Organization as Meta-literacy: Evaluating student use of metadata and information organization principles in the classroom

Mitchel, Erik (2007) Organization as Meta-literacy: Evaluating student use of metadata and information organization principles in the classroom.

Abstract

This poster presents the results of a research project which investigated the inclusion of information organization and metadata creation instruction in an undergraduate level history seminar course. Over the course of the semester, twelve students were asked to create Qualified Dublin Core records for approximately 500 articles from a historical newspaper. Prior to creating the records, students were trained in metadata record creation and given instruction on original description. Students used the created records in their research and presented their papers at a symposium at the end of the semester. The research project evaluated the metadata created and investigated student reactions to the process via an online survey. The research found that while students bring an interest in information organization and management techniques that they lacked generalized knowledge and did not share assumptions on the purpose nor uses of the described records.