2. Develop information literacy DISCOVER THE CONCEPT You've been assigned a major research paper, and just thinking about all the work it will require fills you with anxiety. Take a deep breath and calm down. Developing information literacy will help you feel more comfortable and confident about research and writing. The following table goes over the five steps to becoming an information-literate individual. Click on each term to familiarize yourself with the information. Then answer the questions that follow. Five Steps to Information Literacy Determine the assignment Find materials Choose your sources Organize your research Evaluate, use, and cite your sources Determine the assignment In this first step, you determine what the assignment requires of you. What have you been asked to do? How many pages do you have to write, and what other direction have you been given? You might find it helpful to ask yourself questions before you begin: "What problem am I solving?", "What is the issue I need to address in this assignment?", "What information do I need?", "What do I already know?", and "What else do I need to know?" Orient yourself and get a big-picture understanding of your topic by performing an Internet search on your topic (Note: While it is fine to perform an initial Internet search to gather information on your topic, do not depend on the Internet as your sole source of research). Refine your idea and narrow it down to something that you can accomplish within the given page limit. APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE Now that you are more familiar with the five steps to information literacy, imagine that you have been given this research and writing assignment: We have been discussing how various writers and artists responded to the stark realities of the Spanish Civil War. Haunted by a dark premonition, the surrealist painter Salvador Dali created Soft Construction with Boiled Beans six months before the conflict even started. Another artist, Pablo Picasso, painted an 11-foot-tall and 25-foot-wide mural entitled Guernica, which depicts the bombing of a small town in the Basque countryside. In a paper of no fewer than seven and no more than ten pages, discuss these two artists and their reactions to the Spanish Civil War. Remember what you learned about the first step in the process of information literacy. Consider this assignment, and select the question that will set you on the best path in terms of research. O What should I communicate to inform or persuade? O Where can I find the information I need? O What information do I need? 2. Develop information literacy DISCOVER THE CONCEPT You've been assigned a major research paper, and just thinking about all the work it will require fills you with anxiety. Take a deep breath and calm down. Developing information literacy will help you feel more comfortable and confident about research and writing. The following table goes over the five steps to becoming an information-literate individual. Click on each term to familiarize yourself with the information. Then answer the questions that follow. Five Steps to Information Literacy Determine the assignment Find materials Choose your sources Organize your research Evaluate, use, and cite your sources Determine the assignment In this first step, you determine what the assignment requires of you. What have you been asked to do? How many pages do you have to write, and what other direction have you been given? You might find it helpful to ask yourself questions before you begin: "What problem am I solving?", "What is the issue I need to address in this assignment?", "What information do I need?", "What do I already know?", and "What else do I need to know?" Orient yourself and get a big-picture understanding of your topic by performing an Internet search on your topic (Note: While it is fine to perform an initial Internet search to gather information on your topic, do not depend on the Internet as your sole source of research). Refine your idea and narrow it down to something that you can accomplish within the given page limit. APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE Now that you are more familiar with the five steps to information literacy, imagine that you have been given this research and writing assignment: We have been discussing how various writers and artists responded to the stark realities of the Spanish Civil War. Haunted by a dark premonition, the surrealist painter Salvador Dali created Soft Construction with Boiled Beans six months before the conflict even started. Another artist, Pablo Picasso, painted an 11-foot-tall and 25-foot-wide mural entitled Guernica, which depicts the bombing of a small town in the Basque countryside. In a paper of no fewer than seven and no more than ten pages, discuss these two artists and their reactions to the Spanish Civil War. Remember what you learned about the first step in the process of information literacy. Consider this assignment, and select the question that will set you on the best path in terms of research. O What should I communicate to inform or persuade? O Where can I find the information I need? O What information do I need