By Raymond Pun and Kenya Flash

In our last post, we covered how you might use Credo to teach image searching and visual literacy. This week we will be looking into how Credo can help you teach data literacy. Data literacy is the ability to read, interpret, create, and communicate data as information. Many disciplines, from communication to political science and more, expect students to show proficiency with these skills in their assignments.

By Raymond Pun and Vang Vang

Have you ever thought about creative ways to teach students how to find, interpret, and use images for their research? You may want to consider using Credo for this instructional activity.

The third installment of our Credo in Action webinar series featured two Fresno State librarians, Ray Pun and Vang Vang, discussing new and innovative ways to engage students through gamification, visual literacy, and more. With clear and practical examples, they walked us through how they’ve implemented these various strategies to expand their instruction and outreach services. Here are a few of the highlights; access the full recording and slides to see all 10!

Niketha McKenzie was tasked with creating an instructional platform to ensure Howard University’s incoming freshmen were aware of the library’s resources and services. She and her colleagues Adia Coleman and Kimberly Prosper reached out to faculty and students to assess the main obstacles first year students faced when conducting research, and where faculty wanted to improvement. As part of our Credo In Action webinar series, these librarians agreed to share what they learned, what they’ve created to address these needs, and how students and faculty have responded. Access the full webinar recording here!

The academic school year has started, and it’s a great time to think about creative ways to engage with students throughout orientation!

The second installment of our Credo In Action webinar series featured librarians Darcy Gervasio and Emily Carlin of SUNY Purchase College discussing how they combat fake news. Watch the webinar recording here, and view the slides here.

In the era of fake news, biased media, and dubious websites, information literacy (IL) has come to the forefront of essential 21st century skills. Whether strating a paper, or attempting to discern the validity of the Facebook meme a friend posted, the ability to find, evaluate, and use information effectively and responsibly has never been more important. We asked academic librarians how they use Credo Online Reference Service and InfoLit Modules in their IL instruction, and this is what they told us:

When Howard University decided it was time to streamline their First Year Experience program and create an FYE librarian, they tasked Niketha McKenzie with creating an instructional platform to ensure incoming students were aware of the library’s resources and services. Professors asked her to use her one-shots to introduce students to the library’s databases, but McKenzie noticed a fundamental gap in students’ readiness to conduct that level of scholarly research.

For many students, the hardest part of writing a paper is getting started. Oftentimes either can’t settle on a topic, or they feel overwhelmed by the volume and complexity of the information out there. We asked librarians to write to us about how Credo helps their students start their research, and this is what we heard back:

Early last year we relaunched our Mind Map visual search tool, and the feedback we’ve received from subscribers has been great. We’re hearing more stories of how librarians use the Mind Map feature in their instruction and reference help. Mary Timmons of Monroe Community College says, “I love the Mind Map - it gives students who just have an idea for a topic a way to focus and narrow the search to give better, and easier, research material that concentrates on what they want to do.” Here are some other stories from librarians about where and how they use this popular feature: