Information Literacy Post-test

QUESTION 1

1. Your Spanish teacher has asked you to do a speech on Spanish artists of the 20th Century. The rubric requires that you incorporate three different types of sources into your report. Which resource would you be least likely to include in the report?

   		Art video on Spanish artists of the 20th century
   		Art encyclopedia article on Spanish art in the 20th century
   		Original artwork by a 20th century Spanish artist
   		Art journal article retrieved from a library subscription art database

0.5 points

QUESTION 2

1. In your social studies class you are assigned a three-page paper requiring a topic relating to important events in United States history. Which of the following research questions would represent the best topic for a three-page paper?

   		What reasons did each of the signers of the Declaration of Independence have for signing the document?
   		Why did the United States decide to purchase the Louisiana Territory?
   		What are three reasons why the United States entered into World War II?
   		What were the political, social and economic impacts of the Civil War?

0.5 points

QUESTION 3

1. You are researching the effects that colors have on people for an assignment in psychology. You must locate a book source, but you cannot find one in your school or local public library. Which library would be the best place to check for a book on the subject you need?

   		Government library
   		Law library
   		Museum library
   		University library

0.5 points

QUESTION 4

1. You have just been assigned to research an artist and choose a specific piece of work by the artist for your English class in which you will write a seven-page paper and include at least five different sources. Of the topic questions below, which question would best address the assignment?

   		How did the artist’s life and work influence other artists and society?
   		What was the artist’s most famous piece of art?
   		When was the artist alive?
   		Where did the artist live?

0.5 points

QUESTION 5

1. Your English teacher expects that your bibliography for a presentation you are doing include a variety of sources, including primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. You have located a scholarly journal article that summarizes research completed on your topic. The author of the article quotes from and cites the research. This article would be considered which type of source?

   		Primary
   		Secondary
   		Tertiary

0.5 points

QUESTION 6

1. You are researching various colleges in order to decide which university best meets your needs. The fields you have decided to include are tuition, room and board, number of applicants, the percentage admitted, and the average SAT/ACT test scores. The best way to record this information would be:

   		Note cards
   		Spreadsheet
   		Word processing document
   		Table/chart

0.5 points

QUESTION 7

1. You are gathering information about colleges so that you can complete applications for those in which you are interested in attending. You want to base your decision on tuition costs, types of degree programs, and campus life. Which of the following resources would provide you with the least amount of information to answer to your questions?

   		Your school library’s online catalog.
   		Some .gov sites on attending college, such as students.gov.
   		College .edu sites sponsored by the colleges that interest you.
   		Attending a local college fair.

0.5 points

QUESTION 8

1. You are preparing a PowerPoint presentation that your communications professor will post online. You have found some very effective images from a website that has posted the following message: “All of the images on this website are copyrighted. Please do not use any of them on a Web page, CD-ROM, printed or otherwise published work without receiving permission in advance from our site.” What will you do?

   		You must obtain permission or a waiver from the copyright owner before you can use the images in your PowerPoint.
   		You must write and ask for permission to use these images in your PowerPoint presentation but can feel free to post the images to your presentation knowing that you have applied for permission.
   		You must obtain permission from the copyright owner and must also do an in-text citation giving proper attribution.
   		You must obtain permission from the copyright owner, also remembering to properly cite the image within your PowerPoint and in your bibliography.

0.5 points

QUESTION 9

1. Compare the following two paragraphs, and then identify which author discusses the statement below.

   Author 1: “Although many scientists who worked to create this weapon and many of the military who would have to use it opposed its use to some degree, the general public backed Truman in his decision to call for unconditional surrender. In a June 10th Gallup Poll, 82% of Americans surveyed stated that the Japanese were a more heartless country than the Germans (18%). Many felt that destroying one of Japan’s cities with this new weapon would simply be retaliation for the devastating attack of Pearl Harbor which brought the United States into the war in December of 1941. With only 20% of Americans surveyed believing that the war would end by the end of 1945, the idea that a single weapon would bring a quick and definite end to the war in Japan also confirmed the belief held by Truman and his Cabinet that the atomic bomb should be used.”

