Information Literacy

Grace Yu from library

What is Information Literacy

• Information Literacy as defined by the American

Library Association (ALA) is a set of abilities
requiring individuals to
• recognize when information is needed，
• have the ability to locate,
• evaluate,
• and use effectively the needed information
Need For Information Literacy Skillls
Charlie Thomas Munger
American investor, Warren
Buffett's golden partner
Need For Information Literacy Skillls
Talking is hard to control:
something you don't wanna to know
something you already know
too fast
too slow
You can take reading in your own time
scheduele
if you are into self-education,there's
nothing like reading，people do a while
about having enormous advantage
What is Information Literacy

• An information literate person is able to:

• 1. Determine the nature and extent of information
needed
• 2. Access information effectively and efficiently
• 3. Evaluate information and resources
• 4. Integrate information ethically and legally
Need For Information Literacy Skillls
• We live in the Internet world,
• the problem of managing the information becomes more and
more difficult, which can lead to information overload.
• The information overload means the rapid increase in the amount of
published information or data and the effects of this
abundance.
Need For Information Literacy Skillls
• A study has found that more new information has been
produced in the last 30 years than in the previous 5000
Need For Information Literacy Skillls
• Another study has showed that today, a daily New York
Times has more printed information in it than a person would
come across in an entire lifetime in the 17th century
Need For Information Literacy Skillls
• Too much information can create a barrier in our lives
due to the information overload

• All students and the society face many difficulties to

Locate information,
Evaluate information,
Use information,
communicate information.
Role of Information Literacy Skill
• Traditionally, we assume that the students will gain
information literacy skills automatically by themselves.

• But that is not the fact.

• A study showed that “more than 2/3 of students said within

the last year
that they use the internet as their major resource when
doing a big project for school”
Role of Information Literacy Skill

• Therefore, information literacy skills need to be taught

among the students,
by the teachers and librarians
What to Learn
• This course mainly contains six units.
• Unit1 Question,
• Unit2 Sources,
• Unit3 Find,
• Unit4 Evaluate,
• Unit5 Combine
• and Unit6 Apply
What to Learn
• Unit 1Question

• This unit considers: What do I need to know?'

What to Learn

• For example, you are working with a 9-year old boy with
autism.
• Over the last few months, he has trouble in sleeping, which
makes his behaviour challenging，
and his parents are struggling to cope.
• In this case, the issues you will be interested in are autism,
sleep disturbance and parental coping skills.
What to Learn

• So, there are two possible search questions

• The first question is
What treatments are available for sleep
disturbance in children with autism?

• The second question is

What support services are available for parents of
children with autism?
What to Learn
• Unit 2 Sources

• This unit considers:

Where will I look for the information?

• After you formulate your search question and identify search

words,
• in order to find the right information, it is important to
consider Where will I look for the information?'
What to Learn
• Unit 3 Find

• This unit considers Which words will I use in my search?

• In order to utilize information, you must first be able to find

it.
• The keywords you type into a search box will determine the
results.
What to Learn
• The source holds a lot of information,
but not all of it will be relevant to your information need.
• So, it is important to know how to refine your search to find
the right information.

• This unit will help you:

• Understand how to broaden and narrow your search
• Understand general ways to broaden and narrow your search
• And Understand how to combine search terms.
What to Learn
• Unit 4 Evaluate

• This unit considers “Have I found good information”

• While a great deal of information exists, not all of this

information can be considered good.
• In fact, some information can be false, and misleading.
• Therefore, being able to identify reliable and good
information from all kinds of information resources is
absolutely vital.
What to Learn
• Unit 5 Combine
• This unit considers 'How do I combine my new
information with existing information?'
• Information is not merely to be gathered, collected and
forgotten, but used and utilized.

• Information can be critical to

constructing valid claims and arguments in papers,
making informed decisions, and expanding your world
view.

• Knowing how to combine information is a valuable skill.

What to Learn
• Unit 6 Share & apply

• This unit considers

How can I effectively share my information with others
and put it into practice?'
What to Learn
• In social services, sharing knowledge is an important part of
knowledge management.
How to learn
• Three main teaching methods will be used in this course, including:
• lecture
• assignment
• discussion(question)
• Students are expected to attend each class, to complete any required
reading and to participate actively in lectures, exercises and discussions.

