Transcript Information Competence as a Value

Subject-Driven Information Literacy:
The Emerging Digital Model in BusinessRelated Competencies
Merlot International 2004
Costa Mesa, CA
Presenter
Frank Vuotto, M.L.I.S., M.A.
Business Librarian, Faculty
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, CA
[email protected]
Summary
This presentation details the application of
business models and concepts to the design,
creation, implementation, and management of one
of the most comprehensive, subject-driven
(business) information literacy Websites in the
United States.
Scalable Models
Not theoretical academic musings
 Real-world PROVEN solutions
 Scalable models
 Dynamic strategic approaches

Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Background

2003 CSU Information Competence Grant $5,000
– Business/Agribusiness Website

2004 CSU Information Competence Grant $7,000
+ $5,000 matching funds
– Orfalea College of Business Marketing Area
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Student Fees

2002-2003 Student Fee Allocation $35,000
– College of Agriculture, Agribusiness Dept

2003-2004 Student Fee Allocation $35,000
– College of Agriculture, Agribusiness Dept.
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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The New Paradigm

Utilization of textbook business models for
management decisions within academe :
– SWOT
– PEST
– TQM
– BSC
– CRM
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Macro Paradigm Philosophy To
Micro Paradigm Reality

Applying the business model to subject-specific
information competence:

Marketing model
– Meets a specific need
– Priced within budgetary demands (Costs)
– Distributed effectively to clients
– Promoted through a variety of marketing campaigns
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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The Four Ps of Marketing:
Information Literacy and Instruction


Product: A good, service or idea that offers a
bundle of tangible and intangible attributes to
satisfy consumers. Having the right product for a
specific target market quires knowing what they
need and want.
Place (Distribution): A key element of the
marketing mix involving all aspects of getting
products to the consumer in the right location at
the right time.
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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The Four Ps of Marketing:
Information Literacy and Instruction


Price: The amount of money or other
consideration – that is, something of value given
in exchange for a product.
Promotion: Promotion is the means by which
marketers “talk to” existing customers and
potential buyers. Promotion is a marketer’s means
of communication.
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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The Marketing Mix

The specific combination of interrelated and
interdependent marketing activities in
which an organization engages to meet its
objectives is known as the Marketing Mix
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Five C’s of Outreach

By combining the four P’s of marketing with the
five C’s of outreach – communication,
collaboration, coordination, cooperation, and
collegiality – a strategic framework is created that
can be applied to a variety of library-faculty
partnership projects.
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Circus Elephants and Marketing

Advertising

Promotion

Publicity

Public Relations
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Selling Vision
According to John Graham (Graham 2001),
“the difference between closing a sale and losing it
rests with the way the presentation is made.
Whether it's selling a product or an idea, the ability
to present effectively can make the difference
between acceptance and rejection.”
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Strategic Management:
Establishing Priorities

Objectives and Learning Outcomes
– Identify specific learning outcomes

Strategic Planning
– Develop a clear, credible plan

Action Plan
– Demand accountability for all deliverables

Assessment & Measurement Tools
– Incorporate assessment tools and manage results
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Objectives and Learning Outcomes

The following objectives were established:
– Identify fundamental informational, business, agricultural, and
economic research competence skills
– Intermix authoritative business and agribusiness content
– Incorporate value-added elements throughout each module
– Integrate an Information Competence Website into the agribusiness
curriculum
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Identify Competencies

Fundamental Information Competencies*
– Determine information needs
– Locate information
– Evaluate information
– Interpret information
– Manage information
– Communicate information
*Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL)
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/acrlinfolit/informationliteracy.htm
*ACRL Standards
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/standards.pdf
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Business Competencies

Fundamental business and economic competencies
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Locate company information
Gather industry intelligence
Understand industry classifications (NAICS, SIC)
Find demographic and market data
Understand GIS and its implications for business
Locate international trade and financial data
Understand international trade classification systems (SITC, HS)
Find regulatory information
Locate currency data
Create marketing and business plans
Secure governmental data
Understand and locate economic indicators
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Agricultural Competencies

Basic agricultural/agribusiness competencies
– Knowledge of the Agricultural Experiment Station
– Locate ag-related statistics (USDA, FAO)
– Secure international data including NGO sources (OECD, World
Bank)
– Locate climate data
– Find country agricultural reports
– Understand and locate EIRs
– Knowledge of GIS and mapping technologies
– Familiarization with maps (soil, topographical, zoning)
– Locate patents (plant or agribusiness related)
– Experience searching agricultural-driven databases (AGRICOLA)
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Intermix Competencies

Problem-Based Learning
– Places the learner in project-based work situations that
he/she will face in the corporate environment.

Related-Sources
– Examples of subject-driven resources

Industry-Framed
– Understanding student career goals and placement
statistics
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Adding Value-Added Content

What exactly is value-added content? In general, adding value is the process of
changing or transforming a product from its original state to a more valuable
state. An even broader definition of value added is “to economically add value
to a product by changing its current place, time, and form characteristics to
characteristics more preferred in the marketplace” (Coltrain 2003).

In this case, value was added by transforming the ten basic information
literacy skills into a set of competencies that will benefit the marketplace –
agribusiness students and faculty – and delivering them via an interactive
Website that is accessible 24/7 from anywhere in the world.

