{"data":[{"id":293,"title":"Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies: Teaching and Assessing Writing for a Socially Just Future","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2015,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"In Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies, Asao B. Inoue theorizes classroom writing assessment as a complex system that is \"more than\" its interconnected elements. To explain how and why antiracist work in the writing classroom is vital to literacy learning, Inoue incorporates ideas about the white racial habitus that informs dominant discourses in the academy and other contexts. Inoue helps teachers understand the unintended racism that often occurs when teachers do not have explicit antiracist agendas in their assessments. Drawing on his own teaching and classroom inquiry, Inoue offers a heuristic for developing and critiquing writing assessment ecologies that explores seven elements of any writing assessment ecology: power, parts, purposes, people, processes, products, and places.","contributors":[{"id":3250,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Asao","middle_name":"B.","last_name":"Inoue","location":"University of Washington Tacoma","background_text":"Asao B. Inoue is Director of University Writing and Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Tacoma. He has published on writing assessment, validity, and composition pedagogy in Assessing Writing, The Journal of Writing Assessment, Composition Forum, and Research in the Teaching of English, among other journals and collections. His co-edited collection Race and Writing Assessment (2012) won the CCCC's Outstanding Book Award for an edited collection."}],"subjects":[{"id":5,"name":"Education","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"L7","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/education"},{"id":6,"name":"Humanities","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":null,"visible_textbooks_count":418,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/humanities"},{"id":33,"name":"Literature, Rhetoric, and Poetry","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"PE1408","visible_textbooks_count":124,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/literature-rhetoric-and-poetry"},{"id":27,"name":"Higher Education","parent_subject_id":5,"call_number":"LC980","visible_textbooks_count":34,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/higher-education"}],"publishers":[{"id":483,"url":"https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/inoue/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","name":"WAC Clearinghouse"}],"formats":[{"id":812,"type":"PDF","url":"https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/inoue/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":813,"type":"eBook","url":"https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/inoue/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":17,"reviews":[{"id":836,"first_name":"Antonette ","last_name":"Aragon","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Colorado State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book has a clear comprehensiveness. It shows an effective coverage of the subjects appropriate to the subject within it's index, notes, and reference pages. I followed the structure of the book easily.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I believe it is ludicrous that any text is unbiased. All authors bring their biases and if we cannot recognize this, then why do theories exist? The author of this text shows the bias with writing assessments and how such bias marginalizes students of color, simply because our society is wrought with racism that has never been confronted. Inoue touches on the epistemological racism that works in our society because we live in a society that has been founded on racism. Until we examine what racism is and how it resides in our academic practices, we will only continue the status quo hegemonic writing practices that herald white as normal, neutral and natural. Yet, it is a book like this requesting that we stop and examine our assessment practices and examine how racism is at the heart of such practices.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is up-to-date. The topic is one that has longevity and relevancy. I don't see how there will be necessary updates in the future because it has a candid simplicity that is straightforward to follow for years to come.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is written clearly. The author, Inoue, knows deeply how race and racism is part of the landscape of the inner workings of our educational operations, such as within our assessments. He breaks his theory and praxis down coherently. I also applaud him for tackling an issue that is overwhelming present within academia, yet acutely hidden within the white illusion of hegemonic power dynamics. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The terminology related to the topic of race and racism related to assessments is well defined. I am an educational researcher and I focus on Chicana Feminist Epistemology and Critical Race Theoretical frames representing socially just educational research.  Inoue, author of this book, presents the terminology and framing related to the elements of race and racism as something we must examine forthrightly within our writing assessments. Such assessments are often written and developed by professors and teachers who are bound to the epistemology of our culture and he deconstructs this so that we may understand the concepts of ecologies of assessments.  ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book has clear modularity. I found the text and chapters easy to read with clear use of subheadings when needed. The book has clarity within its layout. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization/structure/flow is logically put together. There are five chapters and they are all well developed with a clear thesis and solid arguments to back the claims of the arguments about race and racism at the core of our writing assessments. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is free of interface issues. There were no distorted images/charts and I found nothing confusing to read. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book is well written. There were just 2 that I ran across. Otherwise, I found the book very well written.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I chose this book because I research \"race and racism\" as it pertains to educational equity. This was the only book that i found covering this topic. Cultural relevancy is at the core of this text. The discussion of race and racism is no delicate topic and the author does a solid job covering the topic as it relates to writing assessments. He makes a strong case to show how race and racism are part of the fabric of our society and if we don't address it, it doesn't mean racism will vanish. Instead, examining the elements in our thinking as it relates to how we assess is based on our thinking, which is then validated by the values (axiology) and the nature of what we call real (ontology). He shows how writing assessments are bound to the culture we reside and abide. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I highly recommend this text!","created_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1412,"first_name":"Callie","last_name":"Palmer","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Linn Benton Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Inoue addresses the writing task and assessment as an \"ecology\" which frames the work as a living, breathing entity capable of evolving. He provides detailed components in this ecology, beginning with a very lengthy and detailed introduction that lays the groundwork for his thinking and writing, detailing the \"function of race in writing assessments\",  defining \"ecology\" as \"relationships between ...people and their environments,\"  specifics about constructing antiracist writing assessment ecologies, a demonstration of how these work in a specific course inclusive of students' participation and response, and closes with details about designing the assessments. \nAs a writing teacher and an antiracist educator, I find this a very comprehensive text, inclusive of critical and thoughtful application of key scholars' work to support Inoue's thesis.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Inoue uses his sources well, supports his work thoroughly and thoughtfully. The question of bias is curious - I would argue that depends on who reads the text and for what reason. If an instructor is looking to create a \"neutral\" writing assignment, this is not the text for that. Inoue's thesis is not about anti-bias, rather, it is about antiracist frameworks for creating assignments and assessing them.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Inoue's text is very timely and I can see this remaining useful for years to come. He adds an interesting perspective to scholarship about writing pedagogy and assessment that is rarely addressed at this level in other writing texts. In an era where some find it easy to dismiss respectful writing practices as \"politically correct\", work like this gets at the structural issues involved in teaching and assessing writing projects.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Inoue's text is clearly written for an audience that would include instructors who have familiarity with theory and scholarly work. What is great is he doesn't overwhelm with jargon on any level - but that is part of his ecology. Where difficult concepts and language are introduced, they are also broken down for the reader so that this work is accessible without being simplistic.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"One of the benefits of reviewing a writing scholar's work is that they are conscious of the structure they are creating, and Inoue is no exception.  Each chapter is well developed, and at only 5 chapters, this text isn't too long for the average busy instructor to consult.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"This text is not one that would be used by first or second year students, and would most likely only be used by students who intend to teach writing on some level, but in spite of that, this book is well organized and easy to follow. All five chapters are broken down well - some additional subheadings might be useful to break up the type, but that is purely an aesthetic consideration.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Inoue breaks down the concepts he relies on for his ecology theory, and then provides clear and consistent details about how and where this theory operates to create an antiracist writing assessment ecology.  He starts with the bigger picture, breaks down the ideas, and then demonstrates how they work in the fourth chapter in an actual class, followed by a final chapter that provides considerations for design.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Inoue produced this book as a free text, and it is possible that choices were made to keep the interface simple to prevent any kind of copyright/use issues. There are very few graphics, and the text is available as a pdf or ePub document.  I read the document as a pdf file, and had no problem navigating and making notes in the pdf file.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I saw no grammatical errors. Inoue's writing is clear and concise.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Since the focus of this text is antiracist writing ecologies, there are relevant examples of dominant or culturally oppressive practices that some might, depending on their personal standpoint, find problematic - but that is the point. What this text can be described as is culturally responsive - it does not center any one group as the \"correct\" group, nor does it simply dismiss the dominant or racially constructed methods as \"bad\" - rather, Inoue does a nice job pointing out how these constructions are problematic and how to create \"ecologies\" that are less inclusive and more equitable. Inclusivity doesn't necessarily dispense with the dominant issue.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"It would be great if this were to be used as a handbook (or some form of it) to train writing center tutors, directors, writing faculty, and then once this is firmly set in that aspect, across the curriculum.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1506,"first_name":"Shane","last_name":"Abrams","position":"Adjunct Faculty","institution_name":"Portland Community College and Portland State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text provides incisive yet accessible exploration of the institutional hegemonic racisms upon which many of our assumptions about \"good\" writing rely. In response, it promotes a culturally and situationally responsive ecology of writing instruction and assessment. It's certainly not a \"how-to,\" but offers important conceptual considerations for the intentional teacher committed to material antiracism.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is polished and, based on my theoretical posture, accurate, although topics like this one are highly politicized, and \"unbiased\" might be a reductive way to describe it.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The book refers to both historical and ongoing institutional racist (and antiracist) practices; although a new edition might be in order in a few years, it seems both relevant and lasting.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The target audience for this book (\"graduate students, writing teachers, and writing program administrators\" [Inoue 3]) should feel comfortable with the language employed in this book, but I can't envision using it below the 300 level.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Inoue establishes a thoughtful framework in the introductory sections of the book which continues throughout the text.","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"These concepts are very complex and not especially excerpt-able. The text is very dense, so I would not consider it modular.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The text is clearly organized and easy to follow, in terms of overall trajectory.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Inoue uses frequent and very important endnotes, but there's no way to click between the main text and the endnotes. I keep having to scroll/jump to pages, and losing my place. It seems like it would be easy enough to make these endnotes linked.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I didn't observe significant grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text is exceptionally relevant, in fact focusing on antiracist cultural responsiveness. It is highly conscious of race (and other axes of oppression) and committed to social justice writing pedagogy.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I am not likely to use this book for the particular classes I teach, but I think it should be required reading for Teacher Education Programs at both undergrad and graduate levels. It would also make an excellent text for professional development projects and ongoing education for current teachers.","created_at":"2017-08-15T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-08-15T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2176,"first_name":"Melissa","last_name":"Wells","position":"Assistant Professor of Education","institution_name":"University of Mary Washington","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"In this text, Inoue offers an incredibly comprehensive view of a subject about an area that deserves more intentional attention:  antiracist writing assessment ecologies.  After clearly laying out some complex issues raised within critical theories (such as Freire’s emancipatory frameworks, Gramsci’s theory of hegemony, and Marxian political theory) in a comprehensible orientation for newcomers to these theories, Inoue then provides specific suggestions and considerations for classroom practice that moves toward antiracist writing assessment ecologies.  The text includes two appendices, one which shows the author’s grading contract (one strategy, building on the work of Danielewicz and Elbow, 2009) for antiracist writing assessment the author mentions in the text) from his own college composition course at Fresno State; the second includes a sample reflection letter for problem-posing labor processes.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This text thoroughly addresses the basic premises underlying antiracist writing assessment ecologies.  Inoue clearly defines differences between race and racism, as well as differing forms of racism and power/equity (such as assumptions of Standardized Edited American English [SEAE] and a white racial habitus) that need to be addressed before pursuing the work of creating antiracist assessments.  Furthermore, Inoue clearly analyzes writing assessment data from his institution on the EPT to support his argument that this work is necessary.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"On a scale from 1-5, this text deserves a 10 in this category.  With this work, Inoue fills a significant void in the field of educational assessment that needs to drive discourse and teaching practice for years to come.  Traditional writing assessment relies upon sameness and standardization, which, Inoue explains, are foundationally racist principles due to the artificial assumption of shared mainstream norms; this text offers ways to reconsider such practices to focus more on students’ labor as writers instead.  While Inoue frames this text from his experience as a college writing professor, as a current teacher educator and former public school educator myself, I see direct applications of the issues raised in this text across all educational contexts.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Despite the complexity of the topic, Inoue engages the reader with his conversational tone.  Specific case studies, research, and anecdotal evidence clearly illustrate and support the arguments and claims made.  Even though the concept of “ecologies” in the context of antiracist writing assessment may be new for most readers, Inoue spends ample time explaining this concept in an approachable way.  In addition, the conclusions at the end of each chapter concisely review the overarching themes and arguments.  Two figures are also included that provide additional clarity of the seven interconnected elements of writing assessment ecologies and example of the labor-focused rubrics Inoue negotiates with students.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text’s terminology and framework is consistent throughout the text.  While the theory and framework are initially (and thoroughly) established in Chapter 1 and 2, Inoue revisits key concepts through the lens of classroom practice and personal experience in Chapter 3 through 5.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"While Inoue does use subheadings within chapters to organize the work, these sections of text are at times quite lengthy and may rely upon an understanding of or interaction with previous sections in order to be understood.  However, I also see the need to read this text holistically because of the depth of content:  for example, skipping to the classroom practice suggestions misses the basic orientation to the critical theories upon which these practice suggestions lie, which is in itself a problematic omission for a reader who is wanting to do this work.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"As would be expected from a professor of writing in a book about writing assessment, this text is clearly organized with a natural flow that makes it engaging for the reader.  Inoue clearly guides the reader through logical arguments and strategic use of evidence to support those arguments.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text’s interface was clear and simple to navigate; I used the iBooks app on my iPad and was able to use the features of the app with this text, including searching for terms within the book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"While there were a handful of grammatical errors throughout the entire book (one use of it’s instead of its, one use of students instead of students’, one question mark instead of a period, and one period instead of a question mark), these minor errors did not detract from the reader’s ability to understand the text.  (Also, there is a great irony in assessing this text’s grammatical integrity amidst its central arguments that delineate antiracist writing assessments.  So, if we re-frame this assessment of grammatical strandardization through Inoue’s own suggestion of labor, this becomes a non-issue.)","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Yet again, this text should be a 10 on a scale from 1-5 in this category.  The central tenants of this text rely upon cultural relevance and interrupting writing assessment practices that are culturally irrelevant.  Inoue focuses on the experiences of all students in his courses through data on the standardized EPT writing assessment and their reflections/writing in his course, but a special focus is placed on the Mexican-American and Hmong students at his institution and ensuring that his writing assessment practices are culturally relevant by moving beyond the assumption of a white, mainstream habitus.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"As a professor of education whose research interests lie in critical theories and their application to classroom practice, I was thrilled to find such a well-written book available on this topic as an open-source text.  It helped me re-envision some of my own teaching practices, and I anticipate others who read this text will share in that transformative experience.","created_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2219,"first_name":"Warren","last_name":"Christian","position":"English Language Specialist","institution_name":"University of North Carolina's Writing Center","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Inoue delivers a clear and well-pointed critique of the racist implications of established college-level writing assessments setting up the need for antiracist assessment practices. He gives an in-depth rationale for his own anti-racist assessment practices that assess students based on their labor rather than how well their products approximate academic standards based on white middle and upper class norms.  He goes on to describe how such practices have played out in his own courses. Inoue ends with a series of questions that any writing instructor or writing program administrator concerned with disrupting racist writing assessment practices would do well to consider.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book is well researched. The works Inoue critiques are represented fairly.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book is extremely relevant to its target audience, those who teach writing and administer writing programs at the college level. The pervasive nature of inequality in writing assessments and the inherent nature of racism in the US mean that, unfortunately, this book should remain relevant for a long time.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Inoue tackles complex material in a clear and systematic way. The content is ordered and divided in a way that aids in understanding.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Inoue is careful with his terms and explanations and is consistent throughout the text. Inoue lays out a clear theoretical framework and proceeds methodically in his descriptions.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Several chapters in this book would stand alone fairly well. The introduction and first chapter lay bare the racist nature of the dominant writing assessment practices, no matter how well intentioned they may be. The fifth chapter offers a useful set of considerations for one to construct their own antiracist writing assessment ecology.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is logically organized and flows well.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The books interface is appropriate to the content and purpose.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is relatively free of any grammatical issues.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text is extremely culturally relevant. Inoue details the harmful effects most writing assessment practices have on students of color and offers a way out.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Inoue goes to great lengths to describe the ecology of a writing course and is quite thorough. However, given the focus on labor and Inoue’s discussion of Marx, I was surprised that the tenuous working conditions of many college writing instructors was not addressed. I realize that the book must have boundaries and cannot cover everything, but I would have enjoyed hearing more about how the instructor’s labor fits into Inoue’s writing assessment ecology.","created_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2242,"first_name":"Umme","last_name":"Al-wazedi","position":"Associate Professor, English and Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies","institution_name":"Augustana College, Rock Island, IL","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers a very important aspect--designing assignments that bring equity in the classroom. Different students, such as first generation students, students of color, international students--all come with different experiences. A writing instructor must pay attention to these experiences. The writer talks not only about different pedagogy but also relates to history and explains why such pedagogy is needed. He gives examples of what as writing instructors we shouldn’t do. He also uses Freirean critical pedagogy, Buddhist theories of interconnection, and Marxian political theory to talk about classroom writing assignment “ecology.”  This book contributes to the knowledge of those educators who see their classroom and their pedagogy inclusive of social justice issues.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate. As a postcolonial feminist scholar whose research encompasses race and intersectionality, I don’t see why a text has to be considered biased. There is a lot of tension in the classroom these days and if a writing instructor is well versed in Freirean theory, then the whole class benefits. It is important to understand the power structure that often defines success in higher education; it is also important for the instructor to be aware of what power structure he/she/they/Z bring into the classroom. As educators we have to negotiate that structure only when it becomes barrier to an inclusive education. This book makes us aware of those vulnerable situations.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book is relevant and lasting. Chapter 4 is a great example of how relevant this text is in terms of teaching a diverse set of students. The book is written is such a way that if the writer wishes, he can always rewrite the pedagogy chapter with updated teaching experiences.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This book is definitely for senior graduate students and faculty. Yet, an administrative personnel (such as the Chief Diversity Officer, Dean of Students) may find it helpful. It would be very helpful for graduate students who are in their final year of teaching and who are in the job market. For someone like me, the text is more lucid than many I have read. A text like this cannot provide context for every little term that the writer uses. So, this is a text for more mature readers, yet anyone can benefit from it--they will gain new knowledge about how race plays out in the classroom.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Inoue consistently uses terms that are important for the readers to understand his theory and the pedagogy he introduces. He repeats in places so that his readers are able to follow him throughout the chapters.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is well organized and easy to follow. The book could be broken into smaller parts and used to teach student and new faculty how to create effective and inclusive assignments and assessment.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Inoue first creates a big picture of how often in institutions we fail to recognize that race matters when it comes to assessments of student writing. Then he discusses the relevant theories, how they relate to his concept of an anti-racist writing pedagogy, and then he ends with the description of his own class. He concludes the book with a beautiful anecdote that speaks to writing teachers--after all, our responsibility is to create humane writers who are critical thinkers and not mechanical ones.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I didn’t face any navigating problems, the charts and the diagrams were clearly displayed. I used the pdf file. There was no distraction.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I didn’t see any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Inoue  writes that his purpose is to “construct ecologies that work as sustainable, livable, fair ecologies that address racism by not avoiding it in the language we write or speak.” While talking about power structures he not only discusses and defines the white dominant discourse prevalent in many classrooms and  classroom instruction, but also focuses on different cultural groups and how each grouplearn. He uses various critics in the field (i.e. Asian scholars while talking about Asian students) to explain the situation that the student may be going through.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I have already recommended this book to my reading/writing center for the senior fellows. This book should be used as a handbook in a school which has graduate students as tutors in the writing center. This book will definitely be my companion when I teach my First Year Inquiry classes.","created_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2446,"first_name":"Patricia","last_name":"Alafaireet","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"MOBIUS","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I found the book to be more comprehensive in it's review of the relevant literature.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"I'm not a writing expert, but there is a bias, a perhaps useful one, in this material.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"There a a number of very old (1970's, 80's ) and older materials cited. This does not mean that they are inaccurate but I did wonder, especially since the use of mobile devices has changed educational access, if more recent studies had been done and should be included. Perhaps the book needs to be updated?","clarity_rating":2,"clarity_review":"I had a hard time with clarity. It may be that I simply have little expertise in the area of teaching student to write and therefore need to work on my own knowledge, but often the way concepts were expressed was confusing for me. I'd certainly not ask my students to read this book.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Really consistent across the entire work. The author has planned well and executed even better in terms of vocabulary, structure and flow.","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"This text heavily depends on the learning that takes place in the initial chapters for understanding the latter ones. It is really necessary to read the entire work, start to finish, for understanding to occur.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"Typical chapter type organization. It would have been helpful if each chapter had begun with context and \"what to learn from this hcapter\" type information.","interface_rating":2,"interface_review":"Not really and interfacing going on.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammar errors that I saw.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"No particular insensitivity but certainly could have included examples from a wider range of student interactions. ","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"I found  this a difficult read , but did come away with several ideas I'll try in my classroom. ","created_at":"2018-12-05T14:08:31.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-12-05T14:08:31.000-06:00"},{"id":2583,"first_name":"Amanda ","last_name":"Evans","position":"Assistnat Professor","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text provided an outstanding framework for educators to incorporate anti-racist writing activities in the classroom. This can be a great tool to assess classroom climate and to challenge student worldviews. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content was accurate, relevant, and timely. A great tool to use in our classrooms!","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"In our current socio-political climate, a text like \"Antiracist Writing Assessment Eulogies,\" can be valuable to provide a context for classrooms to examine racism and discrimination. This information is grounded in solid pedagogy and consistent with higher education practices of accountability. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The authors developed a well-written and comprehensive text with excellent ideas for a college process. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This text is consistent with advocacy and social justice initiatives. It allows for individuals to use the content in various classrooms and to challenge critical thinking. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This is an easy read. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is well-organized and easy to follow. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No issues noted. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"This is a well-written text. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text is culturally sensitive and inclusive. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I really enjoyed reading this text and will recommend it to colleagues. What a valuable resource in our current era to promote learning! ","created_at":"2019-02-25T12:18:36.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-02-25T12:18:36.000-06:00"},{"id":2834,"first_name":"Ruthe","last_name":"Thompson ","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Minnesota State","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook offers answers and ideas for everything I could think of and more. Information was easy to find.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I've read quite a lot in the history of racism and am watching in alarm at the rise of white supremacy in this country. I've also studied and used contemplative teaching. The book echoes and reinforces what I have learned in previous research and reading and supports my antiracism efforts in the classroom.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This topic of creating anti-racist classrooms and teaching students to be aware of cultural differences without judgment has not been studied until recently--maybe twenty-five years if my reading has been correct. The book will be a foundational text in this topic and an early example of contemplative pedagogy that readers can benefit from and build on into the future.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"While bringing up complex and difficult topics, the book explains concisely how the theory and practice of anti-racist education has arisen. The author provides room for readers who might be resistant to the topic to open themselves to the ideas. She acknowledges that it is hard for many to discuss racial privilege. The writing is lucid and elegant.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is structured in a logical fashion ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"\r\nThe textbook is divided into chapters with individual divisions and chunks of important discussion that can be mixed throughout the course or offered as separate chapters even if the whole text is not assigned.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I found that this textbook unfolds with a strong and reasonable presentation of theoretical underpinnings, discussion of practice, and activities and other material that can be modified to fit the journalism and communication courses I teach. While I don't know if I would assign the reading to a beginning academic composition class, I will use the ideas for my summer and fall courses in freshman and sophomore writing.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I had no trouble connecting to various topics within the text links. The text was clear and lucid both in writing and style and electronic presentation.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No problems here. The writing is crisp with an engaging voice and style.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This question prompts a kneejerk response for me! One has only to look at instances of increased violence to minority groups, white supremacist speech in political rallies and advertisements, on Fox news--which is the most popular channel in the country--and at the doublethink encouraged even by public servants and the U.S. President makes a book like this indispensible.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I'm very happy to have this resource (and at a reasonable cost :).","created_at":"2019-04-25T03:03:49.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-04-25T03:03:49.000-05:00"},{"id":3171,"first_name":"Joseph","last_name":"Pickard","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Missouri - St. Louis","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book had more information than I expected.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"In my opinion, this book was unbiased, as it takes the perspective that  we should be intentional and careful to avoid doing harm through unintentional racism. The author presents several theories to help explain why and how institutional racism exists in current writing assessments and how to alleviate the probles.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"These issues do not appear to be going anywhere soon.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Some of it might have been a little overly-written. Since it is an online source, maybe more tables or bullet points or something to simplify the reading might be beneficial to the modern reader.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Again, the information was too theoretical in places with various perspectives presented.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"I think that the book needs to be read as a whole. I say this due to the thought that many of these ideas can be difficult to accept if it is a person's first time seeing them. It could take some time for people to digest. Concepts like White privilege are often rejected by people who later realize that the concept has much merit when examined objectively.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"It seemed well organized.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I observed no problems.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"It was well written.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This book is about culture, and I think it dealt with issues in a fair manner.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"No.","created_at":"2019-09-25T06:20:13.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-09-25T06:20:13.000-05:00"},{"id":3955,"first_name":"Emily T.","last_name":"Loker","position":"Graduate Student Part-Time Instructor","institution_name":"University of Colorado Boulder","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Inoue provides an extremely comprehensive account as to how race is a factor in writing assessments, what they call “writing assessment ecologies” (which, to my delight, draws from critical pedagogues such as Paulo Freire and Buddhist theories of interconnection), recognizing the elements of antiracist writing assessment ecologies, and designing and conducting antiracist assessment ecologies. The text includes an index, notes, references, and appendixes.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The author is clear in defining their audience (instructors who use writing in their assessment) and the scope of the book (racism as a structural and institutional dynamic rather than a personal one). An easy critique of the book could be an intersectional one (such as why race over gender/nationality/sexual orientation). Inoue answers this handily in their intro by noting their conception of race as a localized function that includes other facets of identity.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book read at a fairly high reading level, but one appropriate for its audience of college-level instructors rather than a book intended for undergraduate student use. For an instructor who desires to be antiracist in the classroom, this is an essential text.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"I found the author’s voice to be quite inviting and easy to understand. I appreciated the bulleted structures used occasionally (such as in Chapter five, where Inoue offers a set of questions, with explanations, on how to design an antiracist writing assessment ecology).","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The author built each chapter in concert and conversation with the previous chapters, effectively building on previously-introduced terminologies and concepts.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text’s organization flows well from theoretical framing to practical examples. The table of contents is helpful, particularly in PDF form, because the reader can skip to a chapter by clicking on the heading. I found the author’s use of tables and illustrations an effective and multimodal learning experience. Inoue provided clear examples from their own teaching, complete with rubrics that supported and contextualized the more theoretical facet of the text.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"As previously mentioned, the text flowed very smoothly from setting out a theoretical and social framework to how to conduct antiracist writing assessments, complete with rich examples along the way.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The table of contents makes the text easy to navigate. All images appear clear.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not catch any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"By nature of the material, I would expect the text to include inclusive examples and it does not disappoint, drawing examples from various classroom contexts and demographics.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-06-11T15:48:25.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-11T15:48:25.000-05:00"},{"id":4898,"first_name":"Jill","last_name":"Hallett","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Northeastern Illinois University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Inoue has clearly done his homework and has demonstrated synthesis among researchers of writing centers, composition, linguistics, assessment, and other fields. He sets up arguments made by other scholars and proceeds to explain why their points are inadequate, presenting an alternative antiracist perspective. In later chapters, Inoue details precisely and in great detail how he enacts antiracism in his own writing classroom, foregrounding his praxis in the theoretical context quite explicitly.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content examines the biases inherent in writing assessment and how to shift writing instruction away from a white middle-class habitus. The author acknowledges how his own views as an Asian American were formed through his experiences in and out of school and how his practices teaching college writing have upheld and challenged the biases endemic to academic writing instruction. Thus, it’s not possible to rate accuracy and bias here, as lived experiences are literally the premise of the book. Regarding how it represents previous scholarship, I can only speak to my own training in sociolinguistics. To that end, I would say Inoue gets it right, but uses some problematic or outdated terminology like ‘BEV’ and ‘ghetto’; if these are terms he truly wishes to use, they should have some contextual explication.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The author is a writing professor at Fresno State and his experiences there feature heavily. This is not to say that many of the points presented are not more widely applicable. Statistics are cited which will become dated after some years, but those can be updated. If the last couple of years are any indication, a considerable amount of literature on antiracist teaching is forthcoming, which may prompt Inoue to incorporate these new insights.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is clear. The author walks the fine line of writing about accessibility in writing while himself writing in a canonical academic register for others at a similar level of education. In so doing, he proves his point of the capacity of poor students of color to excel at writing for a highly educated audience, but he also refutes his own point by writing in a style that is strongly associated with white, middle- and upper-class practices.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is terminologically consistent. I found the framework surprising – this is not a textbook, as I had expected, nor is it similar in presentation to any teacher guide or resource book I’ve encountered. Inoue (p.3) suggests that his main audience is writing teachers and writing program administrators writ large who are interested in antiracist writing practices. The book begins with what I can call an extended dialogue with theorists in a range of areas and finishes with a reflection on one of his own classes’ experience with his antiracist instructional methods.","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"The text is definitely not readily divisible – there are five chapters ranging from 18 pages to over 100. There are subheadings, but they are not “chunkable” over a semester. I would be likely to use it as a supplemental or recommended text for students of literacy and writing education, but probably not in its entirety.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Topics flowed logically, though there was a fair degree of repetition.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Interface is fine.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There were a few grammatical and typographical errors but nothing that impeded understanding.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book was entirely about cultural relevance, so bases are covered that way. The multicultural context here was particular to Inoue’s student population but the ideas could be applied to readers’ contexts.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I appreciated the honest reflection on how the course was executed and that the author let the students’ voices shine. Lots of great quotes and considerations for the reader to sit with. I’m inspired to do more interdisciplinary reading in addition to self-questioning.","created_at":"2021-05-07T20:59:43.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-05-07T20:59:43.000-05:00"},{"id":5017,"first_name":"Nydia","last_name":"Sánchez","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of San Diego","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Drawing from antiracist and social justice theories and concepts, Dr. Inoue provides a critical and comprehensive argument for building antiracist writing assessment ecologies. Geared towards college writing instructors, the book starts with a foundation about how structural racism is embedded in writing classrooms and then moves into how readers can intervene with specific examples included in the appendix.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book does not contain any inaccuracies. Dr. Inoue very clearly states his positionality, more specifically his antiracist agenda, and the intended audience.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is quite timely. I am writing this review in 2021. I also think the book's relevance extends beyond the intended audience. I am not a college writing instructor. I read this book because I work with graduate-level students (M.A. and Ph.D) and we use a lot of writing assignments in our program. It gave me a lot to think about, particularly with regards to the use of theses and dissertations in our program.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Very well-written book and easy to read. Dr. Inoue covers complex issues in a way that is accessible; he uses some jargon and technical terminology but not in a way that obfuscates the purpose of his work.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Dr. Inoue consistently frames his work as part of a larger antiracist project and consistently uses terminology and frameworks in line with antiracist and social justice theories and concepts.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter could be read on its own, with the first few chapters serving as the foundation for the rest of the book. The book is readily divisible into small reading sections by chapter.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Nicely organized.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The PDF version did not have any interface issues. Did not use the ebook.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No major grammatical or spelling errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Dr. Inoue's book is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way and references a variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I highly recommend this book! While geared to college writing instructors, I found it to also be useful for thinking about how we prepare graduate students for lengthy thesis and dissertation projects.","created_at":"2021-06-01T06:55:46.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-06-01T06:55:46.000-05:00"},{"id":33580,"first_name":"Megan","last_name":"Marshall","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Marshall University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Inoue's text is well organized and framed nicely by an introduction that explains the contextual framework for the book, specifies who his primary audience is (graduate students, composition instructors, and writing program administrators), provides an authentic explanation of his own subjective position as an instructor of writing, and ends with an overview of the book's organizing structure and goals. The chapters that follow keep to the outline he provides, and each build on one another in logical ways. While the text doesn't have an index or glossary, Inoue does offer an extensive section for his notes as well as two appendices that provide readers with models for two important tools for composition instructors to consider (and use) when designing antiracist composition curricula and assessments: a grading contract and a sample \"Problem Posing\" exercise in which students are asked to reflect on their process of evaluating the writing of their peers.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"This text is driven by the argument that racism is still inherent in composition pedagogy and assessment and for that reason, which might imply Inoue's work cannot be seen as \"unbiased.\" Yet, the goal of the text is to engage readers with difficult conversations about race in the classroom, and Inoue makes clear that his critique on antiracist writing assessment is not meant to pinpoint blame on specific individuals and/or instructors. He returns to this point throughout the book, which serves as an effective reminder to his audience that instructors of writing should acknowledge their various subjectivities when considering the roots of their pedagogy.   Inoue’s strategy of reminding the audience that he is not placing blame helps combat a potential misunderstanding and defensiveness in his readers. As Inoue notes that the majority of composition instructors are “white, middle class, and female” he also discusses that though individual instructors are not necessarily racist, they play “a part [in] systemic racism, a structural racism in school and society that we don’t control, and may not even be fully aware of” (30-31).","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Issues of racial and cultural inequity in education are always relevant, and given the focus that's been placed on Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the past year or so, Inoue's text is even more timely. By pointing out the hidden ways that race has played a role in our teaching, he helps to underscore why CRT is such an important framework for understanding schools, teaching, and assessment.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Given that he clearly acknowledges his specific audience of the book in the introduction, the language, terminology, and theoretical lenses used are suitable for his readers and written is such a way to be easily accessible for readers with only a scant background in critical theory.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Inoue’s guiding framework builds on the idea that composition instructors need to reflect upon their ecologies and consider how to integrate more inclusive ecologies into the classroom. To that end, he has organized his book so that each chapter builds on the next. To begin, he efficiently breaks down ecologies, first defining the role of race in writing assessments. Then he begins to provide examples of theorized antiracist writing assessment ecologies that integrate elements of “Marxian political theory,” “Freirean critical pedagogy,” and “Buddhist rhetoric” (77). He eventually provides example of how he integrates antiracist writing assessment ecologies in his own classroom by creating contractual assessments between himself and his students and uses the last chapter to dive into how instructors can design their own antiracist ecologies. Essentially, each chapter helps instructors further their understanding of what antiracist writing assessment is and how to implement it in the classroom.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Although I would likely have graduate students read this all at once (within a two or three week time frame), I can see how these chapters could serve as stand-alone articles (especially the first two) and/or be paired with similar texts throughout a longer graduate seminar.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"As stated earlier, the introduction explains the books' organizing structure, and his chapters uphold what he promises readers from the start.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"This is an easy text to access and read with no issues or noticeable glitches in terms of navigation of the material.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There are no issues with grammar or basic conventions of writing. Text is easily readable and engaging.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Although I would argue that there is nothing offensive about this text, I'm sure that someone might find otherwise given the socially pertinent topics being addressed throughout.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, I think this is a valuable text and it has helped me to reconsider some of my beliefs about writing assessment and given me new tools to reframe my courses and approach. However, I believe that some of his suggestions to be difficult to execute, especially when considering that he maintains his primary audience is (at least in part) instructors of multi-level composition courses. For instance, in Chapter 4, Inoue breaks down his own assessment ecology where he uses a grading contract “to understand the class as a burgeoning antiracist writing assessment ecology” (177). He leaves room for negotiations, dedicating time mid-way into the semester for students to voice their concerns and/or provide critiques on the grading system (191). In his ecology, Inoue looks specifically at the labors of the students rather than the quality of the writing (187). He provides a chart that goes over the grading system in lass, and at first glance, both the “A” and “B” grade category have the same requirements. Inoue states that in order for a student to receive an “A,” then the student’s works needs to be “twice the length and depth as the students’ peers who are shooting for a ‘B’” (Inoue 188). Though I like Inoue’s idea of providing an assessment contract, I believe his description of “A” vs. “B” is weak and impractical, especially when considering freshmen-level composition courses. From my experience teaching new writers (mostly freshman but not always) students across different racial and cultural backgrounds generally desire course and assessment structure to be straightforward. While I can see Inoue’s ecology working in higher-level English courses, I don’t believe it is as universal as he portrays this ecology to be. I think if Inoue would have provided more information about his specific students it would have strengthened his points throughout Chapter 4. Since he did not, my final assessment makes me believe that Inoue’s ideas of having a contract-based assessment is interesting but perhaps not always practical. Still, overall, the book does address what it said it would address; having instructors reflect upon their own ecologies and consider other, more inclusive ecologies. Even my small quibble with of Inoue’s contract-based assessment has compelled me to consider how to integrate different ecologies into my composition courses and to think deeply about the ties between assessment and racism. And ultimately, this is essentially what he wanted his book to do.","created_at":"2021-12-27T10:52:12.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-12-27T10:52:12.000-06:00"},{"id":33681,"first_name":"Shelly","last_name":"Page","position":"Law Professor","institution_name":"Southern Illinois University Carbondale","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook should be required reading for all professors who assess the writing of students. It more than covers the ways in which assessment can be skewed and viewed from a very narrow perspective creating discrimination of a student’s writing skills and content.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text is very accurate as to what it claims to contain. It is explicit, well reasoned and an easy read.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"I believe this topic is very relevant to our educational environment today. I also believe one can see how the current SATs and ACT‘s are being re-examined in college admissions processes.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writer writes with clarity and the book is self-explanatory and not difficult to read.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The messages in the book are consistent. The author allows his thoughts to flow clearly in the reader is able to follow along with the thought process.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Is textbook would be amenable to a professor assigning chunks of the book, or sections of the book to students throughout the semester.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is well organized and flows very well.