• The Final Grade for this course will be made up of the following
• Attendance and Effective Participation
• Assignments & Exercises
• Final Paper and Presentation.
Begin Research
Where Do I Start?

• Do you have an assignment to write a research

paper but you are not sure where to start?
Understand Your Assignment

• Lily is taking a University Studies class and

must complete this assignment:

In this paper, you will analyze the scientific

aspects of a known environmental problem
and identify and discuss at least two proposed
solutions.
 Understand Your Assignment
Analyze this assignment step by step.
• 1. Find the words that tell you what to do (think verbs!):
analyze, identify, and discuss.
• 2. Find the limits of the assignment: scientific aspects
and two proposed solutions.
• 3. Find the key theme: a known environmental problem
Understand Your Assignment

• By reading the assignment carefully, we know

that Lily has to analyze an environmental
problem and identify and discuss at least two
proposed solutions.
Pick a Good Topic

• Lily's assignment is broad enough to give her

some choices when picking a topic.
• What makes a good topic?
Pick a Good Topic

• It interests you!
• You'll enjoy it and do a better job
• It meets the requirements of your assignment.
• It's broad enough to give you several search
options.
• It's focused enough that you're not
overwhelmed with information.
Pick a Good Topic

Hot Tip!

Explore the library's databases to get you

started.

Browse newspapers and news sources.

Talk to your instructors and fellow students.
Consult with a librarian.
Test: Pick a Good Topic

• Too Broad, Too Narrow, or Just Right?

• Air pollution in urban areas
• 1. Too broad
• 2. Too narrow
• 3. Just right
Test: Pick a Good Topic

• Too Broad, Too Narrow, or Just Right?

• Air pollution in urban areas
• 1. Too broad
• 2. Too narrow
• 3. Just right

Too broad.
You'd need to identify an aspect of air pollution to
narrow down the scope
Test: Pick a Good Topic

• Too Broad, Too Narrow, or Just Right?

• Respiratory diseases in children in high-density urban
areas
• 1. Too broad
• 2. Too narrow
• 3. Just right
Pick a Good Topic

• Too Broad, Too Narrow, or Just Right?

• Respiratory diseases in children in high-density urban
areas
• 1. Too broad
• 2. Too narrow
• 3. Just right

Just right! This is a good topic.

You'll continue to refine your ideas as you learn more
about the topic.
Test: Pick a Good Topic

• Too Broad, Too Narrow, or Just Right?

• Environmental consequences of California's October
2007 forest firess
• 1. Too broad
• 2. Too narrow
• 3. Just right
Test: Pick a Good Topic

• Too Broad, Too Narrow, or Just Right?

• Environmental consequences of California's October
2007 forest firess
• 1. Too broad
• 2. Too narrow
• 3. Just right

A bit narrow.
It will be hard to find information on just one event.
Look more broadly for information on forest fires in
California or the West.
Test: Pick a Good Topic

• Too Broad, Too Narrow, or Just Right?

• Polar bear adaptation to global warming in the Arctic
• 1. Too broad
• 2. Too narrow
• 3. Just right
Test: Pick a Good Topic

• Too Broad, Too Narrow, or Just Right?

• Polar bear adaptation to global warming in the Arctic
• 1. Too broad
• 2. Too narrow
• 3. Just right

Just right.
There should be just enough information to get you
started.
You will continue to refine your ideas as you learn
more about the topic.
Test: Pick a Good Topic

• Too Broad, Too Narrow, or Just Right?

• Renewable energy in the United States
• 1. Too broad
• 2. Too narrow
• 3. Just right
Test: Pick a Good Topic

• Too Broad, Too Narrow, or Just Right?

• Renewable energy in the United States
• 1. Too broad
• 2. Too narrow
• 3. Just right

Too broad.
This is a good starting place, but you'd want to focus
the topic by selecting a specific renewable energy like
solar power or wind.
Test: Pick a Good Topic

• Too Broad, Too Narrow, or Just Right?

