Madhavun used the library catalog to find the book and searched its contents to find the answer to the question.

Grand Prize Winner:
Raj Kapadia

Our virtual Oscar: a librarian action figure

Throughout the week Raj demonstrated proficiency with the library catalog as his preferred search tool. Indeed, if used efficiently, the catalog can provide you with a lot of information and unlock many useful sources.
Raj also used Google Books to search for the text in the book. This is a wonderful research tool for finding text fragments, especially for books not available electronically in the UC collection.

See the names of other winners in our earlier post.

Congratulations, winners!

Many thanks to all the students who took part in the contest!

Good luck with your exams and have a great summer!

It was interesting for us to see how different students approached the same challenges and what tools and strategies they used. Here are some lessons from our participants and winners.

Monday challenge:
Which UC Library holds the film that received the 2008 Academy Award for Documentary Feature? What is the film title and call #?
Answer:
Langsam Media; Man on Wire GV550.2.P47 M36 2008 (DVD)
Winner: Sara Schrader
Lesson from the winner: Use multiple sources to verify your information. Sara used Google and Wikipedia to find or verify information about the award winners, others also used IMDB and the Academy Awards site.

Tuesday challenge:
This book consists of blow-up balloons, cardboard feet, and tails. What is the title of the book?  Where is it located and which collection is it part of?
Answer:
Blow a bunny, DAAP Artists’ Book Collection
Winner: Balaprakash Sugumar
Lesson from the winner: Records in the library catalog and other research databases include a lot of useful information. The record for this item included a description of this artist’s book.

Wednesday challenge:
This UC library has pictures of space-related images, games, puppets, science diagrams, and more. What is the name of the library? In which building on campus is it located?
Answer:
CECH Library Teachers College
This question turned out difficult, because some libraries matched some of the criteria and pieces of information were found on different web pages.
Winner: Christina Klapper
Lesson from the winner: Search the library website to find a lot of useful information about library resources and services.
The UC Libraries site search box is located on the left side of the home page. Some college and departmental libraries have boxes that allow you to search the content of their sites.

Thursday challenge:
This creative work inspired by the art and poetry of ancient China was submitted as a doctoral dissertation at the University of Cincinnati in 2000. What is the title of the dissertation and what degree was awarded to its author?
Answer:
Nocturne; D.M.A. (Doctor of Musical Arts)
Winner: Julia Martinez
Lesson from the winner:
Use key concepts of the research question as your keywords. Julia entered 2000 ancient china dissertation.
This search demonstrates once again that catalog records provide a lot of information to help you with your searching.
Another tip for this question is to use a specialized tool: other participants used the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database.

Friday challenge:
This source lists many creative ways to make money, including cricket farming. Who is the author of this source? What is the name of the inventor of the reindeer antlers people put on their dogs at Christmastime?
Answer:
Author: Gillman, Steven. Inventor: Harvey Reese
Lesson from this challenge:

The names of the Friday challenge and Grand Prize winners will be announced on Monday, April 22.

Thank you for participating in the UC Libraries’ first research skills contest. Please send your comment and suggestions for future contest to Olga Hart (olga.hart@uc.edu).

We got a variety of responses ranging from difficulty getting organized and pulling yourself away from Facebook or Pinterest to problems related to putting the results on paper and getting the research findings published.

To help our patrons to address some of these problems we put together a virtual exhibit Tips for Effective and Efficient Library Research. The exhibit features current e-books and print books from the UC Libraries’ collections related to various aspects of library research projects, from finding and evaluating sources to presenting your research results and getting them published. It also includes resources on successful management of your research projects.

While the books on finding sources are targeted primarily to undergraduates, books in other categories might be useful to broader audiences, including graduate and doctoral students and faculty.

We hope to expand this exhibit in the future by adding more online resources in a variety of formats. Please help us by using the Comments link to to share tutotials, books, and websites that helped you to improve your research skills. Let us know what libraries can do to help you to find, evaluate, and use information more effectively.

Recently I came across this stunning quote from James Madison in a fellow librarian’s blog post:

“A popular Government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”

On November 6 UC students along with the all voters will be casting their votes in the General Election. Do you have all the information you need to make the important decisions?

