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