• The design and implementation of Cal-Cars—the
California Cars Initiative
• 1. Too broad
• 2. Too narrow
• 3. Just right
Test: Pick a Good Topic
• Too Broad, Too Narrow, or Just Right?
• The design and implementation of Cal-Cars—the California
Cars Initiative
• 1. Too broad
• 2. Too narrow
• 3. Just right

Too narrow.
It’s going to be difficult to find information on such a
narrow topic.
Broaden the focus to look at initiatives like this one that are
less regional.
Customize Your Topic

• Let's say your assignment is to research an

environmental issue.
• This is a broad starting point, which is a normal first
step.
• One way to customize your topic is to consider how
different disciplines approach the same topic in
different ways.
Customize Your Topic

• For example, here's how your broad topic of

“environmental issues” might be approached
from different perspectives.
• Social Sciences: Economics of Using Wind to
Produce Energy in the United States
• Sciences: Impact of Climate Change on the Habitat
of Desert Animals in Arizona
• Arts and Humanities: Analysis of the Rhetoric of
Environmental Protest Literature
Turn Your Topic into a Question

• When you've chosen a topic, it's time to ask

some questions.
• Using “environmental issues” as our
general research interest, let's ask some
questions about environmental issues and
agriculture.
 Turn Your Topic into a Question

• How: How do government agricultural subsidies impact

the price of food? How does the use of pesticides affect
food safety?
• Who: Consumers, farmers, farm workers
• What: Food safety, pesticides, food prices, genetically
modified food, organic farming
• Where: United States, developing nations, European
Union
• Why: Why does the European Union ban the sale and
distribution of genetically modified food?
Turn Your Topic into a Question

• What's Your Angle?

• Let's say that the most interesting question that
emerged from the last exercise was: “How does
repeated pesticide use in agriculture impact soil
and groundwater pollution?
Find Your Keywords

• Now that we have our sample research question, we

need to identify the key concepts and their related
keywords.
• Using our research question, “How does repeated
pesticide use in agriculture impact soil and
groundwater pollution?” we might consider these
keywords:
Find Your Keywords
How does repeated pesticide use in
agriculture impact soil and groundwater
pollution?
Find Your Keywords

• Synonyms
• Let's examine our research question again:

How does repeated pesticide use in

agriculture impact soil and groundwater
pollution?
How does repeated pesticide use in
agriculture
Find Yourimpact soil and groundwater
Keywords
pollution?

• Synonyms
• Now analyze this assignment step by step:
• 1. Find important words and phrases that describe
this topic (you can ignore common words that don't
have a lot of meaning, such as prepositions, articles,
and adjectives):
pesticide, agriculture, soil, and pollution
• 2. Now, think of some synonyms for the keywords
you found:
Find Your Keywords
Dive Into a Sea of Resources!

• Browse through general sources to get familiar with

your topic.
• You will find many sources for locating background
information.
• Remember the source you select will determine what
you find. Make sure you spend your time looking in the
right places.
What Do You Know?

• Once you've established your focused topic, you need

to get familiar with it by doing some reading.
• Start with more general sources and then work up to
more specific and detailed sources.
• Where you go next depends on how much you know.
• So, just how much do you know about your topic?
What Do You Know?

• Not All That Much

• Sounds like you need the type of information typically found in
encyclopedias and websites.

• I’ve Got the Basics

• Sounds like you’ve got a basic understanding of your topic and
just need to learn more. Check out books, magazines, and
newspapers.

• I’m Ready for Details

• Specific information is what you need.
• You’ll want to find relevant scholarly articles, statistical sources,
and government publications.
Matching Resources to Your Information
Need
• Newspaper: Current regional or local information
• Scholarly journal article: Detailed analysis of a
complex problem.
• Book or book chapter: Summary of what is known
about a topic.
• Encyclopedia or website: Factual information like
names, dates, and definitions.
案例分析 example
• 论文是关于工程竹的结构应用
• The paper is about the structural application of engineering bamboo
1 introduction
• Question:
• The present work investigates the mechanical properties
of bamboo scrimber and laminated bamboo to assess the
potential for structural applications.
• A comparison with timber and engineered timber
products is also presented.
• question:
• investigates the mechanical properties of bamboo scrimber and laminated
bamboo to assess the potential for structural applications.
• A comparison with timber and engineered timber products is also presented.
• question:
• investigates the mechanical properties of bamboo scrimber and laminated
bamboo to assess the potential for structural applications.
• A comparison with timber and engineered timber products is also presented.
• question:
• investigates the mechanical properties of bamboo scrimber and laminated
bamboo to assess the potential for structural applications.
• A comparison with timber and engineered timber products is also presented.
 question:
1 Introduction 1) property and potential
application
2) difference from timber and
engineered timber
2 method
answer first question