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text has no interface issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text has one grammatical error that I saw.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in anyway. The author uses clear examples of race and its impact in writing assessment.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I thought this was a great book, very insightful, thought-provoking, well reasoned and crucial for educators wanting to assess how their actions in grading could negatively impact students.","created_at":"2022-02-01T03:01:59.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-02-01T03:01:59.000-06:00"},{"id":33979,"first_name":"Rebecca","last_name":"Smith","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Portland","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text explicitly connects theory to practice.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"While the author draws on their own experiences and cultural identities, there is always a connection back to research. The author consistently calls on educators and students to use reflective practices, which helps to promote critical change in our thinking and our teaching. The author anticipates push back on the conception that racism exists in writing assessment and provides credible counterarguments.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The author provides practical assessment ideas for teachers in helping their students think critically about whiteness and language diversity.\r\nInoue also shares their own stories of teaching through an antiracist lens, which is very helpful for reconceptualizing how I teach in higher education myself. \r\nThe inclusion of rubric and contract grading exemplars are also very useful.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The writing can be quite dense, but the use of headers helps clarify main points in each chapter.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The writing is accessible while still being strongly research-based. For instance, the author provides guiding questions for each chapter, such as: How might we define race and understand its function in classroom writing assessments so that we can articulate antiracist writing assessments?","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Concepts related to antiracist assessment build on each other through each chapter. The concept of community-based pedagogy is a consistent theme, which creates a broader understanding of methods for promoting antiracist practices in education.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Each chapter is written consistently and could be read as an independent piece of writing.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The online format is easy to navigate.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Writing is very academic.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There is a strong focus on culture and race in this text, and there are connections to prior research, Buddhist, and relational pedagogies that promote cultural diversity and inclusion.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Inoue calls on teachers to  use assessment ecologies that \"(re)create places for sustainable learning and living\" (p. 14). While the text is not as accessible for pre-service teachers as I had hoped, it can still be utilized to help educators consider methods and mindsets that promote equitable assessment practices.","created_at":"2022-08-09T12:38:59.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-08-09T12:38:59.000-05:00"},{"id":34313,"first_name":"Beatrice","last_name":"Mendez Newman","position":"Professor","institution_name":"University of Texas Rio Grande Valley","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The title shows the focused, targeted scope of this book. However, Inoue’s argument is contextualized within a broad spectrum of rhet/comp theory and integrations from other disciplines.  It is a book about the racial politics that Inoue perceives in writing classrooms, but his examples are drawn exclusively from his own experiences. The introduction and first three chapters are rich in foundational scaffolding as Inoue posits that teaching writing is essentially a racist activity anchored in what he labels “white racial habitus.” Inoue references not only established rhet/comp scholars including Peter Elbow, Victor Villanueva, Kenneth Burke, Paulo Freire, and many others, but also Shakespeare, Antonio Gramsci, Michael Omi, Howard Winant, Sigmund Freud, and a diverse assortment of figures from interesting disciplines that he connects to his writing assessment ecologies. Whether or not we agree with his assertion about “white racial habitus” dominating the teaching of writing, we have to acknowledge that he makes a compelling case for the way racism can creep into writing classrooms, especially in decisions about assessment. A glossary of terms and names would have been extremely helpful. And there is no index. In a book like this one, where the author is building a case for a position that resists the status quo, having ready access to names and ideas he integrates would have made the reading experience much more accessible. While this would be a fine book to include in graduate classes, students would have to do quite a bit of supplementary, supporting reading to fully comprehend Inoue’s discussion. The list of References would be an excellent resource for graduate students exploring the pillars of rhetoric and composition studies.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"Given Inoue’s starting premises that writing classrooms support racism, that writing assessment harms students, and that social justice and equity are not promoted in writing classrooms, I have to say that this is a very biased book. There is never a consideration that some classrooms, some writing instructors might in fact actually be promoting social justice and equity and fair assessment practices in their classrooms. This failure to acknowledge the good work being done by instructors in college classrooms all over the U.S. creates an obstacle to easy acceptance of Inoue’s fundamental claims about racism. To the extent that Inoue’s ideas are shaped by his own experiences as a child, we have to say the content of the book is “accurate” since his view of teaching and assessing writing is founded on the unfairness he felt he experienced socially and academically. Regardless of whether the book is unbiased or fair, it definitely engages you as a reader because you are constantly stopping to fully consider Inoue’s accusatory comments. Yes, his tone seems consistently accusatory and absolute with no consideration of other views. Take for example, his assertion in Chapter 4 that “[students] get no say in grading.” I suspect that most college writing instructors would vehemently disagree with that statement. Nonetheless, because of his passion in his fight for equity and grading justice, we are compelled to read carefully, attentively, and even respectfully. In other words, while the tone seems biased and terribly one-sided, he makes us think, he makes us want to change what we are doing to make sure we are creating antiracist writing classroom ecologies.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Inoue’s ideas about labor-based contract grading have been embraced by the rhet/comp community, so this foundational book will stay relevant as a platform for continued discussions. Since he is a prolific scholar, the “updates” and expansions are readily available in Inoue’s newer publications and presentations.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The introduction and chapters 1-3 are extremely dense not because they are badly written but because the amount of supporting information Inoue draws on is overwhelming and at times seems like deep background. Thus, the writing cannot be described as “lucid.” Some context is provided for terms and concepts, but full understanding, especially when he draws on ideas from far outside rhet/comp, calls for stopping in mid chapter to look up his references so as to fully comprehend his arguments. Of course, this enriches our individual knowledge of the issues, but it’s also frustrating to feel lost in Inoue’s discussion and to have to read and reread to ensure that no relevant point has been missed. And, since there is no index or glossary, previous references to the topics or individuals mentioned cannot be checked in the text.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"This is a book centered on the idea that “white racial habitus” pervades and persists in writing classrooms. It is the starting assertion in the book and it is the core of every chapter. And from the opening pages, there is the expectation that after all the premises are laid out, there will be an illustration of what an antiracist writing assessment ecology looks like. While Chapter 4 (which is over 100 pages long) provides anecdotal evidence from Inoue’s classrooms, there is never a full syllabus to illuminate the framework for a class built on antiracist writing assessment ecologies.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"This is a highly self-referential text with Inoue constantly citing his previous work (citations of his previous works take up a full page of the References). His citation of a vast assortment of other scholars is impressive, prompting readers to interrupt their reading to look up cited articles and books. Chapter 4 where he finally explains what a writing assessment ecology of writing might look like in a classroom is over 100 pages long, which is about one third of the content of the book. If this book were to be assigned in a class, it would be a good idea to start with Chapter 5, where Inoue clearly explains how he came to feel that his writing didn’t matter (based on how his teachers focused on errors in his writing). Inoue’s personal story informs his “white racial habitus” mindset about writing classrooms, and it offers important context for the Introduction and then Chapters 1-3.  While there are level 1 subheadings in the chapters, level 2 and level 3 headings would have made this a much more modularly accessible text.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"Chapter 5 should be the Introduction. The current Introduction and Chapters 1-3 offer a compelling argument about what Inoue perceives to be “white racial habitus” in writing classrooms. Compelling but not necessarily persuasive. Overall, there is clarity as the Introduction and Chapter 1-3 set up definitions, premises, and conclusions, and Chapters 4 provides some illustration of what Inoue considers an antiracist writing assessment ecology. A notable missing feature of this book is a full syllabus that would have enabled instructors and students to see how such a class could be set up. There should have been an Appendix C with a full, sample syllabus.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"This is a straightforward, ordinary text. There are a few figures to enhance the discussion, including one example of student work that includes highlighting and an inset shaded box. The full PDF download from Open Textbook does not allow highlighting, and that, in my opinion, limits usability. The ebook chapter-by-chapter download allows highlighting and comments, but, if you like moving back and forth as you read perhaps to check earlier references to a topic or name and to reinforce understanding of ideas, you are limited to the single chapter you’ve downloaded.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"This is arguable. Inoue clearly enjoys playing with language and there are some nuanced syntactic and semantic structures. A lot of sentences require repeated readings because of the interesting syntax, which occasionally drifts into questionable constructions, as if the sentence derailed at some point and was not ever revised.","cultural_rating":2,"cultural_review":"I think that some white readers would find Inoue’s theory of “white racial habitus” offensive. He is unapologetic about his stance, asserting that writing classrooms are racist because they promote dominant discourses and ideologies. The chapters, however, do make us think about our own classrooms, critically and reflectively. Inoue’s “evidence” for his theory is his experience in teaching at Fresno State, and his examples integrate voices from Hmong, Latino, Asian, African-American, and white students. Additionally, he asserts that white students who are used to being “at the top of the grading pyramid” tend not to like the labor-based contract grading approach. So, there is notable racial insensitivity, but as Inoue points out repeatedly, there needs to be resistance to the hegemony that, in his opinion, pervades classrooms.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"Every college writing instructor should read this book, slowly, reflectively, with an eye toward changing what we do in the classroom. It is far more a book about holistic pedagogy than a book about writing assessment. The explanation of how classrooms are ecological systems can truly make one think about what we do in our classroom. The discussion of the seven elements of classroom assessment ecologies—power, parts, purpose, people, processes, products, places—contextualizes pedagogy into an integrated whole. These principles are shown in lucid diagram form on p. 176 of the book, a diagram that perhaps should be featured earlier in the book as a reference point. Reading this book, even if you don’t buy into the labor-based contract approach, will change how you teach. In a graduate class, this book would be a great anchor text, but it would have to be balanced with other works that present comprehensive aspects of assessment and teaching and social justice. Nonetheless, this is a compelling, highly engaging book. I’ve read it several times and each time brings new discoveries, new ways of thinking about teaching. \r\nThis is a good book for a graduate class focused either on pedagogy or on social justice. It is too complex for most undergraduate classes; however, Chapter 5, which is narrative in tone and structure, can be used as a launching point for discussions of students' own experiences with racism or perceived unfair assessment of their writing.","created_at":"2022-12-19T14:10:52.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-12-19T14:10:52.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/antiracist-writing-assessment-ecologies-teaching-and-assessing-writing-for-a-socially-just-future","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:11:17.000-06:00"},{"id":794,"title":"Bad Ideas About Writing","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2017,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"We intend this work to be less a bestiary of bad ideas about writing than an effort to name bad ideas and suggest better ones. Some of those bad ideas are quite old, such as the archetype of the inspired genius author, the five-paragraph essay, or the abuse of adjunct writing teachers. Others are much newer, such as computerized essay scoring or gamification. Some ideas, such as the supposed demise of literacy brought on by texting, are newer bad ideas but are really instances of older bad ideas about literacy always being in a cycle of decline. Yet the same core questions such as what is good writing, what makes a good writer, how should writing be assessed, and the like persist across contexts, technologies, and eras. The project has its genesis in frustration, but what emerges is hope: hope for leaving aside bad ideas and thinking about writing in more productive, inclusive, and useful ways.","contributors":[{"id":5012,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Cheryl","middle_name":"E","last_name":"Ball","location":null,"background_text":"Cheryl E. Ball is associate professor of digital publishing studies in the Professional Writing and Editing program at West Virginia University. She is also editor of Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy as well as the #writing book series with the WAC Clearinghouse/Colorado State University Open Press, both of which are open-access publishing venues available to anyone with an Internet connection. She teaches the importance of edit-ing content in a digital world, and offers a special thank you to all of the undergraduate and graduate students at WVU who helped with the publication of this book. She also thanks WVU Libraries for its support of the Digital Publishing Institute. Finally, she is grateful to Drew M. Loewe for coming up with the idea for this book and for agreeing to let her work on it with him."},{"id":5013,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Drew","middle_name":"M","last_name":"Loewe","location":null,"background_text":"Drew M. Loewe is an associate professor of writing and rhetoric at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, where he also directs the Writing Center. His scholarly and teaching interests include rhetorical theory and criticism, argumentation, prose style, legal writing, writing centers, research methods, and the first-year writ-ing sequence. He thanks St. Edward’s for supporting this project with time and money, and especially thanks Cheryl E. Ball for being the best co-editor anyone could hope for."}],"subjects":[{"id":5,"name":"Education","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"L7","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/education"},{"id":27,"name":"Higher Education","parent_subject_id":5,"call_number":"LC980","visible_textbooks_count":34,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/higher-education"},{"id":33,"name":"Literature, Rhetoric, and Poetry","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"PE1408","visible_textbooks_count":124,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/literature-rhetoric-and-poetry"}],"publishers":[{"id":773,"url":"https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas/badideasaboutwriting-book.pdf","year":null,"created_at":"2019-11-17T11:26:23.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-12-21T12:52:20.000-06:00","name":"West Virginia University"}],"formats":[{"id":1364,"type":"PDF","url":"https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas/badideasaboutwriting-book.pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":"978-0-9988820-0-0"}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":13,"reviews":[{"id":3391,"first_name":"Angela","last_name":"Coffee","position":"English Faculty ","institution_name":"Minnesota State University System","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This offers a myriad of entry points and perspectives on issues around writing. ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The different voices/perspectives of this text trouble the notions of accuracy and bias-free writing. Instead, essays play with commonly held beliefs and assumptions around what makes writing, writers, and grammar \"good.\"","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The issues, examples, and stories align strikingly with many of the concerns my students grapple with each semester. I can imagine incorporating a myriad of these essays into class discussions to deepen our work on various issues and topics, and I believe these perspectives will remain timely for a long time. ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"There are significant shifts across the voices of different authors. This will support my students in engaging with different examples of voice and tone.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The organization and structure is consistent. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This is very clearly organized and easy to navigate. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The structure/flow makes a lot of sense.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not encounter any issues with this text's interface. ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"The writing in this text is clear. ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I did not encounter any examples of culturally insensitivity. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I plan to incorporate these essays into my Composition courses in the future.","created_at":"2019-12-17T16:32:39.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-12-17T16:32:39.000-06:00"},{"id":3912,"first_name":"Karen","last_name":"Miele","position":"Adjunct instructor","institution_name":"Worcester State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book presents many short, easy-to-read essays that explore commonly held bad ideas about writing--from the idea that you can write \"in general\" (without a purpose or audience in mind) to the idea that the five paragraph essay is essential to teach. The essays dispel these \"bad ideas about writing\" and provide readers with research and evidence to suggest why we need to let go of these bad ideas.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate and research-based. Essays also include a \"further reading\" section for readers who want to delve deeper into the topics of each essay.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content of the textbook is up-to-date. Each essay provides ideas that college students have likely heard about what makes writing \"good.\" Articles in the book look at more contemporary issues, such as the machine scoring of writing, that will help readers think about the importance of human feedback. Another section of the book focuses on technology and the role that it plays in writing.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is free of jargon and technical terminology. The prose is extremely accessible and college students should think that it reads clearly.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is extremely consistent in that it dispels ideas that people have about what \"good writing\" is supposed to look like.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The articles are short and do not need to be divided into smaller reading sections or subheadings. Every article is fewer than ten pages.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is very well organized. It is divided into clear sections: \"Bad ideas about what good writing is,\" \"Bad ideas about who good writers are,\" \"Bad ideas about style, usage, and grammar,\" \"Bad ideas about writing techniques,\" \"Bad ideas about genres,\" \"Bad ideas about assessing writing,\" \"Bad ideas about writing and digital technology,\" and \"Bad ideas about writing teachers.\" Each section has a variety of articles that are relevant and accessible.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is easy to navigate and read. There are no images, graphs, or charts that are distorted. The table of contents makes it easy to navigate to essays that students are asked to read.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The writing in the text is clear and proofread well.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text does not appear to be culturally insensitive.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Great resource!","created_at":"2020-06-04T12:02:33.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-04T12:02:33.000-05:00"},{"id":3962,"first_name":"Angela","last_name":"Buchanan","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"University of Colorado Boulder","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This edited collection would be ideal for a graduate-level pedagogy course, professional training for Rhetoric and Composition faculty, or for multi-disciplinary faculty trainings designed to explore and challenge commonly-held misconceptions about the production, teaching, and assessment of writing. The collection is, by design of the editors, also meant to be a way to communicate insider discussions about these myths to a broader, public audience. The book is divided into sections that are designed to address many of the common misconceptions that still circulate about writing: overall conceptions about what “good” writing means; challenges to ideas about who can/not be a good writing; style, usage, and grammar issues; writing techniques; genres of writing; writing assessment; technology; and misconceptions about those who teach writing. \r\n \r\nThere is a clear index of sections and essays, and the grouping of the essays is logical and useful. It is set up so that one section could be used for a training session or course segment. Individual essays could be used for public education about key ideas.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The essays are written by a wide range of scholars in the field, representing diverse ideas, viewpoints, and backgrounds. Not all of them are clearly written for a lay audience, but many of the essays would be useful for that purpose.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Since the misconceptions are widespread and long-lived, historically, one hoped-for outcome would probably be that the book would eventually render itself obsolete. Given that this is unlikely, it would be easy to update by adding new/revised essays around the general themes.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"All of the essays are well written, with clear goals and support for key ideas. They range in terms of their level of accessibility to a lay audience, so some would be more useful for an insider audience and others are more suited to public education.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The essays all draw from ongoing discussions in the field, addressing research and practices that inform the teaching and assessment of writing and rhetoric.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The subtopics are clearly organized by key ideas, and could easily be used for assignments as described above. Flagging some essays as particularly friendly for lay-audience use could be helpful.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Each section has a range of essays representing different key ideas and voices. Some of the sections are more robust than others, but all are clear and well-represented.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no issues with the interface; the book is easy to navigate and information is clearly represented.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is well-edited, and has a whole section that addresses some of the problems with a fixation on grammar.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The collection is designed to disrupt some of the common, damaging ideas about writing that are grounded in white supremacy culture. Essays are written by writers from relatively-diverse backgrounds and demographics. One of its greatest strengths lies in analysis of some of the many ways that misconceptions about writing and its instruction are grounded in racism, classism, and sexism.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-06-11T16:15:53.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-11T16:15:53.000-05:00"},{"id":4075,"first_name":"Nancy","last_name":"Mades-Byrd","position":"adjunct","institution_name":"North Shore Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is exactly the type of book I've been waiting for! After nearly two decades of teaching writing, finally a book acknowledges what we call know: people make mistakes when they write and that's okay. I also appreciate that the text comprehensively unpacks why we need to rethink the way we teach writing and includes all voices - students, writers, teachers.  It is unafraid to take on the sacred cows of rhetoric and genre which can only help to bring more voices into the conversation about who writers are and what writers write.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The book is accurate and error-free, but there is, but its very nature a bias. You can't entitle a book \"Bad Ideas About Writing,\" and not have a strong point of view. For me, that is a good thing because the point of view of this text is a curative to the teaching of traditional FYC which, in my experience, doesn't work very well. I also like that the text offers me additional resources.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book will basically never be obsolete because, unlike so many FYC texts, it's not stuffed full of example essays that will lose relevance much faster than the anthologies of yesteryear because of the explosion of social media. In essence, today everyone with access to a keyboard is a writer and this book addresses the very real need to rethink what we mean when we talk about \"serious\" writing or academic writing.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The writing is accessible and clear and each essay is thoughtful in that it approaches the reader and ask them to participate in the conversation, to work through the ideas for themself.  The inclusion of critical vocabulary is a positive move, but I would want it at the beginning of the reading and with working definitions included. Providing definitions on the spot for critical vocabulary can be helpful for students who struggle with language.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text, terminology,and framework are successfully constructed with meaningful consistency to address the needs of busy students. The consistency eliminates the potential stress that can interrupt learning if a students feels that the material is a moving target.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modularity of the text makes for easy reading and, as a teacher, easy lesson planning. Would I assign every single essay in the book? Probably not, but within each module there are multiple examples of essays that would allow me to easily differentiate instruction.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book is well-organized and flows easily. I also agree with the order of the subject matter addressed because it acknowledges that the reader's ideas about writing will evolve during the time spent with the book. Again, my only caveat would be to better address the handling of critical vocabulary.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"There is a whole lot of prose in this book and nothing visual. I think the addition of the ideas presented visually would help support all learners. I understand that it's textbook, but many students need the additional support or scaffolding of something visual to address concepts with which they may be struggling.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any significant grammatical errors in the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"One of the things I like about the book is that it, like me, acknowledges that language is fluid and as a result, writing is fluid and the ways in which we define what is \"good\" and what is \"poor\" must be reworked and flexible.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I think it's a terrific book that's been needed for a long time.","created_at":"2020-06-24T16:17:49.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-24T16:17:49.000-05:00"},{"id":4127,"first_name":"Jennifer","last_name":"Burke Grehan","position":"Adjunct Professor, ESL and ENG","institution_name":"Bunker Hill Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is easy to follow, offers great directions, and moderate vocabulary.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The authors of this text are experts in their field","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This text is timeless and can be used for decades in writing courses.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The authors took great care to reach students and teachers alike. This text is clear, helpful, and will be of great use in the classroom.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This text was designed to touch on so many topics involved in teaching writing. However, it can also be used to teach students to practice metacognition.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This text can be used for in class writing, citation work, and in research.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is organized in a clear, logical fashion.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is user friendly!","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not see any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text does not include any cultural bias.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This is a text that I will incorporate into my classes as well as my own future research.","created_at":"2020-06-29T11:14:15.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-29T11:14:15.000-05:00"},{"id":4360,"first_name":"Colin","last_name":"Charlton","position":"Professor \u0026 Chair","institution_name":"University of Texas Rio Grande Valley","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"BIAW takes on a pretty daunting project: in one volume, collect and debunk misconceptions about good writing, writing students, style, techniques, genres, assessment, technology, and writing teachers. The editors and contributors pull it off with concise and rich explorations of the \"literacy crisis\" phenomenon (Babb), the assumption that gamification equals fun (Daniel-Wariya), or erroneous high school prophecy that you'll need ________ in college (Hollinger). With eight sections and sixty-two bad ideas, the quality of the collection is consistent and engaging. BIAW is an excellent supplement to a first year writing studies class dealing with problematic misconceptions or a graduate practicum for writing teachers in secondary and post-secondary classrooms. It's also helpful historical index of the stories that we inherit and an engaging call to reframe the public circulation of ideas about what writing is, how learning happens, and who we are as writing teachers and students.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"With a host of experts in writing, the collection as a whole takes balanced view and contextualizes each of the bad ideas in terms of  origin, longevity, and consequences.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Though most writing teachers wish BIAW was irrelevant, an engaging critique of the many bad ideas that inform our discussions of writing is likely to always be relevant and needed for students and teachers.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Thought the volume contains many voices and many topics, and the necessary historical references to provide detailed histories and analyses, the editors and the authors succeeded in creating a clear and readable collection.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"One of the highlights of the BIAW for me is that it sports so many different voices with a consistency in quality and careful exploration of the bad ideas that pre-frame our writing classes.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"As I say later in my organization comments, the sections and the arrangement of sections movies from concepts of writing (and writing students) through writing in difference contexts with different tools and lands on the writing teacher as a subject of study. The movement adds to the books clarity and historical unfolding.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The arrangement of the sections in BIAW moves meaningfully from bad ideas about good writing and good writers to bad ideas about writing teachers, beginning with the process(es) under investigation and ending with the people charged with understanding and teaching those processes.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I had no problems with BIAW's interface.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not note any grammatical errors, or at least none jumped out that prevented my understanding of the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"BIAW hosts a range of teacher-scholars with an impressive diversity of backgrounds. With a built-in understanding of diverse language practices, the multifaceted image of writing that emerges offers a range cultural examples and calls for conceptions of writing that are more inclusive than our myths and misconceptions suggest.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-10-28T11:11:56.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-10-28T11:11:56.000-05:00"},{"id":4386,"first_name":"Beatrice","last_name":"Mendez Newman","position":"Professor","institution_name":"University of Texas Rio Grande Valley","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I selected this book for a teacher-prep course focused on composition pedagogy. Just about every instance of teacher-created writing frustration that these upper division English majors have ever encountered in their writing career is addressed in this book. The “bad ideas” approach gave my soon-to-be ELA teachers a platform for identifying their good ideas about writing. Additionally, they felt validated about their frustration in previously being criticized about writing “flaws” that in fact are not flaws. The book pulls together some “big names” (Muriel Harris, Scott Warnock, Beth Hewett) as well as a nice assortment of names recognizable from a variety of professional journals and some obvious newcomers. A particularly helpful feature, especially for prospective ELA teachers, is the “Further Reading” section that ends each article. This section includes fundamental resources that inform the pivot from the “bad idea” that triggers each article to the good ideas that should show up in our pedagogy and that can support our confidence as writers. There is no index and no glossary. Given how well-presented key terms are within each artlcle, the lack of a glossary is not a problem. And the author bios are provided right at the end of the article they wrote rather than the end of the book.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The approach—identifying a bad idea, debunking it, and presenting a solid writing practice to replace it—shows realistic attention to issues that truly matter to student writers, to obstacles they may have faced in their writing journeys. I think most professors and most students would agree that the scope of the bad ideas correctly depicts things that can go wrong in writing pedagogy but that can be remedied through application of good instruction.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The topics have predictable longevity because the same bad practices persistent in ELA classrooms from generation to generation of writers.  The book addresses misconceptions and misteachings about grammar, creative writing, research, grading, the five-paragraph essay, the usefulness of technology—all topics that we ourselves contended with when we were students and that current students still face. Happily, the book also includes a section on online writing instruction.  This OWI section might need updating soon but it does address basic issues in teaching and learning writing online.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"A lot of composition and pedagogy “jargon” is integrated but all effectively contextualized and well-explained. That was a key decision point in my selection of this text for my teacher candidates. The terms and concepts in the book are reflected in the teacher certification exams that the teachers will be taking as part of their credentialing process regardless of the type of licensure exam that is required by their state.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The articles in the book follow a delightful “formula”: the bad idea is presented, usually in a disingenuous tone somewhat mimicking the way the bad idea is presented as gospel truth in classrooms; then there is a debunking of the bad idea, usually based on the author’s lived experience or on actual classroom stories featuring the author’s students; finally there is a section juxtaposing the good idea that represents best practices.  The Further Reading section is a valuable research resource for students who may be interested in bolstering their rhet/comp credentials as they get ready to teach or for graduate school.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The sections of the book allow for reorganization based on the professor’s approach to the course. The sections are not linear or consecutive; you can literally skip around for what seems best for your course and/or your students. And there are abundant articles in each section which allows for selectivity in matching readings to course objectives.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The major sections zoom into the broad topics that are creatively subdivided into a variety of specific bad ideas. When I first reviewed this book as a possibility for my upper division class of prospective teachers, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I could not say, “Hmmm, this would be a better text if x topic had been included.” It seems quite liberal in coverage of and presentation of topics that guide students toward appreciating truly good ideas about writing.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The option for downloading the entire book as a PDF enhances its usability as a learning tool. Students can highlight, add notes, use the search feature, and all-in-all use the book as they do a print book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No problems with grammar.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Most students, regardless of their cultural or ethnic background, will see themselves reflected in the approaches presented in the articles. I can see someone raising the lack of specific attention to translanguaging as a possible gap or cultural insensitivity; however, I can attest that in my classes of almost 100% Hispanic students many of whom are second language speakers of English, no one felt slighted and all found meaningful connectivity in the topics presented as bad ideas.  Additionally, because so many of the authors in the text have established credentials as contributors to discussions of writing pedagogy, we know that their work represents egalitarian views about cultural inclusivity.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"One of the major benefits of using this book is the way that it makes students almost hyper aware of best practices in teaching writing. They ended the course feeling empowered about what they would do in their own classrooms with their own young writers and what they would avoid. As the course project, each of my students created a chapter that they would add to the book, focused on a bad idea that they had encountered and offering their own writing experiences as evidence for debunking that idea. Finally, this a “fun” book to work with. The students almost joyfully responded to their initial reading assignments as they realized that things they had been told were wrong in their writing are in fact not wrong at all.","created_at":"2020-11-15T14:52:01.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-11-15T14:52:01.000-06:00"},{"id":33633,"first_name":"George","last_name":"Zamzow","position":"English Instructor","institution_name":"Portland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"It's hard to say that a book on writing is comprehensive. This book covers many of the most important bad ideas about writing. I was impressed with its range and coverage of the bad ideas I see more frequently.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Any book on rhetoric is bound to be biased. This one is biased in the right ways, and one of the brilliant things about it is that it points out longstanding biases in the field of rhetoric that are detrimental to learning, and that perpetuate oppression that operates through bad ideas about language","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Very relevant, and not likely to go out of date soon","clarity_rating":2,"clarity_review":"This is where I was the most disappointed in the book for use in my own classes. While the prose is usually lucid and precise, many of the texts here may not be accessible to students who have less familiarity with academic language. It was particularly frustrating to read texts written in advanced, jargon-heavy language, lamenting the ways that white, upper class English perpetuates oppression.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"There was some variation, but I dont regard this as such a bad thing because the text is so modular, and I think most instructors will assign it as discrete essays.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Great for use as individual essays! Occasionally refers to other essays, but these references dont obscure overall meaning.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I found the sections to be useful, and the sections and individual chapters are ordered logically","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Pdf version is excellent","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No \"grammatical errors\" that I saw. It was also wonderful how essays challenged the concept of \"grammatical errors\"","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I found it inclusive. It makes important challenges to bad ideas about writing that perpetuate oppression for people from marginalized groups.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Incredibly valuable range of ideas here, some practical, some theoretical. Brilliantly done! I may (or I may ask students to) revise some of the essays to have more accessible prose as derivative OER.","created_at":"2022-01-01T21:52:55.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-01-01T21:52:55.000-06:00"},{"id":33817,"first_name":"Christina","last_name":"Davidson","position":"Adjunct Faculty","institution_name":"Indiana University - Southeast (New Albany)","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book, Bad Ideas About Writing, takes on a wide range of issues within the field of Composition. A quick look at the table of contents reveals this book will approach issues from style and grammar to writing assessment, and even foray into multimodal or digital writing. Just as the cheeky title implies, each chapter flips contemporary issues on their heads, showing the 'bad idea' that lies beneath some oft well-meaning pedogogical practices. While it may not cover all issues in composition, which is certainly a wide field, it does take a bold effort in that direstion. And it should be noted that while undergraduate students could certainly grasp the gist of each chapter with some instructor guidance, the nuance of this book is likely more aimed at graduate student readers or teacher-learners.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content of this book is accurate and error-free. While some bias is to be expected in a book filled with opinions, we can trust the judgement of these authors to be sound, given their respective positions in their field. The approach of each section feels balanced, offering honest commentary from experienced professionals.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book has great relevance because it serves as a catalyst for tough conversations about why these 'bad ideas about writing' even exist in the first place. It prods the reader to critically analyze their own pedagogical practices and to inspect ways that institutions support the continuation of 'bad ideas'.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This book offers highly accessible content. Although perhaps geared more towards current educators or those pursuing a career in Education, it still possesses enough clarity to make it accessible to any student learning about writing.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The structure, which outlines different areas in Composition Studies where we encounter 'bad ideas', is consistent and easy to follow. The terminology used by a variety of authors is also consistent and aligned with the overall goals of the book.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This text is easily divisible due to the way it is organized. For example, graduate students could be asked to read the entirety of this text to inform a final project, while a single chapter could be assigned for a group discussion.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"While the scope of this project is quite large, the editors made great use of chapters to organize the ideas.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"This highly accessible, open-course textbook is free of any interface issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any grammatical errors in this text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Essays in this book are written from a diverse group of writers. BIAW takes great care to highlight cultural issues in Composition, such as the need for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion. In fact, the book itself seeks to support critical pedagogical practices by examining how we can remedy these 'bad ideas' that persist in our field.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This text is a gem within the Open Textbook Library. Students will be well-served to digest this small volume and to chew on how they can remedy the 'bad ideas' still floating about in academia, and in their own minds.","created_at":"2022-04-30T21:33:47.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-04-30T21:33:47.000-05:00"},{"id":33958,"first_name":"John (Tom)","last_name":"Williams","position":"associate professor","institution_name":"Tidewater Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Essays cover a wide and varied range of ideas about writing and the teaching of writing. These include essays about what good writing, good writers, grammar and style, assessment, technology, even writing teachers themselves. Content takes a pro/con view in that essays offer contrasting positions on the same topic.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"While readers may not agree with all the views expressed in the book (nor should they), there is much to be gained by considering the opposing sides offered. There is a good deal of validity to the authors' opinions regardless of which side you readers find themselves on in terms of their own classroom practices.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"This book is possibly more interesting than it is relevant. As an examination of many of the ideas that many of us have about writing and teaching writing, Bad Ideas About Writing is well worth reading. As a preparatory text for those who want to teach writing, this would be a fine resource. For Freshman Composition, its practicality lags behind as the teachers will find it far more appealing than students.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Content is well written and supported by countless examples and observations from the essay authors.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Content is fair and balanced in the sense that what's best practice for one person is tired and played out for another. Topics covered all include multiple facets of the same idea.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter has a specific theme and numerous essays that tackle various concepts within that theme. Individual readings are easy to separate out and pair up.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Each chapter focuses on one main concept and includes a number of essays that delve into various aspects of that concept.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is a straightforward PDF.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Text is free of grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This book is relevant in the sense that practically everyone writes and has ideas about writing, and those ideas are well worth examining and questioning.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Bad Ideas About Writing makes for interesting reading. People with a stake in the teaching of writing can take away some valuable insights. Creative writers as well can benefit from the exposure of harmful cliches surrounding the writing life. Where the book falls short is working as an introductory writing text which, admittedly, it does not seem to be intended for.","created_at":"2022-07-24T09:48:55.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-07-24T09:48:55.000-05:00"},{"id":34037,"first_name":"Kristen","last_name":"Fink","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Portland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers a range of tropes about what \"good\" writing is, how it should be taught, who teaches it, and who excels at it.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Accuracy is tricky to quantify here as the point of the book is to challenge long-held notions of what writing should look like and feel like.  Each short essay is supported with references to research and suggestions for further readings, so readers can engage in the accuracy of the claims made themselves.  Entering the debate seems much more the point than being correct.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Inventorying the \"why\" and \"for what reason?\" behind so many engrained assumptions about how we should teach FYC seems always relevant, and, indeed, this collection references previously \"settled\" notions of what good writing instruction and good writing is, what has stuck over the centuries, and what the role of the FYC classroom is in an age of digital literacies and modern rhetoric.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Clarity and distillation of a singular concept or bad idea is completed very effectively with room for readers to engage more fully with each topic as their own interest dictates.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Each essay in the book is between 3 to 6 pages long, written in straightforward prose meant to be accessible to students, academics, or anyone interested in being part of the larger conversation.  After the discussion, a further reading section is included along with keywords and information on the author including a brief bio and typically a Twitter handle.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"What I most appreciate about this collection is how the editors have laid out these points in smaller bite-sized pieces.  In my own FYC instruction, I try to push transfer and metacognition via interrogation of the very purpose of the composition classroom.  This collection allows students several entrance points into this discussion.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization is logical and works the reader through a range of potential tropes/practices in which the reader might very well participate.  I suppose what the book is missing is the sequel: Good Ideas about Writing.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is very straightforward: a collection of short essays arranged in sub-themes centered on various bad ideas about writing.  The Table of Contents provides a clear map for the book as a whole.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"What is grammar? (Okay, it is actually defined within the book, but clear prose throughout.)","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I have mixed feelings here.  The book does contain sections on combatting notions of Standard American English as \"good\" (as in the only acceptable) writing, and FYC as favoring white, middle class student constituencies.  But. . . as I reflect, I feel the writing is centered on student/teacher experience centered on fixing previous bad practice from a more theoretical rather than experiential perspective.  This leads me to believe that the majority of the authors either (1) were white, middle class students themselves or (2) did not feel empowered to speak from their own diverse experiences as teachers/students.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I deeply appreciate this collection and the invitation to continue the discussions raised with colleagues, with students, and via social media.  As an extremely accessible entry point into larger discussions of the practice and purpose of FYC, this collection does important work for future instructors and their students.","created_at":"2022-09-09T14:14:55.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-09-09T14:14:55.000-05:00"},{"id":34324,"first_name":"Lora","last_name":"Winters","position":"Assistant Instructional Professor","institution_name":"Pittsburg State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book covers a variety of different bad ideas about writing and writing instruction.  The included essays cover topics including technology in writing, grammar, methods of teaching writing, what good writing is, and who good writers are.  Multiple sides of topic are discussed in different essays.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content covered many different perspectives in the field of writing and writing instruction.  The content was supported by research, and further readings after each essay were provided.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"This book is highly relevant to writing teachers, but it isn’t necessarily relevant as a writing textbook for FYC.  This book would probably be most useful for beginning writing teachers, graduate teaching assistants teaching composition, and writing center consultants/tutors.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Writing is very clear and easy to understand.  Each essay is short enough to be read in one sitting and could be easily understood by undergraduates.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Each essay includes further readings and keywords.  The writing is consistently clear, and counterarguments are consistently provided.  Some essays seem like they could be a little more supported, but even the least supported essay is well-written.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is broken down into sections, and within each section the information about a given topic is grouped together.  It would be very easy to find relevant essays to use in a classroom setting.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book was well organized, with clear headings for each section.  Each section had essays organized in a way that easily flowed from one concept to the next.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The PDF was easy to navigate, and the keywords included made it easier to search through.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not see any grammatical errors in the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This book covers topics that are culturally relevant to the field of writing studies.  The authors of the essays are relevant figures in the composition/writing center/writing studies fields.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This book explains ideas that are relevant to the field of writing studies in a creative and interesting way.  It helps fill in knowledge gaps for those who are writing teachers but may not have formal training in teaching writing.  The essays are short and easy to grasp.  Some ideas may not age well (some of the information about digital media seems like it could get outdated really quickly).  I plan to use readings from it to help train my writing center consultants, but I don’t think I will be able to use much from it in my FYC classes.","created_at":"2022-12-22T12:40:50.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-12-22T12:40:50.000-06:00"},{"id":35329,"first_name":"Dr. Lauren","last_name":"Seward","position":"College Freshmen Composition Teacher","institution_name":"Tidewater Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text covers a wide range of details and information pertaining to writing. It offers a breakdown if all areas of writing. It gives the reader the opportunity to consider varying levels and opinions of effectiveness when it comes to writing in the classroom.