Running Head: PORTFOLIO

Portfolio

Jonell Edwards
ID#: ABSc/SS/1066/FSPE

Advance credits through Bachelor Degree in Information Literacy

Ms. D. Colyard

December 18, 2015

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Table of Contents
Pages

Introduction.3
Unit 1 Reflective Report.4
Unit 2 Reflective Report.6
Unit 3 Reflective Report.8
Unit 4 Reflective Report.10
Unit 5 Reflective Report.12
Artifacts from selected units14
Reference..28

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Introduction

This course taught some vital topics that have assisted in developing our information
competencies. The introduction to information was looked at: the meaning, its purpose, the
needs and its organization. The presentation of information was discussed showing how to
present data received from different sources and delivering it to others. Access and retrieval of
information and technological application in information were a part of what was talked about.

This portfolio reflects on the units covered in the course, Information Literacy. The portfolio
was done in order to get student-teachers feedback on the course: what was learnt and what will
be implemented in the acquiring of library and information literacy skill for pursuing
independent acquisition of knowledge our lifelong learners.

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Reflection on Unit 1
Introduction to Information

When I heard I would be doing Information Literacy, I wondered what could this course teach
me. What was it all about? Information literacy, was there such a thing?
Interestingly, information is presented to us in so many ways as it is ALL AROUND us.
Sometimes we are unaware of the information around us because we only care for the
information received by magazines, books, journals, encyclopedias etc. However, Information
Literacy is a course that has opened my eyes to fascinating ways of gathering information and
knowing what is useful from what is not, what is true from false and what are the best sources to
get information from.
I believe one of the best ways to gather information is the original of any data which is more
accurate and true especially coming from an eyewitness or personal experience. The credibility
of the information is very important. However secondary data is mostly used than primary data.
As a teacher, I rely mostly on secondary data/sources since primary sources are difficult to find
in certain topic areas.
There will always be a place for the library which is a good source of information/data. The
library may seem old fashion but it is one of the best secondary sources for data/information to
be found. I believe as teachers, we should all utilize the library and the journals and current
newspapers to give our children recent data. Our information needs as student-teachers is to find
the appropriate data for required assignments, being able to access the different information
sources and sites and to gather information to further gain knowledge for future use.

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Another topic we looked at is concepts and procedures. I learnt concept is a thought or idea and
process is an instance of a computer program that is being executed. It contains the program code
and its current activity, Dictionary reference, 2015.
Information can be classified using the Dewey Decimal System and Library of Congress. The
Dewey Decimal Classification System is a method used to classify books according to their
purpose, type and other common traits. I would say it is a guide to find different books under
different categories. The numerical system is good because it goes unlimited. However persons
may rather the Library of Congress classification system which may seem easier to find
documents.
I am learning as the course progresses and now I am appreciating the library more and their way
of classifications. I am more aware of the efficient searching for primary and secondary sources
of information. As the course continues I know I will adopt and make the necessary changes to
make learning more fun and appreciate more the other environmental sources of information.

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Reflection on Unit 2
Communication and Presentation of Information

As teachers searching for the right contents to provide our students with credible information, we
search through a lot of different sources. I know I look through books, the internet,
encyclopedias, high school books etc, and most times when we find the information we do not
source or tell the students where the content is coming from. We should practice using
bibliography for everything we acquire information form with the American Psychological
Association (APA) style. It is important as teachers to write one after preparing a lesson so the
resources will be easy to retrieve for further use.
It is actually by doing this unit that made me realized there was a difference between reference
and bibliography even though they like alike. I did not know that reference contained only the
cited works within a text and the bibliography contains ALL the list of references at the end of a
text, whether cited or not whether its a paper, film, project etc. The bibliography always includes
your own additional background reading, and any other articles you think the reader might need
as background reading. They both have their formats of presentation, citation styles of the types
of sources used (books, internet, journals etc) and the elements that should be included. The
audios, visuals/videos have their style of reference presentation too.
Reference plays a keen part when other peoples work has been cited. It simply means that there
is honesty and a level of respect for intellectual property rights and avoids plagiarism. Plagiarism
is considered piracy and as teachers, we should avoid such act.

