How the Internet Has Impacted Writing

There have been recent posts in the Chronicle of Higher Education's Lingua Franca blog arguing the positive and negative consequences of the Internet on writing. Journalist Clive Thompson, author of the new book Smarter Than You Think: How Technology Is Changing Our Minds for the Better, argues that before the Internet many people stopped writing after high school or college whereas today a large percentage of the population write at least weekly if not daily. Although Thompson admits that the vast majority write horribly and much of what you find online is not worth reading, he believes that the small percentage (he estimates 10%) are incredibly strong writers and they challenge readers and other writers to improve their craft.

Image courtesy of Jason A. Howie

In the second post, Ben Yagoda reflects on a recent essay in The Guardian by novelist Jonathan Franzen, concerning how the Internet (particularly social media) has reduced writing to tweets, which are superficial at best and lack structural integrity. As Yagoda states it, "[the Internet] tends to exacerbate certain unfortunate human tendencies, some of which I find myself succumbing to, even as I learn and find interesting new ways of expression. I’m talking about superficiality, triviality, groupthink, meanness, narcissism, and a short attention span: maybe worst of all, a seeking out of short-term merit badges (clicks, “likes,” comments, retweets, page views) at the expense of complexity and depth" (Yagoda, B. 2013).

What do you think?  We'd love to hear from faculty and students about your thought on how online communication has impacted the quality of writing and the writing process.

National Study on College Students and IT Notes New Trends

Educause, a leading organization focused on information-technology issues in higher education released its 2013 ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology from the Educause Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR) last week. The report, which includes survey data from more than 113,000 students in 13 countries found the following four patterns in the student responses:

• Students still need academic support in their use of technology for education. They most frequently use the university's website, learning management system (LMS) and library website; almost every student reported using these resources and considered them important for their student success.
• Students are beginning to enroll in MOOCs, but they still find face-to-face and hybrid models preferable than a fully online experience.  
• While laptops are reportedly the most used device for their academic work, students are relying more on their mobile devices  to access resources and information and perform basic academic functions anytime anywhere.
• Students continue to separate their academic and social lives and do not want faculty and administrators to use all forms of technology to connect with them; they still prefer the LMS and email as the preferred way to communicate.

For more trends and detailed findings, see the full report.

The Ranking Jangle in Higher Ed

Mark Twain via Wikipedia

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. - Mark Twain

How does one chose a single university out of all the stellar universities in this country? Answer: Rankings?

Earlier this month, US News and World Report put out their annual ranking of US colleges. Happily, the University of Baltimore was ranked in the "Top 25 Public Universities in North Region." And considering how many public colleges there are in the northern region of the US, that ain't too shabby. The university has come a long way, even since I started in 2009.

But what exactly does that mean? How did all those highly-caffeinated statistician's in their binder-clogged offices come up with that number? What was taken into account? And how could they possibly have quantified some of the most intangible, and arguably the most important, aspects of a great education--like engaging teachers or peer groups that challenge you to always do better, etc?

Welcome to A Few New Faces!

This summer Langsdale is fortunate to be joined by two budding librarians, Lindsay and Rachel. You may have seen their faces at the reference desk over the last few weeks or months. Now is your chance to learn a little bit more about them and what they’re doing here:

Lindsay has a master’s degree in library science from the University of Maryland. She has been loving her time at Langsdale and appreciates the variety of questions students ask at the reference desk because she gets to learn something new every shift. Lindsay currently works full-time at another career and we’re lucky to have her one night a week. She hopes to transition into the library field and wants to continue working with students in higher education or high school. When Lindsay is not at Langsdale or working at her other career she stays very busy. She plays rugby for the Chesapeake Women’s Rugby Football Club in Baltimore City. She has played for eleven years and been playing for the Chessie for more than five years. She finds that it’s a great community of athletes and a home away from home.  Please stop by and say, “Hi,” to Lindsay if you see her at the reference desk!