   Author 2: “During World War II, President Truman had to make many difficult decisions regarding military matters, including, most importantly, the decision to utilize the new atomic bomb. In order to make these decisions, he looked to military authorities, his cabinet members, scientists and the views of the American public. Most of the American public, 80%, believed that the war would not end within the year 1945. Despite the objections of others, Truman felt he had the firm backing of the general United States population and his Cabinet; he believed that the use of the atomic bomb would be justified in order to end the war quickly.”

   Which author discusses this statement: “The majority of Americans believed that the war would not end within the year 1945.”?

   		Author 1
   		Author 2
   		Both Author 1 and 2
   		Neither Author 1 or 2

0.5 points

QUESTION 10

1. In preparation for writing a career exploration paper, you have gathered information about schooling, salary potential, and job outlook. However, you need to know what the job is like on a typical day. Which source would provide the best information?

   		A website about the career.
   		A research database.
   		An interview with a person in that career.
   		An interview with a college student studying in that field.

0.5 points

QUESTION 11

1. Your assignment is to take a stand on a current event and support your stand with evidence. You have chosen to argue that schools should provide students with personal laptop computers since you have seen recent stories on the news about local schools doing this. In which of the sources would you be likely to find support for your proposal — that personal laptop computers increase student learning?

   		An encyclopedia of education history, local newspapers, scholarly journals
   		Interviews with schools providing personal laptops, books, encyclopedia of education history
   		An education research database, such as ERIC, interviews with schools providing personal laptops

0.5 points

QUESTION 12

1. In an educational setting, the consequences of plagiarism can range from the lowering of a grade, a score of “0” for the plagiarized piece, or possible expulsion from the school or university. In the work world, there are also serious consequences for plagiarism. If a reporter for a major media organization admitted to copying another journalist’s work and using it as his own, the media organization will take action. Why are media organizations concerned with intellectual property rights? From the items below choose the incorrect reason why media organizations are concerned with intellectual property rights.

   		The media wants to keep all the new materials and ideas away from the public.
   		Copyright and respect for original work increases the sharing of ideas.
   		Rules protecting intellectual property allows for fair competition in the media marketplace.
   		The market for media exists only when the rights of the creator are defended.

0.5 points

QUESTION 13

1. Your assignment is to create a newspaper page depicting the fall of the Berlin Wall. Which search terms are most appropriate for an online search?

   		Fall OR Berlin Wall OR Communism.
   		Fall AND Berlin Wall AND Newspapers
   		Germany AND Berlin AND Wall
   		Berlin Wall AND decline NOT beginnning

0.5 points

QUESTION 14

1. You have just received a kit to take a DNA sample from yourself and send the DNA sample in to the Human Genome Project for analysis. Before you send the sample, you decide to research the background of the Human Genome Project and how your DNA sample will be used. Which of the sources listed below would give the most accurate and current background about the project?

   		A blog site with the focus on DNA
   		A biology news website
   		A scholarly science database
   		A world statistics website

0.5 points

QUESTION 15

1. Your biology teacher has assigned a five-page paper about alternative energy. You must choose a topic that is neither too broad nor too narrow to complete the assignment. Which topic below will you choose?

   		Renewable energy such as wind turbines and solar power will save our planet.
   		Electric cars can be built to use wind turbines and solar power.
   		Wind turbines can provide energy to farms economically and safely.
   		Many renewable energy sources exist such as wind turbines, solar power and water power.

0.5 points

QUESTION 16

1. Use the passage below to answer the following question.

   One of several reasons behind the obesity crisis has been the development of suburban America and the urban sprawl trend. As suburbs began to expand in the 1980’s, automobile dependence became pronounced. People in suburbs no longer walk to get a loaf of bread and their children no longer walk to school. This trend of dependence on automobiles and the resulting impact on obesity is demonstrated in a study done by Reid Ewing, a research professor at the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland. He surveyed people living in both the most populated counties in the United States and the least populated. He found that the residents of sprawling Geauga County in Ohio were an average of 6.3 lbs. heavier than the residents of crowded Manhattan County in New York.

