1.

Name of Course Information Literacy and Research Skills

2. Course Code UCS105

3. Semester and Year Offered Semester 2, Year 1

4. Credit Value 2
5. Prerequisite (if any) None
6. Objectives:
The objectives of this course are to:

 Expose the students to various sources of information

 Highlight on the nature and information needs for research
 Carry out relevant searches using appropriate tools
 Explore various methods of presenting the result of research using an
appropriate text and multimedia presentation software
7. Course Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion, the students should be able to:

 Access the sources of information related to the information need

 Determine the nature and information needed
 Use the relevant tools to carry out the relevant research
 Produce relevant text and multimedia report for presenting the results of the
research

8. Synopsis:
This course exposes students to information literacy concepts. Students will learn how
information is organized, identify the sources of information, and use this knowledge to
gather the information needed. Student will also be exposed to learning how information
searching can be conducted as well as using an appropriate computer tools to produce
relevant text and multimedia report of the research conducted.
9. Assessment Methods and Types:
Final Exam- 40%
(A closed book exam of 2-3 hours will be held at the end of the semester)

Coursework- 60%

Coursework assessment will be based on the following methods which may differ from
course to course:
 assignments
 quizzes
 tests
 presentations during face-to-face sessions
 online discussions (based on the quality and quantity of the discussions)

10. Content Outline

Topics and Subtopics
1 1. Information Need and Types of Information
1.1 Categories of Information
1.2 Format of Information Sources
1.3 Types of Information Sources
2
2. Using the Information
2.1 Communicating Information
2.2 Intellectual Property and Copyright
2.3 Plagiarism
2.4 Quoting Paraphrasing and Summarizing Information
2.5 Citing your information

3
3. Finding Information
3.1 Using Searching Techniques
3.2 Language of the Search
3.3 Mechanics of the Search

4 4. Utilizing Library catalogue and resources

4.1 Searching the Library Catalog
4.2 Retrieving Materials
4.3 Utilizing Print Sources
4.4 Utilizing Electronic Sources
4.5 Utilizing Library Databases

5
5. Evaluating Information
5.1 Relevance
5.2 Purpose
5.3 Validity

6 6. Using the Internet

6.1 What is Internet
6.2 Using web browsers
6.3 Portable Document Format (PDF)

7 7. Utilizing the Web Resources

7.1 Search Engines
7.2 Basic Search
7.3 Advanced Search
7.4 Metasearch Engine

8
8. Presentation Tools
8.1 Preparing Report using Ms Word
8.2 Using Ms Excel features
8.3 Preparing Ms Powerpoint presentation
11. References
Primary references:

 Solomon, Amy, Wilson, Gwenn, & Taylor, Terry. (2011). 100% Information Literacy
Success, New York: Wadsworth Publishing.
 Barker, Donald I., Barker, Melissa, & Pinard, Katherine T. (2011). Internet Research
Illustrated, Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.