Introduction
Thanks to technology, information management is something we do every day. From finding a contact’s email address to organizing to-do lists, technology both creates and helps us manage a deluge of information. When we think of information management, we tend to think of staying afloat in a rapidly accumulating sea of information, but SUNY’s Information Management (IM) competency has less to do with personal information management (PIM) than it does with academic information management, or, more specifically, citation management. Of the three outcomes in SUNY’s IM competency (below), the second outcome on research contains the pith of the competency, and though we are drowning in information generally, we must not be led astray by the more general meanings of the term information management; SUNY’s intent with the competency is that students learn how to manage information resources as part of a research process.
SUNY Information Management Competency
There are three learning outcomes in SUNY’s IM competency:
1. Students will perform the basic operations of personal computer use
2. Students will understand and use basic research techniques
3. Students will locate, evaluate and synthesize information from a variety of sources
IF2014 Information Management Competency
In Buffalo State’s IF2014 implementation of SUNY’s IM competency, the outcomes have been rewritten for greater clarity and purpose. They are:
1. Students will use applications to read, write and execute files
2. Students will conduct research using appropriate investigative techniques
3. Students will evaluate, locate, and synthesize information
Buffalo State’s IF2014 IM outcomes are largely the same as SUNY’s, but there are a few things to note about the differences:
- The Information Management Oversight and Assessment Committee rewrote the first SUNY IM SLO on basic computer operations because today’s students use a variety of digital devices. Whether a student uses the Pixlr photo editor on their smart phone, tablet, laptop or computer, what matters is how well they use the application to manipulate the file. All computing involves basic operations- read, write, execute - so SUNY’s concept of basic operations is kept but in the form of using applications to open files instead of using a PC to open applications. With this approach, we can better assess the student’s ability by examining the correctness and complexity of the the digital file they produce. Not that the files need to be produced from scratch, the file could be found and repurposed. For example, a student who knows to search Google for “immigration filetype:xml” and how to bring that xml data into Excel will be better off than a student who does not know how to search Google by file type. Or the student who knows that the Endnote citation management application contains a fully styled APA Microsoft Word template will be a step ahead of students who try to style their Word documents themselves. Given this, we can assess either the student’s ability to produce a file correctly with an application or their ability to use web applications to find and make use of the correct file. Depending on the approach, there is more or less time to educate our students about different file types and extensions (htm, doc, jpg, txt, exe, mid, psd, xcf, etc.), the applications that use them (either proprietary formats like xls for Excel or open formats like csv for Excel), different file permissions (web-based roles such as viewer, contributor, and editor, or local roles such as owner and group member, but also permissions as they apply to copyright), and the facets of producing and publishing information (the raw data in Excel vs the published pdf report, or the layered composition in Photoshop vs the png image file published to the web). Given that the SUNY IM competency is about managing research-based information, most departments should consider using a citation management application like Endnote or Proquest Flow and RIS files to assess this outcome, but any application and file type is permissible.
- The second SUNY IM SLO has been rewritten because “understand” is not a verb in Bloom’s taxonomy. The phrase “use basic research techniques” has been changed to “conduct research using appropriate investigative techniques” to encourage students to view research and information discovery as an investigative act (not all information is made discoverable). As the word “basic” appears in the first two SUNY outcomes, faculty should note that the desired achievement level for the computing and research SLOs is not high. In fact, research can be a difficult process for students, given the breadth and depth of the information landscape. To avoid wasting valuable study time trying to find resources that match their expectations, students should be given a less abstract starting point. For example, instead of researching general topic Y, faculty can assign students a specific article, theorist, or researcher and ask that they join the scholarly conversation by tracking cited sources or analyzing cited data. Citation tracking is one of the most basic research skills students should learn to employ. Google Scholar and Thomson Reuters’ Web of Knowledge make tracking citations easy. Having said that, students should also become familiar with subject specific dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks that define and contextualize the terms and language used by a scholarly community in their periodical literature. Students do not have to join associations, but they do need to become familiar with the literature that associations produce, especially reference and periodical literature.
- In our iteration of SUNY’s third IM SLO, "Locate, evaluate and synthesize information from a variety of sources," we have reordered the verbs to get “evaluate, locate, and synthesize information”. This changes the meaning of locate from discover to situate. We define locate as situate because resource discovery belongs to the second SLO and because, after students evaluate a resource, they should be able to logically place the resource among other sources, synthesizing them as necessary. Of the three information management outcomes, the third is the most advanced, involving higher categories (evaluation and synthesis) from Bloom’s taxonomy, and will be the hardest to assess uniformly. Fortunately, the “Writer’s Reference” handbook by Diane Hacker discusses what synthesis looks like in a given style (see MLA or APA style sections). Lastly, we have not included the phrase “... from a variety of sources” from SUNY’s third IM SLO because variety is potentially hazardous term given the ubiquity of the web. On the other hand, we did not add “... only from authoritative sources” either. Students should not wholly trust any one authority and should always look to verify any source of information. For example, source comparison is essential to the process of evaluation and synthesis; To find the annual earnings of a public company I might look at their annual report, their profile in the Company and Resource Center database, and the SEC web site and explain or resolve any differences in the information.
Integrating Information Management with Writing and Critical Thinking in a Single Course
How does information management relate to writing and critical thinking? Information has two general requirements: one, Information requires clear communication; two, In an information-flooded world, managing information requires source differentiation. These requirements fuse information management skills with writing and critical thinking skills. From an Information Management perspective, integrating the SUNY competencies in a single course makes sense because, as there is an inherent relation between information, clarity, and authority, so there is an inherent relation between information management, writing, and critical thinking.
Also, as stated above in the introduction, SUNY intends for us to understand “information management” as “conducting research.” Research does not occur in a vacuum. Rather, it is inspired by and produced in response to other scholarship. The new information literacy standards from the Association of College and Research Libraries state that research is a conversation. Whether communicating in a dynamic publication like ArXiv.org or a static publication like the Journal of the American Mathematical Society, research needs to be read, critically considered, and responded to. Integrating reading, thinking, and writing into a single course will help to foster student scholars.
Assessing Information Management In a Course Separate From Writing and Critical Thinking
If a department would like to infuse the information management outcomes into a course that does not involve writing or research, the IM OAC will work with the faculty to adapt the SLOs to the course content as long as the course content and method of assessment are suitable for the outcomes, i.e. an application is used to produce a file, information is sought out, and information is organized and synthesized somehow.
If a department is unable to identify a course for IM infusion, and would like to discuss other potential options, such as using a required, one credit, online, research course, the IM OAC will work with the department to put alternatives in place. One option would be requiring students take a library research methods course. A few departments already require students take LIB100 (online or in person) and the IM SLOs could be added to that course to give departments greater flexibility in fulfilling SUNY’s information management competency.
Please contact the IM OAC chair Marc Bayer at bayermd@buffalostate.edu to discuss options.
Library Support for infusing Information Management
The IM OAC recommends that, for each course chosen for information management infusion, the department work with a librarian and the IM OAC to create a research guide at http://guides.buffalostate.edu/
The research guide will provide students with all the resources they need to fulfill the three IF2014 IM outcomes: resources such as video tutorials for using citation management applications, workbooks with formative assessments for using the library databases and other discovery platforms, overviews and timelines of the research process, and any other content departmental faculty feel necessary to assure student success. Additionally, students may request one-on-one help through the library’s research desk http://library.buffalostate.edu/researchhelp