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"While the content may create interesting conversations in the classroom, the information presented will not suit all writing opinions and views.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The book is quite relevant to the world of writing. However, it may not be of interest to those who do not enjoy the \"highs and lows\" of writing as it pertains to the classroom.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing is clear. The examples highlight and support/negate various ideas about writing.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent with basic and standard writing procedures.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text can easily be aligned to various units in a writing course. It is easy to breakdown for understanding.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"All information and topics are presented in an organized chapter or section. There are various essays attached to each topic that assist in understanding.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Text is an easy-to-download PDF.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors discovered in the book.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This book is culturally relevant to those with a stake in writing--specifically those with ideas and opinions on writing techniques, old and new.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I think that the book will hold the interest of an invested college writing professor. The concepts, theories, and ideas mentioned will create some interesting dialogue in the classroom. However, be considerate of student interest, While they may read for completion, it may not captivate them as much as intended, unless they too are invested in Bad Ideas About Writing.","created_at":"2024-12-05T10:22:09.000-06:00","updated_at":"2024-12-05T10:22:09.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/bad-ideas-about-writing","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:17:02.000-06:00"},{"id":295,"title":"Beyond Dichotomy: Synergizing Writing Center and Classroom Pedagogies","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2015,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"How closely can or should writing centers and writing classrooms collaborate? Beyond Dichotomy explores how research on peer tutoring one-to-one and in small groups can inform our work with students in writing centers and other tutoring programs, as well as in writing courses and classrooms. These multi-method (including rhetorical and discourse analyses and ethnographic and case-study) investigations center on several course-based tutoring (CBT) partnerships at two universities. Rather than practice separately in the center or in the classroom, rather than seeing teacher here and tutor there and student over there, CBT asks all participants in the dynamic drama of teaching and learning to consider the many possible means of connecting synergistically. This book offers the \"more-is-more\" value of designing more peer-to-peer learning situations for developmental and multicultural writers, and a more elaborate view of what happens in these peer-centered learning environments. It offers important implications—especially of directive and nondirective tutoring strategies and methods—for peer-to-peer learning and one-to-one tutoring and conferencing for all teachers and learners of writing.","contributors":[{"id":3251,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Steven","middle_name":"J.","last_name":"Corbett","location":"George Mason University","background_text":"Steven J. Corbett is Assistant Professor of English at George Mason University. He received his Ph.D. in English Language and Rhetoric from the University of Washington-Seattle in 2008, and he was assistant professor of English and co-coordinator of composition at Southern Connecticut State University-New Haven from 2008-2013."}],"subjects":[{"id":5,"name":"Education","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"L7","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/education"},{"id":6,"name":"Humanities","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":null,"visible_textbooks_count":418,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/humanities"},{"id":33,"name":"Literature, Rhetoric, and Poetry","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"PE1408","visible_textbooks_count":124,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/literature-rhetoric-and-poetry"},{"id":27,"name":"Higher Education","parent_subject_id":5,"call_number":"LC980","visible_textbooks_count":34,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/higher-education"}],"publishers":[{"id":485,"url":"https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/dichotomy/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","name":"WAC Clearinghouse"}],"formats":[{"id":816,"type":"PDF","url":"https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/dichotomy/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":817,"type":"eBook","url":"https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/dichotomy/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4","textbook_reviews_count":8,"reviews":[{"id":1271,"first_name":"Andy","last_name":"Trevathan","position":"Doctor/Instructor","institution_name":"Louisiana State University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"While no book can completely cover EVERYTHING regarding tutoring, composition pedagogy, and writing center work, Corbett adequately covers a few relevant issues such as: tutoring style and strategy, analyses of tutoring sessions, and conflict in the tutoring session. The text also provides examples, with extensive dialogue, of tutoring sessions. Corbett includes a brief index, but no glossary. The index could be more extensive, but it is adequate for the genre.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Corbett’s chapters each offer a particular viewpoint regarding writing center and writing pedagogy; the information is accurate and coherent. In particular, Corbett addresses the idea of “reclaiming the writing classroom into ‘the idea of a writing center’” which might not be practical by all writing tutors or teachers, but his simulated tutoring sessions and strategies appear accurate, at least in theory.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Corbett provides relevant subject matter that is timely and useful for those working in the field. His text is written using a very conversational and lucid style; although, some of the dialogue seems stiff when relating examples of what happens in certain tutoring sessions. This 'stiffness' doesn't affect the relevancy or longevity. It does lack, however, more diverse approaches to the tutoring of writing and writing center practices such as OWLs (Online Writing Labs) and other electronically-mediated approaches.\n.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Corbett has a clear writing style. Each chapter is preceded by a clear, inclusive title. The text is not particularly convoluted or dense, but it does include terminology and syntax fitting for the discourse, and not necessarily the general public.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The information and writing style is consistent. Corbett’s approach and theoretical underpinnings are consistent with many other scholars in the field.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The chapters in this text can be used alone or as a complete text for those interested in writing center and/or pedagogical approaches.  One should have at least some prior knowledge of writing center or writing instruction in order to make the most of Corbett’s work. If used individually, the chapters would work best with instructor or professorial guidance for those without significant experience with the topic.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The organization, structure, and flow of Beyond Dichotomy is sufficient for the genre.  The chapters are individualized, but the overall flow of the text is good.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface between writing center work and writing, or composition instruction is adequate. This text is free of any significant interface issues; text and images were clear and easy to navigate. The book can also be printed (as a whole or in sections) for those who prefer to annotate with pen or pencil, and it also reads well as a separate pdf file.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There were no noticeable grammar issues. Corbett's writing style is easy to understand and grammar appears more than satisfactory.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The cultural relevance is appropriate for those working in community college or private/public university writing centers or composition classroom.  Corbett’s text does not appear heavily biased or culturally insensitive; however, it does not explicitly address race or ethnicity.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Good resource for those interested in the tutoring or teaching of writing in the post-secondary classroom. Corbett's other texts are equally engaging.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1487,"first_name":"Dianne","last_name":"Stanbach","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Tidewater Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text is extremely thorough in addressing all aspects of course-based tutoring: how all tutors, instructors, and learners need to rethink how writing is taught and connected to the classroom. The case studies connected well with the theories fully explained prior to their incorporation. The index was sufficient albeit a bit limited; but the Appendix more than made up for the limited information. This text not only provides the why, but it also specifically provides the how tutors, instructors, and learners of writing can implement such pedagogy.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The author offers heavily researched and backed accounts of how CBT is needed. His experiences and studies in the  reinforce conceptually unbiased ideas throughout the text..","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This text is a refreshing instruction manual for all collegiate-level teachers and tutors. As often referenced, there has always existed similar theories like Corbett's suggested approaches, but none establish so well the variety of ways in which teachers can effectively implement change. The relevance of these possible avenues  is unquestionable. And although it is always a challenge to convince teachers, tutors, and administration to embrace change, I believe this text will remain a significant foundational guidebook for decades to come.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The terminology is excitingly challenging at times and perhaps most accessible to the professional journal readers and writers. It is a great way to dive into the terminology most relevant in today's studies of tutoring and writing, as the author fully explores the concepts as they are mentioned.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Corbett does not let the reader down; with stylistic prose and extensive research dominating his philosophy his book has the potential of changing how many writing centers function. As he mentions his influences and connects his proposals to many of the scholars in the field today, he invites the writing teacher especially to become excited about bettering writing. Hope is what he establishes throughout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter could be utilized by readers who are focused on different aspects. As many institutions are focused on assessment and bettering student learning outcomes, Chapter 5 could easily be used as a reader for English faculty and administration to start the conversation. Chapter 1 could be used individually to help reshape writing centers, how and what they teach. Each section can promote significant discussion, and the online version was exceptional.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The Table of Contents is a clear map of what is to come in the text, and this scholarly journal is very comparable to other texts. There is a logical organization of content from the tutoring styles, methodology, case studies, and the conclusion ending with purpose of Corbett's approach. It was intriguing to read, and the structure of the text made it hard to leave a chapter unfinished.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface between writing centers/tutoring and writing classrooms was efficient. The navigation was easy; read as a pdf it took a moment to get used to the quickness of the arrow down margin, but besides that distraction all else was easy to maneuver. All graphs and charts were clear and easy to follow.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Corbett's writing style is engaging and translates well his passion for the subject without inflating language. No grammatical errors were seen.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The examples referenced in the text are highly sensitive to today's extensively diverse student population. Each college has its own personality, whether urban or suburban, or a particular demographic or socioeconomic factor. When Corbett addresses linguistic elements in the case studies, there is an unspoken acknowledge of difference that welcomes all readers to embrace the concepts being presented.\nThe community college student specifically could benefit greatly from a move towards synergizing the writing centers and the writing classrooms. There is a move towards certificate programs and learning skills that can apply to life and the classroom, and all of the methodology mentioned in Corbett's text is needed.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I will definitely promote this textbook at my college. We have four campuses and a great need for redesign of or writing centers. The text also will encourage many faculty, tutors and administrators to rethink one-to-one tutoring approach and how student outcomes can improve. Thank you for a great text!","created_at":"2017-08-15T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-08-15T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1677,"first_name":"Melanie","last_name":"Faith","position":"Lecturer","institution_name":"University of Maryland","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Beyond Dichotomy: Synergizing Writing Center and Classroom Pedagogies offers a comprehensive review of Course Based Tutoring (CBT) as the first two chapters comprise a thorough literature review.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"Well-documented, the initial chapters present an accurate overview of relevant theory; however, the small sample of tutors observed in chapter four and analyzed in chapter five seems overburdened by the conclusions drawn.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text builds upon the theories presented in the opening chapters and suggests a few ways of integrating tutoring into a writing course, which can be adapted to traditional or emerging writing practices.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"While the introduction is a bit long and the literature review somewhat dense, the case studies and their analysis are concise. The informal writing style (often first person), will appeal to some. Neither classroom teachers nor writing center personnel will have trouble understanding the terminology.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Corbett states his intent in the introduction and reiterates it throughout the text, explaining what he will address at the beginning of each chapter.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The first two chapters could stand alone, but chapter four draws its conclusions from chapter three, so would be more useful taken together.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Based upon the intentions set out in the introduction, the chapters flow logically.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The pdf version functions like other pdfs. Chapter links in the Table of Contents would make navigability easier.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There were few noticeable punctuation errors and the occasional confusion of “less” and “fewer.”","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The book's parsing of races in chapters three and four was somewhat confusing, seeming to stretch to include a discussion of AAVE in the assessment of Madeleine’s tutoring style. There was no concurrent discussion of Asian cultural norms in the discussion of Laura’s.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"BEYOND DICHOTOMY: SYNERGIZING WRITING  CENTER AND CLASSROOM  PEDAGOGIES seems an important read for Writing Center directors, tutors, and those interested in the dynamics of tutoring, suggesting a framework for setting up further observational studies.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":3141,"first_name":"Zachery","last_name":"Koppelmann","position":"Assistant Professor, Associated Faculty / Writing Center Director","institution_name":"Wabash College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text comprehensively covers writing center pedagogy, writing fellows programs, peer writing groups, and supplemental instruction. Each topic is thoroughly discussed and connected to each other and to course-based tutoring. The Introduction and Chapter One provide an excellent primer or review of the major topics in writing center pedagogy, writing fellows, and peer writing groups. Supplemental instruction is adequately covered, but not in the same level of detail as the other topics. The author explains this by saying, “The final branch of peer education we will look at, supplemental instruction (SI), is the least amount of coverage in peer education literature” (20). Even with the limited literature, SI is adequately covered and connected to the other topics throughout the text.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This text is extremely accurate and carefully supported with the most relevant sources. This is especially evident regarding writing centers and writing fellows. To a large degree, readers will gain a workable knowledge of the major topics in writing center and writing fellows before they reach the deeper discussions of course-based tutoring.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This text is relevant to the current trends in US higher education. Peer tutoring is growing as more and more institutions are asked to instruction more students while receiving less funding. Developing programs in which students can collaborate and mentor with each other is a valuable tool, one that is gaining even greater traction in many career paths. It is unlikely that this text will become obsolete for decades to come.\r\nThis text is logically arranged and easy to follow. While it is best read in order, it can be divided up and taught out of order with very little scaffolding. The case studies are almost stand-alone articles instead of chapters. They are easy to follow, and provide sufficient background to prevent the need of referring the index or searching for terms.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This text is well written in a clear, lucid style. Jargon and terminology are used, but they are clearly introduced. The prose is easily accessible to a wide audience, suitable for most high school students.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This text is extremely consistent, a highly valuable trait in such a text. It follows the guidelines from good writing: move from known to new information. It maintains a smooth, concise style that avoids confusion and having to re-read sections to understand how the information fits together. In fact, most of the time the information doesn’t just fit together—it flows together seamlessly.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This text is easily divisible, using logical and informative headings. While the text works best if read in order, all be the final chapter could be taught with limited scaffolding. Combining the Introduction with either Chapter Three or Chapter Four would create an interesting and compelling assignment for analysis or discussion.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This text is logically and methodically arranged. It follows a solid known-to-new approach, making the text easy to read, easy to follow, and easy to discuss.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not observe any issue with this text’s interface. The links all worked, the images were all clear, and there were no display issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not observe any grammatical issues. This is not to say that there aren’t any, but any errors are so minor as to be overlooked.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not observe any instances of cultural insensitivity or of offensive statements, terms, overgeneralizations, or any other offensive content. All of the examples and discussions are inclusive of all races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This text was enjoyable to read and very informative. I have worked in writing centers for over a decade, and I was impressed with the treatment of writing center topics, writing fellows topics, and the connections among the various peer-tutoring models. I plan on using this text to teach my Writing Center and Writing Fellows staff.","created_at":"2019-08-05T12:29:19.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-08-05T12:29:19.000-05:00"},{"id":4235,"first_name":"Katie","last_name":"Garahan","position":"Assistant Professor and Writing Center Director","institution_name":"Radford University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"In his text, Beyond Dichotomy: Synergizing Writing Center and Classroom Pedagogies, Steven J. Corbett uses a case-study approach to examine course-based tutoring (CBT), focusing on how course-embedded tutors negotiate the pedagogical concepts of authority/trust building and directive/nondirective negotiations. In the introduction, and particularly the first chapter, Corbett provides a comprehensive and clear description of what he calls the “parent genres” of CBT—writing center tutoring, writing fellows programs, peer writing groups, and supplemental instruction. Doing so adequately contextualizes his study within writing center scholarship more broadly. Additionally, he presents a thorough literature review of the ubiquitous minimalist-nondirective v. directive tutoring debate in Chapter 1. The conclusions he draws from his own study of CBT are well situated within the discipline, and he uses them to contribute to our theoretical understanding of CBT while also providing practical takeaways in the conclusion.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Overall, Corbett’s exigence, literature review, and presentation of writing center scholarship seems mostly accurate to me. While he provided a pertinent overview of writing center scholarship’s ever-changing perspectives on our marginalization, I did feel that at times he conflated the relationship between writing centers and the writing classroom with the relationship between writing centers and the institution more broadly. While the latter is often portrayed as contentious, with colleagues and administration not fully understanding the work we do, I’m not sure those feelings of marginalization necessarily apply to colleagues who are teaching writing.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"I was initially skeptical of Corbett’s focus on the directive/nondirective tutoring debate since writing center work over the past decade has worked to dismantle this dichotomy. However, his focus on CBT contributes importantly to this dismantling. He asks, how do tutors balance directive/nondirective methods and teacherly/studently roles in CBT? This question is timely and applicable beyond CBT as the boundaries of writing center work are continually expanding beyond traditional one-to-one tutoring. As we ask tutors to venture outside of the center and facilitate workshops, engage in writing center pop-ups, give presentations, etc., we must consider how they negotiate their identities and their tutoring methods in these spaces. I have shied away from focusing on this debate in tutor training because I have considered it to be dated, but I plan to assign both Chapters 1 and 3 to my tutors this year.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Corbett’s narrative writing style is clear and accessible. I read the entire book relatively quickly because he doesn’t overburden his prose with jargon or write with an overly “academic” tone. I appreciated his style as a reader and as a practitioner who plans to assign parts of the text to undergraduate and graduate tutors.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Corbett uses terms, particularly CBT, consistently throughout the text. However, he does take for granted that the audience already has some understanding of what course-based tutoring looks like. As a practitioner who has never been involved with CBT outside of facilitating in-class workshops, I found this terminology to be a bit opaque at first. As I mentioned, he provides an adequate discussion of the theoretical perspectives and parent genres of CBT, but did not really explain what CBT literally entails (e.g. sitting in the class, providing one-to-one tutoring, meeting with the instructor) until page 74 when he begins to explain his participants’ CBT teams and how they interact. So, if you are like me and felt a bit unsure of how Corbett imagines CBT, skip ahead and read 74 – 85 when he describes the CBT models his participants follow. I felt the same way about his references to peer response sessions, which he describes in detail beginning on page 139.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"As I mentioned above, Corbett’s text is divisible into smaller reading sections, though Chapters 3 and 4 build on one another, which seems unavoidable in a study like Corbett’s. I plan to assign Chapters 1 and 3 together because I think the review of literature about the directive/nondirective debate and his analysis of one-to-one tutoring sessions will provide a comprehensive (macro and micro) picture for my tutors. Additionally, the detailed excerpts and explanations of tutoring sessions from Chapters 3 and 4 would be a beneficial compliment to the more general training manuals directors often use.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"As an empirical (RAD) study, Corbett loosely adopts an IMRAD (intro, methods, results, analysis, discussion) format that makes logical sense. As someone who engages in such research, I would have liked to see more information about his analytical process, but I realize that’s not always possible or preferable in books.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I used the EPUB version of the book and had no problems. The text and images were clear.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"As I mentioned above, Corbett’s writing style is clear and engaging. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this text. I noticed a few typos and some punctuation issues, but they were not distracting.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Corbett included a diverse group of participants. Though cultural differences were not on the forefront of his study, he included a description of how AAVE played a role in one African American tutor’s interactions with students (p. 130 – 133). This discussion did not, however, greatly impact his conclusions and seemed to be somewhat peripheral.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I would recommend this book to writing center practitioners and plan to use it in upcoming training sessions. I believe writing center scholarship must continue making the empirical turn, and Corbett's study is a good example of how doing so can help us improve our theory and practice.","created_at":"2020-07-08T15:39:08.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-07-08T15:39:08.000-05:00"},{"id":4837,"first_name":"Dawn","last_name":"Hershberger","position":"Associate Director, Writing Lab","institution_name":"University of Indianapolis","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Corbett's book references a wide array of important literature and scholars in writing center studies in the areas of course-based tutoring (CBT) and of general writing center theory.  However, the author assumes that the reader will have a working knowledge of CBT prior to reading the book.  Although he does give some background on the topic, I think a reader without such existing knowledge or someone looking for a how-to guide for setting up a CBT program might feel a bit lost.  The literature review provided and the study of CBT that is conducted and discussed in the book are both quite comprehensive and would prove useful to those readers with familiarity to CBT who are looking to contribute to their knowledge base or to those who are interested in evaluating their CBT programs or in conducting a qualitative CBT study similar to the one Corbett described.  The materials provided in the appendices would be particularly helpful for readers who wish to replicate the study.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"All of the information in the text is well-researched, and Corbett's reasoning is sound.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The book's content is up-to-date and the first two chapters of the book which contain primarily a review of literature and theory could be updated easily.  However, the meat of the book is the information about the CBT study Corbett conducted and its analysis.  As that study has already occurred, it cannot be updated; however, the study could be replicated, and analysis of the additional study could be added and perhaps compared to that of the first study.  It might be especially helpful in updates to include of a study of how CBT might work in an online setting given that online learning has become widespread due to the Covid pandemic and will most likely continue even after the pandemic ends.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Corbett's writing style is quite clear, and audiences who possess a working knowledge of CBT will have no difficulties in understanding the content.  Those without such knowledge may be a bit more challenged.  However, Corbett manages to reference a great deal of literature in the field without getting mired in jargon, so even those readers without prior knowledge of CBT, though they may initially struggle some, will be able to follow the information in the text.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There are no issues with consistence in the text.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"Modularity is not this text's strongest point.  The book is laid out a bit like a dissertation, and since it is primarily an analysis of a single CBT study conducted by the author, it would greatly lessen the impact and understanding of the content of the text to read the chapters out of order or to read some without reading the others.  A case could be made that the first two chapters could be used in a course as a literature review for students studying CBT.  Chapter 3, which provides macro- and micro-analyses of one-to-one tutorials, could possibly stand alone as it might be useful as an example for students who are conducting observations or analyses of tutorials, but the instructor would need to provide a bit of context first.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"A discussion of the organization of this book is somewhat dependent on who the book's intended audience is.  If the book is intended for those who are considering implementing a CBT program, then more background about CBT and the logistics of how a CBT program work should be included nearer the beginning of the book to provide more practical advice as well as a better conceptual framework.  If the audience is readers with familiarity to CBT who are looking to contribute to their knowledge base, those who are interested in evaluating their CBT programs, or those interested in conducting a study similar to the one described, then the book's organization (which essentially follows the literature review, methods, results, discussion format) would be adequate.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There were no major issues with the interface of this text although there did seem to be more blank pages than necessary in the pdf version.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text's prose was clear and no grammatical errors were apparent.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The book is not culturally insensitive, but it does touch on some issues of CBT and diversity in regards to race and those with learning challenges in a rather precursory way.  I wish these issues would have been explored in more depth.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Although I found that Corbett's book was well -researched and contained a fair amount of useful information, it read more like a dissertation than a textbook.  It makes a useful reference book on the topic of CBT, but I am not sure how useful or practical it is as a course textbook (unless it is serving as one of several books the students in the course might be reading about writing center theory). I would love to see this book expanded to include other topics regarding CBT such as some more practical and logistic information about implementing CBT, a study analyzing how CBT works in an online environment, and  further discussion on the diversity issues that Corbett mentioned but did not explore.","created_at":"2021-04-23T13:22:21.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-04-23T13:22:21.000-05:00"},{"id":35551,"first_name":"Sarah","last_name":"Graves","position":"Coordinator of the Writing Center \u0026 English Lecturer","institution_name":"Ohio Wesleyan University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text by Steven J. Corbett approaches the topic of course-based tutoring (CBT) and writing centers by providing a thorough review of the important research and literature. It takes a case study approach to examining the topic, and, specifically with that approach, it seems very comprehensive. This text would be highly useful for anyone engaging in writing center scholarship, of which there is a notable lack. However, I would have appreciated a better primer on the definitions of CBT as opposed to supplemental instruction (SI), as the text makes a differentiation, but these seem very similar. Further, as SI is used by many universities to connect writing centers to classroom instruction, a greater focus on SI would have also been helpful.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text is accurate and well-supported with research. All of Corbett’s conclusions on the research are well-reasoned.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The book is up-to-date for its time (2015). However, as both a writing center director and a classroom instructor, I have observed significant change since the covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, a post-pandemic review would be helpful for understanding this new instructional landscape.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Corbett provides well-explained and articulated conclusions on the research he examines in this text. Although the text could benefit from some clearer explanation of the terminology for those without a background in writing center tutoring or research, his explanations are easy to follow without getting too bogged down in technical jargon.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I see no issues with consistency in the text.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The chapters are clearly divided and contain subheadings to break up large chunks of text. However, this text is not easily understandable out of order or read in parts. To understand the full discussion, one must read from beginning to end, as each chapter and the inherent discussion build on what came before. Therefore, it would not work well to assign parts of the text at different points in the course.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The organization of the text makes sense as a comprehensive review of the literature on writing centers and CBT. It follows a logical order, and the discussion is easy to follow. However, its structure — as a review of the relevant research — makes it less applicable for use as a tool for teaching tutors or for classroom-based instruction. In other words, it might be useful for writing center directors or those looking into writing center research. But its structure is not particularly helpful for training tutors in the practical implementation of strategies. Therefore, I don't believe it would be particularly useful as a course textbook.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I had no issues navigating the text.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The writing was clear, and I saw no issues of grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I saw no significant issues with the text being insensitive to cultural issues. However, I would have liked a more in-depth exploration of how cultural background affects, and therefore should be considered, in writing center pedagogy. As someone who frequently works with international students, as well as students marginalized by class, race, and gender, I know firsthand how significantly these factors can affect students’ learning and their understanding of writing. Therefore, cultural differences and their relationship to learning should factor into tutor training as well as classroom instruction. It would have been helpful for the text to more deeply explore these issues, especially since CBT and SI could be invaluable ways to address these differences.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Corbett’s book was well-researched, and his conclusions were well-reasoned and logical. As a writing center director, I found this part of the text highly interesting. However, I approached this text hoping for more practical strategies on implementing SI, something we’re considering at my university. There was very little on practical strategies, and therefore, while this text is a valuable addition to the body of research on writing centers, it is less helpful as a “how to” on implementing either SI or CBT. Likewise, without a more strategy-based focus, the text wouldn't work well as a textbook for training tutors either.","created_at":"2025-06-26T09:58:07.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-06-26T09:58:07.000-05:00"},{"id":35639,"first_name":"Vanessa","last_name":"Petroj","position":"Writing Center Director","institution_name":"Western Oregon University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Because Beyond Dichotomy uses mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative), there are many aspects of the book that may not be familiar for a writing-center oriented audience. That being said, the author skillfully provides the optimal amount of relevant context and background information to allow the reader to successfully navigate between ideas. Finally, detailed appendices provide for additional clarification points for those interested in diving deeper in any particular topic or segment.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This book is data-driven, making its claims, ideas, and questions entertained by the author that more enticing. In a field (i.e., writing center scholarship) where experiments are not the norm, Beyond Dichotomy does a fantastic job of advancing the theory that is backed up by data and real-life scenarios.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Given the increased recognition of more individualized support for student-writers, this book provides real case scenarios and well-thought ideas and alternatives for educational institutions to consider and implement. This is relevant for all institutions with writing-intensive courses, especially first-year writing classes, as they are evaluating their current methods or are looking to revamp and modify in an innovative and collaborative manner. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Beyond Dichotomy offers an innovative multidisciplinary approach to peer tutoring in the writing center and in the classroom. Because of its approach, the author successfully navigates between disciplines by providing relevant explanations and necessary background information for the readers from any of the three disciplines to follow the work and generate applicable ideas in return. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The author does a great job advancing the field of writing center studies by connecting concepts readily available for those in the field with new approaches related to peer-to-peer support. In a sense, the author does not deviate from the framework, but it is being extended to areas outside of the norm. By highlighting the benefits of peer-to-peer tutoring and how it can evolve in scope and modality, the author offers new ways to examine traditional terminology and the framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Most chapters are under 20 pages long which makes this an ideal resource for writing tutors, writing center administrators, and writing faculty. What is more, because of its interdisciplinary approach, it would appeal to a wide range of backgrounds and expertise. On the one hand, as writing centers are putting effort in hiring a diverse staff, an experimental approach to peer-tutoring would appeal to them. On the other hand, this work would be a useful read for faculty in writing-across-the-curriculum (WAC) programs that are themselves promoting an interdisciplinary approach in their classes. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The chapters are logically organized and they provide content that continues to build as new information is being presented. The terminology is adequately defined and explained, and the reader is reminded of the main connections relevant for specific points across chapters. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Text, quotes, tables, and illustrations are all clearly and properly displayed and explained. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"This book is consistently written academic English throughout and is free of grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Beyond Dichotomy is a resource that is culturally-sensitive, acknowledging the different needs and approaches that writing support should take into consideration. It also includes interviews from diverse participants both on the side of students and instructors alike, allowing for diverse perspectives to be seen, analyzed, and understood. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2025-09-19T22:35:56.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-09-19T22:35:56.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/beyond-dichotomy-synergizing-writing-center-and-classroom-pedagogies","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:11:17.000-06:00"},{"id":391,"title":"Information Literacy: Research and Collaboration across Disciplines","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2016,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This collection brings together scholarship and pedagogy from multiple perspectives and disciplines, offering nuanced and complex perspectives on Information Literacy in the second decade of the 21st century. Taking as a starting point the concerns that prompted the Association of Research Libraries (ACRL) to review the Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education and develop the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (2015), the chapters in this collection consider six frameworks that place students in the role of both consumer and producer of information within today's collaborative information environments. Contributors respond directly or indirectly to the work of the ACRL, providing a bridge between past/current knowledge and the future and advancing the notion that faculty, librarians, administrators, and external stakeholders share responsibility and accountability for the teaching, learning, and research of Information Literacy.","contributors":[{"id":3943,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Barbara","middle_name":"J.","last_name":"D'Angelo","location":"Arizona State University","background_text":"Barbara J. D'Angelo is Clinical Associate Professor of Technical Communication at Arizona State University and Graduate Advisor for the MS in Technical Communication Program. She formerly served as Director of Assessment and Curriculum for the undergraduate technical communication degree program and coordinated a multi-section professional writing course for nurses. She has presented and published on topics related to information literacy, technical communication, writing assessment, and curriculum development at the Conference on College Composition and Communication, the Association for Business Communication annual convention, and the International Writing Across the Disciplines conference among others. She is the recipient of the 2011 Francis W. Weeks Award of Merit from the Association for Business Communication."},{"id":3944,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Sandra","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Jamieson","location":"Drew University","background_text":"Sandra Jamieson is Professor of English and Director of Writing Across the Curriculum at Drew University, where she teaches first-year writing and writing studies and pedagogy courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. She is one of three principal researchers in the Citation Project, a multi-site quantitative and qualitative study of student source-use practices. Her publications include the co-edited collection Coming of Age: The Advanced Writing Curriculum (with Shamoon, Howard, and Schwegler—winner of the Council of Writing Program Administrators Best Book of the Year Award, 2000-2001) and The Bedford Guide to Writing in the Disciplines: An Instructor's Desk Reference (with Rebecca Moore Howard). She has published articles and chapters on information literacy, research, plagiarism, reading, the writing major, writing across the curriculum, the vertical writing curriculum, textbooks, and multicultural education."},{"id":3945,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Barry","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Maid","location":"Arizona State University","background_text":"Barry Maid is Professor and Founding Head of the Technical Communication Program at Arizona State University. He was head of that program for ten years. Previously, he was Chair of English at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock where he helped lead the creation of the Department of Rhetoric and Writing. He is the author of numerous articles and chapters primarily focusing on technology, independent writing programs, and program administration including assessment. He and Barbara D'Angelo have written multiple articles on information literacy and writing. In addition, he is a co-author, with Duane Roen and Greg Glau, of The McGraw-Hill Guide: Writing for College, Writing for Life."}],"subjects":[{"id":5,"name":"Education","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"L7","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/education"},{"id":27,"name":"Higher Education","parent_subject_id":5,"call_number":"LC980","visible_textbooks_count":34,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/higher-education"}],"publishers":[{"id":295,"url":"http://wac.colostate.edu/books/infolit/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","name":"WAC Clearinghouse"}],"formats":[{"id":848,"type":"PDF","url":"https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/infolit/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":849,"type":"eBook","url":"https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/infolit/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4","textbook_reviews_count":9,"reviews":[{"id":919,"first_name":"Jill","last_name":"Stefaniak","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Old Dominion University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I really like that this textbook addresses information sources as they apply to different technologies and web platforms. It addresses today's needs and provides examples to help the reader determine appropriate information sources. ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I think the authors have done an excellent job providing an objective book addressing the nuances associated with information literacy. They provide the reader with lots of examples to explain how, when, and why to use certain sources other overs. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text is up-to-date addressing a variety of web tools that are used when seeking information. I have not seen a book that addresses information literacy in general and expands on how sources can be found using a variety of tools and platforms. ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is written clearly and uses consistent terminology throughout. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book does a great job using consistency as it explains information literacy through various technological lenses. With today's every changing technology, the authors do a great job to help the reader identify and discern between different information sources. ","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"This book is organized into several chapters that address a variety of topics. The authors have done an excellent job demonstrating how information literacy is valued across disciplines. This is an excellent book for courses that have students representing different majors. ","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The book is certainly organized so that it increases in complexity. I particularly appreciate that emphasis has been placed on alignment between information sources and the focus of a given project. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface is very clear. It's very easy to navigate through the open textbook. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"the text contains no grammatical errors. ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The book provides a variety of examples that can be found in different academic disciplines. The examples provided a suitable for an introductory course on information literacy. ","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":985,"first_name":"Cheryl","last_name":"Knott","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Arizona","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is partitioned into four sections that together provide a comprehensive treatment of the broad topic of information literacy across different subject disciplines. The editors provide a helpful introduction explaining how they conceptualized the book and what the book's purpose is. The introduction offers an excellent discussion of the \"Information Literacy Standards\" issued in 2000 by the Association of College and Research Libraries and the association's more recent development of a \"Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education\" addressing the changed context of information seeking and discovery and the changed relationship of students to information as both consumers and producers. Although there is no index, readers of the pdf can easily use a keyboard command to find keywords throughout the text. No glossary is included, but since the book's readers will mostly be teaching and library faculty familiar with information literacy topics, that is not an issue, and, in any case, terms are defined as they are introduced throughout the book.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Information provided is up-to-date and accurate. The diversity of the chapter authors and the involvement of four editors help ensure a balanced, error-free, and unbiased presentation of material. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book coincides with the new \"Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education\" issued by the Association of College and Research Libraries in 2015. Because the framework can be understood as a rethinking and revising of the 2000 standards, it likely will be used and referred to for years to come. Consequently, the book can be seen as a thorough consideration of information literacy at a watershed moment. The book's combined breadth and depth and its connection to a major advance in the theory and practice of information literacy acquisition indicate it will be useful for many years.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is clearly written, with helpful subheadings and, in some chapters, helpful graphic elements that illustrate or supplement the text.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The editors have done a very good job of keeping the work consistent and cohesive within each of the four topical sections and throughout the book as a whole.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is well organized. Its division into four sections will make it possible for some users to focus on one aspect of a broad subject. For example, instructors, librarians, and graduate students interested in designing and carrying out research on some aspect of information literacy may choose to read only the introduction and the five chapters that constitute the research section of the book. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The arrangement of the sections and chapters support the reader's development of a deep understanding of the history, theory, and practice of information literacy as a collaboration by different categories of professionals across a variety of academic subject areas. Although each of the book's sections and each chapter can stand on its own, reading the sections and chapters in the order given allows a reader to build knowledge from the conceptual/theoretical to the empirical/practical.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text and graphic elements are clearly displayed. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors appear to be present in the text.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Although there are some references to race and ethnicity, the book does not offer systematic coverage of the current discussion of \"critical information literacy\" and its relationship to social justice.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Given the \"collaboration across disciplines\" focus of the book, it is surprising that the list of contributors indicates only where the various authors work but not in what capacity. It would have been useful to include titles and departments as a way to represent the variety of perspectives expressed in the text.","created_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1653,"first_name":"Teagan","last_name":"Decker","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of North Carolina at Pembroke","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers an important topic in its interdisciplinary complexity. As a writing teacher, I appreciate the multiple perspectives this collection brings to a topic that affects students and teachers across disciplines. Multiple aspects of information literacy are covered, and I believe that most readers involved in college-level teaching will find a topic of interest here. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text represents my field (writing studies) in a fair and informed fashion. This gives me confidence that other fields, especially library/information science, are also represented well. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is quite relevant to the evolving fields of both writing studies and library/information science. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Although multiple authors have contributed to the book, the clarity and readability is uniform throughout. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I found it helpful that the text uses key references throughout as touchstones: the \"Framework for Information\nLiteracy for Higher Education\" and the \"Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing.\"","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The 20 chapters in the collection allow for specific topics to be addressed in each. These could be useful to assign in courses where the full text would not be practical. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"All chapters are clearly titled so that readers can choose topics of interest. The entire collection is organized in a clear and understandable manner. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no problems with the book's interface. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book reads smoothly with few, if any, typographical errors. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text demonstrates cultural sensitivity. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":2089,"first_name":"Andrew","last_name":"Kulp","position":"Information Literacy and Undergraduate Studies Librarian","institution_name":"Shenandoah University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is not a comprehensive approach to information literacy research or collaboration across disciplines, nor does it claim to be one. Instead of broadly illuminating the book’s titular concerns, these chapters shine focused spotlights on a sampling of issues, discussions, and studies, unified by facets of 2015’s Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education and the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. \n\nThis book would benefit from an index, but the PDF files are easily searchable in their present arrangement. Even though the book is peppered with privileged terminology, a glossary will not be missed, since Google is usually one tab away from the reader.\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"No errors were observed in the content of this book. \n\nThe only perceived bias was that of the place of information literacy in the university curriculum. The authors in this text posit that information literacy deserves an equal standing with other disciplines or at least a secure place within each discipline. \n","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"This book is relevant to higher education in 2018. Its underlying theme is the Association of College \u0026amp; Research Libraries’ Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education and Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education documents from 2015. These guidelines should be influential for several years to come, but will eventually be replaced by the next new recommendation. \n\nUpdating the book to remain relevant to advancing technologies and pedagogies would be difficult. Far more useful would be a second edition that addresses new information literacy topics with updated perspectives and renewed inquiry.