Preaching to the non-converted: the art of promoting information literacy to academic staff Jacqui Weetman DaCosta The College of New Jersey, USA

A bit of self-promotion Currently (as DaCosta) Information Literacy Librarian at The College of New Jersey Small, highly selective (4 year) state-funded college Tenure track post Previously (as Weetman) Academic Team Manager at De Montfort University, Leicester Learning & Skills Development remit Started information literacy research

The art of preaching: session outline Why do we need to do it? Promoting information literacy by Publishing in journals Presenting at conferences Spreading the word at our own institutions Share experiences

Preaching to the converted Influencing students by influencing staff “… the effectiveness of information literacy programmes depends on the teaching partners having a shared understanding of how information literacy is developed …” (Ivey 2003, Abstract) We need to be proactive – can’t expect our academic colleagues to be mind-readers!

Getting the message out there – in journals Jacobson & Vallely (1992): Reviewed journals published Found 74 articles on library instruction in non-library journals 51% by librarians; 24% librarians with faculty Conclusion …

Jacobson & Vallely (1992, p. 362) “Librarians need to write more articles about BI, not for library journals, but for pedagogical journals in all disciplines.”

Getting the message out there – in journals Stevens (2007): Reviewed journals published Found 25 articles on library instruction in 54 ‘relevant’ non-library journals 28% by librarians; 48% librarians with faculty Conclusion …

Stevens (2007, p. 9 online) “Although there are those who would blame faculty for not integrating IL into their classes and their pedagogical articles on their own, much of the responsibility for the dearth of IL articles in non-library journals belongs to librarians.”

Getting the message out there – in journals Review of 2006: Searched 21 cross-disciplinary databases (see Appendix 1 for list) Found 29 articles on information literacy in non-library journals (excl. duplicates) 10% by librarians; 7% librarians with faculty Yet over 500 articles published in library journals on information literacy (source: LISA and LISTA)

Bruce (2001, p.113) “It has been evident that little of the literature is appearing in mainstream higher education journals or discipline- based journals, suggesting that the transformation of the information literacy agenda from a library-centred issue to a mainstream educational issue is only beginning.”

Where could you target? Educational journals on the pedagogy of information literacy, e.g. Studies in Higher Education Discipline-specific journals for pedagogy and case studies, e.g. nursing, physical sciences, sociology, physical education See Appendix 2 for some suggested publications

Getting the message out there – at conferences Internal conferences, e.g. Teacher Fellows Conference Educational conferences CLTAD - Enhancing Curricula: contributing to the future, meeting the challenges of the 21st century in the disciplines of art, design and communication, 6th - 7th April 2006 Hotel Sana Park, Lisbon, Portugal

Getting the message out there – at conferences Educational conferences

ISSOTL 2006 (Washington D.C.)

How to find what’s on? Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (ISSOTL)

conferences.org/ecel/2007/ecel07/home.htm Fancy a trip to Copenhagen?

Taking the message closer to home – raising awareness

Taking the message closer to home – being pushy!

Taking the message closer to home – showing off!

Talking of awards Who has put themselves forward for a Teaching Excellence Award? Teacher Fellow Award? National Teaching Fellowship Award? Currently four librarians are National Teaching Fellows

Get your message out there! “It is clearly time for [Australian] information literacy innovators to make a much stronger, and combined, stand about the nature and value of their work to the rest of the higher education community.” (Bruce 2001, p. 114)

So what are you all still doing here? Thank you!

References Academic Conferences International (2007) ECEL 2007 – call for papers. Available from: [Accessed March 7, 2007] Bruce, C. (2001) Faculty-librarian partnerships in Australian higher education: critical dimensions. Reference Services Review, 29 (2), Ivey, R. (2003) Information literacy: how do librarians and academics work in partnership to deliver effective learning programs? Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 34 (2), Jacobson, T.E. & Vallely, J.R. (1992) A half-built bridge: the unfinished work of bibliographic instruction. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 17 (6), Stevens, C.R. (2007) Beyond preaching to the choir: information literacy, faculty outreach and disciplinary journals. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, in press. Weetman, J. (2005) Osmosis – does it work for the development of information literacy? The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31 (5),