Effective+and+ethical+use+of+information

=**Effective and Ethical Use of Information**=

Let's face the facts. Students will often turn to the internet to find information, images, video, and audio. How can Teacher-Librarians help them navigate the internet, and use the information that they find ethically?

Pathfinders and internet curation tools are useful for developing focused, high quality resource lists on specific topics. These resources will help students avoid endless and frustrating internet searches. Pathfinders can provide a more general overview of topics, and include call number ranges where books can be found in the library, but not specific book titles, to help foster student independence. A list of keywords and providing guidance for performing effective searches using Google are also important ways to help steer students toward information. Students are going to use Google. We might as well show them how to use it properly.
 * Help Student Perform More Effective Searches**

It is often difficult for students to evaluate the information they find on the internet for quality. Discussions about bias, reliability, authority, and misinformation should be a part of every library program. Students need explicit instruction about how to find accurate information.
 * Help Students Understand Not All Information is Equal**

The availability of information on the internet makes plagiarism a real pitfall. It is easy to copy and paste text and images, and to copy videos and songs. As students move from simply consuming media to creating it, we see things like mashups and videos being produced with all sorts of copyrighted images and music. It is important to be well informed about issues such as copyright, creative commons, and public domain so that you can help students understand that being a good digital citizen means we have to respect the work and ideas of other people. Weave information about plagiarism and copyright into your library program, and also spend time educating other staff members so that students get a consistent message when it comes to these issues.
 * Plagiarism and Copyright**