\n\nThe longevity of this collection varies from one chapter to the next. For example, chapter twelve’s discussion on the value and use of infographics as emerging content delivery and assessment pieces is already dated. Similarly, chapter four’s insightful handling of our modern research environment of competing levels of accuracy and authority is weakened by the chapter title: \"Creating and Exploring New Worlds: Web 2.0, Information Literacy, and the Ways We Know.\" “Web 2.0” is the timestamp for a specific generation of websites, and limits this chapter’s longevity.\n","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Overall, the book’s language is accessible to faculty, university librarians, and graduate-level students, which are the targeted readers for these topics. Jargon and technical terminology are plentiful, but almost always within an adequate context for the target audience of this book. \n\nIt is doubtful that a reader who is unfamiliar with higher education writing, research, and library terminology or issues would benefit from this book. For example, a chemistry or communications professor interested in improving an undergraduate research assignment might encounter this book as a wall of acronyms and impenetrable discussions of \"Frameworks\" and \"Outcomes.\"","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"Any book with this many authors will struggle with consistency. The editors have succeeded in smoothing out the difficulties that can arise between disciplines and approaches. \n\nThis book would benefit immensely from a description of each author’s role or position, as well as their institutional affiliation. Knowing the authors’ disciplines would lend context to their terminologies and perspectives.\n","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This book is highly modular; each chapter easily stands alone. Instructors could assign any chapter as a course reading, exactly like assigning individual articles. Similarly, the four major parts of the book could be approached individually. Several chapters across this book could be reorganized into new sections with common themes or approaches to information literacy. The text is not overly self-referential; each chapter approaches its topic without consideration of the other chapters. \n","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The major sections of the book progress from positioning information literacy in its pedagogical context to collaborating across higher education to promote information literacy implementation. This intuitive approach to the subject suffers from a poor organization in the middle of the book, specifically the lack of cohesion in the chapters that comprise Parts II and III.\n\nPart II: Researching Information Literacy (chapters 6-10) is too generic a category for the overall objective of the book or the chapters in this section. Every chapter in the book deals with researching information literacy in some form; these chapters could have been organized to reflect a more nuanced dissection of the book’s theme. Part III: Incorporating and Evaluating Information Literacy in Specific Courses (chapters 11-15) seems to act as a catch-all for chapters that fit together only loosely.\n\nWithin their larger sections, each chapter is placed amid chapters with similar enough topics, though to say that one chapter flows naturally to the next would be an overstatement. \n\n","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"This book is displayed clearly on both desktop and mobile browsers. The text and few graphics are easy to read with no distracting abnormalities. Navigation was mostly straightforward and simple. However, instead of forcing the reader to navigate conflicting book and PDF page numbers, the PDF option would benefit immensely from a linked table of contents, similar to the ePUB format.\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":" The text contains no observed grammatical errors.\n","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The content, language, and approaches to information literacy presented here should be accessible to any diverse university community. No cultural insensitivity was observed in this text. \n","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"This book buries the title's “collaboration” lede. Instructors or librarians seeking an organized, authoritative collection of strategies to enable collaboration across disciplines may be disappointed that this is not a textbook in the traditional sense. Readers will instead encounter 20 loosely-related chapters, each addressing separate topics while considering the Association of College \u0026amp; Research Libraries’ Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education and Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education documents from 2015. For many, this may diminish the book’s usefulness in the classroom.\n","created_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2577,"first_name":"Cori","last_name":"Biddle","position":"Learning Services Librarian","institution_name":"Bridgewater College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The subtitle of this book, \"Research and Collaboration Across the Disciplines,\" appears to a bit misleading, considering the books place in the series, Perspectives on Writing. A majority of the articles focus on first year and introductory courses, which is consistent with a Writing Studies context. However, there are a few chapters that cover Economics, Sociology, and other disciplines. This may lead to the \"across disciplines\" claim. It would be easier to assess the chapter's disciplines if the authors' positions were listed along with their institutions. The chapters do a well enough job covering a majority of the information literacy issues related to first year programs, and initiating an institution wide initiative. It especially serves as a good introduction to the changes related to the switch from the Information Literary Standards to the Framework for Information Literacy. There is no index or glossary in the text, which would have been helpful, especially for those new to Information Literacy, or interested in a particular aspect. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text appears to be accurate and there is little perceived bias. One could technically argue that the book's premise, that Information Literacy is an essential part of higher education curriculum, could be a bit bias. The book does not include any chapters that argue against that claim. Each chapter provides an extensive reference list for cross-checking the information and for identifying additional resources to review.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"This text is relevant as a resource for faculty and staff trying to integrate Information Literacy into the curriculum. However, its 2016 copyright is already showing its age. The Framework has been in place for 3 years as of this review, so newer research should be available on its use in the higher education curriculum. Updating the book may be somewhat difficult, involving rewriting entire chapters or soliciting new chapters. Some chapters seem to hold up better than others, with some references feeling dated.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The language is accessible to faculty and staff, though individuals from disciplines other than Writing Studies and Libraries may have difficultly with the level of jargon. Though the Framework is defined many times throughout the text, definitions for certain concepts or terminology could have been more clear. As with any text made up of chapters with varying authors, the clarity and quality varies in each. ","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"Due to the multi-author nature of the text, consistency can be an issue. The structure of each chapter varies, as does the clarity. Overall, the authors did make an effort to refer to each others chapters within their arguments, and to provide a definition of the Framework and other important terms within their own work. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Assigning the entire text to a faculty or staff group may not be appropriate, but the chapters in this text are highly modular. They can stand alone, or be presented in alternate orders to serve the individual need of the committee or group. Though some chapters reference others from the collection, they provide enough context that it is not necessary to read the other chapters to understand their argument. ","organization_rating":2,"organization_review":"The organization of the text becomes a little problematic in the middle. The titles of sections two and three, and their content, seem a little vague. Overall, it is hard to predict the type of information found in them. Often times, the chapters could fit in either section, or neither of them. The structures of section one and four feel a little more concrete, but even so, some of the chapters in section one feel just as home in sections two or three. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not experience any interface issues or problems when accessing the text.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There were a few grammatical errors with the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The content of this text should be accessible to a variety of cultural groups, and I did not perceive any culturally insensitive content.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"This title is not a textbook in the traditional sense. Instead of a text that provides a cohesive list of strategies or an exploration of the Framework in a variety of distinct contexts, this title is a loosely grouped collection of chapters dealing with information literacy. The content of the book leans towards Writing Studies Professionals, those working with first-year writing and writing across the curriculum for example. Despite this, individual chapters could be useful for those in a variety of disciplines. This text would be most useful for an institutional working group or a committee that is charged with integrating information literacy into the curriculum, or as professional development for faculty who are interested in integrating information literacy into their course work. It would be less useful in an undergraduate information literacy class, or in a graduate level Library Science or Writing Studies course.","created_at":"2019-02-21T14:01:36.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-02-21T14:01:36.000-06:00"},{"id":3132,"first_name":"Megan","last_name":"Thomas","position":"Electronic Resources and Assessment Librarian","institution_name":"Montana State University - Billings","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is a thorough discussion of information literacy intended for university instructors and librarians. It clearly explains the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy and places it in the current discussion of discipline specific and institution-wide information literacy competencies. Beyond that, the text does address, in detail, some of the challenges regarding the Framework. It is a collection of research articles authored by professionals from a variety of institutions and disciplines, therefore offering approaches to information literacy from different perspectives. Each of the chapters in the collection can stand alone as an in-depth research article. The text also offers case studies of implementing information literacy programmatically. In addition, quite a few of the chapters clearly demonstrate the similarities between the Framework and other disciplines’ core skills, for instance, the Writing Program Administrators Outcomes Statement. Readers will find a thorough discussion of pedagogy, assessments, metaliteracy, and research. While it does offer a variety of discipline-specific research, for example research in education, general business, and economics, the text is not exhaustive. The science disciplines are a specific area that are not covered in terms of information literacy. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content seems accurate and error-free. The individual articles are comprehensively researched and include extensive reference lists. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The text remains up-to-date and relevant as far as the research of each chapter remains relevant. That being said, the text should remain relevant for years to come. Any modifications to the Framework would necessitate updating the text, due to the fact that it relies heavily on the Framework. Currently, the collection is an excellent picture of the information literacy landscape at the college level.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Each chapter of the book is written by a different author so the prose changes, and the overall tone is scholarly.  The intended audience is obviously university faculty, librarians, and instructors, so the terminology is appropriate for professionals. The prose, jargon, and terminology are not appropriate for student reading. Undergraduate students would struggle with the terminology and the context of the research and discussion of the book. However, the introduction to the text outright states that the book is addressed to librarians and faculty.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text overall is consistently structured from chapter to chapter. While the chapters are authored by various professionals and written in various formats, the themes and terminology are consistent throughout. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is quite easily divisible. It is broken into four parts that could be used individually. Since each chapter is essentially a standalone article, the chapters could be extracted and used as individual readings. The discipline specific research (i.e. education and economics) in certain chapters could be useful on their own for faculty in those areas. Occasionally, a chapter references a previous chapter in the book, which might necessitate some editing. Some of the sample assignments and activities for students within the chapters could be easily reworked and used by instructors. Also, the examples of institutional information literacy frameworks could be of great use to readers.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The overarching focus of each of the four parts of the book are organized in a way that is logical and easily navigated by professionals. The text sets the stage for information literacy, then takes the reader through a coherent discussion of the incorporation of information literacy in specific disciplines and institution-wide. Though chapters jump from one research project to another, the connections between the articles is clear to the reader and the chapters flow logically. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The PDF version of the text was not hyperlinked at all, which requires scrolling through the entire book. The epub version was easily navigable with hyperlinked chapters. Neither version offers an index or glossary.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors of note.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Since the authors are from various backgrounds and the research takes place at a variety of institutions, the book is quite inclusive. The research focus of the chapters are varied in discipline, inherently offering a wide variety of results and discussion. The text also included some international contributors from New Zealand and Belize, lending breadth to the research. The contributors list at the end of the text offers a long list of contributors and their institutions.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"While not a textbook for undergraduate students, the information is useful for graduate students in library programs or for faculty who are interested in incorporating information literacy. This is an outstanding book for professional information literacy librarians. The text is an in-depth introduction for instructors to include information literacy in their courses, program-wide, and at the institution level. There is a lot of value in this book for instructors in terms of understanding the context and use of information literacy in various disciplines. The text illustrates ways in which courses, programs, and institutions are successfully incorporating information literacy.","created_at":"2019-07-31T13:08:55.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-07-31T13:08:55.000-05:00"},{"id":3415,"first_name":"Alexis","last_name":"Wolstein","position":"Assistant Professor of Library Services; Information Literacy Coordinator","institution_name":"Colorado State University - Pueblo","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is not a book for those unfamiliar with the concept of information literacy, nor is it intended to be. The book is a collection of research articles/chapters relating to information literacy instruction in higher education and would be best suited to higher ed professionals (especially those in Writing Studies) and librarians. The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy is well explained and is the most significant conceptual follow-through in the book. \r\nThough not a traditional textbook in that it provides a comprehensive overview, this book nonetheless provides a thorough and varied perspective on a complex and dynamic topic. That being said, while it may be a useful text in graduate-level courses, it would be largely inaccessible to undergraduates, due to the extensive use of library and higher education specific jargon, the reliance on a scholarly tone throughout the chapters, and the absence of a glossary or index.  While the book makes a good attempt at living up to its promise of \"research and collaboration across disciplines\" there is a significant focus on first year/introductory courses and the courses with a significant writing component. However, the concepts are thoroughly explored and could easily be applied to disciplines not specifically addressed in the book.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text appears to be accurate with little perceived bias beyond the essential nature of Information Literacy instruction in higher education. Each article/chapter provides extensive references and, in many cases, additional resources.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book is still relevant going into 2020, though the reliance on the current iteration of the ACRL Framework means that it is only a matter of time before there is newer research that will need to addressed. Furthermore, there has been much discussion within librarianship as to the efficacy and validity of the current Framework. There are also instances where chapters use screen captures, software examples, or language that have already become dated (Web 2.0, for example), distracting from the otherwise still relevant information. This is a difficult issue to address when looking at digital and media influenced information literacy, and some chapters are aging less dramatically than others. An updated edition with new chapters will likely be necessary sooner rather than later should the editors like to see the book remain relevant.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The clarity and quality varies by chapter, as is to be expected, but the book is overall accessible to its intended audience. As stated above, while it may be a useful text in graduate-level library and/or information science courses, it would be largely inaccessible to undergraduates, due to the extensive use of library and higher education specific jargon, the reliance on a scholarly tone throughout the chapters, and the absence of a glossary or index","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Themes and terminology are consistent throughout and the ongoing use of the ACRL Framework lends a narrative to the book overall. The tone is consistently scholarly, despite the differing approaches to format and narrative from one chapter to the next. Each chapter topic lends itself to the theme of that section, as well as the overall intent of the book.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text's modularity is perhaps its greatest strength. Each of the four parts is well defined and could be used individually; some chapters briefly refer to one another, but also could stand alone or be combined with chapters from other sections of the books. The additional resources of sample lessons and activities may be the most useful resources for instructors and can easily be adapted to be used in information literacy specific or general research instruction. Whereas resources and examples relating to developing programmatic and institutional information literacy decisions may be the most valuable resources to others.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book is well organized and each chapter supports the larger theme of that part of the book. The book starts with situating the concept of information literacy, sets up the Framework, and moves to more specific examples and research projects. Each part has a chapter that could easily be moved to another section of the book, but this speaks as much to the overlap between concepts as it does the book's organization.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface is clear and displayed well in both mobile and desktop browsers. The PDF would benefit from a linked Table of Contents as seen in the ePUB but was easily searchable. Neither edition features a glossary or index but this was not a detriment to navigating the text.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors were found while reviewing the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The authors represent a variety of professional backgrounds and institutional demographics. There is a focus on higher education in the United States but the inclusion of some international perspectives is welcome. There was no cultural insensitivity observed.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"There is no consistent indication of each chapter's author's disciplinary background. If not mentioned by the author in the chapter, it is absent and leaves the reader to make assumptions. That being said, I look forward to utilizing this text and sharing chapters with colleagues. There is valuable information here, backed up by good research and extensive references, that is applicable across disciplines and in interdisciplinary approaches. The varied approaches are appreciated and make the text relevant to higher education professionals beyond academic librarians and writing instructors.","created_at":"2019-12-20T12:17:42.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-12-20T12:17:42.000-06:00"},{"id":4342,"first_name":"Jenise","last_name":"Overmier","position":"Research and Instruction Librarian","institution_name":"Marymount University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is part of a series, Perspectives on Writing, meant to “addresses writing studies in a broad sense. Consistent with the wide ranging approaches characteristic of teaching and scholarship in writing across the curriculum, the series presents works that take divergent perspectives on working as a writer, teaching writing, administering writing programs, and studying writing in its various forms.”  It functions as an instructor-facing collection of articles related in theme, therefore comprehensiveness is not a critical component of the work.  \r\nThat said, the table of contents is the only index and there is no glossary.  Definitions are embedded in the text of each chapter and there is naturally some divergence in the way concepts are approached.  The organization of the articles into four major themes proved useful, as most instructors are unlikely to utilize the entire text.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content appears to be well-researched and free of errors.  Most of the authors are writing instructors or academic librarians, thus their respective disciplinary perspectives are the most-represented.  That said, the book is written for practitioners of such professions.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy is still relatively new and academic librarians will continue working with teaching faculty to integrate it into the curricula at their institutions.  The content is extensible enough that it is unlikely to become obsolete in the near future.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The authors clearly define technical terms and the writing is accessible.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"There is some deviance in definitions, as can be expected in a thematic collection of articles.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"The book is fairly modular but would be most useful when viewed as a whole.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book is well-organized.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface is clean and simple to navigate.  There are no images to display.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text does not contain grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text does not appear to be offensive.  That said I am a cis/het white woman, so I may have been blind to elements that others would find offensive, though I endeavored to view it through a critical lens in the cultural regard.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-08-25T17:54:15.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-08-25T17:54:15.000-05:00"},{"id":4405,"first_name":"Jennifer","last_name":"Bruce","position":"Librarian","institution_name":"Rochester Community \u0026 Technical College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book provides support for the broad notion of shared ownership, responsibility, and accountability of higher education educators offering information literacy support at the institutional level during the 21st century. An inclusion of the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education Framework for Information Literacy provides a foundation for standardizing collaborated efforts among Higher Education institutions.  Literary examples from multiple perspectives were provided, demonstrating higher education breakthroughs for shared pedagogical aspects of multiple disciplines. Efforts to collaborate, merge, and redefine information literacy encompassing both writing and research processes were also discussed and assessed in first year student compositions.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The development, standards, and practice for integrating information literacy in Higher Education is accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Teaching information literacy in higher education is very relevant and this resource is important for all educators.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The content of this resource is clearly defined for application among multiple pedagogical disciplines.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent in terminology and framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Bold face type is utilized for identifying new concepts and subsequent sections are clearly identified.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The layout of the material is rigorous with extensive examples.  Multiple topics and issues related to teaching information literacy are identified and discussed. Background understanding is provided at the beginning and reflections with references are included. An index is not included and this missing resource could improve reader content accessibility.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text, charts and images are clear.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There are few to no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"There could be more attention to cultural context in the frequent examples.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-11-25T14:03:32.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-11-25T14:03:32.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/information-literacy-research-and-collaboration-across-disciplines","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:11:22.000-06:00"},{"id":829,"title":"Informed Arguments:  A Guide to Writing and Research","edition_statement":"Revised Second Edition","volume":null,"copyright_year":2019,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Welcome to composition and rhetoric! While most of you are taking this course because it is required, we hope that all of you will leave with more confidence in your reading, writing, researching, and speaking abilities as these are all elements of freshman composition. Many times, these elements are presented in excellent textbooks written by top scholars. While the collaborators of this particular textbook respect and value those textbooks available from publishers, we have been concerned about students who do not have the resources to purchase textbooks. Therefore, we decided to put together this Open Educational Resource (OER) explicitly for use in freshman composition courses at Texas A\u0026M University. It is important to note that the focus for this text is on thesis-driven argumentation as that is the focus of the first year writing course at Texas A\u0026M University at the time of development. However, other first year writing courses at different colleges and universities include a variety of types of writing such as personal essays, informative articles, and/or creative writing pieces. The collaborators for this project acknowledge each program is unique; therefore, the adaptability of an OER textbook for first year writing allows for academic freedom across campuses.","contributors":[{"id":5127,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Terri","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Pantuso","location":"Texas A\u0026M University","background_text":"Dr. Terri Pantuso is the Coordinator of the English 104 Program and an Instructional Assistant Professor in the English Department at Texas A\u0026M University."},{"id":5128,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Sarah","middle_name":null,"last_name":"LeMire","location":"Texas A\u0026M University","background_text":"Prof. Sarah LeMire is the Coordinator of First Year Programs and an Associate Professor in the Texas A\u0026M University Libraries."},{"id":5129,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Kathy","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Anders","location":"Texas A\u0026M University","background_text":"Dr. Kathy Anders is the Graduate Studies Librarian and an Associate Professor in the Texas A\u0026M University Libraries."}],"subjects":[{"id":5,"name":"Education","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"L7","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/education"},{"id":27,"name":"Higher Education","parent_subject_id":5,"call_number":"LC980","visible_textbooks_count":34,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/higher-education"},{"id":6,"name":"Humanities","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":null,"visible_textbooks_count":418,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/humanities"},{"id":33,"name":"Literature, Rhetoric, and Poetry","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"PE1408","visible_textbooks_count":124,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/literature-rhetoric-and-poetry"}],"publishers":[{"id":808,"url":"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tRGIvJ9C2NMyX367idGBvXgaCcCNKepl/view?usp=sharing","year":2022,"created_at":"2020-04-29T11:24:09.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-02-07T13:48:49.000-06:00","name":"Texas A\u0026M University"}],"formats":[{"id":1446,"type":"PDF","url":"https://acrl.ala.org/IS/wp-content/uploads/Informed-Arguments.pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2813,"type":"Online","url":"https://oer.pressbooks.pub/informedarguments/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2814,"type":"eBook","url":"https://oer.pressbooks.pub/informedarguments/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":11,"reviews":[{"id":4380,"first_name":"Paul","last_name":"Lee","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Texas at Arlington","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"I think it covers a lot of the basics, which is good, and I understand that it is intended to be a short, more concise introduction to academic writing. However, I would like to see a little more depth in areas like ethos, pathos, logos and the rhetorical situation. These form the basis of modern argument, so it seems important to dig a bit deeper and to provide some relevant examples and situations to further explain these appeals.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The authors did an excellent job of accuracy and avoiding bias. Some of the points they make may give the wrong impression to students, however, like their description of the thesis statement being in the introduction in most cases.  This is true, but it can be practically anywhere in the paper and I think it is relevant to let the students know that so their papers aren’t quite so mechanical and formulaic.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"They did an excellent job of this, as well. This information doesn’t tend to change very quickly, but they still presented it in a way that should stand up to time very well, so I would say that this text will be useful for quite a while.  A lot of texts tend to use examples that are quickly out-of-date (like political issues or current events); these can be more relevant and relatable to the students so they can help them to understand more easily, but they can quickly become irrelevant and have the opposite effect. Unless I overlooked it, I didn’t see any issues like that with this text.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"It definitely is very clear. Again, some further elaboration on certain topics/concepts might make it even more clear (e.g., examples, more detailed explanations, and so on).","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I didn’t see any issues with the consistency. Overall this book does a great job of holding together and explaining how each individual topic relates to the overall discussion of writing and the writing process. It speaks to the clarity of the text, as well, that each section of the book allows the text overall to support its own thesis about writing.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The book felt more linear than modular; in other words, it feels like the book should be read at the beginning as each section builds on the previous one. There were some exceptions like the visual arguments section; even these need some previous material to be fully understood and utilized, however.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization is excellent. This is the upside to the linear style I mentioned in the earlier section. If you tend to organize your class in this fashion, then this is a great book to do that; it will allow you to provide information that consistently builds upon the information before it.","interface_rating":1,"interface_review":"I am NOT a fan of long texts that are in PDF format. This made it very difficult to navigate around in the text, particularly with a smaller device like an iPhone.  I read it both on an iPad and an iPhone and when I was on the iPhone I found myself getting very weary of constant speed-scrolling to find an area later in the book (say, page 160 for example).   I think a different format (like ePub)  would be a huge improvement.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book’s grammar looked excellent. I didn’t notice any particular issues, and being a rhetoric \u0026 composition instructor I’m very observant of things like that.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Being about a fairly innocuous topic in the first place (unless controversial examples are used) this book didn’t have any issues that stood out to me. I mentioned earlier that it tends to stay fairly up-to-date in its examples, and this is another upside of that — it’s not using anything that is overly controversial.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Overall it’s a very well-written text that could be used if you want a more concise and to-the-point discussion of the major aspects of writing and the writing process. I think it could use a little more detail, development, as well as examples, however. And I’m not a fan of having to scroll endlessly through a PDF document, so a different format seems to be in order.","created_at":"2020-11-11T16:47:55.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-11-11T16:47:55.000-06:00"},{"id":4486,"first_name":"Grant","last_name":"Bain","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Colorado State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook is amazingly comprehensive, especially given its brevity. I was surprised to see, for example, how thoroughly the authors were able to cover major concepts in argument theory. The authors introduce not only classical argument, but also the Toulmin model and Rogerian argument, which is a great way to introduce students to the complexities of this concept. The only major shortcoming that I see is its focus on essays. While the essay is an important and useful genre for exploring ideas and generating knowledge, students need to be given opportunity to practice other forms (reports or proposals, for example) in order to more fully understand how to adapt their writing across varying contexts and purposes. The authors focus very heavily on the rhetorical situation, which they should, but that focus its somewhat belied by their concurrent focus on the form of the essay, which limits the purpose, audience, and texts with which a student might interact.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This text is remarkably well-aligned with current practices in writing scholarship and pedagogy. It's chapters offer concise yet thorough discussions of major concepts like the rhetorical situation, rhetorical appeals, and even ethics in writing. While \"accuracy\" is a tricky concept to apply to something as qualitative as writing, the text is in agreement with prevailing scholarly trends and practices.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The text is very relevant to its intended audience of freshman composition students. I particularly like the focus on process and rhetorical situation. The textbook begins by prompting students to understand a writing assignment, which is something that I cannot foresee ever becoming outdated. Having students begin by assessing the needs of their specific situation is so important and yet still so undervalued in a lot of writing curricula.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text's rhetoric and examples are clear and very accessible. In fact, I think this textbook may be the most accessible to freshman college students that I've seen. The author's shy away from all but the most necessary jargon, and what specialized terms they do use (rhetorical situation, etc) are very fully contextualized and explained.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The books is very consistent across all chapters. Its rhetoric is well-organized around the central concept of the rhetorical situation. Even though the text doesn't fully address that term until Section 3, it opens by encouraging students to understand each specific writing assignment, thereby prompting them from the very beginning to understand fully the situation in which they are writing.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"For the most part I feel like this text could be used in a variety of ways and its chapters assigned in varying sequences.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Given the recursive nature of writing, this text is organized in a very logical and utilitarian way. Each chapter develops its subject very well and provides enough context along the way for a freshman audience to be able to understand that subject. The overall chapter organization is also very practical, and develops the point of the book quite well, even if teachers decide to assign chapters in a different order than that in which they are arranged in the book.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"This is one of the biggest flaws for me. A PDF is one of the least user-friendly interfaces; even a physical book makes it easier to mark important passages and easily move back and forth between them. I realize that OER funding availability makes interface a challenge, but this is a notable flaw of this text. It's hardly a reason not to adopt it, however.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I detected no grammatical errors whatsoever.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I would agree with this for the most part. I do question the use of President Trump's inaugural speech to exemplify the rhetorical situation, however. Maybe the divisiveness of Trump's administration will fade over time, but right now it seems like a poor choice, in that many students will have a hard time thinking in any way objectively about it. Given that no specific examples from the address are used, I'm not sure why the authors chose to specify Trump's inaugural address over the situation of an inaugural address more generally. For now and for the next few years, however, it seems like a poor choice.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Pantuso et al. have produced a clear, concise, and very useful textbook. It would be a great supplement or even primary rhetoric for a freshman composition course. If the authors were to revise the textbook to include a wider variety of genres--thereby exposing students to a wider variety of rhetorical situations--this would be an outstanding OER text.","created_at":"2020-12-28T13:12:16.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-12-28T13:12:16.000-06:00"},{"id":4597,"first_name":"Oline","last_name":"Eaton","position":"Lecturer","institution_name":"Howard University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is an especially comprehensive text on writing arguments intended for an audience of first year students. The authors very effectively assess the knowledge base of that readership and, accordingly, open the book with a chapter that offers students a practical, step-by-step guide to the college essay writing process (from understanding the assignment on through incorporating feedback into a final, polished version of an essay). The authors also adeptly introduce the vocabulary students will need in the writing classroom and use it to introduce and unpack complex concepts in a way that avoids jargon and is, therefore, likely to be more easily understood by students. The text gives students a very solid foundation for understanding the essay assignments they are likely to encounter, not only in the writing class that uses this book but in their other college classes.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I saw nothing in the text that gave me concerns regarding its accuracy.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book has a really nice, readable tone that is likely to appeal to students and was clearly produced by writers who are actively teaching students today. Their examples are ones students will likely relate to. One such instance is in the section on audience, where two different descriptions of the same event (one formal and intended for public consumption; the other reading more like a text to a friend and opening with \"OMG!\") are used to make the point that students are accustomed to taking audience into account often in their daily lives, even if unconsciously. \r\nThe text very deliberately builds from the discussion in the opening chapter on how to read an assignment to the final chapter's highly detailed discussion of how to conduct robust academic research online. The research section, in particular, is something I'm now contemplating incorporating into my classes on Zoom this semester, in lieu of or in conjunction with a librarian visit.  If you're teaching argument and/or researched argument, this book very elegantly and straight-forwardly covers all the bases. \r\nThe book was written explicitly for use at Texas A\u0026M, by professors at Texas A\u0026M. This isn't all that intrusive, and I think it would absolutely be usable in classes outside of that university. It's just something to be aware of and explains why there are Texas A\u0026M examples throughout.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This is a very clearly written text, that would be very accessible to first year college students of all ages. The authors do an excellent job of defining their terms and fully unpacking concepts that might be new to students.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text builds a cohesive, internally consistent argument about how students may best go about argumentative writing. By the time students reach the final section on research and ethics, they should have everything they need to produce robust, ethical arguments within the writing process developed through the earlier sections.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Because it opens with the focus on simply how to read an assignment and goes all the way through the research progress, the book is structured in such a way that it could easily be incorporated into a one- or two-semester writing/research course.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I can think of no better way to organize this text. It very logically proceeds from one phase of the process of writing arguments to the next. Reading it, it very nicely aligns with how I already structure my own classes and one can easily see how it could be used to scaffold a one- or even a two-semester first year writing course.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text was very user-friendly, with helpful charts and graphics. One thing to note is that there is a screenshot of the University Library page search box, which may not perfectly match all university libraries. A small detail, but something to be aware of if you're trying to bring this into your classroom outside of Texas A\u0026M.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"This is a very well edited and proofread text, which is obviously extra important in a writing class.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive. However, I'm not sure that it's particularly inclusive either. I'm unfamiliar with the student demographics of Texas A\u0026M, so perhaps it is a great fit for them. However, the text might have benefited from a few examples that demonstrate the variety of student experiences. In classrooms with populations of students of color, parents, or disabled students, it might be desirable to augment the reading by bringing in some more inclusive examples for classroom discussion.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I highly recommend this text for first year writing classrooms.","created_at":"2021-01-27T13:15:19.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-01-27T13:15:19.000-06:00"},{"id":4654,"first_name":"Andrew","last_name":"Howard","position":"Assistant Professor/Program Coordinator of English","institution_name":"The University of the District of Columbia","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book covers everything that a first-year writing professor would expect to see, and it covers everything a first-year writing student will need to encounter for academic writing. The layout is logical and the tone is approachable enough that students will not only be guided through the writing process, but will be given a guide and reference they can use throughout the rest of their academic careers. The information and its presentation concerning research is top-notch! Very informative and practical.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I found nothing inaccurate! The fundamental topics this book approaches are clearly and concisely illuminated, but they are, at heart, near-universal truths. Pantuso et al. present the basic tenets of the writing process in rock-solid terms and cite when necessary, giving a real sense of relevance, accuracy, and currency.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"It appears that the main ideas presented in Informed Arguments will be in place for some time, so the relevance is not much of an issue here. As for being up-to-date, I'd hope that the authors do a once-over every few years with an eye toward their characterization of students, particularly when you see examples of student voice. The other area I'd suggest giving attention is the acknowledgment of multi-modal assignments; I'd expect more beyond the usual rhetorical mode structure found in so many textbooks.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is absolutely clear in how it presents ideas. Pantuso et al. never get bogged down purple or overly-academic prose. They never speak down to their audience or hold the subject of writing is such high esteem as to present themselves as elites guarding inaccessible information. There's a real sense that this textbook was written by humans who are concerned with getting across the important nuances of writing--something that we often miss in textbooks.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The no-nonsense approach that the authors take ensures that their text is indeed consistent throughout.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"My biggest issues here are addressed in the interface portion, but I'd like to see clearer breaks, not only between sections, but in the writing examples. Occasionally you'll get a title at the end of one page, then the writing example begins on the next. Could use a bit more cleanup or widow/orphan consideration.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"No issues here--the text is presented in the most logical","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"I may be biased against pdf textbooks, but I find them impossible to navigate with any sense of surety. This text could likely be reorganized of necessary, and seems to be presented somewhat modularly (though there is certainly a logical order to the text overall). If the material were presented as a central hub with explorable modules, I believe the layout would be easier to navigate. I'd also like more visual cues that I am moving from one topic to the next. Aside from the occasional obvious page break and slightly larger text for headings, I don't get much of a sense that I've moved from one section to another. The visuals that are provided are very helpful and logical; however, there are not enough. I'd like to see a few visuals related to the examples in the text. Take 4.8, for example: there's a student essay on the X-Files. While there is surely an issue of copyright concerning an image of Mulder and Scully, throw a clip art alien or something in there!","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I noticed no grammatical issues!","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"I didn't see much to suggest that this book went either way on the scale of cultural sensitivity.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2021-02-26T15:59:57.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-02-26T15:59:57.000-06:00"},{"id":4713,"first_name":"Linda","last_name":"McHenry","position":"Instructor of First-Year Composition \u0026 Coordinator of Composition-Sequence Assessment","institution_name":"Fort Hays State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This comprehensive textbook, appropriate for an English Composition II course, both describes and explains six steps in the writing process for a first-year composition student. An example of a student’s prewriting is included. Rhetorical situation is explained well for first-year students. “Rhetorical Modes of Writing” provides explanation for many writing assignments students typically encounter in the composition sequence, including narration, description, classification, process, definition, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, and persuasion. Also, there are explanations and examples of a visual analysis essay. Toulmin Argument is written clearly for first-year students in a writing course, and Rogerian Argument is discussed and explained, as well. Inclusion of both arguments gives composition faculty options for how to best approach specific argumentative assignments in their courses.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Content is error-free and mostly unbiased. Initially, I found the logical fallacies sections cursory but appreciate the depth of argument in the last half of the textbook.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Most of the textbook reads as relevant and will remain relevant for some time. Most examples, such as TVs, e-books, reality TV shows, and hybrid cars, will remain relatable to first-year students. There is an outdated reference to TV Guide, which I’m confident traditional first-year students will need explained.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"One of the most-impressive strengths of this textbook is the way the writers introduce, define, explain, and use terms throughout the text. Argument can be a complicated concept for students, and the sections focusing on types of argument and ways to construct effective arguments meaningfully and deliberately demystify the ways writers tailor their messages for target audiences. Later in the textbook, library database searching is explained well, especially with the Boolean examples.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Writing is discussed and explained before researching, which makes complete sense. The text also features helpful research worksheets to aid with search terms.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The textbook is available in multiple formats, including .pdf and Google Doc, allowing for integration with various learning-management systems. The textbook’s clear headings and page numbers allow faculty to point to specific sections or assignments from their syllabus. Or faculty can copy and paste particular parts into their specific learning-management system with section titles and authors clearly listed.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The textbook is logically organized, beginning with writing process. The research process is well written and provides solid examples of student research plans. The argument sections are well organized and build on one another.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Text and visual aides are mostly clear. The screen grab of library research results is blurry and difficult to view. I had no problems moving between the sections. Visual aides are labeled but are missing descriptive text that would help readers with visual deficits understand drawings, graphics, and charts.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":2,"cultural_review":"In a section that asks students to “Imagine Hostile Audiences” (p. 78), the textbook engages positions on abortion. In a first-year composition textbook, naming issues that some students will have lived through lacks sensitivity to what some of our students have had to endure—for both those who have carried an unwanted pregnancy to full term and those who have terminated a pregnancy. Certainly, other issues can illustrate hostile audiences without evoking the pain and stress that surround abortion.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Overall, this is an effective textbook for English Composition II.","created_at":"2021-03-26T17:21:30.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-03-26T17:21:30.000-05:00"},{"id":4887,"first_name":"Lee Ann","last_name":"Regan","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"Northern Virginia Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook covers all the topics I cover in my Composition II class, though I would like more on analyzing visual arguments (ads, photos, political cartoons).","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Accurate, though to be picky in the block quote example (6.15) there is a period after the parenthetical citation contrary to MLA style.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Although mention of specific TV shows and Trump's inaugural speech may date quickly, these are tiny elements in the material. Most of the content will remain relevant for a long time.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text's prose is accessible without being condescending.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"In Section 3, Rhetorical Modes of Writing discusses narration, description, and exposition which I found out of place in a book on writing arguments. However, these are types of essays often assigned in freshman composition classes.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is divided into clear sections on each topic aspect which could easily be assigned.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"There is a clear progression from assignment through the writing process.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The screenshot of database functions is distorted. Scrolling back and forth in a PDF can be awkward.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I noticed no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Nothing stood out as offensive.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This textbook covers the topic of writing academic argument well. While I missed sample essays to analyze they can date a book quickly and instructors can   easily add them to supplement the text. I found the sections on research and maintaining voice, areas where students sometimes struggle, particularly strong.","created_at":"2021-05-05T08:19:16.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-05-05T08:19:16.000-05:00"},{"id":4901,"first_name":"Stefanie","last_name":"Shipe","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Northern Virginia Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook offers a thorough discussion of the writing process and the research process. The section on paragraph development is especially comprehensive. The section on the Writing Process could be more robust, particularly the discussion of medium. With more and more emphasis on multimodality in freshman-level composition classes, this textbook would benefit from an expanded section on visual argument and/or non-traditional argument. The section on Rogerian Argument is very brief.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate, although the section on Rogerian Argument doesn't give a complete picture of the strategy.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"All the content is relevant, and examples can be easily updated as needed.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The language is accessible, and new terms are explained for readers.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Terminology and framework remain consistent.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text is broken down into logical sections. It might be helpful to make the section numbers more easily accessible for readers. Some sections also have very large blocks of text that may be somewhat difficult to follow.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Topics are presented logically.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The PDF is mostly written text, which may be challenging for certain readers. The addition of more tables, graphs, colors, or images might help to break up the text to make it more accessible and easy to read. Section headings could also be more clear and easier to locate.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I noticed a few minor issues with widows/orphans, I also noticed one minor error: in section 4.18, \"pro-choice\" contains the hyphen, but \"prolife\" does not.