Earlier this month we asked the students who visit Langsam library to share the sources of information they use in order to decide how to vote.

Tumblr was the most popular source followed by Facebook and reddit.  The responses featured online news sources, TV and radio channels and talk shows, newspapers and magazine titles ranging from The New Republic to Huffington Post, and a broad range of websites, including RealClearPolitics , League of Women Voters, and predictably Wikipedia.

Thank you for sharing your favorite sources of information. Here are some resources recommended by librarians.

• For the candidates’ statements, campaign speeches, and press releases visit the American Presidency Project  (University of California, Santa Barbara).
• Missed the debates? Read the debate transcripts at the Commission on Presidential Debates site.
• What about the accuracy of the statements and claims made in the debates and speeches? Go to FactCheck.org or The Washington Times: The Fact Checker
• Haven’t seen enough political ads? Are they effective? Visit the USA TODAY’s Political Ad Tracker.
• For the polling data see Campaign 2012 Publications on Politics and Elections at the Pew Research Center.

The following premium library resources require off-campus access.

• Search news databases or browse newspapers  at UC Libraries.
• Get comprehensive data on American government, politics, history, public policy, and current affairs in CQ Electronic Library, especially the CQ Voting and Elections Collection.

Stay informed and make great decisions!

In October 2012 Ohio became the 19^th state to issue an Information Literacy Awareness Proclamation, a document that recognizes that “the ability to find, analyze and understand information on various formats is an essential skill to finding employment and successful careers in all sectors” and “seeks to reminds all citizens about the role of all libraries and librarians … in teaching information literacy.”

At the University of Cincinnati information literacy has long been recognized as a fundamental component of the four Baccalaureate Competencies (critical thinking, effective communication, knowledge integration, and social responsibility). Many courses include discussions, activities, and assignments aimed at developing the students’ ability to determine the nature of required information, to access it effectively and efficiently, to evaluate it critically, and to incorporate it into one’s knowledge system.

In our earlier post this month we invited faculty and students to comment on what the Libraries are doing to help with developing these crucial skills and what else we can do. Here are a couple of responses:

Many of my students are unaware of the need to use academic sources in their research — or they are intimidated by the sheer size of our library database. Through face-to-face seminars with Langsam’s knowledgeable staff, students feel more confident and can make more confident research claims. (Susan Meier, Writing & Rhetoric Instructor)

I’m a graduate teaching assistant in my fourth year of instruction here at UC. One of the biggest surprises I remember encountering my first year of teaching was realizing that the amount of time my first-year students spend online did not necessarily correlate to Google-results savvy. I soon came to realize that the “digital native” is a myth—or, even if it isn’t, that the digital native’s domain of intuitive knowledge does not necessarily extend to critical evaluations of online search results and potential sources.

I expected them to be unfamiliar with the library database, but it was a real shock to realize that their evaluative skills for navigating the non-proprietary Web would need coaching. I also quickly realized that teaching first-year students how to “read” Google results (and the webpages to which they link) is crucial for their success. Whether we like it or not, Google is usually the first place our students turn when faced with a class assignment, and therefore will play an important role in their future college research.

The librarians at Langsam have played a crucial role in developing my students’ understanding of online resource evaluation—and, through osmosis, also informing mine!  Particularly, they have contributed to my students’ success by encouraging students to find the kinds of sources that make sense for their particular assignment (whether on the wider web, or within the library’s own holdings), use advanced search tools, and helping students to understand authority and credibility in both scholarly and non-scholarly contexts. (Christina LaVecchia, Department of English and Comparative Literature)

Here are some resources and services the Libraries provide to help students  improve their research skills and understanding of sources of information:

• Library instruction: faculty and TAs are encouraged to contact their subject librarians to schedule an instruction session.
• Reference assistance and consultations: faculty and students can contact their subject librarian or ask a reference question at a library service desk, by phone, email, chat or text.  Reference assistance options.
• Our online tutorials and campus guides point you to resources and provide needed information anytime.
• Our Teaching Information Literacy Skills guide for faculty seeks to assist faculty with integration of information literacy skills by providing sample learning outcomes, suggestions for assignments and activities, links to relevant tutorials, etc.

Please let us know what else we can do by commenting on this post.