October is Information Literacy Month and National Book Month!

October is Information Literacy Month and National Book Month!

Have you ever gone to Google in a panic about a medical symptom and had to slog through confusing and contradictory information? Has a friend posted something on Facebook that didn’t seem accurate, but you weren’t sure how to find out if it was or not? Have you ever done an EBSCOhost search just for the fun of it?

These are all everyday situations where information literacy skills come in handy. You use these skills in class, when researching a vacation, when preparing for job interviews, and when coping with crises that arise among friends and family. Information literacy is all about knowing where to find solid information quickly and efficiently, and how to figure out whether the information you find is useful for your particular question.

Librarians are experts in teaching and using information literacy skills.  If you come to us with a question, we want you to go away knowing when one of the library’s article databases would best answer your question, or whether it’s better to use Google Scholar. We also hope to show you tricks and tips to help you Google better, and how to leverage all of the library resources to make your research (whether personal or school-related) quick and easy.

According to the National Forum on Information Literacy, Information Literacy Awareness Month is "about empowering every citizen in our nation and around the world with the 21st century skill set to achieve educational, professional, and personal success...ultimately, sustaining our long term economic future" (RI Library Association). Read the full Information Literacy proclamation at http://www.rilibraries.org/tags/proclamation
 

And while you’re at the library, pick up a book to read to celebrate National Book Month! You can also visit our Book Crossing shelf (to the right of the front door of the library) to pick up a free book. The idea is to get a free book, read it, then leave it where someone else can find it. The book’s progress can also be tracked online.

Go to the second floor stairwell to view our display of miniature and rare books, including some reading quotes to highlight National Book Month.  Included are Martin Del Rio’s Disquisitionum Magicarum Libri Sex (1679); a first American edition of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), illustrated by E. W. Kemble;  the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1884), translated by Edward Fitzgerald and illustrated by Elihu Vedder; and Grimm’s Fairy Tales (1914), complete edition, illustrated by Johnny Gruelle, who is more widely known as the person who created Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy.

The exhibit includes some Langenscheidt Lilliput language dictionaries, along with information about collecting miniature books.  There are also several quotations about books and reading in the display.

For more information about the display, or to share comments and suggestions, please contact Julie Swierczek, University Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, at julie.swierczek@salve.edu, or x2276.

Here are some photos, taken by Julie Swierczek, University Archivist and Special Collections Librarian (who also set up the display)-- the exhibit looks better in person though, so come check it out!

 

 

(Quotations designed by Quote Factory.)

Happy Information Literacy & National Book Month!

Thanks to Dawn Emsellem, Outreach and Instruction Librarian, and Julie Swierczek, University Archivist and Special Collections Librarian,  for contributing to this post.