This document discusses five key things that college freshmen need to know to succeed in their research. The five things are: 1) understanding the information cycle, 2) knowing what a scholarly source is and when to use one, 3) why Google alone is not sufficient for college-level research, 4) how to efficiently and effectively search for information using library databases and catalogs, and 5) that librarians and media specialists can help students with their research. The document emphasizes that developing information literacy skills is important for students' academic performance, retention in college, and long-term success.

1. TRANSITIONING
TO COLLEGE
The Top Five Things Students
Need to Know to Succeed
Missouri School Boards’ Association Conference,
Sept. 28, 2012
Ngaire Smith, Reference and Instruction Librarian, Missouri State
University Libraries
ngairesmith@missouristate.edu

2. DIGITAL NATIVES
 Incoming college freshmen are
Tech savvy
Adept at using the Internet for social
purposes
 Incoming college freshmen lack
Skillsin finding and using scholarly
information
Familiarity with libraries as 2
information sources

3. TOP FIVE THINGS COLLEGE
FRESHMEN NEED TO KNOW
1. The information cycle
2. What is a scholarly source? When (and
why) should I use one?
3. Why not Google?
4. How do I find information efficiently and
effectively?
5. Who can help me when I run into
problems?
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4. 1. THE INFORMATION CYCLE
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5. 2. WHAT’S A SCHOLARLY SOURCE?
 Journals
 Scholarly databases
 Scholarly books
 Reference sources
 Why do students need to know this?
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6. USING SCHOLARLY SOURCES FOR
COLLEGE LEVEL RESEARCH
 Sample research assignments:
 My professor told me to find three peer reviewed
articles on the effects of chronic wasting disease on
deer populations in Missouri. How do I find them?
 Where would I find the 10K report for Dell Inc.?
I need five original research articles on nutrition and
kidney disease for my dietetics class. Where should I
look?
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7. 3. WHY NOT GOOGLE?
 Everything’s online, right?
 (The Criminal Minds Effect)
 So why does Google ask me to pay for articles?
 Theauthority problem: who wrote this?
Do they know what they are writing
about?
 Many scholarly sources are unavailable
through Google 7

8. 4. EFFECTIVE SEARCHING
Using library databases and catalogs, users can:
Narrow and focus their searches
Instantly access scholarly sources
Find other sources in the bibliography
Save time and frustration
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9. 5. LIBRARIANS AND MEDIA
SPECIALISTS CAN HELP!
 58% of students “not sure” whether library offers
access to online databases (De Rosa et al. 2006)!
 Morenet
 Librarians and media specialists can:
 Point students towards high quality sources they
may not know about
 Teach students efficient and effective search
techniques
 Guide students towards self-sufficiency
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10. RESEARCH SUGGESTS….
 Library use increases academic performance
 Goodin (1991) found that high school students who
received library instruction at an academic library:
 Produced work that was acceptable at the college level
 Library use improves student retention
 Haddow and Joseph (2010) found that students who
used the library in their first semester were more
likely to stay in college
 Information literacy skills smooth the transition
to college 10

11. THE “SO WHAT?” FACTOR
 Why is this important in college?
 Time management and stress reduction
 Better papers and assignments
 Good grades
 Good job!
 Why is this important in the long run?
 Keeping up with your field
 Researching life’s challenges
 Participating in democracy 11

12. REFERENCE LIST
 DeRosa, Cathy, Joanne Cantrell, Janet Hawk, & Alane
Wilson. 2006. College Students’Perceptions of Libraries and
Information Resources. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC.
 Goodin, M. Elspeth. 1991. “The Transferability of Library
Research Skills from High School to College.” School
Library Media Quarterly. 20 (1): 33-42.
 Haddow, Gaby, and Jayanthi Joseph. 2010. “Loans, Logins,
and Lasting the Course: Academic Library Use and
Student Retention.” Australian Academic and Research
Libraries, 41 (4): 233-244.
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