Personal+Response

The experience of creating a pathfinder for personal inquiry is overwhelming. Overwhelming in the sense that is challenges you to think carefully about all aspects of the inquiry. Originally I thought the pathfinder was only about guiding others who wanted to follow your steps in research. However, after this experience, I think the pathfinder is equally beneficial for the person creating it – to help that person hone their own steps in the research process.

I know that I have not been very good at locating resources in the past. So often I searched for hours and found nothing that quite fit my topic. Other times, I would find information, but it would be dated. I have often felt frustrated when I searched for resources. I was also at a loss of how to improve my abilities in this area. This is part of the affective domain we experience during the process of learning (Harvey & Daniels, 2009). The knowledge I have gained in this course is helping me to overcome this obstacle.

I have never planned so well for inquiry as I did for this assignment. I began with my inquiry question. This was more challenging than I had anticipated, not because I couldn’t think of one, but because I wanted it to be a valid path that could be a foundation for my capping paper – the authenticity in this assignment, or as Kuhlthau, Maniotes & Caspari (2007) refer to it, the third space. I drew from the foundation of knowledge I have, not a new topic I knew nothing about. I looked at what I had been studying in my previous courses, professional development sessions I had participated in, and work I had been doing within my school for the past few years. I even had a discussion with my advisor to work through some of the ideas I was considering. The process took me days, but my final question was concise, valid and useful on a number of levels. I don’t think I have ever given a student the same amount of time to develop an inquiry question. I would also venture to guess, that most of the time, I don’t allow students enough time to build a foundation of knowledge to support creation of such questions.

I then proceeded to define key concepts and terminology related to my inquiry question. It was beneficial to revisit concepts and definitions. In attempting to write down the definitions, it soon became apparent what I knew and what I wasn’t clear about regarding my inquiry question. I revisited prior readings and notes, pulling together guiding definitions for each concept. After completing this step, the focus of my inquiry was clear. Again, I have never asked students to provide me with definitions of terminology related to their inquiry questions. This would be beneficial to the students, as it was for me. Additionally, it would provide the teacher with an //assessment for learning// opportunity. It would be a chance to confirm students were on the right track, or identify a zone of intervention if they were not (Kuhlthau, Maniotes & Caspari, 2007).

My next step was to tackle the search terms (keywords), subject headings (LC and/or Sears), and general call numbers (LC and Dewey). This was very challenging for me. This was the point in the research process that I was inefficient at, and it became very apparent in this assignment. I think this would be an example of a diagnostic assessment, because it pinpointed a step in the information search process I had limited ability in. I did a number of things to work through this; asked questions on eclass, spoke to my instructor, spoke to a librarian from the University of Alberta library, and read through sites on the internet suggested by collegues. I even calculated how many marks I would lose if I did not complete this section, as I know many of my students do when they hit a stumbling block. However, I received assistance and guidance at a key point in this struggle, which gave me enough foundation to enable me to continue in my quest to learn this component. As a result, I learned not only how to find this information, but the benefit of doing so.

For the first time, I looked at the Subject Headings assigned by the LC or Dewey classification systems. It then began to dawn on me how I could build my vocabulary for search terms in an efficient manner, rather than haphazardly as I had done in the past. By paying attention to the classifications, I could search in a manner that matched the classification system. Further, I could also view general areas related to my topic within a library, to find other items related to my topic. It has been years since I searched in a library this way. Even when I did, I did not understand the classification system well enough to use it effectively. I have now bookmarked some great resources to help me with identifying Subject Headings to search with. When I think of developing information literacy with my students, this not only helps them find information, but helps them build a vocabulary for locating and managing information.

I was very interested in the Sears classification system on a personal level. When I read about this classification system, and how it was intended for smaller libraries, I immediately thought about how my compilation of information is also like a small library. I need to develop consistent and efficient classification systems for my information in order to make it manageable. In the two weeks I have been using Evernote, I have already added 85 entries. It would be easy to “mis-shelve” something if I used improper or inaccurate tags. Students need to be taught classification skills for this purpose as well.

I looked at the databases more carefully during this process. A previous instructor had set up a session with a librarian from the University of Alberta to explain RefWorks and the databases to us. I recall the librarian explaining the differences between the databases and the reasoning for choosing one over another (i.e. searching for complete articles, Canadian content, books, etc.). In light of this assignment, these explanations hold more meaning. I used CBCA Education for Canadian journal articles. It is on the Proquest platform, which I find easy to use. I have also used ERIC, but it can be challenging to use at times. Proquest has been the database I have used most often. It also provides me with timely journal articles extending beyond Canadian content. For my students, I see the importance in teaching them to seek information from various resources in our libraries (encyclopedias, dictionaries, fiction and non-fiction, etc.) in addition to the information on the internet and how to choose the best resource. We need students to think about why certain types of information work better than others at certain times. This is another component of information literacy we need to intentionally teach rather than leaving to incidental occurances.

Finally, I compiled the information I had about authors, books, journals and social media. It was another great refresher to re-examine the authors of books and journals I had previously read or wanted to read. I had honestly forgotten some of their names. I felt better organized once I sorted through and identified which authors supported the various aspects of my inquiry topic. When I went looking for social media to follow, I started with the names and websites I already knew were reliable, and built from there. The social media is a new component for me, but I see the potential for building the personal learning networks (PLNs) which support the areas of my inquiry. I know students are already using these tools in their personal lives. To foster information literacy students need to realize the value of these tools in the educational setting as well.

At the end of this pathfinder experience I am left with many more questions. I feel a sense of triump, relief and satisfaction with my new understandings. Again, this is a part of the affective domain of learning.