Authority is Constructed and Contextual

Authority is Constructed and Contextual

Authority Is Constructed and Contextual refers to the recognition that information resources are drawn from their creators’ expertise and credibility based on the information need and the context in which the information will be used. Experts view authority with an attitude of informed skepticism and an openness to new perspectives, additional voices, and changes in schools of thought.

According to Mirela Djokic at the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Information resources reflect their creators’ expertise and credibility, and are evaluated based on the information need and the context in which the information will be used. Authority is constructed in that various communities may recognize different types of authority. It is contextual in that the information need may help to determine the level of authority required.

Topic: To investigate the life of the late President Nelson Mandela why is is an authoritative figure as being the Icon of the world

Activity

Student should be able to:

Ø   Gather information on the late President Nelson Mandela to find credible information

Ø   They are required to find 3 different formats of materials on this topic and write a summary to present in class.

Ø   The students should conduct an interview with his wives and also his fellow prison mates at Robben Island

Materials Needed

PC

Newspaper articles

Biography books

Youtube or podcast interview with his wives for a view on his personal life

TV for programmes broadcast on his life

Visits of archives would also be recommended

Knowledge Practice or Learning Outcomes

Students should be able to define different types of authority such as subject expertise (Scholarship), society position (public office or title), or special experience (participating in an historic event)

They should be able to use makers of authority, to determine the credibility of sources whether they should include all or part of the gathered information 

Students should be able to identify the authority and credibility of the article by the author and the full citation that is given at the end of the article. They should also be able to distinguish whether they should or not include all the interview clips and this might be time consuming during their presentation which is only allowed in a stipulated time

Student must be able to differentiate between primary and secondary sources, and also between popular articles and credible articles.

INFORMATION CREATION AS A PROCESS

INFORMATION CREATION AS A PROCESS

http://www.beegamax.com/images/concepts/process.gif

"Information Creation as a Process refers to the understanding that the purpose, message, and delivery of information are intentional acts of creation. Recognizing the nature of information creation, experts look to the underlying processes of creation as well as the final product to critically evaluate the usefulness of the information."

http://researchguides.ben.edu/c.php?g=261638&p=2369999

Why I choose these formats 

This is a Conference Paper by Kirston Hoets on The value of digital libraries in South Africa presented during the IFLA conference 2015 in Cape Town. This electronic format can be converted to a print or electronic journal. This is a credible source as a thorough research should have been conducted before it was presented at the conference. The IFLA is highly rated therefore this paper can be regarded as authoritative. The paper also qualifies for the status of being  peer-reviewed.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9QhRpq4Xd_mM09aQkxQakszak0/view

Printed Book Format

Cranny-Francis, A (2003) Gender studies: terms and debates. Basingstok, Hampshire, New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Electronic Format – Research Paper

This is a Research Paper about the topic of Gender studies.

Rana Haq, (2013),"Intersectionality of gender and other forms of identity", Gender in Management: An International Journal, Vol. 28 Iss 3 pp. 171 – 184

http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.uwc.ac.za/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/GM-01-2013-0010

Explaining for using the formats

I have included different formats in my blog in order to share the various formats one can use to 

source information or when searching for information. The printed book and the Research Paper can 

be found on the UWC library website. 

Research as Inquiry

Topic: Investigate the impact for parents who have their children arrested when committed a crime in the Parow Area in the  Western Cape.

 This Frame describes the process by which students/researches ask questions or state problems in order to find answers to contribute to the larger body within a discipline.  This usually involves asking complex questions about a specific research and students also recognize effective research strategies such as motivation, discussion, narration, satisfying, curiosity, thinking-through.

According to Lane Wilkonson, experts see inquiry as a process that focuses on problems or questions in a discipline or between disciplines that are open or unresolved. Experts recognize the collaborative effort within a discipline to extend the knowledge in that field by developing a knowledge base of lines of inquiry, research methodologies, and best practices for conducting research. Many times, this process includes points of disagreement where debate and dialog work to deepen the conversations around knowledge. 

Learning Outcomes

1.       Demonstration of intellectual humility

2.       Organize information in meaningful ways

3.       Synthesize ideas gathered from multiple sources

Activities

1.     Students are required to create a vlog before doing a research in which they are required to discuss their knowledge on the topic. They are then required to conduct the research on the specific topic and then revisit their vlog and see how their knowledge has progressed. (This activity speaks to the Disposition demonstration of intellectual humility)

2.     Students are required to find three articles with different authors on the topic with contradicting viewpoints. (This activity speaks to the Disposition of seek multiple perspectives during information gathered from multiple sources)

3.     The students are required to summarise the articles found in activity 2. They then need to create a blog and discuss their findings in a blog entry in order to show their understanding. (This activity speaks to the Knowledge Practice of Synthesize ideas

Workshops

Workshops

Workshops provide an in-depth review of or introduction to a topic of interest to the communities/participants/learners/students.  A workshop typically provides participants with materials or ideas that are immediately useful in the classroom or learning environment, and ideally devote significant time to hands-on activities by the attendees.

A workshop is also an informative or instructional class focused on teaching specialized skills or exploring a particular subject. Workshop presenters are usually educators, subject matter experts, managers or other leaders who possess knowledge of a particular subject or mastery of specific skills.

https://www.google.co.za/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=what+is+a+workshop

http://www.wikihow.com/Prepare-a-Workshop

Why would you give a workshop?

The goal of this workshop would be create awareness of participants/students of a specific new course offered at UWC.