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I don't see any major issues with inclusivity, although one or two sections might benefit from some language to alert a reader to sensitive content (such as the abortion issue).","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2021-05-10T10:00:12.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-05-10T10:00:12.000-05:00"},{"id":5040,"first_name":"Carrie","last_name":"Dickison","position":"Associate Teaching Professor","institution_name":"Wichita State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers the writing process, rhetoric and argumentation, and research-based writing sufficiently in-depth to work as a primary textbook for a composition course focusing on these topics. As with most OERs, instructors will likely need to supplement the text with examples. Unfortunately, there is no table of contents or index, so instructors using the text will need to spend extra time scrolling to identify content.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Content is in-line with other mainstream composition textbooks.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is up-to-date, and most examples will seem relevant to students. For example, it references the keto diet and Trump’s inaugural address. The section on MLA is updated for MLA 8, which is better than many open-access composition texts.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The register is appropriate for first-year  students, and the text does a nice job of explaining discipline-specific terminology.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent in its approach to writing, argumentation, and research.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Each section is divided into sub-sections with sub-headings, making it fairly easy to assign different parts of a section. However, sub-sections are not numbered, making them somewhat cumbersome to put on a syllabus.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"In general, the text is organized logically. Most sections have a clear focus (e.g. the writing process, an introduction to rhetoric, structuring an argument). However, there are a few sections that I found confusing. For example, there are two different discussions of types of sources (in two different sections), and the discussion of evaluating sources comes before the discussion of research strategies. However, it wouldn’t be too difficult to assign these sections in a different order.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text is only available as a PDF, which cuts down on image distortion and broken links. However, it also makes it harder to navigate the text, especially since there is no table of contents.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I didn’t notice any grammatical errors in the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is a good choice for a course that focuses on rhetoric, argumentation, and research-based writing. It’s also less institution specific than other OERs with similar content, making it easier to adapt for another institution.","created_at":"2021-06-03T15:32:46.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-06-03T15:32:46.000-05:00"},{"id":33937,"first_name":"Tara","last_name":"Montague","position":"Part-time instructor","institution_name":"Portland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I’d give this a 4.5 if I could. This text covers nearly everything that I’d want to cover in a FYW course on thesis-driven argument. I would love to see a revised introduction with a more robust intro aimed at the student – one that formally introduces thesis-driven argument (and previews the text's approach/structure). I think that would help the rest of the pieces fall into place more clearly for me. The glossary is great, and the way glossary items are handled when they show up in the text (active link with a pop-up box) is extremely useful and appreciated.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not notice any inaccuracies, biases, or errors.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Current examples were used (a 2010 textbook, Kamala Harris’s VP Acceptance speech), and I believe they were used in a way that will remain relevant to readers.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing is clear and accessible. It does go into more depth about rhetoric and argument (Toulmin, Rogerian) than I think many FYW classes would go, but is still accessible. I do feel like a clearer spelling out of the relationship/usage of the terms persuasion and argument would help. This is kind of approached in chapter 3.7, but it’s a bit lacking for me.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Some of the chapters and sections seem a bit broad and generic given the text’s stated focus on thesis-driven argument. And some examples of thesis statements seem too simplistic for argument – or don’t really match the genre of thesis-driven argument.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is easily and readily divisible. My interest is in adopting specific chapter/sections; this can be done without any difficulty whatsoever. It would also be easy to reorganize to improve upon the organizational issues that I believe the text has.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The overall structure of the text is not super intuitive. It starts with the writing process (section 2: analyzing assignment, prewriting), and then circles back to it in section 5. As I refer back to the text to write this review, I see this even more strongly – I have trouble finding the chapters I’m looking for as they’re not under the sections of the text I’d expect them to be; I keep getting lost. \r\n\r\nGiven the text’s title, I would expect introduction/discussion of main concepts – especially thesis-driven argumentation – before launching into the writing process or even rhetoric. Additionally, some chapters/sections/pages are two paragraphs long, and some are more than ten screens’ worth, and the variation (and what is chunked into a separate chapter/section vs. what is just a heading within a chapter/section) isn’t guided by a clear organizational principle. If I were looking to adopt an entire text (as opposed to selecting sections of it), this would cause me problems. (It should be noted that the authors make it clear that this text is written for a specific course at TAMU.)\r\n\r\nThe heading “Writing a persuasive essay” comes within a chapter/section about using visual elements (3.11). I believe this is a mistake.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is offered in various formats and is downloadable. Extremely user-friendly and easy to navigate. In the eBook, the text contains an active glossary: when you click on an underlined term (i.e. secondary sources), its glossary entry/definition/explanation pops up.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text has been carefully edited and is very clean. I didn’t see any grammatical errors. The only thing I noticed is a confusing lack of “strike-through” in a subtitle of Chapter 4.6: “Thesis Is Not Doesn’t Have to Be a Bad Thing (Or Why Write Antithesis Essays in the First Place”).","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I don’t believe the text is culturally insensitive or offensive. I believe it used a couple of examples that were inclusive of a variety of backgrounds.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"There are definitely elements of this text that I will use in my FYW (Writing 122) course. I appreciate how succinctly and clearly the text distinguishes between (intended) audience and reader. I also like the logical fallacies section. I typically don’t go into these in my FYW course, but this text does a good job of selecting fallacies that many students tend to use in their own arguments; it provides a solid short list for students to evaluate their own reasoning. I really like the chapter on counterargument / antithetical writing by Steven D. Krause that they included.","created_at":"2022-06-28T19:04:56.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-06-28T19:04:56.000-05:00"},{"id":34322,"first_name":"Yongkang","last_name":"Wei","position":"Professor","institution_name":"University of Texas Rio Grande Valley","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This would be a useful source for teaching first-year writing courses, as it covers all the subjects that are supposed to be dealt with, esp. if the focus of teaching is placed on argumentation. I have been actively looking for a textbook that puts emphasis on a rhetorical approach to writing. And this one would come in handy for its rather comprehensive coverage of the approach. It features a chapter on \"rhetorical situation\" that includes a section called \"rhetorical analysis,\" a topic not commonly, or extensively, discussed in similar types of textbooks.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I'm not aware of anything that is not accurate, error-free or unbiased.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"While I cannot speak for other instructors, the content of this Open Education Resource textbook would be a good match for what I will teach using a non-OER (i.e., paid) textbook. For example, my syllabus covers the topic of rhetorical analysis, which is conveniently found in the third chapter of the book. My syllabus also covers the three models of argumentation: Classical, Rogerian, and Toulmin, which are all discussed and presented in full length by the authors/editors. Nowadays, going rhetorical is the trend, so I anticipate this OER book will enjoy a long period of relevancy and currency as course material for those teaching first-year writing courses. Plus, its online formation can make a quick update.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written in a way suitable to the level of first-year college students. Jargons or technical terms are minimal. If they do occur, they are well explained within context, as seen, for example, in those terms of logical fallacies. At the end, there is a list of glossaries, which is of additional help if a student encounters an unfamiliar term.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The authors/editors stress the rhetorical approach to writing. The whole textbook is built around that approach, which also ensures a framework of consistency for content delivery.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modularity of the book is excellent. The whole book is divided into eight chapters, each of which is further divided into sections and subsections. The smaller reading sections can keep students away from \"boredom,\" but more importantly they also make it easy and convenient for instructors to pick and reorganize subunits of a course that will best fit their own needs or situations.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The topics of the book are presented in a sequence as expected. However, Chapter 8, the last chapter, may not be up to its title, Ethics, as most of the sections are more related to the previous chapter on researched writing. For example, citation formatting and APA or MLA format can well be incorporated into Chapter 7.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I have not encountered interface issues when reading through the book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"This is a non-issue. All contributors to the book are excellent writers.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I have not come across any issues in the textbook that can be described as culturally insensitive or offensive.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I wish a list of readings, or their links, were incorporated into each chapter to save instructors' time and energy looking for relevant reading materials. Additional readings are part of a writing course. They provide material for fruitful classroom discussions. Used as examples, they also help illustrate subjects to ensure a better understanding on the part of students.","created_at":"2022-12-21T22:09:34.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-12-21T22:09:34.000-06:00"},{"id":35698,"first_name":"Jane","last_name":"Brockman","position":"Writing Instructor","institution_name":"Rogue Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Informed Arguments is a comprehensive first-year writing textbook. It covers many essential components of college-level composition and research in a structured, logical format. The book moves from foundational skills—such as understanding assignments and the writing process—to more advanced concepts like rhetorical analysis, academic argumentation, research methods, and citation practices. This makes it a useful full-course text rather than a supplemental resource.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Although I've not read the book cover to cover, the content I've read thus far appears to be highly accurate in terms of the authors' presentation of writing theory, rhetorical concepts, and research practices. The book draws from well-established practices and content in composition studies and relies on widely accepted pedagogical approaches used in college writing programs. \r\n\r\nOn the other hand, while Informed Arguments is a strong and comprehensive introductory writing text, it does have a few limitations. Some examples and discussions—particularly those addressing media, technology, and research practices—are somewhat dated and do not fully reflect newer challenges such as AI-generated content, rapidly shifting social media platforms, or contemporary digital literacy concerns. In addition, the book relies heavily on classical rhetorical theory, which, while accurate, may feel somewhat traditional and less connected to the multimodal, online communication environments students navigate today.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Informed Arguments would be useful as a foundational writing textbook because the core skills it teaches—rhetorical awareness, critical reading, academic argumentation, and research literacy—are time-tested skills that do not become outdated. The book’s emphasis on audience, purpose, clarity, and structured writing ensures that students gain competencies that apply across disciplines and throughout their academic careers. These elements suggest that the book will remain applicable for years to come.\r\n\r\nThat said, the book’s relevance is somewhat affected by the rate at which digital communication is changing and evolving. While the book’s foundational principles will likely hold up well, sections addressing online research, media consumption, and technological platforms may age more quickly and require periodic supplementation. Incorporating updated discussions of social media, AI-generated content, and contemporary online discourse would help extend the book’s usefulness for future students.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Informed Arguments is clear and accessible, especially for first-year college students who are still gaining confidence with academic reading. The authors explain major concepts—such as the writing process, rhetorical appeals, and research strategies—in straightforward language, and they provide numerous examples to illustrate key ideas. Chapters are organized logically, moving from foundational principles to more advanced skills, which helps students follow the progression of instruction without feeling overwhelmed. When the book introduces academic terminology, it typically defines and contextualizes these terms well, making the material approachable even for students with limited prior experience.\r\n\r\nHowever, the book’s clarity is at times challenged by its density. Some sections contain long stretches of text with minimal visual breaks, which may make the reading feel heavier for students who benefit from charts, diagrams, or summary boxes. While the content itself is clearly written, the sheer volume of explanation in certain chapters can overwhelm readers who prefer more concise presentation or guided checkpoints.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent in its tone, structure, and instructional approach. The chapters follow a logical and straightforward pattern: they introduce key concepts, define essential terms, and provide examples or models to reinforce understanding. This uniformity helps students navigate the book more easily. In addition, the voice throughout the text is steady—supportive, academic, and explanatory—and the authors maintain a consistent emphasis on critical thinking, audience awareness, and evidence-based writing.\r\n\r\nThere are, however, a few minor inconsistencies that arise from the book’s multi-authored, anthology-style structure. Some chapters are more detailed or example-heavy than others, and shifts in writing style can occasionally make sections feel slightly uneven in depth or pacing. Additionally, a few chapters rely more on classical rhetoric while others lean into contemporary examples, which can create subtle variations in emphasis. These differences do not undermine the book’s overall coherence, but they may be noticeable to discerning readers, such as professors.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book demonstrates strong modularity, making it easy for instructors to assign chapters in various sequences without disrupting students’ understanding. Each chapter is designed to stand on its own, with clear learning objectives, self-contained explanations, and examples that do not rely heavily on prior chapters. This structure allows instructors to reorder units—such as teaching research skills earlier or focusing on rhetorical concepts later—based on course needs.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is organized in a clear, scaffolded progression that mirrors the learning tendencies of first-year writing students. It moves logically from introductory material and campus resources (Section 1), to foundational writing processes (Section 2), and then into more advanced rhetorical concepts (Section 3). Within each section, chapters are subdivided into short, clearly labeled units with headings, bullet points, examples, figures, and step-by-step processes. This modular organization supports both linear reading and non-sequential reading, allowing instructors to assign individual sections without loss of coherence.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"As an Open Educational Resource designed for digital use, the book demonstrates strong interface usability. Headings, numbered sections, lists, and visual figures (such as the writing process and rhetorical triangle) make the text easily navigable and screen-reader friendly. Hyperlinks to external resources (e.g., Purdue OWL, university services, and Creative Commons materials) enhance accessibility and functionality in an online environment. While the text is sometimes content-dense, its formatting helps reduce cognitive overload by breaking information into manageable chunks.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Grammatically, the text is consistently polished, professional, and aligned with academic English standards appropriate for college-level instruction. Sentence structures vary in complexity but remain accessible to novice academic writers. Definitions are precise, terminology is carefully introduced, and transitions between ideas are explicit, modeling the very writing principles the book teaches.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text demonstrates broader cultural awareness by addressing diversity, accessibility, GLBT resources, multicultural services, and evolving rhetorical contexts. Its emphasis on civic discourse, ethical argumentation, and informed citizenship ensures cultural relevance beyond the institution, aligning the book with contemporary educational values and diverse student populations.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2025-12-14T17:59:38.000-06:00","updated_at":"2025-12-14T17:59:38.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/informed-arguments-a-guide-to-writing-and-research-pantuso","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:34:25.000-06:00"},{"id":451,"title":"Open Research","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2016,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"If you have an interest in openness, open education, research skills or want to find out more about the impact of Open EducationalResources (OER), then this resource is for you. You could be: Using an OER with students and interested in assessing its impact Facilitating sessions on open practice with students or colleagues and looking for inspiration Working on a research project and wanting to find out more about incorporating open research techniques into your own practice Curious about the benefits and challenges of open research Looking to use open tools in your research Wanting increased impact for your research Interested in open research on OER This resource will help you explore what open research is, how you can ethically and openly share your findings so others can reuse or develop your work, and the role of reflection and open dissemination. Whilst many challenges and issues apply to all aspects of research (for example: choosing an appropriate methodology), open research brings a range of different opportunities and challenges; it's these that we are specifically interested in exploring. What can openness add to the research process?","contributors":[{"id":4168,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Rebecca","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Pitt","location":"Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University","background_text":"Rebecca Pitt, Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University"},{"id":5067,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Beatriz","middle_name":null,"last_name":"de los Arcos","location":"Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University","background_text":"Beatriz de los Arcos, Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University"},{"id":5068,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Rob","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Farrow","location":"Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University","background_text":"Rob Farrow, Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University"}],"subjects":[{"id":5,"name":"Education","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"L7","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/education"},{"id":27,"name":"Higher Education","parent_subject_id":5,"call_number":"LC980","visible_textbooks_count":34,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/higher-education"}],"publishers":[{"id":370,"url":"https://oerhub.net/dissemination/open-research-open-textbook-out-now/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-01-02T22:40:08.000-06:00","name":"OER Hub"}],"formats":[{"id":631,"type":"PDF","url":"http://oerhub.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/OpenResearch.FINAL_.pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":7,"reviews":[{"id":1543,"first_name":"Virginia","last_name":"Power","position":"Lecturer/PhD Researcher in Information Management \u0026 Science","institution_name":"University of the West of England, Bristol, UK","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is an open textbook produced as a result of two iterations of an online course concerning Open Research produced with the support of the Hewlett Foundation by the Open Education Research (OER) Hub, part of the Open University, UK. The book is a highly practical comprehensive guide to the practice of open research and will be invaluable to anyone who wishes to develop an understanding of open research and it is suitable for either individual study or as part of a group activity. \r\n\r\nThe chapters are clearly identified and each chapter is introduced with a set of learning objectives (typical of an online course delivery) so any reader is aware of what each part will cover. I would have liked to have seen a glossary of terms at the end of the textbook although the nature of the book infers that much of the text is self-reflective and exploratory in nature, thereby assuming that terms will be revealed and understood as the reader moves through the text. There is no bibliography which is a pity.\r\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"As an advocate of open educational practice I can confirm that the content is accurate and error-free and provides a balanced viewpoint regarding open research.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The online course was completed (second iteration) in 2015; writing this review in 2017 means that the material is only a couple of years old which makes it reliable. Open research is still in its relative infancy and therefore the book is likely to be highly relevant for some time. The external links that are provided to encourage self-reflection and further exploration are of high quality and from reputable sources. However, despite this one drawback of the text could be this heavy reliance on external resources such as videos, blog posts, etc. which may generate missing links in the future. It is hoped that the ‘virtual shelf tidying’ will be undertaken at regular intervals to avoid frustration and disappointment by users.\r\n\r\n","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The textbook is written in a very clear style which is not overly academic in its complex language or tone but still retains the academic rigour expected. The textbook has many examples of good practice from experienced practitioners and these are written ‘in their own words’ which allows for authentic stories to be used. The book is firmly embedded in current practice and is therefore highly accessible to the reader.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"When a textbook has multiple authors there may be a possibility of different author ‘voices’ affecting the tone of the book. This is not the case with this book as it is evident that the authors have collaborated well and worked to the same standards of consistency throughout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is formed of 5 chapters that build from an initial introduction to a ‘final thoughts’ which would lead you to believe that the book is designed to be read in a linear fashion; this is not necessarily the case. For example, there is an excellent chapter on the ethics of open which could be read as a standalone chapter and this is largely true of the other sections of the book. The online course on which this book is based was a four-week course and it is therefore easy to divide the book up into four or more portions. The self-reflective and exploratory nature of the book allows for a self-paced experience.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book has stayed faithful to the online course and as such it is presented in a very clear, logical structure. It is very easy to follow and to dip in and out of (although the interface has issues as is pointed out). The reader should have no problem in following the book's arguments and activities.\r\n\r\n\r\n","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"A small point but the front cover doesn’t do the book justice! It would be nice to see a colourful front cover using a creative commons image to help this useful book stand out. Overall the text is presented reasonably well, although the PDF formatting causes some issues with gaps within the text.\r\n\r\nI am a little disappointed that there isn’t an online version of the book as the PDF version renders the external links useless and it is very time consuming going back and forth to highlight, copy and paste the link into a general Google search to find what you are looking for. I would recommend that an online version is provided as soon as possible. The PDF version is also a bit clunky in that if you wish to search for a particular page the search finder doesn’t take you to the right place in the text (although it is good at pinpointing instances of phrases etc.) \r\n\r\nImages are good and appropriate in support of the text. However the lack of a glossary, as previously mentioned and a bibliography (which would make currency and updating of links much easier) are important omissions.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text has no grammatical errors that I could see during my review.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not cultural or context dependent and makes use of a wide range of examples from a variety of contributors and countries. Although written in English the book would be easy to translate and use in other countries where English is not the first language.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall this is an extremely useful book providing a thorough yet accessible introduction to open research and is to be recommended. From the first-time researcher to the experienced academic there is something to learn and reflect upon within these pages. As academics, institutions and funders require evidence of research impact and dissemination the role of Open Research cannot be underestimated. I shall be recommending this to my students on the MSc. Information Management course during their studies of scholarly communication and information \u0026amp; digital literacy.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":2404,"first_name":"Kristofor","last_name":"Wiley","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"On page 15, the text provides a list of likely areas for consideration concerning an open research framework. From that list, the text contains specific treatments for planning, licensing, ethics, and dissemination, as well as strong contributions on theory and reflection. Less is offered on open methodologies, tools, or data concerns.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Content seems thoroughly considered, with attention to both advantages and challenges of an open framework.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Text is recently published and incorporates dynamic links to curated resources. ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Text itself is well-written in simple language when jargon would have been easy to engage. Assumption of the authors seems to be that the reader is a trained researcher seeking transition to an open framework. Testimonials and quotes from the original course are sometimes longer or less clear than the authors' text.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Completely consistent conceptual framework within the text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Individual chapters in the text would make great curricular units, complete with references and activities. The chapters could be further broken down into individual lessons on the basis of those activities.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Topics are largely sequential, or organized hierarchically.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Hyperlinks were only partially functional in Preview on a Mac, but transcripts are provided in the Appendix to compensate for potential link issues. Unfortunately, the loss of hyperlink navigation hinders the text considerably.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Occasional punctuation and syntax errors. One more round of editing would be appropriate.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"No cultural insensitivities, as there are few cultural references. In the ethics chapter, statements are made regarding actions that are \"legal\" but not \"ethical\", and such statements inherently carry the cultural perspectives of the authors.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is a great primer from knowledgeable authors. I feel it could be expanded three-fold for a more comprehensive treatment of the transition to open methodology. Thank you!","created_at":"2018-11-25T15:54:51.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-11-25T15:54:51.000-06:00"},{"id":2956,"first_name":"Betsy","last_name":"Schlabach","position":"Associate Professor, History and African \u0026 African American Studies","institution_name":"Earlham College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"It is a very useful guide through OER and application or first steps to engaging in OER with faculty, staff, but less so for students. The book would make an excellent resource for faculty workshops or librarian workshops as it offers step by step engagement with the drawbacks and benefits of OER. I thought the opening section on ownership versus authorship was particularly useful for those concerned with intellectual property, independent scholarship, and promotion. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content struck me as very accurate and its sophistication reflected the expertise of the authors.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"I think the field of open publishing is one that doesn't foster longevity therefore given the content of the textbook it will inevitably become outdated faster than say texts of other themes. But the text is general enough that its arguments, examples, and debates that will keep it relevant for some time. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book as a conversational tone and readers can progress through it with ease. There are practical questions as well as rhetorical devices to encourage reflection and use of the text. The text boxes and bullet point lists at the beginning of each chapter enhance readability and use. I think the style is appropriate for multiple audiences. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent with its own standards of style, delivery, and format. I think the authors' text is more consistent than the examples drawn from the participants which can lead to some confusion and frustration for the reader. ","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"I felt that there was an over-use of subheadings, text boxes, and bullet pointing. Text boxes and quotations within spilled over to the next page making it difficult to track comments, observations, and critiques by those interviewed. Perhaps less sections might help with readability and accessibility. For example, Table 1 in chapter 2 covers more than three pages, pages 25-28. This is a very difficult table to read and comprehend as is Table 2 which spans two pages. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is wonderfully scaffolded; each section builds upon the previous. I think this lends itself to greater understanding and mastery of concepts/ethical concerns as the reader moves through the book. For example, the activity on page 56 \"creating your own mini-research project\" is very valuable. It synthesizes everything covered up to that point in the text. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Some of the links to other text based resources (for example the links to blog posts on page 60) were inactive but the youtube video links were active. The design of the textbook had more of a powerpoint slide feel and less of a textbook design. The former lends itself to a feeling of impermanence, but the latter does convey a sense of openness. It's an interesting design choice. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I noticed no distracting grammatical errors. There are some inconsistencies in capitalization of Martin Weller's work on page 57.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The authors may want to consider revamping some of the links and fonts for the purposes of universal design. For example, the authors may want to reflect on text thickness and color choice to make it as barrier-free as possible. But the content did not strike me as insensitive or offensive. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2019-05-29T10:16:35.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-05-29T10:16:35.000-05:00"},{"id":3708,"first_name":"Kimberly","last_name":"McFall","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Marshall University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is laid out very logically and will serve as an excellent resource for people who are interested in learning the foundation and flow of OER. I appreciate how you can use this text as a working way to teach beginners about “what” OER really means and how to utilize it for your individual research purposes.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The framework of this text is sound and the way it is laid out makes sense. The content is accurate and what I would consider a best practice model.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Since there seems to be a chasm of true understanding of OER among people who choose texts, I believe this content is a bridge that will help folks wrap their heads around how it can/does/will apply to their own research topics and interests.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Overall, the text is laid out in a manner that helps the reader by using guided activities. While the commentary at the end wraps up each section quite nicely, a little more of an introduction to the “what” at the beginning would help the user benefit the most from the nicely curated resources provided by authors.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I appreciate how each of the chapters are laid out in a manner that I know what to expect while working through the text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This text can be used as a whole or in parts. Facilitated correctly, the individual chapters can stand alone. This is help for beginning courses or introductions to OER as well as supplemental resource for teaching research in general.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book scaffolds on learning throughout. I would like to see more of an introduction and/or background about why it is important in introduction(s), but that does not take away from how it is logically laid out.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"As noted by other reviewers, the biggest challenge in this text is the way it is presented/laid out for the reader. Multiple page breaks and huge chunks of dead space is cumbersome.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Very few errors found in the text. The use of bullet point lists and tables work well for me (some layout issues noted in another section of review)","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"As more and more universities are moving toward OER, I believe that this text is timely and should be well received.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, I believe this text is well written and nicely laid out. The concepts are easy to follow and to the point. One consideration for improvement would be more options for download (i.e. iBooks) instead of just .pdf which opens on my device(s) only as a continuous scroll situation.","created_at":"2020-04-08T15:18:34.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-04-08T15:18:34.000-05:00"},{"id":4905,"first_name":"Paula","last_name":"Baldwin","position":"Associate Professor/Communication Studies","institution_name":"Western Oregon University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers all the different areas thoroughly.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not see any inaccuracies, errors, or bias.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"As OERs continue to increase in popularity, this book is an essential addition to the professor who 'writes, does research, and then writes some more' toolkit.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This book is written for clarity.  It is easily understandable and well-organized.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is written in such a way that the language is appropriate and understandable.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The progression of the chapters demonstrate an easy path through the various stages of OER.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book has a logical, clear flow.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Available in PDF format only, I did not experience any problems or distortions.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not note any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I'm not sure culture is a significant issue, but there was nothing insensitive in the book.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"The book takes the reader through the steps necessary to combine research with the Open Education Resource context and application. As a researcher, I have been trained to be secretive and possessive about my research, particularly in the pre-publication stages.  Open Research makes me reconsider those assumptions.  I was reassured to see several references to ethics, and not just the standards of being an ethical researcher, but the ethics regarding the theft of intellectual property. I feel that this book is not a \"one read\" kind of book.  After the initial read to comprehend the contents, it will become an reference manual for working through the necessary steps to write \"open.\"","created_at":"2021-05-10T23:26:47.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-05-10T23:26:47.000-05:00"},{"id":33424,"first_name":"Jill","last_name":"Tussey","position":"Division Chair","institution_name":"Buena Vista University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The information in the text addresses all of the topics and ideas as outlined in the Table of Contents.  There is not glossary provided for the reader.  However, the additional components embedded in the text provide needed information and clarification.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The information on the text is accurate and appears to be unbiased based on the review.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Content in the text is relevance and likely will be a good resource for many years to come. The text is arranged in a manner that is easily updated if needed due to the organization.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written in accessible language for novice readers.  Definitions are included as needed to support the understanding.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There is no confusing terminology or framework in the text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The content is easy to read and divided into multiple sections. The smaller sections aim the reader as they navigate throughout the text.  Additional thinking points are also embedded into the text to support the reader.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics and content within the text appear to be presented in a clear and logical manner.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text is easy to navigate throughout the entire document.  Images and display features were all displayed in a pleasing manner for the reader.\r\nThe text is only available by PDF.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No major grammatical errors which would affect the comprehension of the reader were noted.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is culturally neutral with no use of sensitive or offensive language.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2021-10-22T13:12:27.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-10-22T13:12:27.000-05:00"},{"id":33530,"first_name":"Karen","last_name":"Leroux","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Drake University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Review of the Long 19th Amendment Portal Project \r\nhttps://long19.radcliffe.harvard.edu/teaching/\r\nKaren Leroux, Associate Professor, Drake University\r\nComprehensiveness\r\nThe Long 19th Amendment Portal Project is a multi-authored open-access educational resource (OER) sponsored by the Schlesinger Library and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Focused on the history of women and voting rights in the United States, it is an exceptionally rich resource for instructors teaching in these fields. This innovative OER includes two well-developed teaching resources, one titled #SuffrageSyllabus, and the other, Suffrage School.\r\nThe portal does not purport to be a comprehensive textbook on either voting rights or women’s and gender history. Rather, it provides useful teaching insights and strategies at the intersection of these two topics.  The overarching narrative, spanning 1783 to 2020, yet concentrated in the years 1848 to 1982, is effective.  The narrative is strongest in its examination of the multicultural context of the suffrage and civil rights struggles, issues of race being central to both.  A unit on the politics of the passage and ratification of the Amendment is notably absent, making the portal perhaps better adapted to teaching the history of women and gender and the social and cultural contexts of the suffrage struggle.  \r\n\r\nThere is no index, but there are tables of contents for #Suffrage Syllabus and Suffrage School, and one can download #SuffrageSyllabus to a single, searchable file.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Content Accuracy\r\nThe website is well designed in terms of text and images, and it is edited to a very high professional standard","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Relevance/Longevity\r\nPublished in 2020, the portal offers a good overview of the current state of the field, especially given the extensive new scholarship published to coincide with the centennial of the 19th Amendment.  The modular nature of the syllabus and recorded video lessons lend themselves to future additions and updates as needed.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Clarity\r\nThe text uses clear, communicative prose, appropriate for university-level audiences, and the layout is very user-friendly.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Consistency\r\nThe design of the teaching portal branches into two sections which I found very intuitive to use. Each unit of #SuffrageSyllabus consists of a two-week teaching plan, except for the last unit, which aims to build awareness of how the struggle for voting rights is ongoing, especially with today’s concerns about voter suppression. This final syllabus unit, although organized differently, is a fitting coda to the topic. Each recorded lesson in Suffrage School follows a consistent design too.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Modularity\r\nModularity is one of the virtues of this OER.  All seven units could serve as the basis for an excellent upper-division university-level course on the history of gender and voting rights, but I suspect many instructors will find #SuffrageSyllabus offers a useful tool kit from which they might choose to employ a single unit, find new ways to frame questions for discussion or writing assignments, or use its suggested source lists to freshen the primary and secondary sources they assign. Likewise, the brief recorded lessons of the Suffrage School could be used in a multitude of ways to teach primary source analysis and strategies for contextualization","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Organization/Structure/Flow\r\nThis innovative portal includes two teaching resources, one titled #SuffrageSyllabus, and the other, Suffrage School. \r\n\r\n#SuffrageSyllabus offers seven chronologically organized units, meant to be explored in mostly two-week increments. Each consists of a brief narrative, a few well-curated primary sources (most with links to the digitized source), a series of recommended secondary sources -- ranging from print and online journal articles, chapters in edited volumes, newspaper features, to monographs -- and a selection of suggested assignments.\r\n\r\nThe first two units cover the pre-1900 history. Lisa Tetrault developed Unit 1 on the Revolutionary era to 1848 in Seneca Falls, and Manisha Sinha developed Unit 2 on the Civil War and Reconstruction.  The following four units concern 20th century episodes in this history.  Unit 3 developed by Corinne T. Field explores who marched for suffrage and whose struggles for voting rights persisted beyond 1920, while Durba Mitra’s Unit 4 opens up to transnational studies of women’s rights and imperialism in the early 20th century. In Unit 5, Liette Gidlow brings the history of voting into the 1960s and 1970s with attention to the social movements that culminated in passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the even wider range of social movements that grew out of that important victory. Unit 6 by Katherine Turk examines the hard-fought struggles of 1982 over Voting Rights Act Amendments and the Equal Rights Amendment. The last unit, authored by a group of Harvard University students and entitled “2020 and Beyond: The Unfinished Business of the 19th Amendment,” departs from the format used in the first six units, offering only links to primary sources on current issues of gender and voting, citizenship, voter suppression, and civic engagement, and a list of advocacy groups to get involved in the ongoing struggle for voting equality.\r\n \r\nSuffrage School offers users the opportunity to explore digitized primary sources from the Schlesinger Library collections with the guidance of a historian.  Each module in this branch of the portal consists of a recorded video lesson, a link to a primary source, and some questions to prompt further analysis and reflection.  The recorded videos are concise and thought-provoking; almost all are less than 4 minutes in length. Currently the website hosts 18 of these lessons, each analyzing one primary source created between 1855 and the present.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Interface\r\nI encountered no interface issues using the portal.  It is easy to navigate, hyperlinks load properly, and the images are of high resolution","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Grammatical Errors\r\nAs noted earlier, the website is edited to a high professional standard.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Cultural Relevance\r\nCultural and contemporary relevance is another strong feature of the Long 19th Amendment portal.  Both #SuffrageSyllabus and Suffrage School incorporate multiple sources on women of color who shaped voting rights activism, including Native American women, African American women, and Asian American women.  Unit 3 deals head-on with questions of inclusion and exclusion in the US suffrage movement. Understanding resistance to expanding voting rights is also threaded through this resource, with several syllabus units and recorded videos illuminating how ideological conflicts have shaped this history. For example, several of the 20th century units include considerable material from anti-suffragist, anti-feminist, and imperialist feminist sources.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2021-12-13T15:36:02.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-12-13T15:36:02.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/open-research","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:08:52.000-06:00"},{"id":696,"title":"Oregon Writes Open Writing Text","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2018,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":"","accessibility_features":[],"description":"This textbook guides students through rhetorical and assignment analysis, the writing process, researching, citing, rhetorical modes, and critical reading. Using accessible but rigorous readings by professionals throughout the college composition field, the Oregon Writes Writing Textbook aligns directly to the statewide writing outcomes for English Composition courses in Oregon.","contributors":[{"id":4834,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Jenn","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Kepka","location":null,"background_text":"Jenn Kepka"}],"subjects":[{"id":5,"name":"Education","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"L7","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/education"},{"id":27,"name":"Higher Education","parent_subject_id":5,"call_number":"LC980","visible_textbooks_count":34,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/higher-education"},{"id":6,"name":"Humanities","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":null,"visible_textbooks_count":418,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/humanities"},{"id":33,"name":"Literature, Rhetoric, and Poetry","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"PE1408","visible_textbooks_count":124,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/literature-rhetoric-and-poetry"}],"publishers":[{"id":673,"url":"https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/","year":null,"created_at":"2019-04-12T12:55:38.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-04-12T12:55:38.000-05:00","name":"Open Oregon Educational Resources"}],"formats":[{"id":1203,"type":"Online","url":"https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/oregonwrites/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1204,"type":"PDF","url":"https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/oregonwrites/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1707,"type":"eBook","url":"https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/oregonwrites/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2105,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"http://www.lulu.com/shop/jenn-kepka/oregon-writes-open-writing-text/paperback/product-23840147.html","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":6,"reviews":[{"id":2813,"first_name":"Relinda","last_name":"Ruth","position":"Director of Educational Resources, OER Specialist, Adjunct English Instructor","institution_name":"University of Arkansas Cossatot","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text thoroughly covers the topics of writing and can be used effectively for college composition. The table of contents is clear and a list of sources is provided. While an index is not included, the table of contents is clear enough to provide thorough navigation and easy access to material.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is both accurate and unbiased in its guidance covering the specific purpose of composition, teaching students rhetorical modes, analysis, and effective writing techniques.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is highly relevant with a compilation from existing experts and not likely to become dated. Writing is explored in a manner that applies to all beginning writers.\r\n","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is highly accessible with a conversational tone. Several excerpts provide situations for classroom analysis. A sample paper and brief section on MLA formatting may be helpful to students.\r\n","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The terminology is consistent and maintains a logical framework in its coverage of basic techniques commonly used in composition.\r\n","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The easily divisible text is advantageous to the instructor. Sections are clearly divided allowing instructors to cover the content as necessary. Each chapter is designed in a manner that it can be incorporated with additional material and/or taught individually. \r\n","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is extremely well-organized and provides a solid overview of writing techniques and thesis planning. \r\n","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Book chapters are brief enough to avoid any significant interface issues. The text is so straightforward that any excerpts are unlikely to confuse readers.\r\n\r\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical errors. The text is clearly written and well-organized.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is culturally sensitive and inoffensive in its focus of writing.\r\n","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This book provides an excellent overview of writing. Terms are explained thoroughly and the conversational tone encourages student engagement. As an instructor, I would highly recommend this book for use in a composition course. It is organized in a manner that allows instructors to break it into sections for lessons, and simple enough for freshman students to follow. Additionally, it encourages critical thinking processes that students need to develop. \r\n\r\n \r\n","created_at":"2019-04-21T09:28:58.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-04-21T09:28:58.000-05:00"},{"id":2908,"first_name":"Safia","last_name":"Diarra","position":"ELL Instructor","institution_name":"Earlham College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"While this text discusses summarizing in different sections, its very brief. I wish the text covered more about summaries. The thesis section is very well done as well as the research section. I also really like the source evaluation checklist.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Content is accurate and unbiased.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Textbook is up to date, has clear examples that can be understood in this time period and in the future and if there are parts that will be outdated in the future, it should be easy to update.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is clear, especially because of the layout. Rather than having endless words on a page, bullet points and other various formatting is used in order to emphasize on points more clearly.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The first chapter didn't really fit with the rest of the book since it was less about writing and more about preparedness. I think its fine to talk about both, but only if writing is still discussed in all chapters.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I would personally skip sections and not start from beginning to end of book, but I could see many ways that the textbook could be used, including using it from start to finish.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"All topics are presented logically.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The only issue I found is that it's not easy to go to the previous pages you were on. The only way I found to do this is to click the back button several times. Would be nice if it was a scroll feature instead, though this may be more of a website issue and less about the book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical issues throughout the text.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"I found a few examples that are focused on American writing and not writing from other cultures. For example, when talking about the 5 paragraph essay, the author makes the assumption that all students are familiar with this format and they should move past this way of writing. As an ELL instructor, I know my students are not familiar with the 5 paragraph essay and therefore need that as an introduction to writing in English. I also noticed language used that demonstrates assumptions being made about student (you have no doubt been drilled on the need for a thesis) or the way in which they talk about unclear storytelling. Storytelling differs immensely depending on the culture you are coming from, so not telling a story in chronological order may be the norm for some.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2019-05-15T10:28:35.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-05-15T10:28:35.000-05:00"},{"id":3655,"first_name":"Karen","last_name":"Hoffman","position":"Adjunct Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Raritan Valley Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook appropriately covered all the areas for a first-year English composition course. Each section heading was able to be expanded to display the sub-topics covered in each section and the sub-topics were clearly defined.