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It means then that I may have been using them the wrong way. Thanks to Information Literacy I
now know the difference. The next assignment or when I gather some information, I will know
exactly which one to use. Interestingly again, this course has taught me something new.
Information has interesting ways of being presented: audiovisual, printed or oral. Audiovisual is
using virtual pictures along with videos while listening to what is being said e.g. television.
Information can be printed in a book, brochure, pamphlet, newspaper where persons just read.
Information can be presented by speech; persons just listen to what is being said. For each type,
there are students who learn through one of these methods. It is important that we try our best to
use all when we are presenting information to children.

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Reflection on Unit 3
Access and Retrieval

Everyone needs some information at some particular time for different reasons, even our
students. Information needs vary as information is need for fun, to gain more knowledge, to
teach someone and it is important where to get the right information to satisfy our needs.
I believe as teachers, we should be able to identify, select and locate appropriate information
needed that is accurate and current enough for students. We need to consider our audience, what
is it that they need to know and where can we find right information related to a particular
subject area or content. Information can be retrieved almost anyway but for teaching we have to
ensure that we select the appropriate search methods to locate information and construct
appropriate search strategies. Most times effective search is done by searching the author of a
specific book, a keyword to help narrow the search, a title of the content needed or by subject.
Since I have learnt about EBSCOhost, I try to use it as possible to find relevant information that
is current and has credibility. Sometimes it is find to pinpoint that one document having exactly
what is needed.
When searching or accessing information, keywords and subjects must be used in order find
what is needed. It is always best to get utilize different sources to access information so validity
and credibility can be checked. However, I prefer to access my information through books and
the internet. First I check the libraries for books and other printed materials that have accurate
information for my particular topic. When I believe I need more information, then I go to
EBSCOhost to search there. If nothing is found to suit, then I try Google to link me to other
informative websites. I sometimes use youtube.com to find videos on certain topics as I am a
visual learner.

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The idea of a pathfinder is truly amazing as it is used as guide to locating a range of suitable
resources available in or through the library on a specific subject or topic whether they may be
online and/or offline. It teaches our children how to search for what they need to know which is
an important skill in information literacy. My concern though is the schools without the readily
resources to rely on for gathering information, what do they do? How can they access
information in time without being left behind?
We can do more for our students by creating a pathfinder, selecting the best pieces of sources that
they can use to access readily information. It would be lovely if our country, Jamaica, could
reach the level of accessible information with the right resources and technological devices.

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Reflection on Unit 4
Technological Application in Information Literacy

Technology is a beautiful thing. As we go further into the 21st century, we realize that technology
has taken over in most aspects of life. Technology has been seen as a great tool to use for
children to gather more information for learning. I learnt there are other search engines rather
than Google, yahoo and hotmail to search the internet for documents for specified keywords,
phrase or subject. There. The internet is daily navigated for different reasons putting Google as
the top used search engine with over 1,000,000,000 visitors.
A teacher will always need information to teach and share concepts with students so they can
have a clearer understanding and gain more knowledge. As technology evolves, as teachers we
need to know how to navigate the internet effectively and specific websites for certain topics.
The internet has many types of resources loaded with information: electronic books, electronic
journals, online databases and other sources that can be used to locate most information on
different topics. Now there is ebrary where individuals can check out books online where it is
convenient to them. I did not know there was such a thing as ebrary. This course is really
teaching a lot. I will try to implement an ebrary when there is easy access to internet for my
students so they can read their books online if there is no money to purchase books, (great idea!).
It is important that as teachers we are careful of some of the sites that we use to cross check our
information with. We must scrutinize and critically appraise the source before using it. We have
to ensure the websites data is accurate and reliable and is appropriate for the intended audience.
There must be validity and credibility, checking more multiple points of views and sources so the
information is consistent.

