- Course Title: Internet Research Strategies
- Course Number: LIB113
- Academic Divisions: Library
- Credit Hours: 3
- Semesters Offered: N/A
- Prerequisite: COM 021 Basics of College Reading
II. COURSE DESCRIPTION
Internet Research Strategies will teach students to find, communicate, and critically evaluate online information. Students will learn how to create effective research strategies, access information in a variety of formats, and use online databases and the Internet. Students will be taught to evaluate Internet-based information and will become familiar with practical, social, and ethical issues relating to information.
III. RATIONALE OF COURSE
This course will support student success in all courses that require research and writing. The increasing complexity of the online research process makes coverage within current writing courses difficult. Therefore, colleges are creating stand alone information literacy courses. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education's column Wired Campus, "Community college libraries in the United States and Canada are seeing a huge demand for information-literacy courses, according to a recent survey by Primary Research Group Inc. Such courses are designed to help students find, communicate, and critically evaluate online information. The average percentage increase in the number of these classes offered from the fall semester of 2006 to the fall semester of 2007 was 38.1 percent, according to the survey."
IV. COURSE COMPETENCIES
Upon successful completion of this course, a student should be able to
1. Identify terms and concepts used in Internet access and research.
2. Connect to the Internet.
3. Navigate the Internet with browsers.
4. Access information through online library catalogs.
5. Use Internet search engines, meta-search engines, and Internet subject directories.
6. Construct Internet search strategies using Boolean operators, proximity operators, truncation, and phrase searches.
7. Find information on the Invisible Web.
8. Evaluate Internet web sites.
9. Describe appropriate use of social networking sites, wikis, and blogs.
10. Select appropriate subscription online databases.
11. Identify types of information sources from subscription online databases including e-books, periodicals, and primary records.
12. Evaluate information sources from subscription online databases.
13. Describe ethical and legal issues involving the Internet including copyright and plagiarism.
14. Communicate using web-based email.
15. Retrieve and save information from Internet sources.
16. Create citations for Internet sources using MLA and APA style manuals.
