About This Book
- Page ID
- 246406
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This Book is a Work in Progress!
This book is not yet complete and is not intended for use as a whole in this form! We will continue to update, add to, and edit its content before publishing a more complete 2nd edition for use in college courses. In the meantime, feel free to use, adapt, and share the content we have included so far.
Overview
The information landscapes we study, work, and play within are constantly changing, requiring us to adapt to new technologies and ways of creating and interacting with information. This book critically examines key concepts in how information ecosystems function and how we can engage our critical thinking to develop the information literacy we need to engage with all types of information more effectively, both in school and in our work and personal lives. The goal of this book is to prepare you to cultivate critical thinking about information and apply information literacy in all areas of your life as a lifelong practice.
Key Topics and Concepts
This book critically addresses the following topics and concepts, offering both a foundation for critical thinking about information and practical tools for success in school research assignments.
- Information Literacy
- Information Ecosystems, Algorithms, and Organization
- Misinformation, Disinformation, and Fact-Checking
- Information Social Justice
- Information Value and Ethics
- Research as a Process of Inquiry
- Information Sources and Their Creation Processes
- Strategic Searching
- Authority and Credibility
- Scholarly Communication and Knowledge-Building
Key Questions
Throughout the book, we will explore a number of critical and timely questions, including:
- Are Google search results really an unbiased presentation of the best available information on a research question?
- How do algorithms and “engagement” on digital platforms influence the way that we perceive information, and each other?
- In a world of misinformation and disinformation, how do we determine truth? How do we know which sources of information to trust?
- When we find a source of information, how can we verify that it is a reliable and effective piece of evidence for our research?
- Why might it be valuable to include different information types and formats in our research? How do we recognize when a resource has bias? Whose voices are included in our research, and whose are left out?
- Why is choosing a topic so often the hardest part of the research process? What are some strategies for developing a meaningful research topic?
- How do we break a research topic into an effective combination of keywords and phrases for searching? How can we avoid confirmation bias when choosing our keywords?
- How do we search and find information through our college library? How are the materials organized in the library?
- What are library “databases” and how are they different from Google? What kinds of information can be found in these databases, and what are the advantages of using them?
- How has Web search become embedded in our daily lives, and what conveniences and concerns does this present? How can we conduct academic research effectively on the Web?
- When we engage in the scholarly conversation through research, how can we respect intellectual property and academic integrity by using sources ethically?
- How can we give credit to the work of others by citing our sources in MLA, APA, or another style?