   You have been assigned to write a paper analyzing the above passage. Where would you look to start your research?

   		The website of a management company developing small urban communities
   		The website of a suburban city
   		The website of the National Center for Smart Growth
   		The website of a non-profit health organization

0.5 points

QUESTION 17

1. Often the article title will alert the researcher to bias. Based on the following article title, indicate the likelihood of bias in the article.

   “On the Character of the American Political Order”, The Promise of American Politics

   		Article is most likely biased
   		Article is most likely unbiased

0.5 points

QUESTION 18

1. “The lumbering Harley-Davidson driven haphazardly by the teen, skidded, rolled and crashed into a tree.”

   A student wants to use the information from the sentence above in a research paper for English class. The teacher has asked that students properly paraphrase without plagiarizing. Which of the examples below is correctly paraphrased and not plagiarized?

   		The adolescent driver lost control of the huge Harley-Davidson and crashed into a tree.
   		The big Harley driven haphazardly by the teen, skidded, rolled and then crashed into a tree.
   		The lumbering Harley-Davidson driven by a teen driving haphazardly, skidded, rolled and crashed into a tree.
   		The Harley-Davidson skidded, rolled and crashed into a tree, after being driven haphazardly by the teenager.

0.5 points

QUESTION 19

1. You are creating a newscast on the decade of the 1940’s for your drama class. Which of the sources below would NOT be helpful to you?

   		CDs containing 1940’s music
   		Online biographies
   		News clips about World War II
   		Plays written about the 1940’s.

0.5 points

QUESTION 20

1. Look at the three PowerPoint slides below. Which one shows the proper way to give credit to an information source used to create the slide?

   Frame 1

   Percent of U.S. School-Age Children Considered Obese or Overweight

   By geographic area, the following percentage of school-age children in the U.S. that is obese or overweight: Northeast 17% Midwest 11% South 9% West 16%

   Frame 2

   Percent of U.S. School-Age Children Considered Obese or Overweight

   According to the CDC, by geographic area, the following percentage of school-age children in the U.S. that is obese or overweight Northeast 17% Midwest 11% South 9% West 16%

   Frame 3

   Percent of U.S. School-Age Children Considered Obese or Overweight

   By geographic area, the following percentage of school-age children in the U.S. that is obese or overweight: Northeast 17% Midwest 11% South 9% West 16% Centers for Disease Control: http://www.cdc.gov/datastatistics

   		Frame 1
   		Frame 2
   		Frame 3

0.5 points

QUESTION 21

1. Use the passage below to answer the question.

   Information literacy is a critical issue in today’s society. People are increasingly being inundated with new technology in all aspects of their lives. Because of these changes in our society, librarians and educators must be facilitators; people occupying these professions need to have an increasing awareness and knowledge of these important and useful services. Lisa J. Servon discusses these issues in her book Bridging the Digital Divide. The issues surrounding the separation between the “haves” and the “have nots” in the areas of information and information literacy are a fundamental problem in today’s society. Sevron’s assessment is that general inequality cannot be solved by technology. Even if one does not agree with this assessment, the information about the digital divide and the seriousness of the situation she writes about in this book are critical to understanding the problems which are being faced by those who do not have the technological knowledge to successfully compete in today’s world. Where technology is concerned, there is a disparity of knowledge which, if not remedied, is having and will continue to have a serious and detrimental effect on our society as a whole.

   Which of the following methods would you use to obtain more information regarding Lisa J. Servon in order to determine her legitimacy in presenting an argument for or against information literacy?

   		Use the library catalog to find the bookBridging the Digital Divideand other books by her.
   		Use an electronic journal database to find articles written about her.
   		Conduct a search using a commercial search engine to determine more information regarding her background.
   		All of the above.