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The internet has various free online file storage sites where documents can be stored. They offer
free gigs to store as much data up to 5-7 GB. It is convenient, as it is software storage that can be
shared with others. Basically, anything accessed on the internet can be stored here for quick
retrieval. Online catalogs are interesting; my understanding is the catalogue provides a list of the
various departments in the library or a number of libraries indicating their locations.
Now that I have learnt more about these online storages, I will be using one of them for back-up
storage incase my flash drives goes bad. I would encourage teachers to create one too in order to
store more information and documents from the internet.

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Unit 5 Reflective Report
Evaluation of Information Sources

Information is sometimes easy to access; however is all information sources accurate? The most
important factor when evaluating sources is your search, your needs. What are you using the
source for? Entertainment? Academic work? Hobbies or vocational interests? Scholarly sources
are traditionally very strongly text-based.
As daily users of information and passing it on, we have to ensure our sources are critically
appraised for authenticity, the intended audience, its currency, etc. We have to be careful of the
primary sources that we rely on and especially the secondary sources. An academic library's
print, non-print and electronic resources have been edited and checked for accuracy by scholarly
organizations and publishers, then carefully evaluated by professional librarians for inclusion
into the library's collection.
On the other hand, a website can be created by anyone and not evaluated for quality and
accuracy. It is important to keep in mind that just because information is published in a book or
journal, or appears in a movie or on the Web, does not mean that it is true. The time must be
taken to evaluate the accuracy of the information. Researchers need to develop critical thinking
skills in evaluating information, whether it comes from pre-filtered library materials or unfiltered
Web sources.
Evaluating sources takes in a few details, e.g., checking the authors identify to determine
credibility and reliability of the information, the purpose and content must be explored to
determine if the information is subjective or objective, the currency or regularity of updating

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information is vital for some types information and less so for others and who the intended
audience is. As teachers, we have to make certain that our information has all these elements and
is appropriate for the age level.
The purpose of information extraction / summarization is to extract some portion(s) of the
translated text, either manually or automatically, for subsequent processing or storage.
Information extraction is typically concerned with filling templates by identifying atomic
elements of events. In contrast, summarization aims to provide a self-contained and internally
cohesive text which serves as a selective account of the original, (White, 2000). Basically,
sometimes when information is found, we take the important points from it or we try to
summarize the information needed.
A synthesis is a written discussion that draws on one or more sources. It follows that the ability
to write syntheses depends on the ability to infer relationships among sources - essays, articles,
fiction, and also non-written sources, such as lectures, interviews, observations.
This course overall has taught me a lot and now I have more knowledge on how to find
information, how to narrow a search, the correct way of doing a reference and bibliography and
other things I did in this course. I would encourage all teachers to get involved with information
literacy so we can be equipped professionally and be competent enough to access, evaluate and
ethical use of information.

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Unit 1
Poem on Information by David Ignatow

This tree has two million and seventy-five thousand leaves. Perhaps I missed a leaf or two but I
do feel triumphant at having persisted in counting by hand branch by branch and marked down
on paper with pencil each total. Adding them up was a pleasure I could understand; I did
something on my own that was not dependent on others, and to count leaves is not less
meaningful than to count the stars, as astronomers are always doing. They want the facts to be
sure they have them all. It would help them to know whether the world is finite. I discovered one
tree that is finite. I must try counting the hairs on my head, and you too. We could swap
information.

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Unit 1

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Unit 2
Bibliography for Pathfinder

Encyclopedias
Encyclopedia Britannica, (1980). The New Encyclopedia Britannica Utilitarianism Zwingli (15th ed.). Encyclopedia Britannica Inc, London. Vol. 19.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 78-75143
International Standard Book Number: 0-85229-360-7
Hanover Parish Library: R/L 350

Water Resources643

Water Supply Systems...648

The Encyclopedia Britannica has been around for many years and is written in eight different
countries. It is known for its reputable authors and editors. It is written by various 100 full-time
editors and more than 4,000 contributors, who have included 110 Nobel Prize winners and
five American presidents, (Wikipedia, 2015). It was chosen due to its accuracy of information
with twelve distinguished scholars as editors. This book is mostly for grade 6 students who are
able to read well with understanding.

