A B S T R A C T :
Fanfiction has been the site of
historically marginalized, and
underrepresented people. It is a
place where individuals can
modify, undermine and re-invent
dominant fictional narratives,
and it is more popular than ever.
One fanfiction cite, Archive of
Our Own (AO3), has developed
its own cataloging system that is
similar in many ways to tradi-
tional scholarly databases.
This presentation demonstrates
the pedagogical benefits of
using a fanfiction archive to
encourage students to associate
the ease of personal research
and the vigor of academic
research.
T H E O R Y :
Critical Information Literacy:
Authority is Contextual
and Constructed
Searching as Strategic
Exploration
Scholarship as Conver-
sation
L E A R N I N G
Students will feel more confident and comfortable doing aca-
demic research and using academic databases like ProQuest to
find information and articles.
TRANSFORMATION OF INFORMATION
LITERACY USING
Lauren Earl, Information Literacy Scholar, Syracuse University
TRANSFORMATIVE WORKS Alayna Vander Veer, Information Literacy Scholar, Syracuse University
Austin Waters, Information Literacy Scholar, Syracuse University
AO3 vs. ProQuest
M E T H O D S :
We performed two database demon-
strations: first with AO3, then with
ProQuest. We used screenshots and
active searching to make strong par-
allels between search features, limit-
ers, and object metadata. Then we
asked participants to use an article’s
metadata to locate it in ProQuest.
G O A L S :
Archive of Our Own:
prepare students to talk Author
Title
about authority
Date
demystify academic research Subject
tags
inspire students to take
agency over their research
Summary
O U T C O M E S :
Work Critical
Collection Reception