FAU Information Literacy 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of a library database such as EBSCOhost or ProQuest at FAU?
- To provide free entertainment content
- To offer access to peer-reviewed and scholarly articles (Correct answer)
- To replace the need for physical library visits
- To store personal research files
Correct answer: To offer access to peer-reviewed and scholarly articles
Library databases like EBSCOhost and ProQuest provide access to peer-reviewed journals, scholarly articles, and other vetted academic resources.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes a peer-reviewed article?
- An article written by any author and published online
- An article evaluated by subject-matter experts before publication (Correct answer)
- An article that has been read by at least 100 people
- An article published in a major newspaper
Correct answer: An article evaluated by subject-matter experts before publication
Peer-reviewed articles are evaluated by qualified experts in the field before publication to ensure accuracy and scholarly credibility.
Question 3: When evaluating a source using the CRAAP test, which criterion specifically assesses the timeliness of the information?
- Currency (Correct answer)
- Relevance
- Authority
- Accuracy
Correct answer: Currency
The 'C' in CRAAP stands for Currency, which evaluates how recent or up-to-date the information is.
Question 4: What is a 'primary source' in academic research?
- A source that summarizes and analyzes other research
- An original, firsthand account or raw data (Correct answer)
- The most frequently cited source on a topic
- Any source found in a university library catalog
Correct answer: An original, firsthand account or raw data
A primary source is an original, firsthand document such as a research study, diary, interview transcript, or original dataset.
Question 5: Which of the following is the strongest indicator that a website is a credible academic source?
- The website has a professional and attractive design
- The URL ends in .com
- The content is authored by a recognized expert and includes cited references (Correct answer)
- The site has a large number of visitor comments and shares
Correct answer: The content is authored by a recognized expert and includes cited references
Credibility is established by expert authorship and the presence of cited references, not visual appeal or popularity.
Question 6: FAU's library system provides students with access to which of the following services?
- Only print books available in the physical building
- Online databases, e-books, digital journals, and interlibrary loan services (Correct answer)
- Social media platforms for academic collaboration
- Personal cloud storage for student assignments
Correct answer: Online databases, e-books, digital journals, and interlibrary loan services
FAU Libraries provide access to online databases, e-books, digital journals, and interlibrary loan (ILL) services for research support.
Question 7: What is a Boolean operator in the context of library database searching?
- A standardized citation format used in research papers
- A keyword that connects search terms to broaden or narrow search results (Correct answer)
- A library cataloging and classification system
- A type of open-access academic journal
Correct answer: A keyword that connects search terms to broaden or narrow search results
Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) are logical connectors used in database searches to combine or exclude search terms and refine results.
FAU Information Literacy 1
What is the primary purpose of a library database such as EBSCOhost or ProQuest at FAU?