Encyclopedia (2001). New Standard Encyclopedia. Ferguson Publishing Company, Chicago.

Vol. 19.
Hanover Parish Library: R/L 351

Water Supply...84

Sources of Water.84

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How Water is Purified.85

The New Standard Encyclopedia has been around for many years and has up to 15 editions. It
has a wide range of information on water. However, the complexity of the information is for
grade six students. Grade four students would have to be supervised to understand this level of
reading. The information is easy to find and the year is current.

Encyclopedia Britannica, (2010). Comptons W-X-Y-Z. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc,

America. Vol. 25.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2008904078
International Standard Book Number: 978-1-59339-522-3
Hanover Parish Library: R/J 031

Water.85

Water in Daily Life84

Water Cycle...87

Water Supply.89

This encyclopedia is a general reference work for home, school, and library, designed primarily
for children and young people in the upper elementary grades and high school and
for family use. It has pictures and illustrations for further understanding and it is reader friendly
for children.

Grolier Student Encyclopedia, (2004). Venus Zoology. Scholastic Library Publishing,

Connecticut- 06816. Vol. 12
Hanover Parish Library: R/J 032 819207

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Water Use
Water and Health
Waterfall

This encyclopedia is children friendly and easy to navigate and read. It has pictures, facts corner
and its year is current. Children will understand the content given.

The World Book Encyclopedia, (2012). World Book W X Y Z. World Book Inc, Chicago
Hanover Parish Library: R/J 030 Y949102

Water for Power

Water in Living Things

Water for Industry

Water Cycle

Water for Distribution

Water Management and Conservation

Purifying and Treating Water

I love this book. It is full of pictures, interesting facts about water and it is very current. The
information is accurate and easy to read.
Journal Article
Hardware, T., (1973, September). Water, water everywhere. Jamaica Journal. Vol. 7, 20-25
Hanover Parish Library: R/L 553.7

Surface of Water..21

Conservation of Water.22

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This was the only printed journal that could be found with information on water. It is a Jamaican
journal with interesting facts on water that I believe the students should know about their country
and water. This journal will be more understood by grade 5 and 6 students.

Ministry of Water, (1999, October). Water and sanitation 2000 and beyond. The Observer Water
Policy Supplement
Hanover Parish Library: R/L 553.7

Sanitizing Rural Water

Governments Objectives for Rural Water

This was included to provide more knowledge on water in the rural areas of Jamaica. It helps the
students from these areas to appreciate their sources of water more. Its reader friendly and has
poems and tips on water.

Online Reading
Yesgsat.com, (2014). Grade 4 science curricula. Retrieved from: www.yesgsat.com/tag/watergrade-4/
Water Distinguish the Properties - 017

Methods of Purification Water

Properties of Water Quiz

Water Cycle

Water Explain why water is essential for continued existence life in earth - 018

Importance of Water

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This website has lots of information and interactive activities that will enhance the grades 4-6
students knowledge on water. It has an overview of the topic and has a comprehensive list of
hotlinks to other areas found under water. The website year is current with recent information
and very reader friendly for children. The web page is clear and easy-to-read. Children with
special needs would be able to use and understand this website.

TheWaterProject.org, (2015). Water-related educational materials for grade 4. Retrieved from:

www.thewaterproject.org/community/students-resources/grades:3-4

Reservoirs of Water

Experiments with Water

The water project website is a rich educational site with word games, fact sheets, interactive
games and classroom activities. It is reader friendly and will attract the students attention. Its
current and easy to navigate and use. This site can be used by all grades (4-6). There are other
links to other friendly websites. Special needs students would enjoy the interactive games and
activities.

www.usgs.gov, (2015). Water. Retrieved from: http://water.usgs.gov/edu/

Water Properties

The Water-Science Activity Centre

Water Science Photo Gallery

The US Geological Surveys website offers information on many aspects of water, along with
pictures, data, maps, and an interactive center where students can give opinions and test their

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water knowledge. Students from grades 4-6 will take pleasure in this website as photos enhance
their learning. It provides other links to interactive sites on water.