3 experiment

4 discussion answer sencond question

How do you create a question?
• 1. Start with an interrogative以疑问句开头
2. Do not make it a 'closed question'避免“封闭
问题”
• Closed questions are ones that can be answered with a single word
(e.g., yes, no, Churchill, 1943, etc.).封闭式问题可以用一个词来回答
（例如，是，不是，丘吉尔，1943年等）。
• Most closed questions start with the interrogatives
• 'does', 'did', 'was' or 'are'.
• A great key question starts with either 'what', 'why', or 'how'
3. Be extremely specific非常具体
• Limit topic by mentioning specific information, including times,
concepts.
• 通过提及具体的信息来限制你的话题，包括时间、概念
Example key questions
Example key questions

公元410年罗马脱离英国的经济、军事和政治原因是什么？

有什么考古证据可以证实苏埃托尼乌斯对尼禄的“奥雷阿之家”
的描述？

斯大林如何在第一个五年计划中证明去库拉基化的人力成本是
合理的？

英国、俄罗斯和美国是如何理解希特勒在20世纪30年代初的行
为的？
How to conduct background research
• Once know the question needed to answer, spend some time doing
some general reading about topic, called 'background research'.

• The purpose of background research is to improve background

knowledge.
• This helps you to familiarise with information needed to write about.
Good resources for background research
Example background research
How to develop research sub-questions
• how to approach answering your Key Question.
How to develop research sub-questions
• break your Question into smaller questions (called 'sub-questions') in
order to answer it sufficiently.

• Sub-questions are secondary questions

• related to a primary question
How to develop research sub-questions
• A good Key Question can easily be divided into three separate parts
which can be turned into sub-questions.
• Based upon good background research, you should be able to identify
the three divisions of your Key Question.
Example
• Key Question
• Why did Martin Luther King believe that social problems could be fixed
through non-violent means?
• 为什么马丁·路德·金认为社会问题可以通过非暴力手段解决？
Example
• The three parts that need to be answered separately can be
highlighted
Example:

• 马丁·路德·金对社会的信仰是什么？
• 马丁·路德·金想为哪些社会问题找到解决方案？
• 马丁·路德·金是如何想象非暴力行为会有所帮助的？
The importance of good sub-questions
• Spend time thinking of good sub-questions.
• Well thought-out sub-questions can mean the difference between an
average and an excellent essay.
The importance of good sub-questions
• Good sub-questions should:
• Be 'open' questions (This means that they cannot be answered with a simple
'yes' or 'no' answer. Usually this means starting the question with: what, why,
or how)
• Incorporate terms and concepts that you learnt during your background
research
The importance of good sub-questions
• In answering three sub-questions through source research, you will
ultimately have an answer for your Key Question.
Improving your sub-questions
• sub-questions can change
• modify your sub-question.
Improving your sub-questions
• This is usually the result of discovering further, more specific,
information about your topic.
• Improving your sub-questions during your source research stage will
result in better topic sentences and, as a result, a better essay.
For example:
• Key Question was

• 东京、广岛和长崎的爆炸事件对日本在第二次世界大战结束时投
降的决定起到了什么作用？
• 轰炸东京对日本在第二次世界大战结束时投降的决定起到了什么作用？
• 广岛爆炸案对日本在第二次世界大战结束时投降的决定起到了什么作用？
• 长崎轰炸对日本在第二次世界大战结束时投降的决定起到了什么作用？
• 在进行进一步研究后，可以通过包括具体日期和历史信息来改进它们：
• 3月9日东京燃烧弹爆炸事件对日本在第二次世界大战结束时投降的决定起到了
什么作用？
• 8月6日广岛原子弹爆炸对日本在第二次世界大战结束时投降的决定有什么影响？
• 8月9日长崎原子弹爆炸事件对日本在第二次世界大战结束时投降的决定起到了
什么作用？
• 最后，在找到一些详细的主要和次要来源后，可以通过引用关键人员所扮演
的角色来进一步改进：
• 3月9日发生在东京的燃烧弹爆炸事件是如何促使裕仁天皇更多地参与结束第二次世
界大战的？
• 为什么日本政府在1945年8月6日广岛原子弹爆炸后没有投降？
• 1945年8月9日长崎原子弹爆炸后，裕仁为什么最终决定投降？
• create a question
• start with interogative
• do not make it a closed question
• be extremely specific