Rachel is dangerously close to receiving her master’s in library science from Drexel University. One of her final hurdles is completing her practicum at Langsdale, though we’re trying not to be too hard on her.  She has been enjoying her time at Langsdale thus far and has enjoyed meeting the students, library guests and librarians. Rachel is interested in librarianship because it allows her to support research, learning and curiosity. She loves research and trying to figure out how to make it easier and more effective. Her experience at Langsdale gives her the opportunity to apply what she has learned in school to the “real world.” When she leaves Langsdale, Rachel hopes to become a full-fledged librarian at a college or public library somewhere in the Baltimore area. If you see Rachel at the reference desk, please stop by and say, “Hi,” or ask her a challenging reference question!

Assessment in Action at Langsdale

The University of Baltimore has been selected as one of 75 institutions to participate in the Association of College and Research Libraries’ (ACRL) program Assessment in Action: Academic Libraries and Student Success.  The schools selected to participate in the program represent all types of institutions of higher education and come from 29 states and 3 Canadian provinces. UB’s campus team, led by Langsdale librarians, will develop a project to assess the impact of the University's information literacy education on student success.  UB will be engaged in planning for, collecting and analyzing assessment data as part of this program for 14-months. 

Our campus team includes:

Catherine Johnson

Natalie Burclaff

Mike Kiel

John Goshert

Beverly Schneller

Paul Walsh

Learn more about the Assessment in Action program here: http://www.ala.org/acrl/AiA

Self-recycling FTW!

Hi! I'm Pete Ramsey, one of the Reference and Instruction librarians at Langsdale Library, and I also teach the Information Literacy (IDIS 110) course in first-year student learning communities. 

Self-Recycling

My IDIS 110 course includes a rather detailed discussion of copyright and plagiarism. One interesting concept often missed in academic treatment of these topics is something called "self-recycling." The usual search engines give little in the way of a useful definition, so I will explain it briefly here and point out some good and bad self-recycling practices.

Definition and Example

At its most basic, self-recycling is taking a project you created for one class and handing it in for another class. To be very clear, turning in the exact same project in multiple classes, without explicit permission from all professors involved, is considered academic dishonesty (also known as "cheating"). However, it is a quite different--and very good--idea to go back to a good topic in later classes, updating and customizing your work based on the requirements and content of each course.

Here's an example of self-recycling done right. Way back in the fifth grade, I did a history project about the Spanish Armada and Philip II's attempted invasion of England. I collected a fair pile of resources, made note cards and an outline, and wrote a decent paper about the series of events. A few years later, I took that foundation, added stronger sources, and wrote a much-improved version for a high school European history class. I did a third research paper about the Spanish Armada for a college Iberian Peninsular history course, this time writing in Spanish and focusing on the long-term impact on the economies of Spain and Portugal. What's important for academic integrity is that I updated my research and changed the major focus each time I returned to the topic.

Here are some benefits to (proper) self-recycling

• You already know you like the topic. DO NOT underestimate how important it is to like your research topics in school.
• You save mental work figuring out the background of a topic or event.
• Recycling (or "up-cycling") an idea is a really good way to dive deeper into the topic or event. The more you know, the more you have to say about it.
• Most people in the "real world" actually work on one project for longer than a semester. This is especially true of research done by your professors.

Here are some negative things to consider

• Some professors hate self-recycling of any sort. They want students to learn new things, to grow their minds in unexpected directions, and to develop a broader understanding of the world (as opposed to a deeper understand of one topic). They might be right, especially for undergraduates. I invite debate on this point.
• Every professor seems to have their own way to make assignments unique. They may require different kinds of sources, they may use a different citation style, or they may ask you to--you know--relate the topic to concepts covered in that particular course.
• Sometimes it's easier to start all over again.
• If you use your favorite topic for an assignment that you eventually come to hate, you might not ever want to work on that topic again.

As you wrap up final exams and projects, think about things you learned this semester that really interested you. Was there a topic you loved learning about? Save all the work you did on it, you might get a chance to return to the same topic again. Just don't forget to ask permission!

Provost comments on new online courses from Baltimore-based company

Recently in the Baltimore Sun Provost Joe Wood discussed transfer credits from new Baltimore startup, StraighterLine Inc, which offers individual courses online to students missing credits. The full article is available from the Baltimore Sun on campus or through Langsdale's ResearchPort.