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"While the Oregon Writes Open Writing Text provided information from a variety of sources, they all provided accurate, unbiased information.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Since Engish composition is based on the rhetorical principals and critical reading strategies that do not significantly change over the course of time, the material presented in the text remains relevant. New information can easily be added to the sections if necessary.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The content of the textbook is easily accessible. Complex or unfamiliar terms are followed by clear explanations and examples to aid comprehension.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"All of the chapters begin by stating the learning objectives. Many of the chapters offer student exercises and student advice.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Each section is divided into smaller sub-topics that make it easy to assign with the exception of Part 5 - Critical Reading.  The only sub-topic in this section is Research and Critical Reading. Critical reading is an important skill with which many students struggle. It would be beneficial to have a section for just critical reading and then later connect the critical reading to the research process. Addressing how to read scholarly and academic journals with more than just the suggestion of \"be prepared to spend a little more time processing the information\" would be helpful.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Critical reading an essential component of the English composition course. It would be helpful to have one of the beginning sections devoted to developing critical reading skills as many of the writing assignments are based on articles and stories that need to be read and analyzed prior to writing.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"There were no interface or navigation issues, and all display features were clear. I would, however, like to be able to search the entire textbook for keywords and not have to search one section at a time.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors that would detract from the content.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"None of the material that appeared in the textbook was offensive in any way.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I particularly liked the section on differentiating between a reaction and a response to the text.","created_at":"2020-03-13T10:31:25.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-03-13T10:31:25.000-05:00"},{"id":4224,"first_name":"Stephen","last_name":"Rust","position":"Senior Instructor of Composition","institution_name":"University of Oregon","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"As editor/curator Jenn Kepka modestly explains in the Introduction to Oregon Writes, this textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to college writing thanks to a collaborative effort led by Kepka that included writing instructors, librarians, media and learning support specialists, program and college administrators, and the Open Oregon Educational Resources Project. I am excited to use Oregon Writes in my first-year writing classroom for students taking their first university-credit level writing course. In Oregon, we call that Writing 121 but it will vary of course depending on where you're reading this from.  Developing textbooks at the statewide level might seem to risk narrowing the scope of a first-year writing course (aren't the goals teaching students to write at the university level so they can pass their other courses, well universal goals?). However, in practice, writing practices in the classroom do become somewhat standardized at the state level in a place like Oregon through the department of education and ongoing collaboration between administrators and educators at the state's universities, colleges, and K-12 schools. In Oregon, Writing 121 is one of the only graduation requirements required at all of the state-funded (though not much anymore) universities and colleges. As such, having a common, open textbook that comprehensively addresses the key writing skills and approaches that we want our students to be capable of achieving is remarkably valuable. I am excited to adopt the textbook for my WR 121 courses at the University of Oregon during the 2020-21 school year and to begin adapting them to fit with my teaching style and department level learning outcomes. I love that I'm invited to embrace open pedagogy and make this book \"my own\" as well.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Oregon Writes is a collection of creative commons licensed essays and textbook chapters from a wide range of previously published materials. This first edition of the book has been vetting a wide range of collaborators prior to publication. As such, there is a strong sense that these materials have been edited and updated to accurately reflect common best practices in the teaching of college composition.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"For my students and I, Oregon Writes is Highly Relevant. At the university-level, I've learned that students who develop an inquiring mind and the critical and sympathetic reading skills will develop the writing skills they need to not just survive but fully embrace their most challenging college courses. While teaching this book, I'm going to move Unit 5 on critical reading, because to write well for college you really do have to step-up your critical reading skills. In one of the best upper-division courses in my secondary education major as an undergraduate, the professor (a full-time middle school teacher by day) taught me to think of reading, writing, and speaking as inseparable human activities that manifest in the same areas of the brain.  In the chapter \"Research and Critical Reading\" Pavel Zemilansky similarly explains that he likes to think of reading and writing as inseparable activities. The more I teach first-year college writing, the more I realize how vital it is for students to slow down the world enough to deeply focus on what they are reading.  Chapter 1 does a great job of making relevant the fact that first-year writing courses remain essential for all college students by preparing them for any writing task they will face along the way to graduation.  Chapter 5 reminds us that writing courses and good writing textbooks like Oregon Writes also prepare students for the reading challenges that lie ahead in challenge courses across all majors and minors across the university.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Again, thanks to the comprehensive vetting process of materials led by editor Jenn Kepka, the chapters selected for the book are all very well written and suitable for high school/college-level readers. Clarity and concision are hallmarks of the book. The formatting of learning outcomes, writing activities, and other graphic elements adds to the clarity and readability as well.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Overall, the text has a consistent look and feel that work well for a textbook. The chapters are written as chapters and not essays, which means that although each chapter has a different author, there is enough consistency in voice that some readers may not even notice the difference in authors.  By the time students enter a first-year university-level writing course, they have likely already written many essays before, starting in elementary school when they take their first state-wide assessments. So it makes sense to jump right into a discussion of thesis statements and the writing process.  Amy Guptill's chapter \"Constructing the Thesis and Argument from the Ground Up\" provides an excellent discussion and examples of how a well-written thesis can move writers past the standardized 5-paragraph essay most students are still taught in elementary and middle school and never quite learn how to shake. Students unfamiliar with a 5-paragraph, 3-part thesis essay, get to learn about it before Guptill deconstructs it.  While I would like to see a chapter on sympathetic reading and developing questions perhaps preempt the ever dominant focuses on THE THESIS, I can always rearrange things to suit my own needs. Part 3 of the book does great job of setting up students for writing a basic research essay. I'm not entire sure how I feel about the consistency of these chapters as they are intended to align with learning outcomes in Oregon. Not every college requires or even wants students doing research in WR 121 before they develop their critical reading and rhetorical analysis skills a little further and are ready for advanced writing courses required in for their majors where research can be more targeted so these chapter may have to be adjusted based on what is required where you are teaching first-year writing.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Chapters are well organized to be of similar length and the text is effectively formatted with learning outcomes and writing activities interspersed to break up the text. A few chapters are longer than I would assign and as I've mentioned I would rearrange some of them to fit my curriculum but the Pressbooks format or downloadable PDF make it super-easy to redesign and rearrange. One of the strengths of the book not being single-authored is that there's no risk that the book is overly self-referential. You can rearrange as needed without losing continuity. It's a little hard to tell if the Writing Exercises are meant to be \"assignments\" or just thought experiments so each person who adopts the book will have to figure that out and let students know how to use those sections.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Since the book is organized around learning outcomes expected for all writers, there is a familar feeling to it for those of use teaching first-year writing on a regular basis.  Parts 1-3 of the book (and Part 5?) are clearly organized to guide students through a traditional first-year essay where they have to develop an argumentative essay that uses a thesis to keep the writer centered on consistently developing that argument. Chapters on thesis development, organization strategies, pargraph writing, and research development support this central focus on the thesis as the dominating logical stucture of the well-written essay.  Part 4 expands the conversation with chapters on a wide variety of other rhetorical modes: narrative, descriptive, process analysis, etc.   The issue I have with organizing the book this way is that many of those rhetorical modes do not require a thesis in the same kind of way. Thesis writing is particular to argumentive writing and while some narrative writing may be thesis-driven some clearly is not.  By centering the book on thesis and research development and then throwing all of these other modes of writing at students, I am worried at how confusing this could be.   I've also commented above on how I think Chapter 5 would be better suited to earlier in the book to create a somewhat more cohesive structure (at least for my way to teaching).","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Pressbooks are just a little bit confusing to use the first time as it's not entirely intuitive to know how to open up the book but once you get used to them they look great and are easy to use.  Oregon Writes has engaging interface, though perhaps universal design would suggest a sans seriff font. I've started playing with copying and pasting from the web book into my course websites and it's working well for me.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Looks pretty perfect to me!","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Is foregrounding the thesis-driven essay and Western logical structures that date back to Aristotle's cultural insensitive in 2020? There are no culturally insensitive examples or offensive language. Perhaps in the references and quotations of famous writers, greater attention could be given to inclusion but that would require some reauthoring of several chapters. A chapter on socially just writing would be a welcome addition.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Excited to be able to adopt this book!","created_at":"2020-07-03T13:54:35.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-07-03T13:54:35.000-05:00"},{"id":33400,"first_name":"Mary","last_name":"Bryant","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Highland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Thorough yet without filler. Contains content for a full year of comp as well as developmental courses. Addresses writing basics, research, and standard rhetorical modes. Exercises and examples in multiple formats are provided. Essays about writing itself are an additional and interesting way to explain content. Instructors do need to add their own sample essays/discussion questions.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Content addresses basic strategies in context and then builds on these approaches. Students can easily see the value in what they have been taught (K-12) and then build from there. Care is given to pronoun use. I spotted just one small typo.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book covers expected content in a fresh and accessible way that is fully adaptable. A broad discussion of writing, the writing process, and research comprise the first half of the text. Chapters on standard, specific modes follow. Users can easily find and adjust content to suit their needs.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Many specific examples and exercises provide context and understanding of main ideas. Tone and voice are consistent and supportive. This text makes writing feel possible rather than overwhelming; the authors present as expert yet friendly guides who want students to excel. Care is taken to explain key ideas and terms throughout.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book stands together as a whole. Sections are clearly identified and easy to follow.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Text very much lends itself to modular use suiting student needs. The section of paraphrase, for example, can be pulled out as a mini lesson in a variety of classes. I could use parts of this text in three or more of my current classes without content feeling choppy or disjointed.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Arrangement broadly addresses academic writing with a series of essays before focusing on writing process and research (then various modes). This approach is effective as it addresses big topics before specific applications. Critical reading at the end works as this module can be used simultaneously with any of the other sections. The specific modes are addressed according to increasing complexity; earlier techniques can be used to enhance approaches presented later in the text.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No problems noted. Author encourages users to retain accessibility if text is adapted.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No problems noted.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Author provides note (in the intro) on inclusive pronoun usage. Text seems neutral and inclusive.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I will be sharing this text with colleagues and exploring ways to use it in my classes. I am impressed with the simplicity yet thorough nature of this this approach and the easy way the chapters can be adapted. There is an effective balance here between supporting effective technique and encouraging creativity.","created_at":"2021-10-05T13:54:47.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-10-05T13:54:47.000-05:00"},{"id":33916,"first_name":"Jane","last_name":"Brockman","position":"Writing Instructor","institution_name":"Rogue Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book covers a wide array of topics pertaining to college writing. Content areas include: analyzing and understanding the professor's assignment, undertaking the writing process, conducting research, distinguishing between rhetorical modes, and exercising critical thinking. Each chapter clearly outlines several learning objectives before launching into a thorough discussion of chapter material.  This OER text includes an abundance of engaging examples to illustrate points the author is attempting to convey. These include advice from former students, quotes from professors, real life examples, and extended metaphors.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate and well edited.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The majority of the content is relevant to today's (2022) classroom. Some examples, such as those in the critical reading chapter, are older references from history that students may have a hard time relating to as time progresses. The text is organized in a logical way so that if updates were needed, they would be easy to implement.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Language of the text is clear and easy to follow.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Voice, tone, and perspective of the book is consistent throughout. Book does a good job addressing both the student and professor's perspectives.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The book is divided into chapters and contains effective sub-sections within chapters. Incorporating a few more graphic images into this text would help break up the long passages of text.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Topics are presented in a logical order. The progression of the topics makes sense.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No navigational problems are apparent. Text boxes are clearly visible and are not distorted in any way.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammar errors were noticed. Content has been carefully edited.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Text includes some examples from history that are culturally inclusive.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Initially, I had a hard time grasping the purpose of the section titled \"Murder, Rhetorically Speaking!\" which discusses how students can cultivate their own tone, voice, and style by writing up a detailed murder case report. After closer reading, I was able to discern the purpose of this section, but it was not apparent at first. This section also seemed quite long.","created_at":"2022-06-19T14:19:12.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-06-19T14:19:12.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/oregon-writes-open-writing-text","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:16:08.000-06:00"},{"id":190,"title":"The Information Literacy User's Guide: An Open, Online Textbook","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2014,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Good researchers have a host of tools at their disposal that make navigating today's complex information ecosystem much more manageable. Gaining the knowledge, abilities, and self-reflection necessary to be a good researcher helps not only in academic settings, but is invaluable in any career, and throughout one's life. The Information Literacy User's Guide will start you on this route to success. The Information Literacy User's Guide is based on two current models in information literacy: The 2011 version of The Seven Pillars Model, developed by the Society of College, National and University Libraries in the United Kingdom and the conception of information literacy as a metaliteracy, a model developed by one of this book's authors in conjunction with Thomas Mackey, Dean of the Center for Distance Learning at SUNY Empire State Col- lege.2 These core foundations ensure that the material will be relevant to today's students. The Information Literacy User's Guide introduces students to critical concepts of information literacy as defined for the information-infused and technology-rich environment in which they find themselves. This book helps students examine their roles as information creators and sharers and enables them to more effectively deploy related skills. This textbook includes relatable case studies and scenarios, many hands-on exercises, and interactive quizzes.","contributors":[{"id":3153,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Deborah","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Bernnard","location":"University of Albany","background_text":"Deborah Bernnard is Head of the Dewey Graduate Library at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She is also a veteran information literacy instructor. She was a member of the committee that created UNL 205, Information Literacy, a one-credit undergraduate course, taught by University at Albany librarians since 2000. She also teaches a graduate course; Information Literacy Instruction: Theory and Technique. She has authored several book chapters and articles on information literacy topics."},{"id":3154,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Greg","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Bobish","location":"University of Albany","background_text":"Greg Bobish is an Associate Librarian at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He has taught credit-bearing information literacy courses since 2000 and enjoys experimenting with new educational technologies and new pedagogical approaches as he tries to convey the relevance of information literacy to his students’ lives. He has received the Chancellor’s and the President’s awards for Excellence in Librarianship."},{"id":3155,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Daryl","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Bullis","location":"Babson College","background_text":"Daryl Bullis is the Lead Instruction Librarian at Babson College. He received his BA in Classics and Russian from the University of New Hampshire, an MA in Russian and an MLS from the University at Albany, State University of New York. He has taught credit courses in Information Literacy and is currently researching best practices for adapting TBL methods to bibliographic instruction sessions."},{"id":3156,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Jenna","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Hecker","location":"University of Albany","background_text":"Jenna Hecker is an instructional developer for the University at Albany, State University of New York and teaches Information Literacy in both face-to-face and online formats. She received her MLIS from the University of Rhode Island."},{"id":3157,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Irina","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Holden","location":"University of Albany","background_text":"Irina Holden teaches Information Literacy in the Sciences and works as an Information Literacy and Science Outreach Librarian in the Science Library at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Her research interests include science literacy, reference and instruction in both traditional and virtual environments, sustainability and first year experience courses. Ms. Holden is a native of Ukraine."},{"id":3158,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Allison","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Hosier","location":"University of Albany","background_text":"Allison Hosier earned her MSIS from the University at Albany, State University of New York in 2011. She is currently an Information Literacy Librarian at Coastal Carolina University."},{"id":3159,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Trudi","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Jacobson","location":"University of Albany","background_text":"Trudi Jacobson is the Head of the Information Literacy Department at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She and Thomas Mackey developed the concept of metaliteracy, which has infused her teaching and her research. She loves the challenge and excitement of effective new teaching methods, and is currently involved in the development of a metaliteracy badging system. She was the recipient of the Miriam Dudley Instruction Librarian of the Year award in 2009. She is honored to have taught or mentored all but one of the co-authors of this book when they were graduate students."},{"id":3160,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Tor","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Loney","location":"Albany Public Library","background_text":"Tor Loney is a Youth Services Librarian at Albany Public Library, concentrating on teen engagement with a focus on creative arts and emerging technologies. He previously worked as an Information Literacy Librarian and Instructor at the University at Albany, State University of New York, where he earned his MLIS."}],"subjects":[{"id":5,"name":"Education","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"L7","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/education"},{"id":27,"name":"Higher Education","parent_subject_id":5,"call_number":"LC980","visible_textbooks_count":34,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/higher-education"}],"publishers":[{"id":125,"url":"https://milneopentextbooks.org/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:37.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-04-15T13:36:26.000-05:00","name":"Open SUNY"}],"formats":[{"id":179,"type":"PDF","url":"https://milneopentextbooks.org/download/the-information-literacy-users-guide-pdf-pdf/?tmstv=1672321931","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":180,"type":"eBook","url":"https://milneopentextbooks.org/download/the-information-literacy-users-guide-epub-epub/?tmstv=1672321684","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2123,"type":"Online","url":"https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/the-information-literacy-users-guide-an-open-online-textbook/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4","textbook_reviews_count":19,"reviews":[{"id":104,"first_name":"Deborah","last_name":"Wilhelm","position":"WINGED Coordinator, Technical Writing Instructor","institution_name":"California Polytechnic State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Using the 7 Pillars of Information Literacy as an organizing structure, and with the addition of two chapters discussing specific kinds of information literacy (visual and scientific), the text provides a broad overview of information literacy with an emphasis on metaliteracy, which the authors describe as \"information literacy for today's open, networked, collaborative information environment\" (1). The text covers traditional sorts of information gathering, such as library stacks and databases, as well as newer approaches like using social media and backtracking through popular sources to locate primary research. While the general philosophy undergirding the work is one that will be familiar to many faculty members (for example, those teaching a prospectus-based opening to working with information often use guiding questions: What is your tentative position? What do you know? What do you not know? Where will you look? What problems do you anticipate?), the authors provide a contemporary approach with a practical and overt stress on metacognition. They also offer a useful focus on collaboration that is often missing from this kind of text. The authors provide in-text definitions of most but not all concepts; they provide neither glossary nor index, although both would be valued additions to the book. The depth of coverage, I believe, would likely work best in lower-division college courses, or in upper-division courses with additional deeper analytic tools from the professor, aimed at specific course content.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I found the content to be high quality. The exercises are directly connected to the material and have been carefully designed to help students apply what they've just learned. The book's information and strategies are up-to-date and accurate. I would, however, quibble with the Chapter 7 definition of the \"traditional paper\"; I don't know many faculty who are assigning work fitting such a limited description. We're looking for analysis, synthesis, evaluation, creation of something new - and we recognize that the writing process itself adds to learning about the topic. We're not just wanting students to show they've \"understood the topic and can draw some conclusions\" (94), even within the \"traditional\" kind of format. Deepening of a few concepts at some point would be very helpful. Chapter 5, for example, discusses fact checking but doesn't describe differing levels of fact-checking, which is likely different at _The New Yorker_, perhaps, than it is at _People_. The \"Choosing Materials\" section in this chapter offers key characteristics to seek but doesn't give much about HOW to check accuracy, relevance, bias, reputation, credibility. On the other hand, the text does use worksheets, exercises, and other resources (the CRAAP test from Chico State, for example, is great) to help clarify difficult concepts. In the big picture, this text attempts to help students uncover what they don't know by offering relevant information and skills for this kind of intellectual work, and this \"what we don't know\" focus is supported by an accurate text.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This text makes good use of contemporary issues (such as hydraulic fracturing) in its examples and also does a nice job of tracing an idea (iodine use after radioactive exposure) by starting with an event that may not be familiar to students (the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986) and making connections to an event that probably is familiar to them (the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011). The text integrates examples in such a way that updating should be a smooth process. If the authors should choose to integrate more visual elements into the text (a strategy that I recommend, by the way), these should also be easy to update.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"With the exceptions that I've noted under the \"grammar\" category, below, the text is clearly written and easy to follow. Jargon is minimal and the text explains newly introduced concepts. If anything is missing that would directly influence clarity, I would say that it is a discussion, including suggestions, to help students surface the idea that \"what we don't know\" is a very Big Space and may include ideas, facts, and possibilities that aren't yet in the student's current awareness. That is, if Sarah doesn't have a certain bit of information, and that bit of information isn't even on her radar, how will she begin to look for the thing that she doesn't know exists? Many students lack the experience, context, and background knowledge that faculty can draw on--and may take for granted--to help in the search. This idea of \"what we don't know\" is especially important when students are working on projects that they didn't choose themselves and might not be inherently curious about, as sometimes occurs in college (gasp).","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"My comments on organization, below, will be helpful here in terms of noting some repetition and overlap. One overall comment would be that the book might benefit from the application of a similar structure to each chapter: some chapters begin with a scenario, while others begin with an introduction or other opening strategy. This suggestion also applies to the structure and order of the opening bullets (what to understand, what to do). Harmonizing the chapters for style, content, and consistency of categories and divisions would be helpful.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Because it uses the 7 Pillars of Information Literacy, and because the text itself notes that these pillars don't necessarily delineate a step-by-step process, instructors can certainly divide the book if necessary. None of the chapters is excessively long, but even so, it would be simple to assign parts of chapters. That said, the information-seeking and -analyzing process does have some inherent order (that is, the chapter on gathering information comes before the chapter on sharing information), and the 7 Pillars approach will work best in their original order. The final chapters on visual and science literacy, however, could be easily shifted and integrated anywhere to best fit a given course. As someone who teaches technical writing for engineers, for example, I would open with the chapters on science and visual literacy.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The flow is not seamless, although the text does refer the reader to relevant discussions elsewhere in-text, which indicates that some connecting work has taken place. More \"conversation\" among the topics would be very helpful. For example, Chapter 5 distinguishes between news media and social media, but Chapter 2 does not mention the latter, an important distinction that should take place early and work thematically throughout the book. Chapter 2 discusses Boolean Operators, and then Chapter 3 repeats that discussion (although with less effectiveness); Chapter 3, however, adds some advanced search tips not available in Chapter 2. Combining all of this information in one place, with many visuals, would be much more effective. In addition, Chapter 7 (\"Present\") would benefit from a discussion of what happens to information that people gather and share; that is, what goes on when the work goes \"out there\" into the world and joins the conversation (I am thinking of the Burkean Parlor here, of course). A discussion along these lines would give a sense of completeness and working-together of the entire structure.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I've read several books in the Open Textbook Library, and this one has a very good reader interface. A few of the visuals (screenshots, for example) in the book are fuzzy, but the rest are clear and sufficiently sized for usability. I do recommend a re-working of the links: The Table of Contents links out into the text, but the text does not link back to the Table of Contents. Similarly, the authors occasionally provide in-text links to upcoming chapters that they've referred to; these are helpful, but links BACK to the starting point would eliminate the long scroll backward. Also, having notes/links to the exercise answers would be helpful (I did not realize until I got to the end of the book that answers for students were even available). And finally, in-text links to the full-size versions of the worksheets would be most welcome. Nevertheless, the book is generally easy to navigate, and I did not have any difficulty reading it online.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"The book suffers from inconsistency of style (likely because of the working of multiple authors) and minor but annoying grammar problems. Issues of pronoun disagreement within sentences (mixing single and plural pronouns, mixing first- , second- , and third-person pronouns) and lack of pronoun clarity (for example, use of \"this\", \"that\", \"there\", and \"it\" without specifying what nouns these words point to) are very distracting. As a technical writer, I would need to explain to my students why these are not OK. The mix of active and passive voice is also distracting. Finally, although perhaps nobody other than technical writers will find it bothersome, I was unsettled by the occasional lack of parallel grammatical structure among bulleted items and (especially) within the 7 Pillars (perhaps \"scope\" is actually being used as a verb in the second pillar, but the explanation doesn't lend itself to that interpretation). That said, I noted no glaring issues of sentence structure that would cause me not to adopt this text.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text uses a variety of examples (computers, fracking, women painters, and radiation poisoning, for example), although the examples lean toward East College college students. The names in the examples range from \"cutesy\" (\"Norm Allknow\" and \"Harry Dositall\" to pseudonymous (\"Harry and Sally Dennis\"), so I suggest a consistent naming strategy throughout the book, and one that uses a variety of names. The text is not offensive in any way, but it is not particularly inclusive--however, the examples in the text would be easy to update for diversity.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I'm adopting this text for my technical writing students and would recommend it for nearly any lower-division course that involves research, application of critical thinking principles, analysis/synthesis/evaluation of information, or metacognitive activities (in particular, helping students to understand the thinking process and encouraging them to think about their thinking). I would not recommend assigning this book as \"recommended reading\" to help students with course content and projects; rather, if you don't want to use the entire text, I'd recommend choosing specific chapters such as those on visual and science literacy, and then working the exercises together so that you, the context expert, can model your own information literacy processes and abilities.","created_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":113,"first_name":"Carmel","last_name":"Finley","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Oregon State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is extremely comprehensive, describing the different elements of an internet search and providing a series of exercises designed to give practice in efficiently finding, storing, and assessing information. It covers a range of searches, from using google and wikipedia, to much more in-depth academic searches.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I have not done the exercises, but I see the utility of them in a classroom, and have no reason to believe that the serches they describe are not accurate. A series of exercises details how to find different kinds of information, for example, including how to access academic information through inter-library loan. The book attempts to be useful for citizen science (there is a section on how to do this), as well as for beginner and advanced researchers. It will be useful to undergraduates, and the to new gradute students grappling with getting a handle on a new research topic.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book is arranged so that new information could be incorporated. The text makes the point that research skills are for life, not just the next class. I liked the discussion on metaliteracy, a term I was not familiar with; I use the term media fluency. I especially liked the introduction exercises, on identifying your information need and scoping.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"If anything, the book is too detailed; I admire the intend to be as clear and transparent as possible in how to do a complex search and I certainly agree with the intent to make searches as efficient as possible. That said, I will put in a pitch for just wandering around in databases, as you can do in a library shelf, and depending on chance to encounter relevant material.  The prose is clear and precise, the instructions are detailed, there is a ability to create a glossary, and to use components of the text in class, depending on the level of skill you require your students to attain. The book is  very well thought-out.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"All the chapters follow the same format, in escalating complexity, and each includes a series of exercises designed to allow the student to follow each of the steps.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Pieces of the text can be used in a class, depending on the level of research required. I teach undergraduate public history, so I am always urging my students to create good questions. I very much like their exercise of examining the level of research the task requires, and the written assignment of what do I know, what do I need to know. There is a menu of learning activities, so you can pick what would be most useful to your class.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization is consistent, each chapter starts with the personalization of a research question, and not all are for academic purposes. I liked the distinctions in the chapter on researching fracking, and the distinctions between political or scientific information, and opinions.  This is the sort of thing that I can immediately identify, but a student might not see the difference between an editorial and a letter to the editor.  A great deal of work has gone into the scenarios, so they represent the diversity of the kinds of searches we all do.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I read the book on an ipad mini and I found the interface was clean and appealing, there were no navigation problems. Some of the charts displayed across two pages, but that is minor and not distracting.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I didn't find any errors or awkward constructions. The language in the exercises is painsaking.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Technology is transforming education. We have the ability to amass great mounds of data, but then what do we do with it? I find that students like to do research, but they often see what they have gathered as being equal, they often tend not see any difference in the quality of the information they have found. The exercises force them to parse different kinds of information and assign credibility. This again is something that I do automatically, but students have to learn these skills.  If there is a cultural bias inthe text, it is the assumption that we all have research access, although there is also information on using inter-library loan to access academic information.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I will use the exercises from the first chapter in my public history class. I appreciated the explanation of the more complex searches. I liked the exercise on using information in different formats. The section on photographs could be aumented with additional information, but that is a minor criticism. On the whole, I found this book useful, I learned several things, and I appreciated the unpacking of a skill that I take for granted, because I have done it for so long. This is is a thoughtful contribution to the ongoing discussion of how to teach students skills that will cross disciplines and that can be updated  as new technologies emerge.","created_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":149,"first_name":"Theresa","last_name":"Cullen","position":"Associate Professor, Instructional Psychology and Technology","institution_name":"University of Oklahoma","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"I find it pretty comprehensive.  (In fact, much more than I was expecting). As I delved into the book I could see being able to use it with a variety of audiences.   I am an educational technology professor working with both graduate and undergraduate students.  I think it has use for both. I appreciate that it talks about both MLA and APA..(students get thrown by not seeing the citation style the need).  Of course the citation section is not comprehensive,  but it’s a worthwhile introduction to documenting the who what where when of sources.  \r\n\r\nI was a little surprised by the lack of discussion about evaluating online resources. There some in the evaluate chapter but it is really short.  This may be due to the fact that I am not in the library sciences but given the title I had expected a more comprehensive discussion of citing and evaluating and using online sources because in education much of information literacy is focused on evaluating online sources.  This would definitely be something that I would need to supplement when using this book.  There are places where the book opens the door, and I could easily supplement.  \r\n\r\nI appreciate the visual literacy chapter and the science literacy chapter but they are the least comprehensive resource in the book. For example, the other chapters talk about giving credit to the sources and talks about Open Source and citation (specifically Chapter 4 Gather).. In the visual literacy chapter,  one of the biggest issues I have with students is the fact that they don’t think they need to cite them or do not cite them accurately given their ability online.  If the book is going to go into images as sources, this discussion is necessary and a missed opportunity.   In fact, there is a section on saving images (page 115 starting with “For visual materials, another important aspect of access involves saving copies.” And there is no discussion of citation here, a clear missed opportunity.  \r\n\r\nIf I was rating the book on just the 7 pillars – I would rate it a 4 in comprehensiveness,  but I will rate a 3 taking the last two chapter into consideration. \r\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I am an Educational Technology professor so library science is not my area of expertise but I often have to teach finding sources and judging their accuracy and usefulness under the veil of Digital Literacy,  Digitial Citizenship etc..   I don’t see anything inaccurate in the way that I would use it.  I do think the authors do have a a bit of a bias toward traditional sources and do not spend a lot of time with non-traditional sources. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"I think this book has fine longevity. They did an excellent job of picking resources and examples that are both timely and will not easily age out of relevance.   It is clear that the authors were careful to use general examples and perhaps some of their lack of online discussion was an effort to make a book that was general enough that it would retain relevancy over a longer time.  They of course will have issues once a new version of APA/MLA comes out but that is a risk of anyone who includes that material.   \r\n","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I think the book is quite clear. I find it very readable and the authors do a good job of pulling examples through the book that are engaging and useful to students who are learning the topic.  ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"For the first 7 pillars I would say the book is very consistent. The last two chapters are very cursory and not in as much depth as the others.  I could see using any of the chapters or a few of them together and I think the time that it would take to cover the material would be similar for course planning purposes.  ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This book has a clear framework that I could easily see only using parts of it.  The 7 Pillars could easily be used as a group of individually or could be used for remediation.  As I read this book, I thought,  this would be a good book to use to either prepare for a library search or to remediate one that went wrong where it was clear that the student did not follow how to value sources. The last two chapters seems superfluous.  Not that I might not use them,  but the 7 pillars make a clear framework,  and the two extra chapters on Science Literacy and Visual Literacy make me say – but what about Global literacy, Cultural Literacy etc.. ? \r\n\r\nThe table of contents is well organized and so I could easily direct my students to a particular section or task and their appendix has activities that I could easily assign only one part of this book and likely intend to do so. \r\n","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I think the framework is easy to follow.    I wish that the activities were linked at the end of each chapter.  As I read each chapter, then I went to the end to see the associated activities.  Since on the computer it’s a linked PDF, it would be a nice addition to link to the appendices at the end of each chapter as  print book often does. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"This book is available in two formats PDF an EPub.  I explored both.  For PDF, it’s a straightforward PDF document, with no bells or whistles. On a computer it has clickable links to go to activities within the text and referenced materials.  Since I direct a one to one iPad project,I loaded it on my iPad in a few ways.  I first started with the PDF and opened it both as an iBook and opened it in Notability (the annotation tool that we give to all students at the start of the program.)  It loaded well in both these ways.   I also then downloaded the EPub version and opened that in iBooks.  I don’t recommend this as strongly.  Its nice to be able to jump from the table of contents and has more of a book feel, but some of the clean formatting is lost in ePub version.The greatest issue is that the appendices with activities are not indexed as part of the Table of Contents in the Epub version and its difficult to get to them.  Then when you do get to them, the formatting of them is awkward. The notetaking tools of the ePub are fully available on that version, and if you had a student that you needed to accommodate via a textreader the ePub would fulfill this need. \r\n\r\nSo overall,  I would highly recommend the PDF version for its versatility. I am going to rate it high for choices and options that I could present to students to use this book.  \r\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I have not noticed any errors. It reads well and seems carefully written. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I don’t think its culturally insensitive in any way, I like the way the book is written, I do think that there are some cultural references and examples that may be challenging to International students.  I think that this the price to pay for book that I find easy to read and engaging.  For example their comparing of objectives to punchy email attention getters (don’t love this example) but I could see this getting confusing for some.  I went through looking for other examples and generally its pretty culturally neutral but examples are very US student.  ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I am much more impressed with this book than I thought I would be.. If they make additional versions, may I suggest an added activity.  The authors did a good job of keeping resources general when referring to library resources that may be available.  I will likely pair that chapter with creating an inventory of what our library has. This would be a great activity to encourage people to personalize the text to their institution and would give a great framework to encourage those who adopt the text to partner with their librarian.  \r\n\r\nI am not asked this anywhere else so I will share it here.  What audience would this be appropriate for?   I can see applying it to several groups of students that I teach. I could see using it with my undergraduate students, especially when I assign a paper and want them to find sources.  Additionally, the next time that I am asked to do an honors research project with a student, I could see using this text to verify our shared understanding of finding resources and what types of resources are acceptable or not.  For graduate students, I could see using this for my classroom research class for the same purpose.  I also teach our seminar for first semester doctoral students. We meet with the librarian and this would be a great preparatory read for that visit.    This book is not for looking at electronic sources as a source, it is definitely designed to address the needs of someone assigning a traditional paper using traditional library sources and does a good job of introducing relevant topics and opening the door for other appropriate discussion.. \r\n","created_at":"2015-01-12T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2015-01-12T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":243,"first_name":"Rebecca Kate","last_name":"Miller ","position":"Assistant Director, Learning Services ","institution_name":"Virginia Tech ","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text comprehensively covers basic information literacy concepts.  It is interesting that the authors chose the SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Literacy as the book's framework, since a number of additional information literacy models exist.  In the United States, the Association of College \u0026amp; Research Libraries (ACRL) recently revised the ACRL Information Literacy Standards, and developed the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.  These different models simply offer a different lens through which to view information literacy and its goals, but I was a bit surprised that none of these were mentioned.  Since the book seems directed toward undergraduate learners, it does make sense that the information was presented as simply as possible, so I can understand the decision to not include a discussion of other models.  However, the new Framework does include a big focus on metaliteracy, so it may make sense to include that in a future edition of the book.  \r\n\r\nBesides the last two chapters on Visual Literacy and Science Literacy, the information represented in the book is fairly discipline-agnostic, so instructors may want to make sure any discipline-specific ideas are addressed in class or through discussions or reflections.  For example, when primary sources are discussed, an instructor may want to talk about how the term \"primary source\" may mean something different in different disciplines.  This idea does come up in Chapter 9:  Science Literacy, but it's an important one for learners to understand.  \r\n\r\nFinally, the exercises, teaching tools, and graphs at the end of the book really make this a very helpful book for new information literacy instructors.  The authors clearly lay out effective methods for teaching these ideas, and offer very practical and valuable tools for bringing this book into the classroom.  ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Information literacy ideas, tools, and strategies are represented in an accurate and objective manner.  The only issues I identified along these lines are a few misspellings that I discuss more in the grammar section (#9) of this review.  The authors of this book are to be lauded for their accurate and engaging discussion of a complex topic.  ","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"Books on information can be very difficult to keep up to date.  I applaud the inclusion of social media and other types of new media in this text; however, the landscape of social media is changing so quickly that the specific examples given will be out of date sooner rather than later.  Databases can change names or publishers, which could also cause confusion if not updated in the book.  Finally, discover services are hardly mentioned at all (3 times throughout the book), and most libraries are moving in this direction. This is a good example of the extremely dynamic landscape of information in libraries, and in social media, right now.  Of course, instructors could easily take these chapters and update them with relevant examples--again, one of the real benefits of using an open textbook.  ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Information literacy concepts are notoriously complex, and this book does an admirable job breaking down some very complicated ideas.  The scenarios make the concepts at play very clear, and offer learners a way to relate to the ideas discussed throughout the book.  If anything, the book may over-simplify ideas in order to make them accessible.  For example, in Chapter 2:  Scope, the concept of controlled vocabulary is identified as an important consideration in searching databases and library catalogs.  Controlled vocabulary is a strangely difficult concept to grasp for learners who have never thought about information organization; however, I do believe that Chapter 2 is a great starting point for learners beginning to wrap their minds around this concept.  Ideally, the concept would be addressed in class or in discussion at a later point, and learners could really begin to engage with the idea.  ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Overall, this text is fairly consistent.  However, there are a few places in the book where different terminology is used for the same thing.  For example, in Chapter 6:  Manage, the learning objectives stated at the beginning of the chapter use the phrase \"bibliographical software\" to refer to software that helps researchers organize and manage their research.  The rest of the chapter, though, uses the phrase \"reference management software\" to refer to the same thing.  ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"As an information literacy instructor, I could definitely imagine using this book in bits and pieces.  Each chapter does not rely on knowledge of the previous chapter(s), even though that would certainly help.  Important ideas, such as information formats and search strategies, are covered multiple times.  While learners reading through the entire book may need some guidance in order to ensure that they don't skip over some of these parts because they think they have already read about them, this does offer instructors the opportunity to review important ideas and make sure that learners really grasp them at different points in their research, or on their way up (or down!) the Pillar(s).  ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The authors made good use of the flow inherent in the SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Literacy.  Organization/flow is typically difficult in books on information literacy and research, since the research process isn't linear, so I really appreciated that the authors touched on this idea at the beginning of the book.  In fact, the authors' ability to highlight the iterative nature of research was clear, as many of the chapters covered the same ideas, but with a slightly different perspective. Chapters 8 and 9, Visual Literacy and Science Literacy, seemed to fit well at the end of the book, since the learner should already be familiar with the Pillars at that point.  ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"This book is available as a .pdf and as an eBook.  I downloaded both versions, and used both for different reasons.  I preferred to navigate through the book with the eBook version (using a Macbook Air), but appreciated being able to pull up the .pdf in order to search for specific items within the text.  In the eBook version, a few of the graphs were a bit distorted, as they were spread over multiple pages, but the distortion did not present any major issues with my ability to read and understand the goal of the graphs.  The online, interactive quizzes were a great feature, but could potentially cause confusion if a student had printed out pages from the .pdf version of the book, or was not connected to the internet.  The authors dealt with this situation by offering text versions of the quizzes directly below the link to the online quizzes.  ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are no major problems with grammar in this book.  However, there are a few significant misspellings that could potentially impact a learner's experience.  For example, in Chapter 6:  Manage, the authors describe various reference management software, including Mendeley.  