When would you want to conduct a workshop?

·                The beginning of something new

·                The initial training of staff or volunteers

·                The in-service or ongoing training of staff or volunteers

·                The demonstration of a new concept

·                The explanation of something to the public

·                The availability of a knowledgeable presenter

http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/structure/training-and-technical-assistance/workshops/main

How do you conduct a workshop?

Define the objective of the workshop. The objective will be to teach a scarce or concrete skill or the aim may be to deliver general information or guidance about a specific topic, such. Regardless of the focus, it's important to define the objective first.

Determine the needs of workshop participants. When teaching a particular skill, for example, understanding the participants' needs in regard to skill level and learning pace will assist you in delivering appropriate content. The more you tailor the workshop to your audience, the more 

effective the workshop will be.

Create an outline for your workshop presentation.

·                Create an introduction.

·                List the skills and/or topics that will covered.

·                Decide on the order of the topics from the most important skills or information to the early part of the workshop.

·                Determine ground rules for the workshop. Rules or guidelines such as only one person speaks at a time, or raising a hand to speak, as well as shutting off any cellphones or distracting devices.

·                Decide how I will wrap up the workshop. I will include a short review of learned skills, announce the next level in a series of workshops and/or implement a participant feedback form.

http://www.wikihow.com/Prepare-a-Workshop

Scholarship is a Conversation

Scholarship is a Conversation

This week the lecture was about "Scholarship is a Conversation". That adds to the idea that no scholarly work of an author stands alone and that researcher and new authors just add the the idea that was write about already and they add on an existing idea. Therefore Scholarship is an ongoing conversation. The lecturer also  unpack Knowledge Practices and Dispositions in the Threshold Framework.

Definition

The Framework defines Scholarship as a Conversation as communities of scholars, researchers, or professionals engaging in a sustained discourse where every researcher brings home new insight to the scholarly conversation and new theories or perspectives arise through negotiation.

Topic: Student will have to do a Research Project about exploring safety in their communities.

Learning Outcomes 

1.            Student should be able to explore and discuss safety measures in their areas

2.            Student should be able to Investigate and analyze criminal activities in their area.

3.            They should be able to present their findings by summarizing a brief report and present it.

Activities

1.            Students should do an investigation in the area and also consult the newspaper in reports on crime and create a whatsapp group for the community to report the crimes taken place over a period of time. (This speak to the Knowledge Practice of contribute to scholarly conversation at an appropriate level)

2.            Engage with the police forum or neighborhood watch regarding crime stats in the area Do an actual survey in the neighbourhood to investigate how the community has been affected by crime. (This speaks the Scholarship as a conversation as they will learning from the research what they are not aware of.

3.     The students have to summarise and present a Powerpoint presentation on their findings. (This speaks to the Knowledge Practice of summarizing the changes in scholarly perspective over time)

Additional PowerPoint Reading - http://www.ndmbacrl.org/Symposium/2015-Keynote-Riley.pptx

Sharon Mader, ACRL IL Program Officer

LBS 707 - Threshold Concepts

Threshold Concepts 

The class on Tuesday, was an eye-opener for me ideologically, one does not seems to understand a phenomenon you did not experience it, but when you are through the path of what seems impossible and difficult, you can glance back and be proud of what you have achieve. The fact that we will be of the first students to complete this course in Africa has actually made me realize how fortunate we are and that we should put every effort possible to grasp what Ms Mohamed is teaching us.

The term "threshold" in my understand means that there is a door and when you enter, there is much more to learn and gain on the other side, knowledge that you did not have before entering that door. The lecturer shared the five "Threshold Concepts" with the class. 

Transformative - when you learn something new from another disciple it changes the way you think - it involves conceptual shift - it becomes part of who we are, how we see and how we feel. 

Integrative - When a learner make meaningful connections between separate disciplines.

Irreversible - Once a learner understood, the learner is unlikely to unlearn/forget it. 

Bounded - This concept deals with when the boundaries of a particular discipline are unique to the discipline

Troublesome -  When learners think that they understand the work, but yet seems like finding difficulties again as they go along with their studies, for example in their research study, and have to look for other or extra information again.

I was quite excited after the lecture, cannot wait for the lecture of next week.

Information Literacy Education LBS 707

                                               A  weekly Reflection of the Course 

What I learned in the class -What additional links, if any, discovered, eg. links to readings or interesting sites pertaining to the course - Feelings about participating in the course -Working relationship with colleagues in the class

The class was very interesting on Tuesday.  I am struggling a little bit to create the Blog because I missed the first lecture, but thanks to Ms Mohammed and my colleagues I am able to create one.

Information Literacy is a new concept for me, but yet I am fascinated by it. The fact that I can start my own blog is very cool, also the fact that my fellow students can read and comment on it. As dealing and only using the google search engine and sending and receiving of e-mails, but to be able to create your own blog is really interesting for me.

The lecture was insightful for me, although it was too much theory for now, as Ms Mohammed said it will be too much theory for the next few lectures. I am not really very clued-up with the library environment and therefore would be a listener most of the time and absorbing all the information that are shared in class.

I think I have a good working relationship with the colleagues in class, maybe as we are together from the first semester, but also very learnsome as most of them are in library environments already, therefore learning a lot during class conversations as well.

During my reading I came across this article that I would like the share with the group.

http://teaching.uncc.edu/sites/teaching.uncc.edu/files/media/files/file/InstructionalTechnologies/InformationLiteracy.pdf