DOCUMENT MINDSETS

Assignments that engage the literature of a field, including those literatures mediated by the

library, are designed to increase the knowledge base of the student.

Depending on the assignment, students adopt three different mindsets as to the documents

they are reading. While the distinctions between these mindsets on an abstract level seem

clear enough, it is recognized that in the real life activity of completing assignments, these

distinctions are tacit, not explicit. And certain types of assignment may fully engage all

three mindsets

simultaneously.

LEARNING

The reader trusts the author,

and learns from the author as

a mentor. This includes

reading assignments, text

book assignments, any

assignment where the

documents accessed are

considered reliable. Learning,

the incorporation of

information into a knowledge

base, takes place as the reader

engages the document. This

occurs whether the reader

critically evaluates the text or

not. Thoughtful readers

engage the text from

beginning to end, filtering the

content based on prior

knowledge and epistemic

commitments. But the

mindset is one of trusting the

text unless there is a

compelling reason not to.

INFORMATION

SEEKING

The beginning point is a

perceived information need, a question that needs an answer. Using the tools and

opportunities at hand, the information seeker then attempts to find the documented answer

to their question. The assumption is that such an answer exists. The challenge for the seeker

is to evaluate whether or not the findings are accurate and sufficient. Often, the seeker

relies on how well the found answer reflects the desired answer. Levels of confidence or

certainty rise or fall based on the viability of alternative answers. Nevertheless, the mindset

is one of trusting the text unless there is a compelling reason not to.

DOING RESEARCH

For the person engaging in research according to our definition, the suggested answers, if

any, to a question or a problem are not sufficient. The role of a literature search is for

STUDENTS AND DOCUMENTS: MINDSETS AND OUTCOMES By Terry Dwain Robertson

Seminary Librarian

13th Annual Seminary Scholarship Symposium, February 9-10, 2017

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, Berrien Springs, MI ABSTRACT

The library contains documents in a variety of formats. As a matter of course, students access these documents as a normal feature of “getting” an education. This poster illustrates three mindsets students adopt as they engage with library documents:

1. Learning -- readers absorb the content into their knowledge base trusting the reliability and authority of the creator of the work. The mindset of the reader is passive.

2. Information Seeking -- readers have a question for which they are seeking an answer,

and are assuming that someone who knows the answer has documented it where they can find it. The mindset of the reader is instrumentally active, but cognitively passive.

3. Doing Research -- readers are analyzing an “object.” The authors that are consulted

are cited as either giving evidence or as conversation partners. They assume these library mediated documents provide only partial answers and clues. The desired outcome is the creation of new knowledge. The mindset of the reader is cognitively and affectively active.

This framework of the mindsets of students as they use library documents is illustrated by referencing typical Seminary course assignments.

When this understanding of doing research is explicit in classroom research assignments, it encourages rigor in research performance. A corresponding focus in the library resource access experience reduces the students’ ambiguities and uncertainties.

Problem Statement

Much of the academic class work commonly labeled “research” does not meet the ex-

pectations in the following definition:

Research is the grounded, intentional and savvy analysis of an “object” in conversa-

tion with a community of peers/experts for the purpose of creating knowledge. The

definition assumes a “published” document as closure.

Where does “information literacy,” “information seeking,” and “critical thinking” fit

into the rest of the learning that engages documentary sources such as those mediated

by the library?

References

Association of College and Research Libraries. (2015). Framework for infor-

mation literacy for higher education. Retrieved January 22, 2015, from http://

acrl.ala.org/ilstandards/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Framework-MW15-

Board-Docs.pdf

Beitz, G. (2016). Truth in evidence and truth in arguments without logical om-

niscience. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 67(4), 1117-

1137. doi:10.1093/bjps/axv015

Ferraris, M. (2013). Documentality: Why it is necessary to leave traces. New

York: Fordham University Press.

Floridi, L. (2011). The Philosophy of information. Oxford: Oxford University

Press.

Hansson, J. (2015). Documentality and legitimacy in future libraries – an ana-

lytical framework for initiated speculation. New Library World, 116(1/2), 4-

14. doi:10.1108/NLW-05-2014-0046

Köstenberger, A. J. (2011). Excellence: The character of God and the pursuit

of scholarly virtue. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Rosenkranz, S. (2015). Fallibility and trust. Noûs, 49(3), 616-641. doi: 10.1111/nous.12035

Stackhouse, J. G. (2014). Need to know: Vocation as the heart of Christian epistemology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Yaghjian, L. B. (2006). Writing theology well: A rhetoric for theological and biblical writers. New York, NY: Continuum.

finding evidence with which to construct an argument, not an answer to a question. Two

metaphors help explain this mindset as it engages with documents:

Journey metaphor: the documents are like maps. Maps are useful constructions

using symbols that can aid the informed user in making their journey. But maps

serve different purposes, were created at a specific time, and are subject to the

limitations of the creators. Maps do not make the journey, the reader does.

Legal metaphor: the documents are like witnesses in a cour t case. They give

evidence in the form of testimony to what they know. Lawyers build a case, an

argument on behalf of their client, to convince the jury of their position. The jury

then must weigh evidence and come to a verdict. But no single witness can provide

all the evidence that is needed. It is the careful and convincing accumulation of

valid evidence from many sources

that wins the argument.

Doing research does require

grounding, and this is achieved

through learning. Many of the

clues are gathered by information

seeking. But the mindset is one of

knowledge creation, continuously

evaluating the sources and the

validity of the evidence.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Particularly for research level

assignments, a distinction needs

to be made between routine

“information seeking” and “doing

research.” The task defines the

role and function of the literature,

and therefore how the reader

engages the documents. This

mindset also clarifies the

appropriate use of sources,

because it is necessary to

document the evidence, and it is

necessary to defend the argument

against real authors who are not

made of straw. For this level of

argumentation to be credible, the

reader must be able to verify and

validate the evidence and test the

propositions. Full academic

citation is essential.

LEARNING

Information

Seeking

Doing

Research

Doing

Research

Outcome Typical

Assignment

Mindset

Learning Knowledge Readings

Book Reviews

Trust as in a Mentor

Information

Seeking

Answers Reports Trust contingent on

reliability of source

Doing Research New Knowledge Research Papers,

Theses, Dissertations

Evidence, clues,

arguments, critical

analysis