Digital Storytelling Resource List: Finding Public Domain / Copyright-Free Multimedia

Developed to support a Digital Storytelling Workshop at Ohio State University Libraries in November 2005.This guide describes important meta-sites as well as other significant Web sites that may be used to locate audio files (music) and digital photographs that are either in the public domain or provided under a Creative Commons license. These multimedia resources may be used in creating digital stories or other projects

Net knowledge: Performance of new college students on an Internet skills proficiency test

This article reviews recent data on computing and information literacy (research) skills of new college students and describes results from an Internet skills proficiency test administered to several groups of freshmen during the 2000 summer orientation at The Ohio State University. While students often self-report a high level of skill, tests as well as anecdotal evidence may not support this assertion. Further, technological preparedness varies by race, class, gender, and academic background. Only 9% of the Ohio State freshmen taking a three-part proficiency test achieved a passing score of 70% on the entire test. More of these students (30%) passed the first part on use of Internet tools; their performance was poorest (16%) on the second part, searching skills. College administrators must not assume student competence, but rather, should systematically assess incoming students and provide a variety of learning opportunities. Appendix provides most difficult test questions

The Role of Library Research Instruction in Developing Teachers' Problem Solving Skills

O'Hanlon explores how library research skills, critical thinking abilities, and problem-solving skills can be developed in preservice programs. The utility of the guided design methodology for strengthening these skills is discussed and illustrated

Ohio State University Libraries' net.TUTOR project

The Showcase of Ideas at the 1997 ACRL President's Program provided a valuable opportunity to share plans and a sample lesson from the Ohio State University Libraries' net.TUTOR program. At that time, net.TUTOR was in its initial development phase. This article, written from the perspective of almost 2 full years of managing and expanding this program, will discuss the early vision for net.TUTOR, how the program actually developed, how it has been used during the 2 years that followed, and future plans for the program

Hot Topics on the Web Strategies for Research

Some of the pitfalls of research on the Web are highlighted and exacerbated when the type of research being done is for "hot," controversial, or debatable topics. Who to trust, where to find the information, and how to determine what is reliable are all questions that will present themselves. However, the resources available on the Web are well suited for addressing many of the challenges of hot topic research. Finding points of view for obscure and well-known advocacy groups, finding the most current legislation on an issue, and finding recent events related to the issue are all actually enhanced and made easier by researching a topic on the Web. Knowing the pitfalls and benefits from the outset can make using the Web much more profitable for hot topics research. By using appropriate sites for topic identification, you can quickly build a useful collection of core sites. By knowing where to identify federal and state legislation, you can determine the state of current policy on a topic. And certainly, the Web is most likely to help with timely news and insight on advocacy groups that might provide no—or hard-to-find—printed materials on their positions. The following strategies and sources will facilitate efficient use of the Web for hot topics research that results in a full, well-informed view of the topic

Adapting Online Instruction for a Learning Disabled Audience

Full text of contributed paper available in: Currents and Convergence: Navigating the Rivers of Change; Proceedings of the Twelfth National Conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries, April 7-10, 2005. edited by Hugh A. Thompson, 330-39. Chicago: ACRL, 2005.Almost 10% of students in your research skills classes may have learning disabilities. Discover Universal Design for Learning, a framework for designing instruction that is accessible to every student, and specific strategies for assisting learning-disabled students. Participants will learn about: --Characteristics of learning disabilities and their effects on student success; --Universal Design of Learning (UDL) theory and its relevance to the learning disabled population; --Specific instructional strategies for accommodating learning disabilities and their application to Web-based instruction

Developing an Online Information Literacy Course

Provides an overview of information literacy instruction; discusses online courses taught by librarians at Ohio State University; describes the course development process; provides examples of course assignments and tools for assessing student learning. Invited lecture presented at Wuhan University (China) during March 2007. Includes Chinese translation.Powerpoint presentation (with speaker notes); Adobe PDF facsimile

Overview of Google Specialized Search Tools

This guide compares and contrasts two specialized search tools, Google Scholar and Google Book Search. Database contents, search capabilities, results display, and access issues are considered