GEN 103: Week 3 Guidance
Everything You Need to Know for Success in Our Course!
WELCOME TO WEEK 3! WE ARE ALMOST AT THE HALF WAY POINT OF OUR FAST-PACED COURSE! YOU CAN DO IT!
Welcome to Week 3!
We do an awful lot of talking about information literacy and why it is important, and how to be information literate in the 21st century. I believe everyone is in agreement that to thrive in our digital society, we need to keep abreast of the latest types of information available to us, and in 2016 many of these are technology-related. This will only become more so as we progress into the future.
The library has always been viewed as a hallmark of resources, information, and opportunity. The information has always been there for its patrons to access, and there are no boundaries to how the information within the library's walls may be used. In 2016, however, libraries do not all have physical walls. Digital libraries offer a plethora of information, and some advantages as well as disadvantages when compared to physical libraries. As 21st century learners, we must consider both. Many of us grew up visiting our local public libraries frequently, or at least occasionally. Public schools have libraries to support the academic curriculum, and academic libraries support entire colleges and universities and tend to be very large with vast collections of resources for its students to use. School and public libraries tend to have somewhat limited hours, while some academic libraries are open until midnight, on weekends, and some even 24 hours a day during peak periods of the semester. Obviously, the one thing that all types of physical libraries share in common is that the patron must go to there.
Digital libraries' digitized collections are available to anyone with internet access (and usually a patron/student id and password). This means that if a library patron chooses to work at 3 am, there are no considerations about physically transporting oneself to the library. This fact alone makes digital libraries very appealing, but I urge you all to consider both the advantages and disadvantages to both types of libraries, as outlined in Module 2 of the online text, which has been assigned to you this week.
Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources
I find that new concepts are more often more easily mastered when we look at different types of information. First you will read the content in your course text, and the video provides both visual and auditory-style supplements. Don't be afraid to re-read your text or view the video more than once. Sometimes the a-ha! moment in learning happens after we review the concepts a few times!
Week 3 Assignments
Discussion 1: Popular vs. scholarly sources. Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to at least one classmate. Your initial discussion post must total a minimum of 350 words.
Discussion 2: Open Discussion. You must post a minimum of 100 words before the end of Day 7. Keep in mind, however, that if everyone waits until Day 7 there won’t be much interaction, so try to post earlier in the week if possible!
Quizzes: You have a quiz on Module 2 of our text and primary, secondary and tertiary sources. Both quizzes must be completed by Day 7 (Monday).
Optional APA Skill Activity: You are strongly encouraged to do this.
Assignment: You will locate 2 scholarly articles and write two APA references and annotations for these articles, due Day 7 (Monday). Please be sure to read and follow all instructions, and be sure to complete the assignment in its entirety, and please adhere to any word count requirements.