• conduct background research

• good resources

• develop research sub-questions

Using Web of Science
Patent?
Patent about AI
Boolean operators
• connect search words together to either narrow or broaden your set of
results.
• The three basic boolean operators are: AND, OR, and NOT.
Boolean operators : AND
• Use AND in a search to:
• narrow your results
• tell the database that ALL search terms must be present in the resulting
records

• example:
• cloning AND humans AND ethics
Boolean operators : AND
• The purple triangle in the middle of the Venn diagram represents the
result set for this search.
• It is a small set using AND, the combination of all three search words
Boolean operators: OR
• Use OR in a search to:
• connect two or more similar concepts (synonyms)
• broaden results, telling the database that ANY of your search terms can be
present in the resulting records
Boolean operators: OR
• Example: cloning OR genetics OR reproduction
• Three circles represent the result set for this search.
• It is a big set because any of those words are valid using the OR
operator.
Boolean operators: NOT
• Use NOT in a search to:
• exclude words from your search
• narrow your search, telling the database to ignore concepts that may be
implied by your search terms

• Example: cloning NOT sheep

Boolean operators: Search order
• logical order :
• ( )> NOT>AND>OR
• Examples:
• ethics AND (cloning OR reproductive techniques)
• (ethic* OR moral*) AND (bioengineering OR cloning)

• ( )> x / >+ -
• 4+3x2
• (4+3)x2
Patent about Artificial Intelligence?
Patent about Artificial Intelligence?
Patent about Artificial Intelligence
Patent about Artificial Intelligence or AI?
Patent about Artificial Intelligence or AI
Test
Research aim: machine learning in agriculture
• synonym of machine learning: deep learning, neural network
• synonym of agriculture: farming
Truncation
• Truncation, also called stemming, is a technique that broadens your
search to include various word endings and spellings.

• Examples:
• child* = child, childs, children, childrens, childhood
• genetic* = genetic, genetics, genetically
• Truncation symbols may vary by database; common symbols include: *, !, ?,
or #
Test
• Search the papers of Nanjing Tech University in Recent 2 Years(2023,
2024) Web of Science
• enter both a last name and first name or initial(s).
• You can include a hyphen(-), a space(), or an apostrophe(‘) in the Last
name field.

• Last name For example:

• Wilson
• O'Grady
• Ruiz-Gomez
• De La Rosa
• Van der Waals
• Example: Jacqueline Fawcett
• Fawcett J*
• Use the wildcard asterisk * to retrieve all variations of Fawcett's first name.
• If searching a very common name
• such as Smith M*,
• use the Organizations under Refine Results to target search.
Test
• Retrieve the papers by XiaoHua Lu in
chemistry in Nanjing tech University
WoS analysis
Refining Search Results
• When facing a large number of search results, it is essential to refine
them to quickly identify which papers to read first and gain an
understanding of the subject, literature types, authors, institutions,
countries, etc.
• In the "Refine results" column, you can refine the results based on
publication year, document type, subject category, country, institution,
etc.
Finding Highly Cited Papers on a Specific Study
• view the citation count of a paper and identify highly cited papers by
sorting the results based on "Times Cited."
• The sorting options in the toolbar above the search results allow you
to sort based on citation count, time, author, journal, etc.
in the refined search results list,
you can directly select highly cited papers and hot papers in the field.
nalyzing the Overall Development Trends of
Research Topics
• By clicking the "Analyse results" button in the literature results
retrieval interface, you can analyze the retrieved literature.
Test
• analyze the trend of our university in recent five years
Final Paper
Final paper
• Form research team, each consists of 1~3 people
• Form a research question（no requirement) (refine,
refine, refine)
• create a 2~3 sub research questions around research
question
• Search Web of Science, and analysis the results
• read 5 research papers from the results, draw a
conclusion for each research papers
• answer the sub research questions and research
question
• In the last class, each research team give PowerPoint
presentations and submit both the PPT and Word
documents.(I will give you some example)