The chapter consistently spells it wrong (Mendelay) and even includes this misspelling in the URL given.  The incorrect URL (www.mendelay.com) should be: https://www.mendeley.com/.  ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The scenarios that are part of each chapter are great, and it's clear that learners will benefit from reflecting on an example that may clarify a situation or concept. However, a number of the examples in the book are specific to New York or SUNY, which may cause some confusion.  For example, in Chapter 2:  Scope, the main character uses the SUNY catalog to search for information.  This totally makes sense, given that a number of the authors are from a SUNY institution.  If I were going to use this in a class, I would likely go in and edit a few of the scenarios in order for them to make sense for my students.  Indeed, this is one of the major benefits of an open textbook--that instructors are able to do this!  ","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I've taught both undergraduate and graduate information literacy courses, and I can see using pieces of this book in both classes.  The text is clear, but I think that it is most useful when supplemented with guided practice and discussion.  I think this textbook may also be of interest to new information literacy instructors.  The book offers clear strategies for teaching complex information literacy concepts, and I would recommend it as a starting point for new teaching or instruction librarians in order to get a sense of how these concepts can be discussed and shared.  Thanks to the authors for making their expertise accessible and open!  ","created_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":364,"first_name":"Mary","last_name":"Wepking","position":"Senior Lecturer","institution_name":"University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text uses the contemporary British  framework of the Seven Pillars of Information Literacy: Identify, Scope, Plan, Gather, Evaluate, Manage, Present.  This forms not only the content of the first seven chapters of the book, but also provides a visual representation of the skills and knowledge required to be information literate.  The text conveys a very useful and contemporary emphasis on the behavioral aspects of information literacy, stressing the need for a student to develop habits and dispositions that will move him or her through effective information use.  Additionally, the social context of information use is also present.  Beyond the traditional academic paper submitted to an instructor as the output of a research project, the authors offer suggestions for alternatives from speeches to video to social media.  Both the purpose of the research and the potential audience must be considered.  Adding additional detail on the use of Creative Commons licensing, mentioned briefly elsewhere in the text but not in the context of the research product, would be beneficial.\nIn addition to the Seven Pillars, the text also uses standard information literacy models and tools such as the CRAAP test which will allow instructors to easily use other supplemental materials that use the same models.\n","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content of the text appears accurate and consistent.  However, it would be best if instructors could edit or modify external content linked to the text such as quizzes which are sometimes problematic.  For example, in one quiz question on resources, students are asked to choose the best resource to use to locate the full text of Franklin Roosevelt’s speech in which he said “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”  The possible answers include a website of presidential speeches, a newspaper article from October 1941, and the print version of Vital Speeches of the Day which began publication in 1934.  The correct response is listed as “all of the above.”  However, since the speech was given in 1933, the 2nd two responses seem unlikely to be true.  Clearer questions with answers that do not “trick” students would be preferable.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Over time, as research tools and information sources change, the steps required to effectively use information remain relatively constant.  These steps are clearly defined in each of the book’s first seven chapters.  \nThe authors of the text view information through a very contemporary lens, noting that online information is increasingly social and participatory.  This adds relevance to the text since today’s information user must not only be able to find, assess and use information but is increasingly responsible for information creation and collaboration with others who have interests in the same topic.  Although chapters are devoted to Science and Visual literacy at the end of the text, aspects of metaliteracy (self-reflective and intellectually engaged information use) are embedded throughout.  The addition of information on the concept of transliteracy – how today’s information seekers must be able to access and use information in and between a variety of forms and formats – would also be useful.  Transliteracy is briefly mentioned in the Visual Literacy chapter, but could be used as the chapter topic, expanding coverage to include media literacy of all types (film audio, digital, etc.). ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The authors use clear language throughout.  The use of visuals and scenarios (some with humor) will prove not only informative but engaging to undergraduate students.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The Seven Pillars framework provides consistency and clarity.  In each chapter, a chart separated the chapter’s concepts (Identify, Gather, Evaluate, etc.) into two categories, detailing what students should know about the topic at the conclusion of the chapter, and also what they should be able to do to apply this knowledge to the research process, categories aligned to standards-based instruction in k-12 and beyond.  Today’s undergraduates are very familiar with this model from their pre-college educational experience.  Indeed, many elements of the text align with instructional language and tools used in k-12 education.  The KWHL chart (what to you KNOW about a topic, what do you WANT to know, HOW will you find information, and what have you LEARNED) is regularly used in information literacy instruction in secondary and even elementary school libraries.\nAlthough clearly structured around a step-by-step process to information use, the exercises included throughout the text are appropriate to engage students in critical thinking as opposed to rote learning of a process.  Most encourage students to apply the principles of each step to a topic of personal or immediate interest, yet provide relatable examples to guide that reflection.\n","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The research process in the 21st century is examined through the established steps/pillars, each of which is covered in the first 7 chapters of the text.  However, hyperlinks in the digital versions of the text allow for easy review of concepts and movement between the steps as necessary to the individual learner.  ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is very strong here, with introductory material, organized chapters, in-context examples of visual and scientific literacy, and a summary of content.  ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"In both the PDF and ePub versions which were examined, full functionality were present.  Search features were successful, text size could be adjusted, and bookmarking was available.  \nUse of hyperlinks in the ebook takes students quickly and easily from one part of the textbook to another, allowing for individualized learning and review.  There are also external links to useful resources in context.  The discussion of citation styles, for example, provides a link to an online slide show which instructs students in the elements of citations in several styles and for several types of sources.  As an added benefit, these illustrations are also available in an appendix for off-line access.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors were noted.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text does include some examples of inclusiveness.  In a few subject examples, we see research questions and sources on topics related to gender, race, and culture.  Sample searches and references include links to content that helps to answer the questions posed in these examples.  (Glass Ceiling, women artists).  Additionally, one example in the Evaluate chapter warns against the use of unreliable information; the example given is of information found on Black Confederate soldiers, but the source citations for that information proved biased and incorrect.  This was an appropriate example of the need to carefully evaluate and assess online and other sources.\nAlthough these examples exist within the text, there’s room for greater inclusion of culturally diverse content within this text.    \n","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":377,"first_name":"Christina","last_name":"Trunnell","position":"Head of Library and Information Services","institution_name":"Treasure Valley Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is a very thorough and comprehensive instructional text that connects students with not only the basics of information literacy but with practical application.  Further, each step of the information literacy process is coupled with a delving into the concepts which leaves students inspired to explore and question further.   ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This text reflects no bias and demonstrates care and intent placed into the accurate reflection of information literacy standards and applications.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The text integrates current formats for information access into the examples and research modes.  Using appropriate methodology and incorporating common searching strategies, the authors have created a text that will remain relevant as information formats and methods of access change.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Though the text is clearly written, it utilizes all the technical terminology of the discipline.  For many students, there are sections of the text that will be challenging to follow and require a higher level of thought.  However, the terms are placed appropriately within understandable examples and explanations.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Though the terms and structure of this topic may be great to the student new to these concepts, they are well presented and consistently so.  By the end of this book, students will be left with a solid knowledge of information literacy and the accompanying terminology of the discipline.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text could easily be modified or used in parts in information literacy courses.  It can also be integrated into English composition courses or upper level researched based courses.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The headings, subheadings, images, charts, etc. were appropriately and logically placed making each section read and flow well.  This text reads well and cleanly.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book format is created well and without error.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The examples in the text are all easy to read and cleanly placed.  Though not culturally diverse, they are openly identifiable to the average student.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, this is an incredibly thorough and well crafted text that comprehensively integrates current information literacy standards and concepts with practical application for any student at any level.","created_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":393,"first_name":"Lyndsay","last_name":"Smanz","position":"Lecturer","institution_name":"University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook is a very comprehensive approach to learning about information literacy at the college level, suitable for a 1 credit class or as supplemental material for any other course that includes a research component.  While the content of the book is based on the SCONUL 7 Pillars of Information Literacy, it's coverage of information literacy also aligns well with the ACRL information literacy standards and framework.  The extra two chapters of visual literacy and science literacy are very important topics that fit under the information literacy umbrella and are great additions to the subject.  Worksheets and exercises are included that are appropriate to assign as graded homework or use for in class activities, along with quizzes that can be taken online (although I did not find the quizzes to be very good).  ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I have noticed a few errors in the writing, but nothing that negatively detracts from the book.  My main concern is with the quizzes included with the book. I have found that I often disagree with what the authors have determined to be the correct answer. Before assigning the quizzes, I definitely recommend taking a close look at the questions and answers.  Since the book was written for SUNY, it does have references to their specific library resources (such as the SUNY catalog) which may be confusing to readers from other universities/colleges.  ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Even though the book was only published a year ago, I have found URLs provided to already be out of date.  Search tools and databases (especially those that are freely available) change frequently.  The topics and examples given are very timely, but could begin to seem dated in a few years.  Updates will be necessary for this textbook to remain relevant and for the exercises and examples to be useful to students.  ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is written in a very conversational manner and tries to engage students by framing the content through scenarios they may find familiar.  There is some library/research jargon used, but definitely tries to minimize this and assumes that the reader has limited knowledge and experience with traditional library research tools.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is very consistent from chapter to chapter, as each chapter follows a very similar pattern.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Since research is rarely a linear process, a student could easily find themselves going back and forth between chapters in the book and reading or referencing them out of order.   Concepts can still be understood if reading of the chapters and completion of the exercises occurs out of order.  Each chapter is organized into many different sections by subheadings which allows for assigning even smaller chunks of a chapter for reading.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is organized in typical research stages--starting with identifying a topic, defining information need, developing a search strategy, how to find information, then being able to assess and use the information effectively.  Even though the book is based on the SCONUL model, the same stages are represented in many other information literacy/research frameworks.  It definitely makes sense to approach the topics in this specific order--but as mentioned above, since research rarely is linear, it is expected that some students using this book will be jumping back and forth between chapters.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The PDF file of the book is easy to navigate between chapters.  It would be nice if the worksheets provided in the book were available as fillable PDF forms.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Some typos were noticed.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Overall I didn't find anything to be insensitive or offensive about this book, although I do think scenarios and examples could be more inclusive to a wider variety of information resources and needs.  The book mostly focuses on academic, scholarly research.  The book also does not provide any guidance or assistance for students who may encounter additional difficulties in research because they are international and/or non-native English speakers.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":525,"first_name":"Scott","last_name":"Miller","position":"Reference and Instruction Librarian","institution_name":"Rogue Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text does cover aspects of information literacy quite well. The inclusion of visual and science literacy is unusual for this type of textbook, but welcome. There was obviously much thought put into the structure and focus of the book, but apparently the authors thought no index or glossary was needed. I disagree with that decision. I noticed, too, that no mention was made at any point of doi (digital object identifiers). This omission can hardly be justified and shows an unfortunate sloppy attitude toward citations in general (more on that in the grammar section).\nOn the plus side, I liked that the authors pointed out the use of people - experts - as resources. I also liked their mention of interlibrary loans as a source of material.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"Only considering the content, I found the book accurate enough in the description of concepts and use of terms. On the other hand, the authors were sometimes guilty of bias and presenting uncritical assumptions as facts. One example is the passage on p. 63 (Evaluate) where the authors discuss the book \"Our Virginia\" and how a mother found \"errors\" in the text. They specifically call attention to the claim that there were thousands of black soldiers in the Confederacy. It's ironic that the authors are trying to educate the reader about evaluating source, but they failed to evaluate or present their facts properly. Yes, it may be true that \"Our Virginia\" was written by a non-historian, and it may be true that the author learned about black Confederate soldiers from a potentially biased source, but it does not follow that those facts automatically make the \"errors\" seen by Bernnard, et al. really errors.  Did they read the book? Doing a little research of my own, I located a site hosted by a state (not an individual) that indicated there were perhaps 3,000 or more black Confederate troops. But Bernnard, et al. imply that it's impossible that there were black Confederate soldiers and \"Our Virginia\" contains a gross error. They deserve the grade of F for that section.\n\nAnother example of bias was in the social media section of the book (p. 66) where the authors write, \"Anyone can create or contribute to social media and nothing that's said is checked for accuracy before it's posted for the world to see.\"  Nothing is checked?  Really? Never?  How do they know? If they were honest, they could have simply pointed out that we can't reliably know what social media posts are accurate and which aren't.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book is up-to-date aside from the fact that no mention is made of doi. All the links that I tried worked, but there will have to be regular ongoing updates to keep the book relevant. Even if the links stop working the basic information presented will remain more or less relevant for some years.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"I had no problems with understanding what the authors were trying to get across. I was sometimes irritated that the style would change. Some sections felt like they were writing for 5th grade elementary students, and then other sections felt more suitable for college age students. There was a fair amount of wasted prose.\n\nI also did not understand why the term \"thesis\" was never defined, but under a section about formats a whole paragraph was written about books. It's good to know how books are different than articles, but shouldn't a student get a little help with what makes a thesis different from a hypothesis?","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"I found the book consistent when it came to terminology and framework, but I cannot say the same for style. There were too many places where style would change and one part felt written for elementary students and other parts for college students. To be fair to the authors I should point out that I see this in other instructional books as well.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"One very nice thing about \"The Information Literacy User's Guide\" is that its structure easily allows for readings of parts and even subsections. Headings and subheadings are easy to see and the layout is generally good.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I think the authors did a good job presenting the sections in order (according the \"7 Pillars\") and there was a logical sequence to the book.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I sometimes thought the concept maps were messy and sometimes even distracting or unnecessary, but overall I think the interface worked well.","grammatical_rating":2,"grammatical_review":"I only noticed one minor grammatical error, but citations were another thing altogether. I won't go into all the problems I found with the citations, but I have to give a very low rating here. The citations in the text were nothing short of sloppy and mismanaged. Periods at the ends of citations that should have had them were often missing. There was an inconsistent use of styles - sometimes MLA and APA citations were used on the same page (see p. 61). Even the link that should have showed students how to structure citations had errors. On p. 119 one citation for a work by Zuern had the last digit of the date cut off. Whoever was responsible for proofreading any of the citations did a very poor job and the book should not have been published like this.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The authors made an effort to keep situations in the exercises modern and neutral.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"One last point I'd like to make is about the \"Advanced Searches\" section on page 41. The authors point out that the minimalist search box for Google is not ideal and advanced searching is preferable. The implication is that single search boxes are bad, but that's exactly the trend now with Primo and Ebsco (Discovery) services. Of course, simple search boxes can be filled with terms to create a complex search, but the authors don't make that explicit. Yes, advanced searches are usually the best way to get information, but it's hard to see what the point is here. Is it that simple search boxes are bad? If that's true, then why are libraries trending in that direction and making advanced search tools more invisible?  There could have been a discussion of that very timely topic.","created_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":562,"first_name":"Tina","last_name":"Hovekamp","position":"Ph.D., Library Director","institution_name":"Barber Library, Central Oregon Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Overall, this text is fairly comprehensive.  I found the model of SCONUL Seven Pillars straightforward in its representation of the different phases of information seeking process, and I appreciated the emphasis the authors placed on the fact that research is not always linear and some steps in the process may often need to be reiterated or completed in a different order.  The presentation of how students may experience and use information through the SCONUL model also fits well within the context of “metaliteracy” which the authors use throughout the text as they point to the importance of awareness and self-reflection for each of the steps.  The two additional chapters on Visual Literacy and Science Literacy seem to stand on their own focusing on these two specific information literacy types and highlighting their current significance.  As far as possible recommendations, Chapter 6, Manage, could perhaps benefit from more extensive information on the topics of citing and plagiarism.  For example, the chapter could explain more the importance of citations for the reader, clarify the difference between paraphrasing and quotes (students often struggle in their most common attempts to paraphrase), discuss self-plagiarism, etc.  Chapter 7, following the section on presentation format, could perhaps be enriched more with a discussion of information characteristics that support effective, powerful presentations such as visual material, statistical information, seminal content, etc.  Finally, I was a little surprised to see that Chapter 9 on Science Literacy includes no mention of library database subscriptions as a main source for scientific information.  This chapter touches upon great discovery tools such as Public Library of Science (PLoS), Science.gov, institutional digital depositories, even science zines; however, it seems important to also point to the value of library article databases as discovery portals for scientific information.","accuracy_rating":2,"accuracy_review":"The information in the text is bias-free and accurate. A small recommendation may be that Chapter 6 mentions tools such as Turnitin not just as a plagiarism detection mechanism, but perhaps more importantly, as great tools helping students identify, understand and correct possible plagiarism in their own writing.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The information world is constantly evolving, and I expect the need for the content of this text to be updated on a relatively frequent basis making sure that not only links remain accurate but also the content reflects emerging trends in the way we consume, create and disseminate information.  Still, the main framework of this publication, the Seven Pillars of information literacy, as well as the general approach of metaliteracy will continue to be relevant for the years to come as valuable principles around which students may develop their information skills.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"This text was put together with student needs in mind.  The audience addressed could easily span from undergraduates to graduates, even early career library professionals, with adequate language to weave expertise and linguistic differences.  I found the storytelling method the authors use throughout the text very helpful providing a familiar, non-threatening context to support student understanding.  There is some use of specialized language and terminology, but any necessary jargon is presented contextually in a way that does not inhibit the easy flow of reading even for those less familiar with the concept of information literacy.  Still, it might be helpful to have a glossary of terms included at the end of the text.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent in the application and discussion of the SCONUL Seven Pillars model.  The opening of each of the first seven chapters includes a listing of student understandings and abilities associated with each of the information literacy pillars followed by a graphic representation.  One recommendation I may have is that the language as well as sequence of the proficiency listings and their corresponding graphic representation align more closely.  This may help with consistency and cohesion on what exactly is communicated.  In addition, one of the last chapters, Visual literacy, makes a deliberate effort to link back to the seven pillars model of the text; however, this is not true for the chapter on Science literacy, which could perhaps have followed a somewhat similar format to keep the thematic cohesion and consistency.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is easily divided in chapters based on the Seven Pillars literacy model.  Each of these sections would be easy to adopt as part of the learning progression in a course.  The chapters build upon each other and interlink, but they could also be used individually as stand-alone units (the latter is particularly true for chapters 8 \u0026amp; 9 on the Visual and Science Literacies).","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organizational structure of the text is clear.  The use of scenarios and the authors’ narrative style help the reading flow, the audience’s engagement and the unfolding of the different concepts.  The use of examples and the embedding of exercises within each chapter help the learning progression and allow for student self-reflection.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I was able to download the book both in PDF and ebook format on my iphone and iPad first-generation.  I even printed it out knowing that students often wish to use paper copies of their textbooks.  All formats seem to be available with no major problems (my only problem was retrieving the book using with my ipad 2, probably due to my settings).  Navigation within the ebook environment was easy and the links to quizzes and exercise answer keys worked smoothly.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I did not detect any major grammar errors.  There were a few places where commas are overused and single and plural pronouns are mixed.  One example of a grammatical correction needed in the introduction is at the beginning of the third paragraph, \"While this textbook refers..., there is a variety...\"","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not detect any cultural or gender bias in the text.  It is true that some of the examples and references relate to SUNY resources, but if instructors consider adoption, they could easily modify those references.  Also, the discussions reflect western, mainly American, experiences in the information world, but I am not sure how a text such as this may cover the complexities of a more international scope shaped by different beliefs and values, political realities and access issues.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Below are a few other thoughts and suggestions for possible consideration:\n- in chapter 2, Scope, it may help to provide a more extensive explanation of how keyword searching works, including its challenges as well as advantages.  This might be particularly important since students (actually most of us!) look for information sources mainly by keywords rather than controlled vocabulary/subject headings.  In fact, I would recommend that discussions specifically on the use of thesaurus are minimized and rather point to the utility of subject headings as tools for generating additional terms for expanded keyword searching.\n- I particularly appreciated chapter 4 and the opportunities it provides for self-reflection throughout the research process.  My only comment has to do with the use of Boolean OR in Google Scholar on page 38.  Unless this has recently changed, I understand that the operator OR needs to be in capital letters for it to work effectively in Google.  The authors might want to check on this in case they need to make corrections in the chapter’s examples.\n- In chapter 5, I found that there is a lot of content overlap between the sections “Choosing materials” and “Evaluating resources in practice” to keep them separate.  Since the criteria students need to use in both the selection and final evaluation of sources are similar, it may help to consolidate to avoid unnecessary repetition.","created_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1004,"first_name":"Brandi","last_name":"Porter","position":"Director of Stanley Library \u0026 Associate Professor of Library Science","institution_name":"Ferrum College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is quite comprehensive given the expansive concept of information literacy.  Use of the pillars is a good framework by which to organize the chapters and discuss the various stages of research.  The authors also move beyond basic concepts of library research to include metaliteracy components of visual literacy and science literacy as part of their coverage of information literacy.  ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The topics in the text are well researched and consistent with known literature in the field of information science.  There are no known inaccuracies in the coverage of topics within the text.  Material is consistently presented in an unbiased way.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The authors do a solid job of making a case for the importance of information literacy.  While there is sufficient detail in describing information resources and materials, which may change more frequently; the text also discusses concepts  such as plagiarism and copyright that will present information challenges for many years to come.  This approach adds to the longevity and relevance of the text.  An area that could precipitate the need for updates is if any of the hyperlinked technology resources or URLs become obsolete or unusable.  However, the layout of the text appears such that updates could be made easily.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The authors do a good job integrating knowledge of library resources into the larger context of research and information literacy.  Complex terms and library jargon are explained in detail throughout the text, which should provide clarity for novice researchers.  The use of research scenarios help provide meaningful examples of how information concepts relate to real-world situations.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Chapters for the most part appear to follow a similar format.  They include a definition of the key concept, demonstrable understandings and abilities for that concept, and a research scenario.  Some chapters; however, included a bibliography and others did not.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The organization of the concepts and chapters in this book make it quite modular.  Faculty should be able to easily find and use smaller sections of the book in their instruction.  There is also be some built in redundancy of terms like scholarly publications throughout multiple sections of the text, thus making it easier to pull apart chapters into stand alone lessons.  Exercises and quizzes can also serve as templates, which faculty could build upon to create discipline-specific examples in their courses.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The flow of the text was logical; following the research cycle from identifying a need, to finding and evaluating information, through to presenting one’s final research product.  Chapters relating to concepts presented in other chapters were hyperlinked for cross-reference.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface for reading the book was quite usable allowing for online reading via a URL or downloading to a PDF for offline access.  The book is easily read on a tablet device.  There are some external links to slides and materials, which need use of the internet to be fully interactive.  However, these materials are included as text in the downloadable PDF version.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Several typos exist. They are located on pages: 34, 48, and 72.  These issues were not significant enough to interfere with the reader’s ability to comprehend the text.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The use of the research scenarios, and well as inclusion of real-world examples (like cases of plagiarism in publication) makes the text more culturally relevant for readers.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Librarians might also find this text useful, as it includes many helpful worksheets that could be included in library instruction programs.","created_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1106,"first_name":"Rachel","last_name":"Wexelbaum","position":"Associate Professor / Collection Management Librarian","institution_name":"St. Cloud State University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The authors do an excellent job covering different strategies using Google, research databases, and other resources to search for, evaluate, and use information critically and ethically in visual or written form. They also provide information about how to use online library catalogs to locate books using the Library of Congress call numbers , and provide some advice as to when students should refer to books over journals. What they leave out, however, is using social media for research purposes, as well as how to evaluate information received from social media, which has become a source of information for most undergraduates as well as professionals in the field. (Ironically, the authors provide an exercise for students on how to compose research queries to find out how college students use Twitter for research, though.) While the authors note Wikipedia as a possible source of information for research papers, they do not go into detail on how to evaluate the quality of Wikipedia articles; most students-as well as professors--remain unaware of WikiProject quality scales and how to tell if information in Wikipedia articles is current, or even who makes the edits to those articles. The book also does not address data literacy, which is a major concern if one is going to talk about presenting data or science literacy. The science literacy and visual literacy chapters would have benefited from that addition of data literacy.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"The authors make a broad assumption that people who post information to social media do not check for accuracy, and they attempt to steer students away from using it as opposed to giving them the tools to assess whether or not the information posted is factual. The authors also do not explain how social media content itself can be used as evidence of some phenomenon that students may want to write about (for example, citing Tweets from government figures as evidence of what they may believe, or what they are promising people). Wikipedia is also not explored as a research resource, as the authors make the same assumption that Wikipedia contributors do not use legitimate sources--which is incorrect.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The authors use SCONUL's Seven Pillars of Information Literacy as a main framework for the book. The first seven chapters are named and ordered in sequence of those seven pillars (Identify, Scope, Plan, Gather, Evaluate, Manage, and Present). Academic librarians have used the Seven Pillars of Information Literacy to guide their undergraduate library instruction since 1999. If an undergraduate student is still required to write a research paper or give a presentation based on some form of research, then the content of this book will remain relevant for some time to come.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I found the language used in the book easy to read, and believe that it would be accessible for an undergraduate. The authors provide a conversational, yet professional, tone that students will appreciate, which makes for light reading.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"A different author worked on each chapter, but the language and tone used by the authors, as well as the structure of each of the first seven chapters, appears consistent.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The book is formatted as one large PDF or ePub file. While it is possible for a professor to assign individual chapters or sections of the book, if they wanted to make those chunks available through their course management system it will take some maneuvering with the right version of Adobe Acrobat Reader Pro. A professor could easily assign chunks of the text and not the entire book, but due to the nature of what is being taught, with the exception of the last two chapters on visual and science literacy, it would make no sense to rearrange the sequence of the chapters.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"If the focus of this book is on process, the authors should have chosen one scenario that students can follow, in order to see one strong, positive model of an undergraduate student achieving each of the seven pillars in order to write a paper and give a presentation on a particular topic. Instead, each chapter focuses on a different student and a different research problem that they have to solve, which does not allow the reader to see the research process in action. This will be very confusing for undergraduate students. Also, if the authors want students to follow this process, the book should be reformatted as a workbook, where students will complete exercises that would complement the research assignment that their professor would assign to them. If the intention of the authors is to provide exercises that librarians can give to students during one-shot library instruction sessions, or use in online tutorials, however, this book achieves that goal.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I found the text easy to read and navigate. I appreciated the charts in each chapter that could help a student organize their work, as well as the exercises provided. The authors smartly hyperlink previous or upcoming sections of the book so that students can skip ahead or \"flip back and forth\" if they wish.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There were no grammatical or spelling errors in the text that I could detect. I found the editing to be of high quality, as there was consistency in language and style across the chapters.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"While the text would not be interpreted as culturally insensitive or offensive, the authors do not  do a thorough job explaining what bias is, how it manifests in different types of information resources, and how such bias harms people. Undergraduate students would benefit from seeing some real examples of biased publications, or a real example of a biased student paper, to fully grasp the concept, as a significant percentage of these students will assume that anything written in a traditionally published resource must be correct. On the flip side, a growing number of undergraduate students want to write research papers that identify racial, gender, class, heteronormative, cisgender, and/or other biases in history, literature, science, the arts, etc.--these students need to know where to look and how to unpack what they see. As we are currently in the era of \"fake news\", the skill of identifying bias in a news article or a research article has become more important now than ever. If the authors decide to update this edition they will need to make improvements in this area.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"While the book has some faults, The Information Literacy User's Guide is actually the best information literacy textbook for students that I have seen to date. While I am not sure that I would use the entire textbook for my course LIB 280: Critical Thinking in Academic Research, I believe that the charts and exercises provided would be very helpful for my undergraduate students.","created_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":3134,"first_name":"Cheryl","last_name":"Hoover","position":"Distance Learning Librarian","institution_name":"Montana State University - Billings","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text offers a very comprehensive treatment of the subject, including coverage of developing research questions, thesis statements, and search terms. All digital versions include an effective hyper-linked table of contents. The text links to an ALA glossary of terms; however, the link was broken at the time of this review. \r\n\r\nThere is solid coverage of advanced searching skills like Boolean searching, truncation, phrase searching, and subject headings. Ancillary materials including exercises, tables, quizzes, images, and graphics are very helpful and could be easily incorporated into someone’s course. The quiz answer keys provide detailed explanations in the epub and PDF versions but are less robust in the HTML version. The real life scenarios in many chapters are helpful in making the concepts accessible and relatable to students. The end of chapter bibliographies are also useful for further exploration.\r\n\r\nThis text would benefit from further explanation of primary versus secondary sources. The focus on the Seven Pillars, rather than the ACRL Framework, could be considered a drawback for a higher education audience in the United States. Even with these limitations, this is a quality, comprehensive text on information literacy.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is generally accurate as of the time of publication and appears to be mostly error-free other than some broken web links. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"There are many references to the authors’ institution, which may not translate well to other schools adopting this text. For example, there are quiz questions pertaining to SUNY and references made to the SUNY catalog. While this is something that could be revised, it would require some work to update the SUNY references in the text to make it either more generic or specific to another institution.  The text also provides helpful citation information; however, references to the MLA 7th edition and would need to be updated to the 8th edition.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written in a pleasant conversational tone that is clear and engaging. Technical terms or jargon are explained to readers.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"There is some inconsistency in chapter layout. For example, chapters may start with an introduction, scenario, or even just jump into the concept without a heading of any kind. For ease of navigation, the text could benefit from more consistent formatting of chapters. The use of language and tone appears consistent throughout the text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The first seven chapters do build upon each other and focus on the Seven Pillars model for information literacy. As an information literacy instructor who teaches a fully online three credit, 100-level class, keeping the chapters in this order makes the most sense.  However, readings from the text could be divided into sections or chapters and placed at the point of need in classes that may not need the entire array. The final two chapters on visual and science literacy could work as their own units or modules. The exercises in each chapter reinforce concepts covered and an instructor could easily select the best ones for their needs or do some slight revisions to make them more relevant to their students.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text flows logically through the research process from one concept to the next and the writing style makes it easy to follow along. The chapter exercises and quizzes enhance the text and provide opportunities for students to practice the concepts. The authors also provide helpful hyperlinks to cross reference information.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Overall, the interface is fine. I viewed the book on my computer and the activity components of this text work best in the HTML or epub formats. The online quiz tool is a useful interactive feature that allows students to check their knowledge. A printed version would be less desirable because students could not readily check their answers. The text could benefit from some additional visual interest – the authors actually acknowledge the lack of images in the visual literacy chapter due to the difficulties of obtaining permission. Images could potentially be added in future versions. The external links would need to be checked to ensure they link to the appropriate pages but this is always a problem for online resources. The HTML anchors placed in the text forward students to an upcoming place in the book but lack a return anchor for convenience. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any glaring grammatical errors beyond a few typos.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"No concerns regarding cultural relevance. The examples specific to SUNY or New York might not be easily understood by students of other institutions or in states where they don’t recognize SUNY.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, a comprehensive text that could be used in any information literacy course. Instructors would want to double-check all web links to make sure they direct to the appropriate pages. This text could be useful for both undergraduate and graduate level information literacy course or incorporated into subject-specific courses. The text encourages self-reflection as the reader moves through the modules and makes the link to metacognition.","created_at":"2019-07-31T14:08:26.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-07-31T14:08:26.000-05:00"},{"id":3172,"first_name":"Timothy","last_name":"Hackett","position":"Reference/Instruction/OER Librarian","institution_name":"Peralta Community College District (Merritt College)","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"\r\nThe text is based on the SCONUL format; this provides a solid framework for students to Information Literacy and its related issues.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"No issues/major considerations.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The formatting of the book would make for relatively simple updating.  Most of the examples are from the beginning, rather than the back-end of the decade; however, these provide appropriate \"concrete examples\" of the IL concepts within the chapters.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"There are some sections that are written in a \"breezier\" (more conversational) tone than other sections; however, this does not detract from the work's substance.  Overall, the text is clear, concise, appropriate.  \r\nTechnical terminology is part of the territory, or \"information landscape\" as the case may be; this would not be a consideration for most upper division/graduate students, but might require a \"glossary ramp-up\" for under division/ESL students.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Text hews to the SCONUL format; outline/progression is clear.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This is a strong area for the text, as sections (e.g. dealing with Academic Integrity/Evaluation) could be ported as stand-alone readings for Distance Education courses.  In terms of OER remixing, the formatting of the text lends itself to being used with other IL materials that might be more discipline/subject specific.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Overall presentation is logical/clear/concise; the additions of Visual and Scientific Literacy are useful additions, albeit these could also be used as \"stand-alones\" for hybrid/DE courses.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Having the text in multiple formats is definitely an asset; although I prefer not to read on a mobile device, many of our students do so in lieu of a computer/monitor.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"A few grammatical \"considerations\" although these might result from having a more conversational tone in some of the passages.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"No issues.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, this text presents a solid effort to introduce students and faculty to structure and issues pertaining to Information Literacy.  The \"added sections\" of visual and scientific literacy are useful and appropriate ones.  A couple of minor recommendations:  given the rise of cybercrime/data aggregation, it might be helpful to have a passage concerning information security and a note of about data harvesting/profiling/resultant marketing from individual(student)  searches with certain browsers; in addition, more explanation concerning presentation of visualization of information might prove helpful for initiates.","created_at":"2019-09-26T17:04:17.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-09-26T17:04:17.000-05:00"},{"id":3492,"first_name":"Marisol","last_name":"Moreno Ortiz","position":"Library Reference Assistant/Librarian","institution_name":"Linn-Benton Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers all the pillars and provides additional links for further sources for the students. The content page is clear and provides easy access to the chapters.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Information on the pillars and other information literacy subjects is clear and the explanations are unbiased.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The model of the seven pillars of information literacy, I think that won’t become obsolete any time soon as it provides an effect way to provide information literacy to students. The links that are provided for further information and as further resources are able to be easy updated if needed. For example, in introduction links are provided for websites where search terms can be looked at for their definitions however the links are broken and need to be updated. Introduces primary vs. secondary sources in a simple way that can be understood without confusion. Introduces students to the structure of libraries through the scenarios like interlibrary loan, journal subscription, google scholar etc. It also does a good job of talking about the role of librarians and the work they do in the library. It also discusses call numbers and what they are. Includes the library of congress classification and citations briefly without too much information that can overwhelm students. These are topics that first year students will always need to know to help them access their library fully so they will continue to be relevant. The inclusion of visual literacy and science literacy are relevant for students to know as well as they will come across them in their studies if they are science majors or are into visual arts or even interested in visual information format.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text has been written in a clear matter with simple language that students can understand. Terms introduced are explained if complex. The diagrams to describe the pillars are very helpful and straightforward. Formats of information diagram does a good way of articulating the differences between the formats.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The chapters on each pillars are structured in the same way. Some of the chapters also includes quick quizzes to text students on what they learned in the chapter. For example, a quick quiz on search strategies is a good inclusion for students to practice what they learned in the chapters before it. Quizzes on primary sources and citations at the end.\r\n\r\n","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters are easy to read. Subheadings on topics are introduced effectively without confusion. The chapters on the pillars could be hard to use out of order as they build on each other. The introduction of the visual and science literacies would not disrupt students.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The chapters are organized in clear chapters based on the pillars and other information literacies introduced briefly. However, in chapter one when the pillars are introduced, it would have been appropriate to introduce where they came from, how the pillars were developed in chapter one instead of the introduction. In the introduction a link is provided the pdf of the pillars core model, which is helpful to learn more about how this model was created and by whom. When topics are introduced the structure is information about topic, examples, and then quiz. For example, when the text discusses plagiarism, examples follow,  and then a quiz to test student knowledge. Questions throughout the chapters are a very great way for students to start thinking critically and grow their critical thinking skills when they start to think about audience. Useful links for further information about citations and others are organized in a logical manner and text does not overdo it with the links. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The diagrams of the pillars are clear and are not distorted. The interface of the online reading version is easy to navigate and has the option of the font size to be increased for individuals that prefer to read text in a bigger font. The content section can be easy navigated and chapters accessed individually. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The grammar used is clear without errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text provides a varied examples of scenarios that includes both genders but it is a general text intended for every student learning about information literacy. However, there were opportunities missed where examples of topics would have been used that deal with different social justice topics. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Some of the information that is included that is very helpful for students is that the text does a good job of introducing the library catalog, databases, and their search elements of an interface. It also provides examples of how to create search terms from topics. The text does a great job of introducing Truncation, which not a lot of texts do, or even mention it. Introduces and explains the CRAAP TEST. A valuable section I thought that was done well was that the text clearly explains the different ways to present information. The last two chapters on visual literary and science literacy also do a good job of introducing these literacies to get students thinking about these literacies and how they connect to their studies. Uses scenarios and case study of examples but doesn’t define case study for students. Has links to some search catalogs and engines.\r\n\r\n\r\n","created_at":"2020-01-10T12:25:12.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-01-10T12:25:12.000-06:00"},{"id":4552,"first_name":"D'Arcy","last_name":"Hutchings","position":"Instructional Design Librarian; Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Alaska Anchorage","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is built around the SCONUL (British) Seven Pillars model with the addition of chapters on visual and science literacies. With a chapter dedicated to each Pillar, the book is quite comprehensive. There are topics I wish were covered and others that I wish were covered differently or more in-depth, but there is a limit to how big the book can be and still be approachable for students. I feel it is about as comprehensive as a textbook can be. It can certainly be used as the only text for an information literacy course, though instructors may wish to be selective in the portions they use and to supplement instruction with other materials.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Overall the book content is accurate. There are some philosophical takes the authors promote that some may have issue with (I did), as other reviewers of this text have mentioned (e.g., regarding usefulness of social media and Wikipedia in research).","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Despite being based on the Seven Pillars model, the text works well when course learning outcomes are written for and aligned with the ACRL Framework as mine is. Even instructors unfamiliar with Seven Pillars will find it approachable and easy to work with. Aside from web links, the content is likely to be relevant and useful for a long time. I started using this textbook in 2014 have found it to be consistently useful throughout this time. Instructors may choose to find more recent examples if they feel there are some that may better grab student attention, but the examples provided are appropriate for use over time.