Information Literacy Post-Test

The purpose of this survey is to track student learning of information literacy skills and techniques during their academic career at BCC. Through your participation in this Post-Test, we will be better able to determine the information instruction needs of students. While your participation in the Post-Test is required, you will not receive a grade for this exercise. We very much appreciate your help on this assessment project. Thank you.

Section One

Name:

For the following questions, fill in the radio button that most appropriately answers each question.

1.Are you a new student at BCC? Yes  No

2. In which section of English 102 are you enrolled in?

3. In which year and semester are you enrolled in? Fall Spring Year

4. What is your gender? Female  Male

5. Do you consider yourself to be computer literate? Yes  No

6. How often did you ask for research help at either a public or educational library in the past year?
Never
1 - 4 times
5 - 7 times
8 or more times

Section Two

For questions 7 - 11, give a score of from 0-5 for the activities on which you spend the most time doing when you are on the computer.  A score of 5 would be for item/s you spend the greatest amount of time on, and 1 for those you spend the least amount of time on. If you do not have access to a computer, or if you have not engaged in a particular activity, respond by marking the box with a "0." We are looking for answers that accurately capture your real activities, so don't worry if your answers don't seem scholarly.

7. Communicating via e-mail, in a chat-room or posting to a Blog..

8. Creating/maintaining a Blog or website.

9. Downloading music, videos, or graphics.

10. Playing games.

11. Searching Google Scholar or on a Periodical Research Database.

Section Three

For questions 1-20, fill in the radio button/s that most appropriately answers each question.

1. Encyclopedias should never be used for any aspect of a college assignment. Agree  Disagree

2. Internet search engines, such as Google, provide the most reliable and scholarly information for coursework needs. Agree  Disagree

3. When locating the resources below, which library tool is best to use from columns A and B?

	A	B
	Online Public Access Catalog (alone or through OneSearch)	Print Databases or Online Periodical Databases (individually or through OneSearch.)
Books held in the Jonathan Edwards Library?
A New York Times article?
A list of book reviews for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?
Books held in other libraries in the Berkshires?
Jazz CD’s in the Jonathan Edwards Library

4. When beginning research, what is the best resource to use in order to familiarize yourself with a topic that is new to you?
Magazine article
An encyclopedia
A 300 page book

5. I can find a book by searching by the following fields in the Online Public Access Catalog:
Author
Title
Call Number
Subject Heading
Keyword
All the above

6. Books at the Jonathan Edwards library can most easily be found by looking in:
the the Jonathan Edwards Online Public Access Catalog directly through CW/MARS or through OneSearch.
the Infotrac One database
on Ask Jeeves
All the above.

7. Why use a keyword search when you are trying to locate resources in the Library's Public Access Catalog?
Keyword searches are processed quicker by the computer system than subject searches.
The results will include only those items that are currently on the shelf.
You will get more results than you need.
Keyword searching allows you to combine terms which may produce better, more specific results.

8. Citations for articles can be found:
in the print and online periodical indexes
on the Jonathan Edwards Library Catalog, also called the Public Access Catalog
in the Library's periodical listing guide in the reference room..
All the above.

9. Scholarly articles are most often published in:
magazines
journals
newspapers

10. You are writing a paper on “exercise and health” and you use this phrase in a keyword search to find articles in one of the library databases. Your search, though, produces several thousand articles. Which of the following suggestions would help you retrieve fewer and more useful results?
Try the same search on Google.
Try the following terms instead “physical fitness and vitality”
Search each of your keyword terms separately.
Narrow your topic to an aspect of exercise and health and use keywords that are more specific to your revised topic

11. Your teacher just passed out research paper topics on birds and you’ve been assigned the topic of the rare migrating Northeastern wood warbler. You know nothing about wood warblers. What do you do? (Choose two)
Ask your Professor for a different assignment.
Search the Jonathan Edwards Library Catalog for a book on rare wood warblers.
Search Google or another search engine for general information to begin with.
Consult an encyclopedia or reference source on Eastern birds.
Search one of our databases for an article.
Peruse the shelves of books downstairs in the hopes of stumbling on something.
Run to the Reference Librarian and ask for help

12. What is necessary to have when using a search engine for academic purposes?
internet access
criteria for evaluating web sites.
a search strategy
All the above.

13. Are HTML articles retrieved through a database cited differently than print articles? Yes  No

14. Select which of the following best describe the characteristics of a scholarly journal and which describe those of a magazine.

	A	B
	Journal	Magazine
Written for the general public
List of sources are listed in a bibliography.
Covers current events and recent news.
Articles are written by experts in the field.
Articles feature photos and advertisements

15. Plagiarism is against our policies here at Berkshire Community College. Which of the following best defines what plagiarism is:
Cutting and pasting material directly out of Google and not citing your source.
Copying material out of a book, newspaper, journal or any other print source without citing your source.
Falsly presenting someone else's work as your own.
All the above.

16. Choose one example of Boolean Logic from the examples below that would produce the greatest number of articles in a database search.
Palm or Blackberry
Palm near Blackberry
Palm and Blackberry
Palm not Blackberry

17.Select which of the following are primary and which are secondary research sources

	A	B
	Primary	Secondary
Biography of Mark Twain
Research on experimental cancer treatment.
Review of a book on gender and bias in education.
The autobiography of Eminem
Copy of the United States Constitution.

18.Your professor advocates intelligent use of internet sources. If you are researching a web site produced by the American Rifle Association, which questions should you ask when evaluating the site. ?
Is there a bias present? Was this site designed to sway opinion?
Is the information factual and error-free? Can it be verified?
How current is the information presented?
Does the site have an "About" or organizational mission page?
All the above

19. The following citation is for a:
book
article from online periodical database
webpage of a Professor
website on Google

Breen, Christopher. "The Apple TV gains YouTube support; Update adds new streaming capabilities and more.(VIDEO)." Macworld 24.9 (Sept 2007): 24(1). Academic OneFile. Gale. Berkshire Community College. 28 Aug. 2007 <http://find.galegroup.com/itx/start.do?prodId=AONE>.

20. What is the best way to find the text of articles written before 1960 in the Jonathan Edwards Library?
Find the citation for an article using a print index and then either see if our Library has it on microfilm, or request it
through InterLibrary Loan.
Go online and find the publisher and see if they sell the article.
Drive to another library to get it.
Try to find an article written after 1990.