President Obama and governors in fifteen states now recognize October as Information Literacy Awareness Month.  Information Literacy Awareness Month is an initiative of the National Forum on Information Literacy.  When members of the MU Libraries Instruction Committee were contacted by NFIL over the summer, we asked Missouri Governor Jay Nixon to participate in the initiative, he issued Missouri’s proclamation, which reads, in part:

WHEREAS, information literacy provides the tools and skills need to find, evaluate and use credible information from all sources in our constantly evolving, information-inundated world; and […]

WHEREAS, information literacy is a crucial component of education and should be taught from kindergarten throughout an individual’s lifespan by schools and other agencies involved in the collection, conservation and dissemination of information […]

NOW THEREFORE, I, Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, do hereby proclaim October 2012 to be INFORMATION LITERACY MONTH IN MISSOURI.

In recognition of Governor Nixon’s proclamation, the MU Libraries and the MU Bookstore are sponsoring an online Information Literacy Quiz, to be open during the month of October.  Two prizewinners will be selected from among all entrants with 100% correct answers on the quiz for bookstore gift certificates totaling $150.

 

Related links:

Full text of Obama’s proclamation (2009)

PDF: Full text of Nixon’s proclamation (2012)

National Forum on Information Literacy

Libraries Thriving Blog

Date: Tues., Oct. 23, 2012
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Ellis Library Colonnade

“Sister Novelists in the Age of Austen: Jane and Anna Maria Porter”
with Prof. Devoney Looser
Jane and Anna Maria Porter were celebrated novelists who, for many decades, were more famous than their contemporary Jane Austen. Why did the Porter sisters’ celebrity status dwindle, as Austen’s literary star rose? Devoney Looser, who is writing a biography of the Porter sisters, will share her findings about their fascinating and previously undocumented nineteenth-century lives, showing how (as Anna Maria Porter once put it) a female author’s public fame could be the death knell of her private happiness.

This event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, September 6
4-5 p.m.
First Floor Colonnade
Ellis Library
MU Campus

The MU Libraries will host a reception for journalist Laura Ling as part of the 2012 Mizzou Reads activities. In  2009, while reporting on the trafficking of North Korean women, Ling was detained by North Korean soldiers along the Chinese-North Korean border. Please join us for refreshments and an opportunity to meet Laura Ling.

For more information, contact Shannon Cary at carysn@missouri.edu or 573-882-4703.

Library Research Workshops for International Students

September 19 &22, 2012
Room 213, 2nd Floor, center, Ellis Library

Critical to academic success is your ability to use a research library and its
resources. In academia, independent research including library research is very important in order to be able to produce papers for classes or complete your thesis or dissertation.

These workshops specifically designed for international students will cover:

Sept. 19 or 22—9 a.m.
Exploring the MU Libraries: Learn how MU Libraries support your research—take advantage of all the free services the MU Libraries have to offer

Sept. 19 or 22 – 10:30 a.m.
Finding Articles using MU article databases and Google Scholar: Discover which databases are best for YOUR research. Learn time-saving tips for effective searching to find the research articles, reports and other materials you need

Sept. 19 or 22 – 1 p.m.
Finding Books using the MERLIN Catalog and Google Books: Use the right online search tools to locate books in the library, find books on a topic, find books that even mention a topic, and retrieve books from other libraries

Sept. 19 or 22 – 2:30 p.m.
Writing your Paper and Citing your Sources: Don’t make the mistake of using other
researchers’ findings and ideas in your paper without proper credit

Registration:
•    Register for workshops at:
http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/guides/classestours/internationalstudents
•    Each workshop is limited to 40 students.

Questions: Contact Goodie Bhullar, bhullarp@missouri.edu