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Text is very readable, even if I wish some parts were more concise and others explained concepts more in-depth.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"It is clear that the book is authored by several people rather than one. The reading level, tone, and writing style of the text changes periodically. Still, it seems to be working well enough for my students. Terminology, use/names of headers, etc., are consistent enough throughout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"It is very easy to assign specific chapters and sections of the book while leaving out the rest. Chapters are frequently and logically divided by headers, call-out boxes, and the like.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Organized in the order of the Seven Pillars, the text makes a logical progression.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No issues observed with the interface. Charts, diagrams, and images were overall helpful for understanding the text.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Errors in the text are rare, aside from some broken links. This is to be expected from a 2014 book with web links included. Instructors can update and edit the text if desired, thanks to the Creative Commons license it has, or provide alternative links for their students. Errors are more rampant in the citations, which is a missed opportunity for modeling sticking strictly to a citation format to students.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"While not cultural insensitive, there is a great deal of room for this book to be more representative and inclusive. Common Western (American) names and scenarios are consistently used in examples. As for what the book explicitly teaches, the issues of bias are not adequately discussed. It is more important than ever that instruction on bias (recognizing it in others and identifying one's own) is a key part of information literacy learning.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"My department has used this book as the core textbook in our Introduction to Academic Library Research (LS 101, 1 credit) course since 2014. We use just chapters 1, 5, 2, 3, 6 - in that order - along with a good amount of supplemental materials and hands-on units, in alignment with our course learning outcomes and the way we teach our course. It has served us well and we haven't felt the need to transition to a new textbook despite it being over 6 years old at this point. I would recommend that anyone teaching an information literacy course give this book serious consideration when evaluating the currently available openly licensed textbooks/OER.","created_at":"2021-01-10T15:52:53.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-01-10T16:18:13.000-06:00"},{"id":5014,"first_name":"Sharon","last_name":"Cotman","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Thomas Nelson Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The Information Literacy User's Guide: An Open, Online Textbook is comprehensive and focuses on The Seven Pillars Model of information literacy.  This textbook can be used in any discipline to learn information literacy skills that meet the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Students are exposed to the following steps of research: Identifying the scope and need for information, accessing existing resources, developing a research strategy to gather sources, assessment of sources, organization of information, and presentation of findings in various formats.  At the end of some chapters, there is a bibliography or further readings.  URLs are provided for definitions and a glossary, but the URLs represent broken links, and there is no comprehensive bibliography, index or glossary included in the textbook that students can access while using the textbook.  While students can use the search feature in the online text for specific terms, inclusion of an index and glossary in the textbook would be helpful to students who are used to traditional textbook formats. There are some assignments within the chapters, at the end of the chapters, and at the end of the textbook. These assignments provide a framework for the instructor and can be modified to address the specific class requirements.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The textbook is written in an easy to read style, presents unbiased information and contains accurate content except for broken links.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content is written and arranged in such a way that the general information literacy content remains current, but no mechanism is available to update broken links and content when changes do occur.  Therefore, the instructor has the responsibility of identifying broken links.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The content is presented in an easy to read format that is appropriate for higher education.  Clear explanations and definitions for information literacy terminology are included within each chapter.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Chapters are presented in an appropriate order for a student to learn the standards of information literacy and proper order of the steps of action for a research project.  The text contains short easy to read chapters and they are generally written in a similar format.  The Seven Pillars of Information literacy are covered consistent with that model and the assignments reinforce the text content.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modularity along with the division of topics and sections is excellent for making reading assignments to students by chapter or page numbers.  Each chapter has subheadings and the short length of the chapters is suitable so that reading assignments are not overwhelming plus the focus is on one primarily on one of the Seven Pillars.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The arrangement of chapters is logical and easy to follow.  The topics within chapters has subheadings in addition to some relevant assignments to reinforce the content of the chapter.  The order of the textbook appears to be consistent and well thought out to assist students in learning the principles of information literacy using a practical and realistic methodology.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface of the textbook does not have any significant issues with image distortion.  The diagrams/charts are clear and easy to understand along with providing support for the chapter content.  As for navigation problems, students may be frustrated when they encounter the broken web links if they are reading online.  There are not any display features that distract the reader from the content of the textbook. There are several different ways the textbook can be accessed and this is helpful due to the different types of computers that students may use.  Some of the ways, it can be downloaded as a .pdf file, ebook, word file or print file.  There are still students who prefer a hard copy of textbooks.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Overall, there are a limited number grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.  The type of errors do not impact the information literacy content and meaning of the text for the students.  It is recommended that students be provided additional external resources for creating accurate citations using the correct current format.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The content includes bias and cultural literacy discussions with limited examples and assignments to assist students in understanding bias and cultural literacy.  The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive as that is not the focus of the content.  There are not examples that are inclusive and focused on a variety race, ethnicities, or backgrounds.  This provides an opportunity for instructors to provide supplemental resources as necessary for the class requirements.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, this textbook has been very helpful and is used in the Information Literacy course by undergraduate students at the community college level.  Students have positive comments about this textbook.  Ideally, it would be good if the textbook was updated every few years as necessary.","created_at":"2021-05-31T12:39:16.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-05-31T12:39:16.000-05:00"},{"id":5080,"first_name":"Darci","last_name":"Adolf","position":"Director of Library \u0026 Media Services","institution_name":"Oregon Coast Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The Information Literacy User's Guide was fairly comprehensive for my use as an instructor.  The text was written based on the British seven pillars model.  Each chapter covered a pillar, with the addition of a chapter on visual literacy and one on science literacy.  The seven pillars are:  identify, scope, plan, gather, evaluate, manage, and present.  I would use most of these chapters in an introductory research class. There was a good table of contents, but no index or glossary.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content seems to be accurate, error-free and unbiased.  Each chapter provides steps in the research process and I did not see anything that appeared to be an opinion or false. For example, in the chapter on Managing, students learn about copyright, plagiarism and intellectual property.  They link out to credible websites, such as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  Various scenarios are provided to supplement the ideas.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Content is up to date, and most of the chapters will not need constant updating.  The chapter on gathering resources talks about the various resources, such as blogs and Twitter, and this section would need to be updated more frequently.  Therefore it would be fairly easy to keep this text updated and relevant.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The textbook seems to use a lot of scenarios to walk students through the research process, therefore the language is straightforward and fairly free of jargon.  The terms students may be unfamiliar with, such as \"citation,\" were explained along the way.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text appears consistent throughout all chapters in the terms they use, along with writing style and overall framework.  The frame is developed around the seven pillars of information literacy, and then they've added visual and science literacies.  All of the chapters seemed consistent to each other.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text was divided into chapters based on the seven pillars, plus two additional chapters.  This makes it somewhat easy to pick and choose what you want to use in a course, without using the entire textbook.  I would've preferred to have had the chapters broken down even further into sub-topics.  For example, the chapter, \"Manage:  organizing information effectively and ethically,\" could have been split into sections on organizing materials and another section on handling materials ethically.  There was a lot of scrolling from top to bottom of this chapter.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The textbook was organized along the seven pillars, and it flowed from one to another seamlessly.  The pillars don't necessarily need to be used in order, but it would be easy to pick the chapter you needed based on where you are in the research process. The chapter titles make it clear what would be expected to be included in the chapter.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text seemed free of any interface issues.  There were a few charts used throughout, in addition to self-check exercises, but they did not distract or take away from the text itself.  The text incorporated quite a few bullet statements throughout, in order to simplify the text and add some white space.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I spot-checked the text throughout the book and did not find grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text did not seem culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.  However, there could've been more inclusive and diverse examples used in the various scenarios.   Also, I would've preferred to see some discussion of social justice and equity issues in information publishing and access included in the textbook.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"The author used a running-scenario throughout the textbook, and I didn't particularly care for this style.  I would've like to have seen smaller, bite-sized examples used for each topic.","created_at":"2021-06-12T12:11:38.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-06-12T12:11:38.000-05:00"},{"id":34441,"first_name":"Jeannette","last_name":"Bruno","position":"Library Faculty","institution_name":"City Colleges of Chicago","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text is based on the Seven Pillars of Information Literacy and is quite comprehensive in that. Not only does the text explain each pillar, but also includes worksheets and activities that can be used in class. The PDF of this text links to quizes and activities that take you to the web version of the text at Milne Open Textbooks. While I would use the PDF of the text, the links to the web version to take you to quizzes still work.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This text describes information literacy and said skills in an accurate and unbiased way. And while the content of examples are still relevant, updating would be useful (see Relevance comment).","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"This text was published in 2014 but the examples used still feel timely and relevant. That being said, examples within the text are not all still usable. The content of the examples are still relevant, but there are many links that take you to an error page (see Chapter 5: Evaluate). Either the text itself will need to be updated, or used as a guide to provide links that work.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This text is very friendly to read, it explains library jargon that is useful in a real life research scenario.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This text follows the seven pillars throughout the book in a way that is easy to follow. The examples and discussions are similar throughout with case studies in each chapter.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I find that you could easily pull individual chapters out of this text to use. While a different information literacy framework, it would be easy to use this text in the way that the chapters are laid out when using the ACRL's Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. That being said, within a chapter there are links to previous chapters that explain a concept in more or different detail, which can pose problems if using only some chapters.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This text is organized logically based on the seven pillars framework and then there are added chapters for visual and science literacies.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I read this text as a PDF and had no issues technically. I find the chapter and subchapter headings to be a little hard to find based on the font and bolded letters. Luckily though, each page lists the chapter in the upper right corner, otherwise while scrolling through the text it was hard to tell where I was.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I didn't find any insensitive or offensive content in this text. And as I commented previously, while I find the content of the examples are still relevant, you could easily supplement them (and will have to in cases where there are broken links).","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I especially liked the worksheets and activities provided in this text. The images are also great for displaying boolean operators and citations.","created_at":"2023-03-08T15:27:23.000-06:00","updated_at":"2023-03-08T15:27:23.000-06:00"},{"id":35163,"first_name":"Kathryn","last_name":"Good-Schiff","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"Springfield Technical Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book touches on all the main types of sources a college student is likely to encounter or need.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The overall, conceptual content about the pillars framework for information literacy is accurate, but some of the examples given were inaccurate (e.g. a recent newspaper article is said not to be a primary source) and some of it is out of date (such as the old 140-character limit for a Tweet).","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"At the time of this review, the book is 13 years old, so a good amount of it feels out of date. But I do believe it would be easy to adapt and update.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Most of the chapters are written very clearly and in an accessible style for beginning college students, but the Introduction and Chapter 1 have a more formal, academic, less accessible style. These are the chapters I'm least likely to share with my students, as they are more about metacognition and less relevant to first-year students.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"There will inevitably be some overlap in content with a book like this, but the editors did a good job of explaining either repetition or omissions and referring back to earlier or later chapters.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Much of the text is written in a way that it could be easily excerpted; however, the scenarios are woven throughout each chapter and would be harder to reuse. If I were to adapt this text, I would likely not use the scenarios.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The structure of the book and of each chapter is consistent and clear, but the text-heavy infographics at the beginning of each chapter are distracting and unnecessary.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Several of the external links are now dead links.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There were a few grammatical errors, but not a large amount.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not find anything offensive.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"As is, this book is out of date (10 years old at the time of my writing) but could be easily updated and adapted.","created_at":"2024-07-05T13:44:48.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-07-05T13:44:48.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/the-information-literacy-user-s-guide-an-open-online-textbook","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:31:26.000-06:00"},{"id":681,"title":"Write Here, Right Now: An Interactive Introduction to Academic Writing and Research","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2018,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Write Here, Right Now: An interactive Introduction to Academic Writing and Research utilizes PressBooks to create and host a writing e-textbook for first year university students that would effectively integrate into the flipped classroom model. The textbook could also be used for non-flipped classroom designs, as the embedded videos, diagrams and linked modules would act as an all-in-one multimedia textbook geared towards multiple learning styles and disciplines. The components of the textbook, including the embedded videos, could be swapped in and out in order to accommodate a professor’s best idea of his/her own course design.","contributors":[{"id":4802,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Aaron","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Tucker","location":null,"background_text":"Aaron Tucker"},{"id":4803,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Paul","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Chafe","location":null,"background_text":"Paul Chafe"}],"subjects":[{"id":5,"name":"Education","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"L7","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/education"},{"id":27,"name":"Higher Education","parent_subject_id":5,"call_number":"LC980","visible_textbooks_count":34,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/higher-education"}],"publishers":[{"id":659,"url":"https://pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca","year":null,"created_at":"2019-03-08T20:32:45.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-08-30T15:02:11.000-05:00","name":"Ryerson University"}],"formats":[{"id":1168,"type":"Online","url":"https://pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca/writehere/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1169,"type":"PDF","url":"https://pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca/writehere/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1170,"type":"eBook","url":"https://pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca/writehere/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2213,"type":"XML","url":"https://pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca/writehere/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":4,"reviews":[{"id":3031,"first_name":"Kate","last_name":"Maurer","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Anoka-Ramsey Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"In many ways \"Write Here, Right Now\" presents a significant array of writing instruction.  However, the instruction appears to be based largely on students analyzing sources rather than pursuing answers to a research question or practicing any particular modes of writing (cause/effect, call to action, etc.).  A focus on reading sources deeply isn't a bad thing, it's just not especially helpful in a semester-long analytical writing class at a community college.\r\n\r\n\"Write Here, Right Now\" is an ambitious text with a great approach (instructional text, activities, short videos, and even instructor supplements for each chapter).  That said, spots ask students to perform tasks which assume students bring with them a fairly firm background in basics (paragraphing, basic essay layout, etc.).  I teach at a two-year community college and I am quite sure a number of the activities in \"Write Here, Right Now\" would leave them frustrated and intimidated.  \r\n\r\nFor instance, the first writing assignment (250-word summary), is given on page 2.  A five-page article to use for the assignment follows.  Many of my students would be intimidated by such an assignment so early in the course (especially when writing paragraphs doesn’t get addressed for another 101 pages [ Chapter 5]).    Here’s another example: on page 17 (still  incredibly early this 382 page text), students are instructed to prepare a close reading in which they “should try to compile exhaustive lists: at least 7-10 interesting words, 7-10 definitions of new words, 7-10 lists of patterns, 7-10 contrasts’—quite an ambitious undertaking for brand new writers.\r\n\r\nThe TOC is quite detailed and nicely linked to the text (though TOC headings like \"Watch This!\" could be improved by also including the name of the clip students will watch.\r\n\r\nThere is no index.\r\n\r\n","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Generally the book provides appropriate information, though sometimes it's hard to understand (the reading level changes throughout and despite being conversational, it is likely to be a bit tough for novice writers to decipher.\r\n\r\nOf most concern to me is the documentation section.  Were I to adopt this text, I'd want to omit the final chapters.  Although MLA and APA citation forms are included in the final chapter, the forms of both are inconsistent and frequently fail to conform to current (2019) standards.  Some places provide inaccurate citations while other places cite correctly.  I find this to be a glaring error of this text. \r\n\r\n","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Updating this book shouldn't be too difficult.  The internal headings are ample and the sample readings clearly delineated making editing fairly simple.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"I found the presentation to be somewhat confusing.  Although generally well-written when giving step-by-step instruction, the text’s assigned activities and assignments are frequently vague.  \r\n\r\nIn chapters two and three the writers present their main concept—“two-storey” and “three-storey” thesis statements (the authors are Canadian and use the British spellings of words).  The explanation of these thesis components could use several more basic examples so students can more easily distinguish between the two.  The terms “two-storey” and “three-storey” are used throughout the remainder of the book so if you’re uncomfortable with framing an argument in these terms, the book will be less helpful to you.   \r\n\r\nI appreciated the inclusion of an instructor’s supplement; however, I wanted more consistency and relevance in the activities.  For instance, in chapter 1 the authors write: “Require your students to consider why the author is writing, exactly what is at stake, and exactly how the author best conveys this message.”  So far so good.  However they continue: “Ask the students to produce a sentence following this format:  In “[Name of Article],” [Name of Author] uses citable textual evidence in order to feasible but controversial claim about what this text is really doing.”   I’m confused as to whether students are to merely insert their source into the brackets—and if so, I’m not even sure what the rest means. \r\n\r\nI also found some terms confusing.  For example, the authors made clear that an \"essay blueprint\" (chapter 2) and an \"essay road map\" (chapter 4) are not the same things.  I think most students will become easily confused because the two ideas are so similar.  Linking each with a particular phase in the writing process might help but as is, the text is confusing (an index telling us where to find more info on each would be helpful too).\r\n\r\n \r\n","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The terminology and framework are consistent in the book (but as noted above, despite being consistent, richer explanations in some spots would make the text stronger.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"If one were to edit and reorder the book a bit, it could be useful.  The framework and approach doesn't necessarily fit with my needs, but others may find it a great fit.  I do like some of the explanations however and would be interested in making small handouts of those sections which I can assign as stand-alone readings.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"I find value in covering foundational issues first (paragraph structure, essay structure) then move into  argument, documentation and research through a series of small assignments.  This book takes a different approach but if one wanted to reorder the pieces that probably wouldn't be too tough.  I did find it odd, though, that in the latter part of the book the authors covered writing a research paper (complete with editing checklist) and only THEN introduced documentation.   As is, it seems like an afterthought (which many students think it is), rather than an essential part of the process of argument development.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"\"Write Here, Right Now\" is generally void of navigation problems.  The TOC is detailed and linked to corresponding locations in the PDF document so information is easy to find.   The text also has embedded YouTube videos in each chapter which work pretty well (although very slow to download on my rural DSL).  Unfortunately, once the video ends a number of YouTube's suggestions for further viewing show up which, because they are based on recent clips the viewer has watched, serve as a strong temptation to get distracted (please don't ask me how I know).\r\n\r\nIn Chapter 13 (a fairly crucial chapter on documentation), one of the “Watch This” videos is without a link.  All that's there is a placeholder graphic and a notation of the clip's title and length.  Also in Chapter 13, several images of database entries/screen shots are included (a good idea), however the graphics are so blurry they are unreadable on my laptop (even magnified). \r\n\r\nOne final textual distraction I found was the excessive use of white space.  Lots of mostly blank pages would (IMHO) make printing chapters difficult. Could the spacing need to be that way for TOC hyperlinks to work?","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The writing is solid.  Really, the only things that jumped out were the British spellings of words (which is appropriate given the authors' location) and a rare type-o or dropped word.\r\n\r\nIt did seem as though the book was written in varying levels of difficulty.  It was conversational and easy going in spots and then would switch to complex passages (400+ word paragraphs, for instance).","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I spot-checked this text and it appeared sensitive to race, gender, sexuality, etc.  Nothing jumped out.  I appreciated that the YouTube videos (animated) featured a person of color as the writer","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"\r\nI downloaded a PDF of this text and viewed it on my PC laptop.  I cannot say how the format would translate to a phone or tablet, but I can say that the videos take a very long time to load when one has a rural DSL connection.  For my students (some of whom still have dial-up or occasionally no home internet at all), using the videos could become a hassle and quickly skipped (and they're in some cases the most valuable parts of chapters).\r\n","created_at":"2019-06-30T19:10:44.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-06-30T19:10:44.000-05:00"},{"id":3223,"first_name":"Lori-Beth","last_name":"Larsen","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Minnesota State University System","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"As I reviewed this book, the starting point is far beyond the skills and knowledge of students in a developmental reading course. I began to look at the value of this book for an introductory writing course and wondered if the level of analysis skill might also be too advanced.  However, maybe a simple five-paragraph essay and simple summary are too simplistic for an introductory post-secondary course. Therefore, all areas of the subject are appropriate and comprehensive, but may be too advanced. I would need to use the book to comment more specifically on this.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I only  rate this a four because the examples are quite Canada-specific. The content is excellent and accurate. The skills taught are focused on critically analyzing examples, and the examples are Canada-specific.  However, the examples being Canada-specific do not overshadow the skills taught.  A class outside of Canada could easily use the examples for practice and learning. The content is error-free and accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content of this book is very up-to-date.  Some examples, such as an example of an \"app to download\" may need to be updated as technology changes.  However, that doesn't detract from the content of the skill-building exercises. Any necessary updates or supplemental materials will be easy and straightforward to implement.  If I were to use this book, I would not find it difficult to use my own examples and supplemental materials. The primary content of analysis and writing are easily applied to other examples.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Some of the text in this book is fairly \"high level\". There may be times when a student would struggle to read the lessons.  However, the supplemental videos are an excellent resource for reinforcing the lessons.  I teach developmental reading and an introductory composition class.  Most of the students in these classes would struggle a little to grasp some of the explanations of tasks.  However, as outlined in the introduction, a flipped classroom, where the lessons and videos are available online for free, allows students to revisit each lesson as many times as needed to learn the concepts.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Consistency is a particular strength of this textbook.  Each new skill or task builds in concentric circles upon the last skill. Consistent vocabulary is used to describe each skill and/ or task. For example, students are taught to develop a three-storey thesis. The step-by-step, granular, process to do this uses the same process throughout each section.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The layout and modularity of this textbook is also excellent. It does not include random unrelated snapshots of irrelevant material. Each section is consistent with directions, examples (clearly marked), videos (relevant explanations), and clear tasks. The \"For the Instructor\" section lays out ideas for using this in the classroom.  I could easily imagine how to adapt this textbook with examples and supplemental practice. It would be easy to follow the outline of this textbook through a course with nice stopping points to assign individual practice, peer activities, and discussion.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"As mentioned earlier, this is a particular strength of this textbook.  The topics are organized as building blocks where new skills and tasks build upon the previous ones.  There are simple clear directions for practicing the skills of analysis and writing. I appreciated the \"inside out\" analysis and approach to writing.  I would add some \"pre-reading and finding the main idea\" skills at the beginning of a course if I were to use this book. It assumes that students are already proficient in finding the main ideas.  However, assuming that, the book then presents thoughtful lessons on how to read slowly, finding the main points of an author's argument. It asks students to build an analytical essay logically, step-by-step.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I found no navigational problems.  The book offers clear directions, clearly marked examples, simple embedded video explanations, and clearly marked tasks. There are small pictures, but they are relevant and not disruptive.  The various display features to provide extra visual cues are also relevant to the content and not distracting.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Except for several references to Canada-specific examples, this book is relatively free of cultural bias. The drawings of people in the videos are inclusive. The examples for students to read are non-culturally specific.  For example, one reading sample relates to privatization of common knowledge, another to a comparative study of high school students, and another to language and communication.  Each of these samples seem to be understandable without the culture from which they were written.  It would be fairly simple to supplement with other reading samples more specific to another culture.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Several particular highlights of this book are the references to relevant language use.  They explain why to edit and revise, not just how to do so.  It is an excellent exercise in leaving behind the \"five-paragraph essay and simple summarization\" to becoming a more free critical thinker as a post-secondary student. It lead students to becoming more confident writers, free to express their own brilliance with evidence of critical analysis.","created_at":"2019-10-27T19:55:45.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-10-27T19:55:45.000-05:00"},{"id":4292,"first_name":"Stephen","last_name":"Rust","position":"Writing Instructor","institution_name":"Linn-Benton Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"If you've been looking for a good OER substitute for THEY SAY/I SAY then WRITE HERE, RIGHT NOW is arguable the right OER writing textbook for you.  Write Here focuses on teaching students to write for college by focusing on the mode of rhetorical analysis.  Reader are introduced to the importance of close reading and analysis (\"they say\") before learning to develop their own response and arguments (\"I say\").  The philosophy here is that good writing begins with good textual analysis skills. Based on my 20 years of teaching, I agree that students often come into college thinking that using \"evidence\" in an essay amounts to cherry-picking cool sounding statistics and quotes from source articles without deeply engaging with their sources and reading really closely. I try to encourage students to imagine that they are reading their essay alould to the class and that the people they are quoting are sitting in the room. Using quotations in an essay to develop a conversational tone is a strong focal point of this book and I feel like I could really benefit from sharing some of these chapters with my students.  Of course, not every writing class needs to focus on reading before writing and not every writing teacher should organize their course the same way.  Write Here many not work for you unless you are willing to really buy into the approach taken in the book; this is due largely to the lack of modularity in the book, meaning this would not be an easy textbook to adopt unless you're willing to teach it all they way through in the order presented. Books that focus on sentence-level editing, writing essays that are not based in source analysis, and books that more fully explore rhetorical modes like narrative writing are likely to be more appealing than this one.  I would have a hard time adopting this text because it would be difficult to teach the chapters out of order. The wonderful collection of supplemental video essays covering a wide range of topics would also be a little problematic to assign independently of the textbook or out of order because of the issue of self-referentiality. I also feel like the book over-emphasizes the signature element of the 'three-story thesis' and becomes a little formulaic in its approach (which can be seen as a either a pro or a con like the templates in They Say/I Say).","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Content is accurate, error-free and unbiased.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"At the moment in 2020, Write Here, Right Now remains a highly relevant text.  The examples that are referenced, such as the Charles Justice essay \"The Ultimate Communication App\" referenced throughout the book as the authors show readers how to gather evidence and formulate a three-story thesis is a timely essay well-suited to discussions of writing in digital spaces.  The text uses broad language and broad examples like the Justice essay that give the impression that there is not a strong personality behind the book.  Hopefully, the team that created the book will keep up current with fresh examples.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Very clear and easy to follow. Written in lucid accessible prose.  Plainspoken context used to introduce technical jargon.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Consistent terminology and framework. For me the consistently (especially in the videos) leads to some dullness by the time one gets to chapters 6, 7. Perhaps this feeling of dullness would not set in so much for students if reading over 10-15 weeks of a term but for me the consistency of the format did lead to some feelings of boredom by the time I had reviewed all of the chapters and videos).","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"While some material can be moved around and reordered, the text is overly self-referential. I feel like if I adopted this book I would have to follow it to the letter because teaching some of the material out of order or using it independently of the book (like the videos) would cause confusion for my students. I could avoid this confusion perhaps if showing some of the videos in class but not if I wanted to use them in an online course. I point this out because the creative commons approach makes these shareable but in practice they would need some contextualization if not used in order as prescribed.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Tightly organized; written by a team by has the feeling of a single-authored book. Again if you feel that starting with close reading is the key to teaching good writing I would strongly encourage you to consider using this text start to finish.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Terrific looking interface; strong use of visual design elements and text design. Navigation is a little clunky on Pressbooks, especially the lack of next/back buttons at the bottom of chapters requiring readers to scroll up and re-navigate the TOC.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Terrific editing.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Western idioms are used occasionally which may pose some minor confusion for English-language learners never to the point where idioms distract meaning. Inclusive ethos.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-08-07T13:08:20.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-08-07T13:08:20.000-05:00"},{"id":4323,"first_name":"Lizzie","last_name":"Louis","position":"English Instructor","institution_name":"Community College of Aurora","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook Write Here, Right Now is correct to advertise itself as a textbook for first year university students because it takes on the air that its readers have mastered certain basic critical reading, writing and thinking skills. It clearly is not written for an audience of first generational college students and/or multiple language learners. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way under estimating the potential and ability of nontraditional college students, but I get sense that this textbook intended audience are traditional college students with solid K through 12 backgrounds. So, I might consider using it if I were still teaching at a private Jesuit university, but as a community college instructor, I’m shopping for something more accessible. \r\n\r\nThat being said, the textbook does an excellent job at laying out many areas and ideas of the subject appropriately and provides effective resources for the traditional students, but for the marginalized, under-prepared, disenfranchised student, it does little to connect with students lived experiences beyond in an academically traditional way.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Content is accurate and error free; it is a polished writing. In terms of being unbiased,  beyond putting a person of color on the cover, the textbook does little to relate multi-cultural student.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text is relevant in a traditional educational world. I do appreciate the book addressing current social issues, which makes it adaptable. But, in a COVID 19 reality and a racially charged America, I’m looking for resources that can help me address touchy subjects, to bring students realities and lived experiences into the democratized classroom and address them head out.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Again, for the audience it is intended for, the book is clear, crisp and precise. For me, it would be a challenge to shift to teaching my students the “Three Storey Thesis” model because it seems more Canadian than America, so I don’t foresee taking on that task. I am a strong component for They Say/I Say: Moves that Matter in Academic Writing, so I was hoping Write Here would prove an excellent OER companion or even take its place, but the Three Storey Thesis makes it unfeasible.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is relevant in a traditional educational world. I do appreciate the book addressing current social issues, which makes it adaptable. But, in a COVID 19 reality and a racially charged America, I’m looking for resources that can help me address touchy subjects, to bring students realities and lived experiences into the democratized classroom and address them head out.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The videos do a better job at this than the textbook. While the book does reiterate subject matter consistently throughout its 300 plus pages, The Three Storey Thesis makes the textbook and video content a unit, so it might be challenging to dismantle the structure; the textbook seem requires an all or nothing commitment....","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Yes there are. It is risky to except some students to hold back writing until they practice and grasp information and techniques in so many chapters--especially the population I serve: nontraditional, multi-lingual, working students....","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"From a traditional dominate cultural bent, it is stellar....\r\nSomething that caught my attention was that there are videos supplements for each chapter, which are short, visually appealing and available on YouTube—which is a selling point for me because I’m  conscious that some students have challenges navigating IT, but sense YouTube is accessible, I could envision my students accessing them.. I am not clear, however, way the authors call it interactive; it comes across more like watch television....","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Clean, crisp, clear. I do think the text has strong modeling capabilities: students learning to write by reading...","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"I think there are some microaggressions: it seemed like the dark skinned people were surrounded by questions and where always puzzled. There was one image with no questions: near the end where I dark skinned man was sitting at a desk.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"In examination of the content, I think that some students would need the video component in order to unpack the density of the text. In addition, after a while the videos felt overwhelming, the images started disappearing and were replace by dense passages of text. I found myself thinking, maybe I feel overwhelmed because I’m watching some many videos back to back, and since students would be encountering the videos over time, the process would not so unbearable.","created_at":"2020-08-15T01:21:18.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-08-15T01:21:18.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/write-here-right-now-an-interactive-introduction-to-academic-writing-and-research","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:31:38.000-06:00"},{"id":311,"title":"WAC Partnerships Between Secondary and Postsecondary Institutions","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2015,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Working with educators at all academic levels involved in WAC partnerships, the authors and editors of this collection demonstrate successful models of collaboration between schools and institutions so others can emulate and promote this type of collaboration. The chapters in this collection describe and reflect on collaborative partnerships among middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities that are designed to prepare students for the kinds of work and civic engagement required to succeed in and contribute to society. The WAC partnerships celebrated in this collection include frameworks to build connectivity between institutions while addressing Common Core State Standards, academic and non-academic collaborations around science education, WAC partnerships in Argentina and Germany, and both long- and short-term collaborations.","contributors":[{"id":3534,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Jacob","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Blumner","location":"University of Michigan-Flint","background_text":"Jacob S. Blumner, Director of the Marian E. Wright Writing Center and Associate Professor of English at the University of Michigan-Flint. He has co-edited two books, and his work has appeared in The WAC Journal, Across the Disciplines, and Praxis: A Writing Center Journal."},{"id":3535,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Pamela","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Childers","location":"McCallie School","background_text":"Pamela B. Childers, Caldwell Chair of Composition Emerita at McCallie School and Executive Editor of The Clearing House. She has written numerous articles and chapters on WAC. Her books include The High School Writing Center, Programs and Practices: Writing Across the Secondary School (with Anne Ruggles Gere and Art Young) and ARTiculating: Teaching Writing in a Visual World (with Eric H. Hobson, and Joan A. Mullin)."}],"subjects":[{"id":5,"name":"Education","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"L7","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/education"},{"id":27,"name":"Higher Education","parent_subject_id":5,"call_number":"LC980","visible_textbooks_count":34,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/higher-education"},{"id":28,"name":"Secondary Education","parent_subject_id":5,"call_number":"LC980","visible_textbooks_count":10,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/secondary-education"}],"publishers":[{"id":498,"url":"http://wac.colostate.edu/books/partnerships/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","name":"WAC Clearinghouse"}],"formats":[{"id":835,"type":"PDF","url":"https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/partnerships/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":836,"type":"eBook","url":"https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/partnerships/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":2,"reviews":[{"id":3987,"first_name":"Meredith","last_name":"McCool","position":"Assistant Professor and Director of the Education Program","institution_name":"Sweet Briar College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text begins with a chapter that introduces the reader to Writing Across the Curriculum in which the authors state that the purpose of the book is to \"promote models of collaborative partnerships across the curriculum and across schools/colleges, so other institutions can design their own programs or create new innovative ones,\" a purpose upon which they deliver. The text does not provide an index or glossary; however, I never felt the need to access one as I was reading.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Drawing on the experiences of a range of authors and practitioners of WAC partnerships--educators in both high school and higher ed, high school peer tutors--from Argentina, Germany, and the United States, the text provides a variety of perspectives. What is more, the authors intentionally highlight both successful and less than successful WAC partnerships. In particular, the chapter by Beaumont and colleagues and that by Hansen and colleagues detail very different experiences with WAC partnerships, yet both reached similar conclusions: that shared beliefs and values allow partnerships to thrive.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text was published in 2016, although many of the partnerships detailed therein took place earlier in the last decade. Whereas the content does not feel out-of-date, it does not reflect the ways in which WAC partnerships might make use of newer technologies such as video conferencing platforms.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Overall, the clarity of the text is high. To support clarity as well as transferability to other contexts, several chapter authors provided artifacts of their WAC partnerships such as rubrics, assignment descriptions, and guides for writing center conversations.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The chapters within the book feel consistent--particularly with respect to the ways in which they provide concrete examples that the reader could transfer to their own practice--with the exception of the chapter by Navarro and Chion. While well-written, the chapter lacks concrete examples and thick descriptions, impeding the transferability of the authors' findings.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is subdivided into separate chapters, each with its own set of authors. Whereas each chapter could stand alone, the authors also often reference other chapters within the text, supporting cohesiveness and continuity.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is bookended by chapters that provide a zoomed-out view of WAC partnerships. Inside this frame, each chapter zooms in on a particular partnership. Some authors make explicit connections to other chapters with the text. In some cases, vastly different experiences yielded similar results. Such throughlines support the reader in making connections across chapters and WAC partnerships.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I read the text as a PDF and experienced no interface issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"WAC partnerships in different countries (i.e., Argentina, Germany, the United States) are described; however, the broader cultural contexts of the programs within these countries are not explicitly addressed.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"As a teacher educator who is frequently exploring ways to facilitate engagement that spans the boundaries between K-12 schools and higher education, I encountered many ideas in this text that I hope to explore in my own practice and share with my school partners.","created_at":"2020-06-15T17:31:57.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-15T17:31:57.000-05:00"},{"id":34314,"first_name":"Tim","last_name":"Sears","position":"Associate Professor of Practice","institution_name":"University of Texas Rio Grande Valley","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text provides comprehensive descriptions of a variety of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) partnerships between secondary and postsecondary schools. Readers can explore specific examples and logistics of collaborative efforts throughout the United States and abroad (Argentina, Germany) that span a range of academic disciplines, levels, and courses. Neither an index nor a glossary is provided but terms are defined within ten chapters outlined clearly in the table of contents.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text describes in detail--and without any noticeable content errors--different models for WAC partnerships intended to address and improve gaps between high school and college writing. Chapters include conceptual or theoretical frameworks but also practical logistics, methods, and processes that secondary schools, postsecondary schools, and writing centers can use to implement similar partnerships. The advantages and disadvantages of partnerships are discussed in the first and last chapters, and specific successes and obstacles discussed in each chapter are useful and unbiased.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Chapters describe partnerships and collaborative models that are relevant to both secondary and postsecondary institutions that want to implement programs for writing across the curriculum. Methods describing ways to utilize high school and college writing centers are particularly relevant, as are the chapters that offer insights into embedding writing in the physical and life sciences to improve student learning. Implications for Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are discussed. The text was published in 2016 but the modular nature of each chapter lends itself to the addition of examples involving popular technologies--like online video conferencing and shared documents for real-time collaboration and feedback--in future updates.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is clear and the discipline-specific terminology used is adequately explained to promote an understanding of how theory can be applied in various educational settings. Chapters describe recommendations based on successes, lessons learned, limitations, and obstacles (i.e., pacing). Understanding how to implement effective or improved partnerships is enhanced through the inclusion of questionnaires, data that offer evidence of impact, and appendices that provide rubrics, assignments, and practical guides.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Each chapter provides examples of meaningful WAC partnerships utilizing a consistent approach that includes relevant background information, an overview of each partnership described, and details of each collaborative partnership in the context of an appropriate conceptual or theoretical framework. Subheadings help with consistency yet are aligned to each chapter's distinct examples in order to provide readers with meaningful insight for inspiration or their own partnership implementation.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Chapters provide practical and appropriate sections with logical subheadings to convey the variety of partnerships and program implementation, advantages, and disadvantages. The modular nature of each chapter can be read and analyzed in any order and independently of each other to meet the needs of a course, its instructor, or its students. A robust list of references on a wide range of relevant topics aligned to frameworks is included at the end of each chapter for further reading.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The chapters describe a range of partnerships across disciplines using a logical, clear organizational structure enhanced by clear subheadings and meaningful implementation details. The partnerships that are described offer the reader inspirational case studies to analyze or consider in the context of their own implementation plans.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is offered in ePub and PDF formats that are easy to read and free of interface issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors were observed.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text is culturally sensitive: Various examples from partnerships throughout the United States plus Argentina and Germany are discussed. They offer different perspectives and make clear the impact of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) initiatives on various populations. Readers can make comparisons and identify one or more models from comparable institutions or settings that are feasible for their needs. A deeper discussion about or integration of culturally relevant pedagogy could enhance the text.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This text offers many practical WAC models rooted in theory that I plan to share with my institution's writing center. As an instructor of pre-service STEM educators, I appreciated the high-engagement writing strategies in the sciences described and plan to share them with my undergraduate students.","created_at":"2022-12-20T11:01:18.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-12-20T11:01:18.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/wac-partnerships-between-secondary-and-postsecondary-institutions","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:11:20.000-06:00"}],"links":{"self":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/higher-education.json?page=1","total_pages":4,"total_count":36,"next":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/higher-education.json?page=2"}}