by Mollie Pollard/reporter
The TR Campus library delivers free information literacy classes to any TCC student.
The course provides information on proper research and helps students find legitimate resources fast and efficiently, said Danelle Toups, TR library services assistant director.
The class wants students to understand the meaning of good searching.
Upon completion of the class, students receive a certificate as well as 0.30 continuing education units that appear on their transcripts.
“Computers are as smart as the person operating them,” Toups said. “With cyberspace becoming so muddled, it is relatively harder to locate credible and reliable resources to help guide in the most appropriate directions.”
The assistant director believes the information literacy class is a cold drink of water to students trying to write a research paper. Some students get anxiety when told they have to include three or more sources in a research paper, she said.
“Finding sources can be easy. The student just has to be familiar with tools and know how locate them when needed,” said Robert Tracy, a first-year student at TCC.
The information literacy class is taught by an instructor from the library who allows the student to work hands-on, step by step with them.
“We are not instruction readers in today’s society,” Toups said.
The class offers validation that the student will find a way to locate maximized resources as well as limit their frustrations, Toups said.
“Students will discover where to find databases that will promptly collaborate an accurate, ever-so-hated Works Cited page so the student does not have to do so. It is done for them automatically,” she said during a class lecture.
Tracy found the course beneficial.
“I would highly recommend this class,” he said. “Investing three hours of your time will save you many, many hours on writing assignments. And it’s free.”
Toups said time can be a big part of a college student’s life.
“Learning how to prioritize time is a huge lesson that can’t be taught in a three-hour class, but it can certainly make it that much easier,” she said.
The offered class does not just have to be for students. If individuals are just curious on how to find precise information on the Internet, they can attend too, Toups said.
“I’m a teacher on an adventure to experience what it is like for a student. With this experience, it will help me to assist my fellow students,” said computer science associate professor and Phi Theta Kappa adviser Tyson McMillan. “There are so many different kinds of resources in our schools that the student body is not aware of. If the students were aware of these tools, college could be a little easier.”
To enroll in the information literacy certificate program, log in to WebAdvisor, click the registration link and follow procedure as for any class.
