Diploma of Library and Information Services 10874
Name: __________________ Class: _______
CULINL601A EXTEND OWN INFORMATION LITERACY SKILLS TO LOCATE INFORMATION
ASSESSMENT: PATHFINDER 50%

This assessment will provide evidence that you have achieved competency in the following Elements of Competency and Performance Criteria:
1. Apply information literacy skills to meet needs 1.1 Refine understanding of information literacy concepts and what constitutes an information literate person
1.2 Determine exact nature and extent of information needs
1.3 Develop effective search strategies and select appropriate search tools to locate information
1.4 Assess the usefulness and relevance of information resources in relation to customer requests
1.5 Evaluate search results and adjust search strategies to meet information needs
2. Provide customers with search results 2.1 Critically analyse search results and select relevant information to meet purpose
2.2 Compile reference lists and bibliographies of relevant information resources following standard referencing styles
2.3 Select appropriate communication methods for presenting information to customers based on nature and purpose of requests and intended audience
2.4 Communicate with customers in relation to information requests according to organisational policies
2.5 Acknowledge copyright and licensing issues related to access and use of information
3. Evaluate own work and skills 3.1 Seek feedback from colleagues regarding own information literacy skills
3.2 Plan and implement strategies and opportunities to support lifelong learning
3.3 Evaluate own information literacy skills against own goals
3.4 Update knowledge of current and emerging technologies that impact on information literacy skills
Penalties
There will be a penalty mark deduction if your test paper is submitted late. The penalties are:
If the assessment event is up to seven (7) days late the total mark achieved by the student will be reduced by 15%, OR the grade is reduced by one level. Eg A Competent with Distinction grade will be reduced to a Competent with Credit grade. If the assessment is more than seven (7) days late the mark is reduced to zero, or the grade reduced to a fail.
Your work must be your own and not plagiarised from any other source.
PATHFINDER MARK /50
Your pathfinder will be based upon the topic that was approved by your teacher in your proposal. The contents (annotations) of the pathfinder will not be submitted as a web page but as a single word (or similar) document.
This document must include the following:
1. A home page which includes a statement of your research topic, your name, teachers name and class
2. An introduction which makes clear to the reader the scope and limitations of the pathfinder.
That is, you include:
• Audience
• Topic and general overview
• what have you specifically decided to include or exclude from coverage and reasons why (this does not include individual items but aspects of the topic)
3. A list of citations and annotations (between 20 to 25 items in total)
Number of citations: Your pathfinder project will need to include between 20 and 25 citations.
Types of cited items: Your pathfinder must include:
Tertiary sources (At least 5)- arranged alphabetically or by type
These can be:
o Journal Databases or repositories - not from RAI - including (if applicable) at least one covering primary sources relating to the subject. These may be individual databases within one you have already covered - eg not Proquest as a whole, but one of its constituent databases. Trove is not permitted.
o Reference sources - web or print
o Other Tertiary - e.g. statistical sites, Government departments, Directories

Secondary or primary (at least 15)- arranged by aspect, and then alphabetically
At least 15 from the following categories:
o Monographs or monograph chapters
o Journal articles - can be found in databases, repositories, web search etc. Full text only.
o Web sites or specific web pages o Documents stored on the web (pdf, ppt, video etc) o Primary sources (documents, data, etc)
The secondary and primary citations should be arranged by headings and sub-headings which are indicative of the aspects of your topic. This may NOT be the way you are organising materials on your pathfinder, but is intended to allow your teacher a ready grasp of the scope of your research.

Under each heading, the citations should then be listed alphabetically by author. Where no author is available arrange items alphabetically by title.

Citations must be consecutively numbered 1 through to 25 (or to whichever number you end your list)

Presentation of Citations and annotations

The LIS Citation Style guide must be used when writing citations.
For items found in library catalogues, include the location and call number.

Consider your future reader. How could the presentation of each citation/annotation/location enhance access?

Type of material. Each citation and annotation must indicate the type of material. You may wish to do this using a system of symbols or through some other method.

Citations must be consecutively numbered 1 through to 25 (or to whichever number you end your list)

Things to consider:
If you include only 20 items in total this should reflect careful selectivity and focus on the topic, not just a selection that stops at the minimum.
If you include 25 items this should reflect an abundance of choice to which careful selection is still applied. It should not represent a non-selective ‘put everything in’ mentality.
Your citations must cover all aspects of your topic in a balanced way.
Please discuss numbers of items with your teacher as part of the consultation process.
Search tools Your pathfinder should show that you have extended your Information literacy skills – you should use tools beyond those which you have learned in other LIS coursework.
The search tools you choose to search should reflect your target group and topic.
You should use more than one of each type of search tool. e.g., databases – use more than two if possible
Each aspect of your topic should use a combination of Search tools to locate a variety of sources.
Format of items: Your citations may include any relevant material in any format.
For example:
Monographs
Reference sources
Journal articles
AV material
Web sites or pages
Primary documents such as letters Statistics
Entire databases, repositories or directories
Standards


Do not copy abstracts from databases or descriptions from vendors or other sources– all annotations must be in your own words.

IMPORTANT
You do not have to visit any libraries and retrieve material. You may include any citation found in searching suitable sources (catalogues, databases, etc.), as long as you are sure it is relevant to your research topic.

If you have a full text article, it is easy to check if it is relevant to your topic. However, for other items where you do not have access to the text, this may be achieved through careful examination of abstracts, descriptors, subject headings and any other information available that helps you understand what the item is about.

All annotations must be in your own words – if evidence is found that the annotations are not in your own words then penalties for plagiarism will apply. (For example, do not copy summaries from library catalogues or websites or abstracts from databases, – all annotations must be in your own words.)