Learning Objectives

• Understand the importance of using digital text, print, and other media in your curriculum.
• Develop good search strategies.
• Identify best practices for using ISearch in the classroom.

Best Practices for Digital Reading

Reading on a screen is different than reading print. According to recent research, most American readers prefer print books to ebooks. Increasingly, students are required to engage with electronic text. These are just a few recent trends that require students to develop the skills needed to read digital texts for comprehension:

• online testing
• research, news, and popular journal publications have moved from print to electronic​
• higher rates of e-textbook adoption​
• transformation of college library collections from mostly print to largely electronic​
• increasing numbers of college students enrolling in distance education courses​

INFOhio's Best Practices for Digital Reading were collected by the INFOhio Early Literacy Task Force from journals, education publications, and research studies. Although the best practices were compiled with early readers in mind, most apply to working with older students as well, including:

• instructor engagement with students and the digital text
• instructor modeling digital operations of the text and interface
• student use of digital tools to engage with the text
• connecting digital text to other forms of media

In the following exercise, you will make use of the Best Practices referenced above. You'll also learn an advanced search technique.

1. Find a recent print issue of a magazine that is written at a level appropriate for your students. In this example, we'll use Time Magazine.
2. Find that same issue of that magazine in ISearch. You can use some of the search strategies you've learned in previous lessons in this class. This is an advanced search strategy that can be useful if you are looking for any items from a specific publication:
   1. Visit your ISearch landing page. (Note: This technique does not work from the ISearch widget on the INFOhio homepage, but you can get to your ISearch landing page from that ISearch widget. From the INFOhio homepage, leave the ISearch search box empty and click the ISearch button.)
   2. From the ISearch landing page search box, type so:[your magazine title] in the search box. For Time Magazine, type so:time magazine in the search box.
   3. Click the basic sources tab.
   4. From the Sort By drop-down, select Date Newest.

      

   5. Click the View/Download button to navigate to the EBSCO Detailed Record page. In this example, click the View/Download button for "Tensions simmer between Brazil and Europe over Amazon deforestation."
   6. Use the Permalink or Google Classroom button to save a link to this item.
3. In your classroom, show students the print issue of Time Magazine. Talk about the different components of the print issue: cover page with magazine title, volume and issue numbers, date, table of contents, individual article titles, article authors, page numbers, etc. Point out the article "Tensions simmer between Brazil and Europe over Amazon deforestation." Tell students they will be using ISearch to view that same article as a digital text.
4. Use your saved link to bring up the EBSCO Detailed Record page for "Tensions simmer between Brazil and Europe over Amazon deforestation."  Ask students to identify any elements of the print version of the text that they can find on the Detailed Record page.
5. Demonstrate important tools:
   1. Click the Cite button to demonstrate how this citation helper can give them a rough draft of the citation.
   2. Demonstrate the Permalink button for saving the URL for this item. Demonstrate any other saving tools that apply to your students.
6. Click the PDF Full Text button.
7. Ask students to identify any elements of the print version of the text they can find on the PDF version of the text.
   
8. Read excerpts from the PDF version and the print version of the article together.
9. Discuss how a student could take notes if they were working with the print version or the electronic version. Provide suggestions for how you want students to engage with the digital text.
10. Let students know most of the items they find in ISearch were originally published in print.

For more information on the importance of engaging with digital text, challenges with engaging with digital text, or supporting students who are learning to read digital text, see the following reports and articles:

• Foasberg, N. (2014). Student Reading Practices in Print and Electronic Media. CUNY Academic Works.
• Mizrachi, D., Salaz, A. M., Kurbanoglu, S., & Boustany, J. (2018). Academic reading format preferences and behaviors among university students worldwide: A comparative survey analysis. Plos One, 13(5), e0197444. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0197444.
• Mizrachi, D. (2015). Undergraduates' Academic Reading Format Preferences and Behaviors. The Journal of Academic Librarianship. 41. 10.1016/j.acalib.2015.03.009.
• Mizrachi, D. (2016). Buy, borrow, or access online?: Format behaviors among college freshmen in a reading-intensive course. Reference Services Review. 44. 583-595. 10.1108/RSR-04-2016-0024.

Tools for Reading Digital Text

Learn more about the many tools available within ISearch in this lesson, Tools for Reading Digital Text.

Reflecting on Your Learning

1. Do you prefer to read print text or digital text? Does it depend on whether you are reading to learn or reading for pleasure?
2. How do you engage with print text to further your comprehension of the text?
3. Do you know about any apps or add-ons that can help you or your students engage with digital texts in ways that are similar to engaging with print texts?