information literacy report

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P A N I T Z A L I B R A R Y

INFORMATION LITERACY REPORT 2019/2020 Academic Year

All Library educational trainings aim to help students form a basis for improvement of their

information literacy skills, good reading habits, and opportunities for professional development.

Thanks to the gradual introduction of the concepts of the ACRL Information Literacy Framework,

the 2019/20 academic year was rich in a number of trainings that tailored the emphasis of the

Framework’s core ideas about the current information ecosystem.

With the advent of C-19 pandemic, our IL program was also affected due to the transfer of all

classes to the online environment. Ten of the regular classes were conducted online in different

platforms. The asynchronous style of learning, the short time for exploration of the virtual

classroom functionalities, and the technical issues were among the major challenges for the

learning process. Good pre-class preparation and communication with the professor and

students as well as tool/s choice to ensure that students can have equitable experience were also

a big challenge. Therefore, acquiring more knowledge and practice of the various new platforms

for online teaching is among my priorities for the effective delivery of our IL program in the

future.

During all virtual classes, students were asked to keep their microphones muted so to prevent

any background noises and to allow a smoother teaching process. This affected the discussions

severely as not knowing the students in person hampered the ease of communication with them.

Sometimes students’ lack of digital literacy skills and the devices they were using hindered them

from being able to use the platform functionalities; likewise, sometimes even the Internet

connectivity was an issue as networks were overloaded at the time of the pandemic. The virtual

environment welcomed many distractions for some students, as they got easily tempted to open

social media or other websites without the instructor’s knowledge.

All the ten online classes heavily relied on the use of the Credo Instruct modules as a supporting

flipped-classroom activities which allowed us to devote more time to hands-on instruction and

engage our patrons with Credo’s high-quality videos and tutorials. Credo Instruct provides ACRL-

aligned materials to helped me during the online classes disseminate knowledge about

information literacy to AUBG students. Occasional interruptions with the Library’s remote access

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led to a number of students to being unable to connect. Those students were asked to make up

the missed Credo modules in a convenient time for them in the following weeks.

The current AUBG IL program includes a series of meta-literacy one-shot sessions that build

strong IL and critical thinking skills in AUBG students. These series encompass the freshmen

orientation week, ENG 101 and ENG 102 courses and support them to master content and extend

their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own

learning.

The orientation class introduced students to the Library’s resources, services, and facilities. A

huge priority was given to the accurate way of finding and reading the call numbers of the print

books. The understanding of the call numbers is regarded as the first step to becoming an

independent researcher and through an effective lecture delivery which included a video tutorial

and a game this part of students’ library training was successfully completed. During the 2019/20

academic year, we conducted 21 such trainings (16 in the Fall and 5 in the Spring semester) with

296 students trained.

The ENG 101 classes initiate the first steps students will need to learn for the actual research

process. In these classes, students were confronted with the problems of a simple Google and

Wikipedia search and were instructed where to perform it better. Students also learnt the basic

logic behind the use of keywords, how to identify them from a given context as well as the

different ways of linking them to retrieve better results. A special emphasis was placed on

plagiarism as a concept of intellectual property to introduce the frame “Information Has Value”

through warnings about the copyright law. During the 2019/20 academic year, we conducted 12

such trainings (10 in the Fall and 2 in the Spring semester) with 247 students trained. One of the

Spring sessions was conducted online.

The ENG 102 sessions focused on the upgrade of the basic searching skills to the more complex

techniques. The frame “Research as Inquiry” was emphasized in these classes so that learners

can acquire strategic perspectives on inquiry and a greater stock of investigative/research

methods. Students were introduced to the most important Library databases, including the ones

that provide electronic books. In addition to the advanced searching techniques, students were

instructed on some of the major features of the databases. Students were also allotted some

time to putting all the knowledge into practice during the class. Recapitulation of the plagiarism

concept prevailed during the session to set the stage for an honest scholarship creation. During

the 2019/20 academic year, we conducted 11 such trainings (2 in the Fall and 10 in the Spring

semester) with 227 students trained. Three of the Spring sessions were conducted online.

During the 2019/20 academic year, AUBG Library also offered other types of IL instruction:

Orientation Trainings – designed for:

EMBA students,

faculty,

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staff, and

non-AUBG visitors

Online Trainings – tailored to support the in-class trainings of the ENG102 classes through

the use of an online platform

Discipline-Specific Library Instruction – tailored to the specific needs of the higher-level

courses

Individual Trainings

ORIENTATION TRAININGS

This is an hour-long training for anyone who has not been introduced to Panitza Library. Students,

faculty, staff and visitors are given the ABC’s of the Library – its facilities, resources and services,

policies and procedures, webpage, catalog, etc.

