Hashtags for Research?
Goals and objectives
At the end of this module, students will be able to:
- Navigate to and identify Subject Headings links in a book record from a keyword search result list in the Seton Hill University online catalog.
- Use the Subject Headings links to locate other holdings in the collection about the same subject.
Module Overview:
This learning module consists of an icebreaker activity, a tutorial video, a searching activity with a worksheet, and an online questionnaire to evaluate students' reaction to the module.
Implementation Summary:
The facilitator will open the class by introducing him/herself, and then will ask the class if they have ever used hashtags on social media. After a brief discussion of how students have used hashtags and how they find them useful and/or frustrating, the facilitator will play the "Hashtags for Research?" video tutorial.
After the video, the facilitator will distribute the "Hashtags for Research" worksheet and give students 5-10 minutes to work on the activity individually or in pairs.
Click to download "Hashtags for Research" worksheet
Following the activity, the facilitator will encourage student discussion about their observations and experiences using the catalog and subject headings. To conclude the module, the facilitator will project a shortened URL on the screen that will lead the students to the wrap-up questionnaire.
Click to access the online questionnaire or paste this URL into your browser: https://forms.gle/cBjzh7LeTfnynmfB7
Facilitator Notes:
During the icebreaker discussion, encourage students to talk about ways in which hashtags can be useful but also how they can be overused, become "visual noise," or can be used inappropriately to get traffic on unrelated content. Do not worry too much about hitting all of these points, however; the goal of the icebreaker conversation is to get students to relax and to start thinking about a concept they know well in order to scaffold the lesson's new information on top of it.Circulate throughout the classroom as the students are completing the "Hashtags for Research" worksheet. Some students will be confused about the instructions, and some may need some help completing the process. Clarify and give guidance as necessary, but encourage the students to perform the activity themselves (do not take over and do it for them!).
After the worksheet activity, ask the students if they discovered any "new" subject heading links that might be helpful. Students may notice genre or author links; explain these if necessary, but encourage them to focus on the Subjects section of the record. Allow student observations to direct the conversation. Point out that Subject Headings, unlike social media hashtags, are controlled and therefore do not point to irrelevant content.
When posting the questionnaire URL, explain that this is a new module and that the library values their feedback.
Evaluation:
The feedback received via the online questionnaire from the first test group will be analyzed to identify ways in which the module could be improved.
