What is information literacy?

Information literacy skills are critical thinking competencies, and they “form the
basis for lifelong learning”. These acquired research skills are common to all
programs of study, to all learning environments whether in class on online, and
can be applied in all levels of education be it high school, college or university.
Students are enabled “to master content, become self-directed learners, and
assume greater control over their own learning”
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/standards.pdf .

By the time you graduate from NAIT, you should have developed specific
research and information literacy skills. Your capping project will require these
skills and will give you an opportunity to demonstrate to potential employers that
you have the ability to:

- determine the nature and extent of the information needed

- research information effectively and efficiently
- critically evaluate information and information sources
- use and communicate information effectively to complete a
specific purpose
- describe the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the
use of information

Recent advances in technology have made a huge improvement in the amount

and quality of information you have readily available to you when you do
research. The downside is that the vast number of print, electronic and multi-
media resources available can be overwhelming. However, you can develop and
expand your information literacy expertise incrementally over time, further
expanding your research competencies over the course of your degree.

Watch this video to get more details about information literacy, and to learn how
your instructors and librarians can help.

Information literate people know that taking advantage of the resources and
services available through libraries is one of the best ways to save time and
access high quality information. To successfully complete this course and your
degree at NAIT you will need to be thoroughly familiar with NAIT Libraries.

Where is the library?

McNally Library is located in U310, on the third floor of the Learning Resources
Centre. Click here to take a virtual tour of McNally Library, located on metro
campus.

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Whether you choose to work in the library or at home, you should become
familiar with the NAIT Libraries’ website, located at http://www.nait.ca/tci/library
because it is a gateway to library resources and services.

How can you locate books, articles and more?

The library website is your gateway to the collection. From here, you will be able
to search the online catalogue, called NAITCat, to locate books, magazines,
journals, newspapers, websites, DVDs and videos etc. You can search NAITCat
by keywords, titles, authors and subjects. Search tips are listed there for help.

You can search for periodical (magazine, journal and newspaper) articles, e-
books and more in the online subscription databases. Many databases contain
the complete full-text article, while others offer a citation only (the information that
you need to locate the article, but not the entire text). Some databases are
actually groups of entire books (e-books) that you can search by topic or chapter,
and others include annual reports or company profiles.

The databases are grouped by broad topics, and NAIT students have access to
all of them. You’ll want to choose an appropriate database for your specific
research needs.

The following videos offer brief instructions on how to locate and search two
particular databases, Business Source Complete and CPI.Q.

If you want to access the databases from off-campus you will have to
authenticate by logging on with your student number and name. Click on tips for
authenticating databases from off campus to get more help.

What research help is available?

When beginning your research from the library website, you may want to click on
the Program Resource Guides created for the Bachelor of Technology in
Technology Management for information, tips and resources related specifically
to your program. You’ll notice there are guides created for your courses
including BTE321 – Critical Reading and Writing.

If you need some personalized help with your information research for any of
your BTech classes, be sure to book a convenient research appointment with a
librarian who is familiar with your classes.

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There’s also a link to Online Reference & Websites where you can access quick
links to useful websites, including online dictionaries & thesauri, encyclopedias,
government sites and internet indexes.

Where can you find out about library services?

The first place to go for details is the Services tab on the blue toolbar of the
library website. Here, you will find information such as the libraries’ hours of
operation, and how to request renewals of book loans or delivery of materials.

Don’t miss the Ask Us links on the library website for more individual assistance.
You can get in touch with library staff for help via phone, the Ask A Question
reference email, instant messaging or by coming in person to the Help Desk at
McNally Library.

The library blog is updated daily with general library information & quick tips for
students. Add your comments to the blog so we can respond!

For further instructions outlining library services, see Using the Library .

What if you need resources brought to NAIT Libraries?

Click here to find information about requesting resources via Interlibrary Loans.

You can also access the TAL (The Alberta Library) online catalogue to search for
resources in libraries located across the province. Materials can be brought to
NAIT from TAL Online as well (all you need to do is click the Request button after
you identify the item you need). To search TAL Online, please click here.

As a NAIT student, you can also get a free TAL Card, which allows you to borrow
material from several hundred Alberta libraries (including but not limited to the
University of Alberta.) We’ll even send the items back for you! You can sign up
for your TAL Card at the Checkout desk in McNally library. Please see here for
more information on obtaining your TAL Card.

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The Libraries’ website also has information on specific questions you’ll need
answers to in order to complete this course:

What are the rules on copyright?

Have you ever wondered what copyright was, or what it entailed? Is the copy
you’re making at the Xerox machine legal? Did you know there are limitations on
what and how much you can copy? Keep reading here to become familiar with
copyright details.

What criteria are necessary to evaluate information sources?

Not all websites are equal in providing valuable information. If you use the web
for serious research, you need to cultivate the habit of healthy skepticism, of
using your critical thinking skills to question everything you find. How reliable is
the information? Does the author have credible qualifications that make him/her
an expert in this field? Is the information unbiased and neutral? We recommend
using The CRAAP Test as a checklist of criteria to evaluate website information.

This interactive tutorial about using credible sources will also give you tips on
evaluating websites.

What is plagiarism really?

Researching ethically is also researching efficiently: you should not only learn
how to avoid plagiarism, but you can also pick up some good research tips from
this interactive tutorial. Here’s another link to help you understand plagiarism,
what it is and how to avoid it.

What’s the best and quickest way to do proper citations?

It is essential that you give credit to the works and writings of authors you use in
research and scholarly papers (this is a critical part of avoiding plagiarism). There
are some quick links on the library website that will help you become familiar with
citation tips and tools. Whether you create citations using MLA, APA or CSE
styles, you will find some NAIT-specific examples for documenting sources.
Librarians recommend using an online citation builder, like KnightCite or Source

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Aid, to input your data and create citations according to a particular citation style.
Remember to consult the style guides for final edits and formatting.

You may also want to watch these quick videos that instruct students on how to
use KnightCite to cite a book, a journal article from a database, or a website in
MLA format.