0.5 points

QUESTION 22

1. Identify the statement that is NOT true about a scholarly journal.

   		Scholarly journals are peer-reviewed or refereed.
   		Scholarly journals always include bibliographies citing sources.
   		Scholarly journals report on research in a particular subject.
   		Scholarly journals are easily located by using search engines such as Google or Yahoo.

0.5 points

QUESTION 23

1. You are searching for information about the country, Russia. Given the sources below, select the best place to begin your search.

   		Library subscription electronic journal database
   		Print encyclopedia
   		Library subscription newspaper database
   		Internet search engine such as Google
   		Library online catalog

0.5 points

QUESTION 24

1. You have been assigned a three-page research paper in sociology on school violence and are using an online database to find information. When you search the database for magazine and newspaper articles using “school violence” you retrieve over 3000 hits! You want to narrow your topic and the database provides a “Narrow Results By Subject” menu. Of the subjects from the menu listed below, which one will best narrow the topic for your three-page paper?

   		School violence
   		United States
   		Violence
   		Bullying in schools

0.5 points

QUESTION 25

1. In 2000 the United States Congress enacted legislation known as the Federal Children’s Internet Protection Act or CIPA. This legislation stated that schools and libraries receiving federal funds must use Internet filtering software to filter images and sites that are obscene or harmful to minors. There has been much controversy surrounding the CIPA. Some people argue that the legislation is a necessity. Some argue that the legislation is censorship. Consider the topic below for a five-page argumentative research paper. Indicate whether this topic would be too broad, too narrow or a good topic for a five-page paper:

   In the United States, Internet filtering in schools is not a form of illegal censorship.

   		Good topic
   		Too broad
   		Too narrow

0.5 points

QUESTION 26

1. You found a lengthy book that is a biography of Claude Monet. You need to find the chapter that deals with his work in Giverny. Which of the following do you use to locate the chapter on Giverny?

   		Summary in the library catalog
   		Table of contents
   		Index
   		All of the above

0.5 points

QUESTION 27

1. You are a student at a university and struggling to keep ahead of all your studies and papers. You have started to procrastinate on some of your tasks. You cannot sleep and are not getting proper nutrition as you try to complete everything on time. You are totally stressed out. You decide to forget everything by going out for the evening with friends on Friday and Saturday night! Now, it is Sunday night and you have a huge history paper due at 8:00 AM Monday. You have an outline, notes and start writing your paper at midnight. You realize you will not be able to finish in time for the 8:00 AM deadline. What should you do?

   		Email your professor or call and stop by. Explain your situation and ask for an extension on the due date, even though it will mean a lower grade.
   		Follow your outline and paraphrase the notes that go with the outline so you can at least finish the paper.
   		Borrow your roommate’s paper that she used last semester in the same class, add some of your notes and turn the paper in on time.

0.5 points

QUESTION 28

1. You want to include a portion of a video about Woodstock in a presentation you are doing about music in the 1960’s. According to copyright law, how much of the video are you permitted to use? Choose the correct answer below:

   		You may use half of the original video as part of your multimedia presentation.
   		You may use one minute or 5%; whichever is less from the original video as part of the multimedia project.
   		You may use up to 10% or 3 minutes; whichever is less, as part of a multimedia project.

0.5 points

QUESTION 29

1. In your class, Contemporary Issues 101, you must create a poster comparing infant mortality rates from around the globe. Your assignment includes the following countries: United States, China, Germany, Brazil and the Sudan. You decide to use a current almanac to find the infant mortality rates over the last decade. How will you find the information in the almanac?

   		Index
   		Table of contents
   		Glossary
   		Index and table of contents

0.5 points

QUESTION 30

1. For a final project in science, your teacher has assigned a paper on a topic of your choice. You are having a hard time focusing your topic of interest. Which of the following resources would be most helpful in focusing the topic for a science project?

   		The subject area of an online science database.
   		The table of contents of a science book.
   		A Google search using “science topics”.
   		A science magazine or journal.