So what, exactly, do students think about research, anyway? EasyBib’s information literacy librarians, Emily Gover and Caity Selleck, wanted to find out. We put a survey out there for our millions of EasyBib users, on topics like Wikipedia, plagiarism, and the technology they need to do their research.
We’ve analyzed our 3,000 responses and compared them to what you, the librarian and educator, had to say. And after sorting through some "questionable responses," we found some pretty interesting results!
Join us for a discussion of student perceptions of libraries and research and suggestions for what we can do to change them for the better!
1. So What do They Really Think?
Student Perceptions of
Libraries and Research
We’re starting right at 4pm,
so if you don’t hear any
audio, that’s why!
#EasyBibEvents
4. BREAKING NEWS?
Students Use Google and
Wikipedia for Research
Over 95% of college students use
Google in course-related contexts
85% use Wikipedia
Source: How College Students Seek Information in the Digital Age Project Information Literacy.
5. Most Popular Sources
Used in Student Writing
(2010-2011)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Wikipedia (8%)
Yahoo! Answers (8%)
Answers.com (3%)
eNotes (3%)
SlideShare (2%)
Source: A Comparison of Internet Sources for Secondary and Higher Education Students.
6. Top 10 Sites Cited on EasyBib
10. The Washington Post
9. CNN
8. Answers.com
7. Time Magazine
6. Associated Content (Yahoo! Voices)
5. BBC News
4. JSTOR
3. YouTube
2. The New York Times
1. Wikipedia
Source: EasyBib user data.
11. College Library Web Site Use
2010 OCLC study of college students' use of
electronic information sources found:
40% have never used their library's website
Of those who have not used it, 23% believe other websites
have better information (!)
Source: Perceptions of Libraries, 2010: Context and Community, OCLC.
12. 12%
“Only 12% of teachers say their students
are ‘very likely’ to use printed books in
a research assignment.”
Source: How Teens Do Research in the Digital World, Pew Internet 2012
17. Plagiarism
2011 Pew Research Study
College Presidents
• 55% reported an increase
• 40% noticed neither an increase nor decrease
• 2% noticed a decrease*
Of those who noticed an increase, 89% "believe that
computers and the internet have played a major role in
this trend."
*"No answer" responses not shown.
Source: "The Digital Revolution and Higher Education," Pew Research Center.
18. 25.4%
did not understand the need to cite a
source in instances other than direct
quotes (i.e., paraphrasing, summarizing)
24%
did not know when to cite
a source at all
23. 64%
of surveyed teachers said
“today’s digital technologies do
more to distract students than to
help them academically.”
Source: How Teens Do Research in the Digital World, Pew Internet 2012
29. Works Cited
EasyBib Student Survey. June 2013. Raw data. Imagine Easy Solutions, LLC, New York, NY.
EasyBib User Data. Feb. 2012. Raw data. ImagineEasy Solutions, LLC, New York.
Finding Dulcinea. "Wikipedia In The Classroom." Teaching Wikipedia as a Research Tool. Dulcinea Media, Inc., 2013. Web.
10 Oct. 2013.
How Teens Do Research in the Digital World. Rep. Pew Research Center, College Board and the National Writing Project, 1
Nov. 2012. Web. 31 Jan. 2013.
Salisbury, Fiona, and Sharon Karasmanis. "Are They Ready? Exploring Student Information Literacy Skills in the Transition
from Secondaryto Tertiary Education." Australian Academic & Research Libraries 41.1 (2011): 43-58. Print.
The Sources in Student Writing – Secondary Education. Rep. Turnitin, Jan. 2013. Web. 17 Jan. 2013
De Rosa, Cathy, Joanne Cantrell, Matthew Carlson, Peggy Gallagher, Janet Hawk, and Charlotte Sturtz. Perceptions of
Libraries, 2010: Context and Community. Rep. Ed. Brad Gauder. OCLC, 2011. Web. 29 Mar. 2012.