From the Library to the Net:  information literacy courses at the Libraries of the University of Parma
website: https://193.146.74.81/eahil/Abstracts/AbstractDetail.aspx?IDAbstract=25
Start Date: 2001-
Typology: courses for university students – academic library initiative – campus initiative

Institution:
 Library of the Faculty of Pharmacy
Library of the Department of Environmental Sciences University of Parma
Parma

Addresses:
Library of the Faculty of Pharmacy
Parco Area delle Scienze, 27°
43100 Parma
Tel.: 0521 905015 – 905016

Library of the Department of Environmental Sciences
Parco Area delle Scienze 11/A 
43100 Parma
Tel. 0521-905651   
Fax 0521-906038

Contact persons:
Maria Letizia Sora (Library of the Faculty of Pharmacy)
Monica Vezzosi (Library of the Department of Environmental Sciences)

From the Library to the Net:

information literacy courses at the Libraries of the University of Parma

The Parma University library system includes 6 Faculty libraries and 20 Department libraries, which altogether hold a stock of about 1 million books and 6,000 printed journals, recorded in the OPAC. In addition, in recent years, a considerable number of electronic resources were added to the University libraries collection: about 70 databases and more than 4,000 e-journals (accessible through a database) are available via the University network to all users.
The University libraries provide a wide range of services: reading rooms, reference service, borrowing, interlibrary loan, electronic information services, photocopying facilities, information literacy activities. 

Between 1999 and 2000 a group of 25 librarians of the University of Parma attended a cycle of seminars and laboratories in order to develop abilities related to information literacy and end-users’ education and organise an educational project addressed to undergraduates.
In 2001 they developed an information literacy programme in order to make students self-sufficient in the access to the library resources and able to use information in a suitable and critical way.

Students were supposed to develop their competencies related to:

  • retrieving information in an effective way
  • evaluating the quality of the retrieved information
  • successfully employing the information
  • quoting correctly the bibliographical sources.

Therefore, during Autumn 2001 these librarians organised a 19 hours-experimental course for 45 students from different Faculties.

In April 2002 the programme, called “From the library to the Net”, was formally approved by the Rector and the University Senate and was included in curricula studiorum, as an elective activity proposed among the innovations of the recent Italian University reform.
Seven courses (of the Faculty of Pharmacy and of the Faculty of Sciences) promptly agreed to this educational offer and decided to assign 2 credits (ECTS) to the course. The teachers were selected within the 25 trained librarians; for the specific parts of the course they were chosen among the subject librarians.
The course, lasting 15 hours, was divided into 5 lessons (3 hours each). Students were grouped in small classes (20-25 people). That allowed to adopt an individual approach.

Methodology
 The lessons always start with a brief lecture on the defined topic. This is followed by some practical demonstrations.
Students try and practise each bibliographic research tool, proceeding from the simple to the complex and improving their skills gradually. Teachers are available to support them during this activity, which is not formally assessed.
The assessment is related to a final test. Students are asked to work individually and to perform a simple piece of research about a stated subject, using all information sources they have learnt during previous lessons.
The bibliographic search itself iss only one part of the work required, since students have also to describe, discuss and justify the process adopted to perform their piece of research. In this way they were encouraged to reflect on their work and critically assess it.
A questionnaire was administrated to all students who attended the course.

Contents
 The course presents an overview of the most important bibliographic research tools, focusing on the resources available at the University of Parma:
1. Online catalogues
2. Bibliographic electronic databases
3. Electronic journals
4. Internet and the Web: search engines, subject directories, meta-search engines, the invisible Web, the evaluation of Web resources
5. Citation rules: how to correctly cite books, journal articles, electronic documents.

Seminars
 How to select and use at best tools for bibliographic research

Level: basic and advanced
Target group: Parma University students

 

The seminars are organized for faculty. Every course includes lessons and laboratory exercises: 15 hours overall. At the end the final qualification certificate is issued for the educational credits recognition.

·        Environmental Sciences
 ·        Psychology
·        Cultural Heritage and Foreign Languages and Civilizations


Keywords:  information literacy - credits-bearing courses for university students – bibliographic research tools – bibliographic research – final assessment – library catalogues - information searching – evaluation of information – web sources

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