Online Video
DLTK Kidzone Science, (2015). Water Cycle. Retrieved from:
www.kidzone.ws/water/growingtogether/

Water Cycle

The kidzone website has childrens video that is easily understood and a quiz after to test their
understanding. The video is really easily to comprehend by grades 4 students. It is read-friendly
and has lots of pictures and attractive posters to get the students attention. The site is current and
has much accuracy on the information.
Book
McClenan, V., Pottinger, R. D., (2005). First Steps in Science Pupils Book, Year 4. Carlong
Publishers: Kingston, Jamaica
Chambers Pen School Library: 151

Describing Water.103

Water as Liquid, Solid & Gas......105

Importance of Water....120

Water Sources..131

Water Pollution & Safety....139

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This book is recommended by the Ministry of Education in Jamaica with accurate and easy to
read information. It has pictures, graphs, activities and facts sheets with interesting data. It is
current and still has valid information.
Newspaper Articles

Fernandez, B., (2002, March 21). Water and health: ensure clean, safe water. The Daily
Observer, p. 7
Hanover Parish Library: R/L 553.7

Fernandez, B., (2002, March 21). Tips for water conservation around the home. The Daily
Observer, p. 9
Hanover Parish Library: R/L 553.7

Blythe, Dr. K., (1995, Sept. 6). Our limited water resources. The Gleaner, p. 5
Hanover Parish Library: R/L 553.7

Fresh Water Resources

Water Resources

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Water Purification

Water Distribution

These newspaper clippings are very reader friendly. Two is a little recent but one is from the 19th
century with important data. It gives vital information on World Water Day on the important link
between water and health.

Reid, T., (2010, March 14). Water: Untreated and bacteria infested. The Gleaner, p. 6
Hanover Parish Library: R/L 553.7
This newspaper article is interesting and will teach the students more about water and how it can
infest bacteria.
Instructions
Encyclopedia
1. In the Hanover Parish Library, ask for the junior reference area. You can ask the librarian
to assist you to find the encyclopedia area. Then search for the classification number 030
under the encyclopedia area. Choose the book with the letter W In the local reference
look at the number there and search for it.
2. Search for the different topics under water that you need to find.
Book

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1. Search for McClenan Vilma and Pottinger Ruth Dorothy instead of Vilma McClenan
and Ruth Dorothy Pottinger when searching by author.
2. Describing Water, Importance of Water, Reducing Water Pollution are helpful terms
to use when searching the catalogue by keyword.
Online
1. YesGsat.com Type in the search tab grade 4 science curricula. Many different topics
will come up but click on Water Distinguish the Properties 017 and Water
Explain why water is essential for continued existence life in earth 018.
2. TheWaterProject.org Type in the search tab students resources: grades 3-4; you will
see the different topics relating to water. Choose all the topics as all are important.
3. US geological survey.com Search in Google for water. Choose the link that says
U.S. Geological Survey's Water Science School. You will see the different categories of
Water. Choose Facts about Water under Water Properties and Measurement and read
everything under Water Cycle. Do some of the activities relating to the topics read.
4. Type water video in Google search bar and choose the link Kidzone science - Water
Cycle
Newspaper
1. Ask the librarian for the newspaper clippings on water or ask for the 553.7 folder. Look
for the titles listed in the bibliography. Read the highlighted areas. The journals are inside
this folder too.

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Unit 4
Library of Congress Catalog

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Unit 4

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Reference

Dictionary.com, ( 2015). Dictionary Reference. Retrieved from:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/process
White, C., (2000). Information extraction/summarization. Retrieved from: