News & Blog

Preparing for the 2011 Spring Semester ?

While you’re planning for the upcoming semester, please consider adding Infolit Modules to your courses.

We have twelve module topics that offer students an opportunity to learn and practice concepts related to finding and using information for their assignments.  Each module is designed to foster skills about how to identify, access and use information sources.

If you have questions about using the modules, please contact us.

End of semester reminders:

Due to upcoming system maintenance and updates, the Infolit Modules will not be available on the following dates:
12/17 10am-12pm, 12/19 9am-6pm, 12/20 (upgrade), 12/27 7am-12/28 5pm

We’d also like to draw your attention to a few recommended procedures related to saving scores for your current module instances and creating new module instances for the spring:

1. Download scores from the last term and save to your computer. If you have not already done so, we would suggest downloading scores from your instances and maintaining them with your student records. Reminder: you may use this same download process at any point in the term as the basis for uploading scores into MyUCFGrades, Webcourses@UCF, or any other grade book program that supports importing.

2. Make new instances. We recommend creating new instances each term since scores are permanently associated with a specific instance. Having spring term students using instances from a previous term will result in both sets of student data appearing on your score sheet.

To make new instances, begin here: http://infolit.ucf.edu/faculty/getting-started/

3. Update any URLs that link to the old instances. Each instance URL ends with a unique ID number,so you may simply change this number in order to update URLs.

4. Delete old instances. In order to de-clutter your “My Instances” area, you might find it helpful to delete instances from previous semesters.

5. Provide the link to log-in information when you provide instance URLs to students. Detailed information on logging in to the information literacy modules is available for students at http://infolit.ucf.edu/students/help/#article457

6. Provide tech support links to students when you provide instance URLs. Tech support for students (and faculty) is available through the Ask A Librarian service (http://library.ucf.edu/ask). Please encourage students to make contact with Ask A Librarian via phone, email, IM, or chat if they encounter any difficulties with content or technology. You might also refer students to the Frequently Asked Questions at http://infolit.ucf.edu/students/help. (If you choose to help students yourself, you might also find the faculty FAQs useful in addressing student issues: http://infolit.ucf.edu/faculty/faq.)

Happy Holidays!

Prepare for a New Semester!

Amazing, but true, a new fall semester is approaching.  To prepare, consider cleaning out any old “instances” of information literacy modules in the repository (http://obojobo.ucf.edu/repository) and in your online course or syllabus.

We recommend that you delete old instances and create new ones each semester. Any old links will still be populated with students from previous semesters. Make new instances of the information literacy modules each semester. To delete an old instance, highlight the instance and click Delete.

Once you create new instances, you should replace any old links with the new URL.

New Modules Now Available

• Conducting a Literature Review
• Managing References Using RefWorks
• Selecting Sources for Academic Assignments
• Understanding the Information Cycle

And, new, edited versions of all of the previously created modules are also available. Also, MLA and APA modules have been updated with the new editions.

If you have questions about any of the information literacy modules, contact Elizabeth Killingsworth, ekilling@mail.ucf.edu.

MLA and APA information literacy modules updated with new editions

Citing Sources Using MLA Style and Citing Sources Using APA Style will both be updated to new editions.

Both modules will become available the first week in May. The MLA module will be updated to the 7^th edition, and the APA module will be updated to the 6^th edition.

New modules available in May!

Four new modules will become available for faculty and students the first week in May.

New modules include:

• Conducting a Literature Review
• Managing References using RefWorks
• Selecting Articles for Academic Assignments
• Understanding the Information Cycle

New system feature: Importing past scores

On January 15, a system upgrade added a new feature to the information literacy modules. A student who has previously completed the exact same module in a previous class or a previous semester will be given the opportunity to import his or her past score. The student has the option to accept the score or return to the assessment to complete the quiz again.

This feature is currently turned “on”. If you’d prefer that your students complete the module assessment again rather than import the previous score, you can log in to the repository and turn this feature off.

Here are the steps to turn this feature “off”:

1. Login to http://obojobo.ucf.edu/repository
2. Published Instances should be showing on your screen. Highlight the title of the instance you’d like to edit.
3. Click on Edit Details. This is a tab just above the title of the module on the right side of the screen.
4. A new pop up window will open. Uncheck the check box to “Allow past scores to be imported” at the bottom of the screen.

If a student logs into a module that has been edited or updated in any way since their last visit to the module, the student will not be given the opportunity to import a past score.

Happy New Year! New Handout Available to Make Life Easier

Getting back into the swing of things in the new year can be a bit daunting, especially after a sugar-laden holiday. Here is a handy tool to help you begin using the information literacy modules in your classes. This short handout contains instructions to login to the repository and set up a module to use in your class. It also has a section of instructions for your students that you can cut and paste into your online course, your syllabus, or an email. If you’re wondering how to download scores from the modules into your WebCourses gradebook, this handout will give you the details. If you have questions about the modules, or would like to set up an appointment for one-on-one help, just email us: infolit@mail.ucf.edu.

Adoption of Information Literacy Modules Continues

Inclusion of information literacy modules in course assignments continues across campus. Since June 2008, there have been:

• 16212 assessment completions by
• 5742 students in
• 200 course sections led by
• 107 faculty who created
• 441 instances of
• 8 information literacy modules with an average score of
• 89.73% across all module’s summative assessments.

Winding down and gearing up for the spring semester!

As the fall semester winds down and the new spring semester begins, we’d like to draw your attention to a few recommended procedures:

1. Download scores from the last term and save to your computer.If you have not already, we would suggest downloading scores from your instances and maintaining them with your student records. (As a reminder, you may use this same download process at any point in the term as the basis for uploading scores into MyUCFGrades, Webcourses@UCF, or any other grade book program that supports importing.)
2. Make new instances.We recommend creating new instances each term since scores are associated with specific instances permanently. Having spring term students using instances from a previous term would result in both sets of student data appearing on your score sheet. To make new instances, begin here: http://infolit.ucf.edu/faculty/getting-started/
3. Update any URLs that link to the old instances.Each instance URL ends with a unique ID number. You may simply change this number in order to update the URLs.
4. Delete old instances.In order to de-clutter your “My Instances” area, you might find it helpful to delete instances from previous semesters.
5. Provide link to log-in information when you provide instance URLs to students.Detailed information on logging in to the information literacy modules is available for students at http://infolit.ucf.edu/students/help/#article1
6. Provide tech support links to students when you provide instance URLs.Tech support for students (and faculty) is available through the Ask A Librarian service (http://library.ucf.edu/ask). Please encourage students to make contact with Ask A Librarian via phone, email, IM, or chat if they encounter any difficulties with content or technology. You might also refer students to the Frequently Asked Questions at http://infolit.ucf.edu/students/help. (If you choose to help students yourself, you might also find the faculty FAQs useful in addressing student issues: http://infolit.ucf.edu/faculty/faq.)