Franklin
& Marshall College Library
Information Literacy
Survey
Please complete
this survey to help the librarians better understand first‑year student
knowledge of a college
library
and to better tailor our teaching to your needs.
1. The best place to
look for background or introductory information on a topic (such as
"astronomy") is:
a)
A library catalog
b)
A reference book
c) A scholarly journal
2. A primary source contains:
a) Research on the first primates
b)
Data gathered from a primary election
c)
Information produced in the original historical context
3.
To find the most current information on a topic, it is best to consult:
a)
Books
b)
Journal articles
c) Encyclopedias
4.
You are assigned to research the topic "stem cells" by starting
with general research
sources, then proceeding to more specific sources. Which
of the following sequences best illustrates this progression:
a) Books » Journal articles » Encyclopedias
b) Journal articles » Encyclopedias » Books
c)
Encyclopedias » Books » Journal
articles
5. A bibliography is a list of:
a) Information
sources
b) Geographic
sites
c) Libraries
6. The best
way to find out if the library has a look that you need is to:
a)
Look around for the book on the shelves
b) Look up the book in a catalog
c) Find the title in a bibliography
7. What are the main concepts or ideas in the following research question:
"What are the effects of increasing global warming on oceans?"
a) global warming, oceans
b) increasing, global warming,
oceans
c) effects, global warming,
oceans
8. Information
found on the Internet may not lie appropriate for scholarly research because:
a) Scholars
do not put information on the Internet
b) Most
information on the Internet is free for anyone to to
use
c) Not all
information on the Internet is authoritative
9. A professor requires you to read 3 scholarly articles from 3 different
sources about the
presidential
election of 2000. It is best to start looking for these articles using:
a) An Internet
search engine (Google, Yahoo, etc.)
b) The library
catalog
c) A journal index
10.
Read the following research question and determine which of the following
statements
would retrieve the best results from a database search:
"What was the role of women in the Civil War?"
a) role and Civil War
b) women and Civil War
c) role or women or Civil War
a) true
b) false
12. There is scholarly information
on the Internet available only through a paid subscription
by a library.
a) true
b) false
13. I do not need to question
or evaluate the information I find in library resources.
a) true
b) false
14. Students do not need to
be concerned about copyright issues because educational uses of
information are exempt from copyright
rules.
a) true
b) false
15. Electronic journals always
feature the exact same content as print journals.
a) true
b) false
During your high school career
how often did you use a computerized index of journal articles
or books to find information
on a topic?
never once 2‑5
times more than
5 times
During your high school career
how often did you have to write a research paper which
required you to use sources beyond
those used in your class?
never once 2‑5
times more than
5 times
Name: Year:
FR SO
(we request your name only for data gathering purposes, to avoid
duplication. Your name and responses will not be seen by your professor.)
Adapted from Assessment in College Library Instruction Programs, ACRL, 2002.