Project Outputs and Publications

Book

The Data Information Literacy book was published in January 2015 by the Purdue University Press and compiles the different strategies and approaches used for developing data information literacy programs at Purdue University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Oregon, and Cornell University. The book includes an introduction of the concepts and ideas behind data information literacy, descriptions of the five case studies conducted, and a “DIL Toolkit” or a handbook for librarians interested in developing DIL programs. For more information on the book and where to buy it, please visit the Purdue University Press website.

Case Studies

The Data Information Literacy Case Studies Directory acts as a repository for materials used to teach DIL competencies students and faculty. Each case study includes a description of the program and any supplementary materials used in teaching the program. The repository welcomes case study submissions from librarians, archivists, and other information professions. For more information, please visit the repository.

Interview Instruments

The documents offered below comprise the instruments that were used to interview the faculty and graduate students who agreed to participate in the Data Information Literacy (DIL) project. The results of the interviews conducted by the librarians in this project will be used in conjunction with literature reviews and environmental scans to develop a DIL program that is based on disciplinary and local lab practices.

The interview instrument contains two parts: an Interview Worksheet and an Interviewer’s Manual. These parts are designed to be used in tandem with each other. Though many of the questions contained in the faculty and student instruments are similar, the documents do differ slightly from one another. The interview worksheet is given to the faculty or graduate student at the beginning of the interview. He or she is then asked to complete the worksheet one module at a time. As he or she completes a question, the interviewer asks the follow up questions that are contained in the Interviewer's Manual.

We are making this instrument publicly available with the hope that it will be useful for the broader community of information professionals. Please note that this tool was designed to be generic in nature so that it can cover any discipline. As a result, users of these tools may wish to adjust some of the questions or content in these instruments in order to suit particular needs, interests, or contexts.

In addition, faculty and students interviewed may have varying degrees of understanding of the concepts and skills discussed in these documents. Therefore, some of the terms and concepts may have to be explained in further detail by the interviewer during discussion.

Articles

Carlson, J., Johnston, L., Westra, B., & Nichols, M. (2013). Developing an approach for data management education: A report from the data information literacy project. International Journal of Digital Curation, 8(1). 204-217. doi:10.2218/ijdc.v8i1.254

The results of the interviews we conducted and brief descriptions of the Data Information Literacy programs we developed are presented in this article.

Johnston, L. and Jeffryes, J. (2013). Data Management Skills Needed by Structural Engineering Students: A Case Study at the University of Minnesota. J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 10.1061/(ASCE)EI.1943-5541.0000154.

This article describes the work done by the University of Minnesota team in the Data Information Literacy project.

Carlson, J., Fosmire, M., Miller, C., & Sapp Nelson, M. (2011). Determining data information literacy needs: A study of students and research faculty. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 11(2), 629-657.

In this initial article introducing the concept of data information literacy, the authors provide some preliminary investigations into how DIL might be defined. A pre-print version of the article - freely available to the public - can be accessed via the Purdue University e-Pubs repository.

Presentations

Carlson, J., Bracke, M., Sapp Nelson, M., Westra, B., Wright, S. (2013) “Creating the New Normal: Fostering a Culture of Data Sharing with Researchers” Digital Library Federation (DLF) Forum. Austin, TX.

Materials for the DLF Forum Workshop

Carlson, J., Wright, S.J., Westra, B., & Jeffryes, J. (2013). Data information literacy: Multiple paths to a single goal. Poster presented at multiple locations, see below.

This poster, detailing the different approaches each DIL team utilized in responding to identified data management and curation needs collected from project interviews, was presented at the following locations:

Sapp Nelson, M. (2013, March). Data information literacy: Multiple paths to a single goal. Lightning talk presented at IMLS WebWise 2013, Baltimore, MD.

This lightning talk presentation briefly covers each DIL team's experience working with a specific discipline and their response to identified data management/curation needs.

Carlson, J., Johnston, L., Westra, B., & Nichols, M. (2013, January). Developing an understanding of data management education: A report from the data information literacy project. Paper presented at the 8th International Digital Curation Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

This presentation describes the early results from the Data Information Literacy (DIL) project designed to identify the educational needs of graduate students across a variety of science disciplines and respond with effective educational interventions to meet those needs. Interviews of the students and faculty members present a detailed snapshot of graduate student needs in data management education. Our findings from the project interviews are analyzed here, with a preview of the five proposed and ongoing training approaches as of January, 2013.

A video of the presentation, captured by the event organizers, is available here.

Wright, S., Fosmire, M., Jeffryes, J., Stowell Bracke, M., & Westra, B. (2012, December). A multi-institutional project to develop discipline-specific data literacy instruction for graduate students. Paper presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA.

This presentation outlines the progress of the DIL project as of December, 2012, highlighting the needs assessments performed for each participating institution as well as the targeted instructional approaches for each DIL team.

Additional publications and presentations will be posted to this page as they become available. Please check back for updates or follow our RSS feed to stay in the loop.

Other Project Outputs

Data Management Course - The University of Minnesota team has developed a seven module data management course for graduate students in the structural and civil engineering disciplines. After signing up, students will study important issues in several areas of data management, including data documentation, ownership, and curation.