Get on board the LearningExpress

photo from http://office.microsoft.com/images

The DCCCD libraries have a subscription to the LearningExpress Library, which is a test prep/skills prep database. The practice tests and various exercises cover most of the disciplines taught here at Richland.

Students will find material to help them study for entrance exams including the THEA, SAT, and ACT. There is material for students in our pharmacy programs, and soon there will be more content for nursing students. There is content for grammar, composition, mathematics, and speech practice. There is professional certification practice for public servants and law enforcement.

Faculty, staff, and administrators should also find this database useful. It includes GRE study materials and practice tests; and it includes software training for various platforms and programs.

Visit the database by going to http://www.dcccd.edu/databases, clicking on "L," and scrolling down to the LearningExpress link. Just like all the library databases, this one is almost always available around the clock no matter where you're working. If you are accessing the databases from afar, use your name and student/employee I.D. number (no "e") to log on and start working. 

LearningExpress does require you to set up a profile within the database, so your work can be saved and accessed later.

Need a demo? Let us know by emailing richlandlibrary AT dcccd.edu.

Happy studying,

R.D.

Truth Be Told

Project Information Literacy studied more than 8,000 students from 25 colleges and universities. Students were asked how they evaluate information and use it once they have found it, and what difficulties they encounter with research. The findings are reported in Truth Be Told: How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age.

• 84% reported having trouble just getting started with research assignments,
• 66% had problems defining a topic,
• Half of the students said they used the same research techniques whatever the topic,
• Only 11% reported asking the librarian for guidance

Librarian Barbara Fister comments on the report in Library Journal: "We need to think hard about what role inquiry plays in the undergraduate curriculum and how the library supports meaningful undergraduate research. Will values embedded in the process of discovering meaning while doing assignments transfer to life after college?"


Here's the preview video.

What Students Think

Much has been made of the "knowledge shortcomings" of the general population. One only needs to think about some of the shocking (and funny) interviews that Jay Leno does on the segment he calls Jaywalking.

E.D. Hirsch caused quite a storm when he proposed that people can't learn unless they have a certain minimum amount of factual knowledge, which he called cultural literacy.

Did you know that there is also something called information literacy? It too has been the subject of much discussion.

In August 2008, 225 Richland high school juniors took a needs assessment developed by the Network of Illinois Learning Resources in Community Colleges.

The assessment was an opportunity for librarians to take a look at the understandings and misunderstandings of our own student population.

The assessment showed that there is much that students do not understand.

This little slideshow -- What Students Think -- demonstrate some of those gaps in understanding.

These may not be quite as shocking as Jay Leno's discoveries, but they definitely play a role in keeping students from producing the quality work we know they are capable of.

One afternoon we decided to ask some of our students "What do you love about the Richland College Library?" Their answers provided a remarkably rich summary of what the library has to offer -- at least from a student's point of view.

We prepared the YouTube video as part of a tour and presentation we put together for the Richland College Academic Council.

Making the video turned out to be a lot of fun for both students and "film crew." Thanks to Alice Fulbright who served as "emcee" and Gary Duke (yours truly) who operated the camera and did the editing (with his trusty Mac, of course).