ONLINE TRAININGS

In addition to the in-class trainings and to keep up with the newest trends in teaching, we

continued to incorporate the online platform for blended learning now called Credo Instruct. The

platform was again embedded in the Canvas module of all ENG101 and ENG102 classes so that

students could use it anytime anywhere. Mapped with the ACRL Framework and Standards well-

designed content that is frequently updated, the platform effectively teaches students all the

steps of the research process. Using it, we were able to develop and strengthen students’

analytical critical thinking skills with standards-aligned, subject-specific content and practice.

During the 2019/20 academic year, there were 537 students trained online.

DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC LIBRARY INSTRUCTION

The target group for this type of instruction is students who have taken a decision on a major

study program. The presentations can include a very detailed instruction on using a discipline-

specific database, information on the topic in other databases, a selection of reference materials

on the topic, specifics in searching for information on the internet on the topic and others. They

can also be tailored to a specific course assignment. Students are taught special concepts and

techniques and how to conduct advanced searches in the databases. During the 2019/20

academic year, we conducted 29 such trainings (15 in the Fall and 14 in the Spring semester) with

722 students trained. Six of the Spring sessions were conducted online.

INDIVIDUAL TRAININGS

These are extra, mainly individual trainings for students and faculty who need additional practice

on various topics related to the Library’s resources and services. The sessions can be designed

for general instruction or according to the topics related to patrons’ research needs. They are

generally held in Panitza Library. During the 2019/20 academic year, we conducted 9 such

trainings (4 in the Fall and 5 in the Spring semester).

Overall, through our program we motivate AUBG students to become information literate and

life-long learning members of the society. This is evident by the number of trainings conducted

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during the 2019/20 academic year. The total number of trained students was 1,591 and the total

number of the sessions were 82 altogether for both semesters.

Classes held during Fall 2019

# Professor Class Session Date Location Number of Students

1 Teodora

Kiryakova-Dineva

Introduction to German Language

and Culture I

Library Resources for German Language

16.09.2019 MB 101B 12

2 Teodora

Kiryakova-Dineva


and Culture I


16.09.2019 MB 227 8

3 Teodora

Kiryakova-Dineva

Intermediate German:

Perspectives on German-

speaking Cultures


16.09.2019 MB 110 8

4 Vincent Kazer

Writing Academic Research

Papers

Steps of Research

17.09.2019 MB 121 18

5 Maia

Parmakova

Strategies for

Academic Success

Library Services & Resources

18.09.2019 BAC 206 19

6 Maia

Parmakova Steps to Success

Effective Listening and Note-Taking

Skills as Part of the IL Skills

23.09.2019 ABF 6304 48

7 Maia




24.09.2019 ABF 6304 63

5

8 Maia


The Importance of Information &

Visual Literacy 30.09.2019 ABF 6304 32

9 Maia



Visual Literacy 01.10.2019 ABF 6304 56

10 Augustine

Worth Exposition

Keywords Identification &

Plagiarism 04.10.2019 MB 121 24

11 Rositsa

Gradeva

Muslims, Christians

and Jews in the Ottoman

Empire

History Research 09.10.2019 MB 121 11

12 Lubomir Terziev

Exposition Keywords

Identification & Plagiarism

14.10.2019 MB 121 24

13 Ioanna

Yfantidou Marketing Research

Business & Economics Research

Databases

15.10.2019 MB 14 22

14 John Mullen


Papers

Steps of Research

17.10.2019 MB 121 14

15 Michael Cohen

Exposition Keywords


21.10.2019 MB 121 22

16 Olga

Nikolova Exposition


Plagiarism 22.10.2019 MB 121 23

17 Olga

Nikolova Exposition


Plagiarism 22.10.2019 MB 121 24

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18 Vladimir Levchev

Exposition Keywords


05.11.2019 MB 121 23

19 Vincent Kazer Exposition Keywords


08.11.2019 MB 121 24

20 Vincent Kazer Exposition Keywords


08.11.2019 MB 121 21

21 Maia




11.11.2019 BAC 103 26

22 John Mullen Exposition Keywords


12.11.2019 MB 121 18

23 John Mullen Exposition Keywords


12.11.2019 MB 121 21

24 Maia




13.11.2019 BAC 103 56

25 Maia



Visual Literacy 18.11.2019 BAC 103 22

26 Magdalena Bernaciak

Research Methods

The Research Process

19.11.2019 BAC 201 11

27 Maia




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Orientation and Individual Trainings

