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Information Literacy at NU: Information Literacy Program

The Nazarbayev University Library Information Literacy Program (NU LILY) was launched in 2018 to achieve student success across all schools of the university.

The Nazarbayev University (NU) Library and Information Literacy (LILY) Program was launched in 2018 to achieve student success across all schools of the university. The mission of the NU Library's Information Literacy Program is to develop active lifelong learners and critical thinkers in the community. The program will help them improve their abilities to search, access, evaluate, apply, and acknowledge the right information they need.

The American Library Association (ALA), international professional library associations, library educators, and librarian practitioners promote Information Literacy as a standard program in promoting student learning. It is said that a student who is information literate can access information efficiently and effectively, evaluate information critically and competently, and can use information accurately and creatively (ALA, 2000). 

Faculty members have the opportunity to request each of the following modules one at a time and may select modules that are more appropriate for their classes. It is advisable if students will be able to start with the library orientation and shall attend all the other four modules.

The description of each module can be found in the top menu. It contains specific learning outcomes and learning objectives. Please contact your Subject Librarian for more information.    

Objectives

At the end of the discussion, the students are expected to:

  • Understand information about basic library policies and services.
  • Identify library tools and resources which are essential, reliable and relevant for research.
  • Recognize e-resources including online library databases, online journals, and e-books specific for their use.
  • Demonstrate how to search using the library portal and online catalog.

Assessment

  • 10 item quiz at the end of the presentation.

Related Libguide

Request

  • To request a library orientation, email library@nu.edu.kz

Learning Outcome

Identify the need for information and find the right resources by exploring various search strategies to be able to answer research questions.

At the end of the discussion, the students are expected to analyze the value of information in their personal and professional lives, Furthermore, they should:

  • Understand different types of information and when to use them;
  • Identify where to find scientific information;
  • Apply literature search strategies and keyword building; 
  • Manage and explore the library portal and databases and understand subject-specific databases.

Sample Lesson Topics (but are not limited to the following): 

  • Define what information is
  • Lead the students to develop research topics
  • Examine the scope of a database, when to use and where to find them
  • Help students in keyword development
  • Teach them Boolean operators and search techniques like truncation and wildcards

Assessment

  • Quiz or exercise at the end of the lecture

Related Libguide

Request

  • To request this module, email library@nu.edu.kz

Learning Outcome

Discern diverse sources and formats of information and distinguish the appropriate level of publication types by its currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose in order to evaluate and use these resources to support arguments and hypotheses. 

At the end of the discussion, the students are expected to:

  • Understand the importance of evaluating information sources;
  • Apply the CRAAP Test in evaluating information;
  • Determine scholarly sources including statistical data as relevant results for your research.
  • Identify predatory and fake sources of information.

Sample Lesson Topics (but are not limited to the following): 

  • Comparison of primary, secondary and tertiary sources of information
  • Encourage students to apply the CRAAP test
  • Discuss Google Scholar vs library databases
  • Discuss popular vs scholarly sources
  • Discuss predatory journals and how to avoid them

Assessment

  • Activities and quiz

Related guide

Request

  • To request this module, email library@nu.edu.kz

Learning Outcome

Search, collect, manage, refer and cite reliable information as evidence.

At the end of the discussion, the students are expected to:

  • Be responsible authors/scholars;
  • Be aware of the different and available citation tools (reference management software);
  • Learn how to cite internet sources such as blogs, online videos and social media sites.

Sample Lesson Topics (but are not limited to the following):

  • Discuss available citation formats (APA, Chicago, Harvard, etc.)
  • Introduce citation management tools like Endnote, Mendeley and Zotero
  • Practical application of these tools

Assessment

  • Identifying parts of a reference list. 

Related Guide

Request

  • To request this module, email library@nu.edu.kz

Learning Outcome

Differentiate own ideas and the intellectual property of others to demonstrate academic integrity and use information ethically.

At the end of the discussion, the students are expected to:

  • Apply ethical principles by allowing oneself to write with academic integrity and honesty;
  • Understand the types or forms of plagiarism;
  • Learn ways or strategies on how to avoid plagiarism.

Sample Lesson Topics (but are not limited to the following): 

  • Brief introduction to academic integrity
  • Examples of plagiarism
  • How to avoid plagiarism
  • Overview of research ethics and sample ethical research guidelines

Assessment

  • Plagiarism quiz

Related Guide

Request

  • To request this module, email library@nu.edu.kz
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