Value-added content enhances the learning process while delivering superior,
meaningful, information that creates the potential for student success.
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Curriculum Integration and
Website Design

Identify Core Courses
–
–
–
–

AGB101 (Introduction to Agribusiness)
AGB301 (Food and Fiber Marketing; Marketing Research)
AGB318 405 (Global Agricultural Marketing and Trade)
AGB460 (Senior Project Methodology – Capstone Class)
Create four instructional modules
– The level of difficulty increases in each module
– As the level of difficulty increases, so do expectations
– Seamless integration of various competencies

Design a template to be used for each module
– Consistent look and feel
– Professional graphics
– Easy navigation
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Module Template Design

Introduction and Overview
– A brief description highlighting the specific topics and skill sets
that will discussed. Example from Module II:
Welcome to Module II of the Information Competence Website for
Agribusiness. This module introduces intermediate searching
techniques, key marketing and management resources, and ag-related
statistical sources.
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Module Template Design

Specific Objectives
– Specific learning objectives are listed at the start of each module.
The objectives include both informational and business
competencies that the student is expected to master by the end of
the module. Example from Module II:
When this session is over you should be able to:
– Create effective searches using wildcards, proximity limiters,
nesting, and field searching
– Locate historical company financials (income statement, balance
sheet, ratios, growth, etc.)
– Locate industry ratios/benchmarks for any given industry
– Find demographic information
– Name and locate economic indicators
– Gather agricultural statistics
– Locate market research reports and management journals
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Module Template Design

Questions for self appraisal
– Data from a weighted scale model (1-5 where 1 is very easy and 5
is very difficult) is collected, evaluated, and analyzed on a regular
basis. The collection of raw data from the self-assessment test and
the review questions provides the information needed to measure
and gauge students’ progress while supplying the information
needed to plan successful and creative future ILI projects. Example
from Module III:
Self Appraisal Questions:
Name four major compilers of international data?
Name four sources that offer detailed country information?
Find the GDP, Lending Rate, and CPI for France for the past ten years.
What is OECD? Name the member countries.
Find the consumption of fresh vegetables in Argentina for the past three
years.
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Module Template Design

Informational, business and agricultural
competencies
– Each module offers a mix of competency skill sets – business,
agribusiness and informational. Example from Module I:
Define the research topic
Determine information needs
Locate company and industry information
Determine market shares
Discuss industry classification systems (e.g.,SIC, NAICS)
Understand literature reviews and annotated bibliographies
Secure peer reviewed journals
Discuss primary versus secondary sources
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Module Template Design

Review Questions
– The same self-appraisal questions are posed again at the end of
the module to test students’ ability to retain information, think
critically, and gauge their understanding of new concepts and
resources.
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Module Template Design

Exercises
– Real world business scenarios were incorporated into all research
assignments to challenge students and encourage critical thinking skills.
Examples from Module III:
Find the following information on Indonesia – economic trends and outlook,
political environment, market potential for U.S., leading sectors for U.S.
exports and imports, trade regulations, and investment climate
Find the following annual financial data for Denmark from 1996 to the present:
Exchange rates, International liquidity, Interest rates, Balance of payments,
International investment position, and National Accounts.
Find the annual direct investment (reinvested earnings) data for France - assets
and liabilities - from 1995-2001.
What were China's five top exports (include the 3-digit SITC along with the
commodity name) for 1998/1999? Give the value in USD for each commodity.
Give the percentage of the country total for each commodity.
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Six Stages of ILI Success: Stage 1

Pre-Classroom Prospectus
– Summer Advising
• Building a Better Business Student
http://macabre.lib.calpoly.edu/staff/fvuotto/building_better.pdf
– Week of Welcome
• Library tour & orientation
• School orientation
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Six Stages of ILI Success: Stage 2

Creating a centralized subject-driven portal
– Topics
• Frequently asked business questions
• Perennial research queries
–
–
–
–
–
Course-specific research guides
Subject-driven Information Literacy Website
Specialized databases
New books
Funds and/or grant information
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Centralized Knowledge Banks:
Subject-Driven Portals
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Six Stages of ILI Success: Stage 3

Design and develop a tutorial-driven information
literacy & instruction Website

Establish partnerships with teaching faculty

Identify needs

Unwavering support of teaching faculty and/or
department heads
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Six Stages of ILI Success: Stage 4

Integrate ILI Website and Portal into the
curriculum

Core areas

Faculty support materials

Market and promote Website
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Six Stages of ILI Success: Stage 5

Work with advisory councils

Industry-level marketability

Curriculum changes
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Six Stages of ILI Success: Stage 6

Measurements and assessment tools

Looking at the data

E-portfolios

Job placement

Industry feedback
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Macro Perspective
Subject
Specialist
Subject Portal
Class Visits / Guides
ILI Modules
Communication
Coordination
Shared Technology
Team Teaching
Credit-Based
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
Teaching
Faculty
Blackboard (CMS)
Course Shells
Vertical Integration
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Websites

Business & Agribusiness Research Portal
http://macabre.lib.calpoly.edu/staff/fvuotto/

Agribusiness Information Competence Website
http://multiweb.lib.calpoly.edu/Agbusiness/index.html

Kennedy Library at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CA
http://www.lib.calpoly.edu/
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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Related Articles

Information Competence as Value-Added Product:
Applying the Business Model to Academe, Reference
Services Review, Volume 32, Issue 3 (Summer 2004)

If You Build It With Them, They Will Come: Guiding
Principles for the Cal Poly Information and
Communication Commons, Co-Authored with Dr. Mary
Somerville, Internet Reference Services Quarterly (In press
January 2005)
Frank Vuotto, Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo, CA
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