28 New

Student Orientation

Freshman Orientation -

Group 9


30.08.2019 BAC 201/

Library 12

29 New

Student Orientation


Group 10


30.08.2019 BAC 201/

Library 13

30 New

Student Orientation


Group 11


30.08.2019 BAC 201/

Library 16

31 New

Student Orientation


Group 12


30.08.2019 BAC 201/

Library 13

32 New

Student Orientation


Group 13


30.08.2019 BAC 201/

Library 15

33 New

Student Orientation


Group 14


30.08.2019 BAC 201/

Library 11

34 New

Student Orientation


Group 15


30.08.2019 BAC 201/

Library 13

35 New

Student Orientation


Group 16


30.08.2019 BAC 201/

Library 14

36 New

Student Orientation


Group 1


01.09.2019 BAC 201/

Library 8

37 New

Student Orientation


Group 2


01.09.2019 BAC 201/

Library 15

8

38 New

Student Orientation


Group 3


01.09.2019 BAC 201/

Library 16

39 New

Student Orientation


Group 4


01.09.2019 BAC 201/

Library 14

40 New

Student Orientation


Group 5


01.09.2019 BAC 201/

Library 11

41 New

Student Orientation


Group 6


01.09.2019 BAC 201/

Library 15

42 New

Student Orientation


Group 7


01.09.2019 BAC 201/

Library 15

43 New

Student Orientation


Group 8


01.09.2019 BAC 201/

Library 16

44 Individual

Library Training

Jodi Hilton Library Services

& Resources 03.09.2019 Library 1

45 Individual

Library Training

Vincent Kazer


12.09.2019 Library 1

46 Individual

Library Training

Maria Sivkova

JMC Resources 17.09.2019 Library 1

47 Individual

Library Training

Teodor Iliev Library Services


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Classes held during Spring 2020

# Professor Class Session Date Location Number of Students

1 Augustine

Worth


Papers

Steps of Research

24.01.2020 MB 121 24

2 Vincent Kazer


Papers

Steps of Research

29.01.2020 MB 121 24

3 Vincent Kazer


Papers

Steps of Research

30.01.2020 BAC 201 23

4 Teodora

Kiryakova-Dineva


and Culture II


03.02.2020 MB 111 10

5 Teodora

Kiryakova-Dineva

Intermediate German

Composition and

Conversation


03.02.2020 MB 4A 4

6 Teodora

Kiryakova-Dineva

Modern Germany: Society,

Politics, and Culture


03.02.2020 MB 110 4

7 Olga

Nikolova


Papers

Steps of Research

04.02.2020 MB 121 25

8 Maia

Parmakova

Strategies for Academic

Success


04.02.2020 BAC 326 19

10

9 Maia




05.02.2020 BAC 103 29

10 Sean

Homer


Papers

Steps of Research

07.02.2020 MB 121 25

11 Augustine

Worth

English Grammar

and Structure

Resources for Improving

Grammar and Writing Skills

07.02.2020 BAC 204 10

12 Maia




13 Laura Kelly Advanced Writing for

Media

Effective Searching

13.02.2020 BAC 204 20

14 Lubomir Terziev


Papers

Steps of Research

24.02.2020 MB 121 25

15 Lubomir Terziev

Exposition Keywords


25.02.2020 MB 121 11

16 Serguey Ivanov

Introduction to World Religions

Website Evaluation part.1

10.03.2020 online 32

17 Serguey Ivanov

History of Christianity


11.03.2020 online 24

18 Serguey Ivanov

Byzantine History


11.03.2020 online 23

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19 Serguey Ivanov

History of Christianity


13.03.2020 online 32

20 Serguey Ivanov

Introduction to World Religions


13.03.2020 online 24

21 Serguey Ivanov

Byzantine History


13.03.2020 online 23

22 Vladimir Levchev


Papers

Steps of Research

19.03.2020 online 24

23 John

Mullen


Papers

Steps of Research

20.03.2020 online 15

24 John

Mullen


Papers

Steps of Research

20.03.2020 online 10

25 Vincent Kazer

Exposition Keywords


24.03.2020 online 12

Orientation and Individual Trainings

26 New EMBA

Student Orientation

EMBA Group 1


13.01.2020 BAC 204 14

27 New EMBA

Student Orientation

EMBA Group 2


13.01.2020 BAC 204 14

28 New

Student Orientation


Group 1


16.01.2020 BAC 201/

Library 13

12

29 New

Student Orientation


Group 2


16.01.2020 BAC 201/

Library 11

30

New EMFBRE Student

Orientation

Cohort Orientation


23.01.2020 Elieff

Center 8

31 Veselin

Filev Faculty

Orientation Library Services


32 Evelina Van

Mensel Faculty



33 Hermes

Cati Individual Training


03.02.2020 Library 1

34 Simona Veleva

Faculty Orientation


07.02.2020 Library 1

35 Ioanna

Yfantidou Faculty


& Resources 13.02.2020 MB 253 1

information literacy report

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