education. Used to teach skills that are based on the Information Literacy Standards developed by the American Library Association and the American Association of School Librarians.

FINDS F = Focus on the Information need I = Investigate resources to look for an answer N = Note and Evaluate Facts D = Develop information into knowledge for Presentation S = Score Presentation and Search

Let’s Take a Closer Look … Focus is the first step that should be done when starting any project. Start by asking yourself the following questions …

1. What is my Assignment? Purpose? Audience? Teacher Requirements? Entertain Inform Persuade Audience? Teacher Requirements? Personal Choice Interesting Passion Want to learn about On the last bullet –tell students that if they get to choose their topic of research, they should choose something that they are interested in, have a passion for, or they just want to learn about.

2. What are my questions / Thesis Statement? What are you trying to prove, explain, or tell about? Think of 3-5 guiding questions that will help you elaborate on your topic.

3. What types of Information will be needed? Types of Sources Books Magazine Articles Internet Sites Interviews How many Sources will I need? Where will I find these Sources?

4. How will I organize my search plan? Organize your research with Note cards Outline Bubble map Flow chart During the presentation, I would show examples of the note card, outline, bubble map, and flow chart.

Highlight the most important word or words in your thesis statement? 5. What Keywords and Alternate search terms would be best for my topic? Highlight the most important word or words in your thesis statement? Make a quick 4-6 word list of broad to narrow words that relate to the highlighted word (s) in your thesis statement. During the presentation, I would draw a triangle. I would write the key word in the middle of the triangle. I would then show them how 2-3 broader words would fall into the bottom of the triangle while 2-3 words would fall into the narrow top of the triangle. I would explain that writing these words down will help them when they hit dead ends in their research.

6. Search Terminology and Techniques? Use Boolean Operators “and” “or” “not” For this slide, I would show them a search engine on the computer and provide them with example of how searches change with each Boolean Operator.

Information provided by … http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/finds/