Information Literacy Demonstration – Partnership of Faculty and Library Gergana Georgieva Information Literacy Librarian August 25, 2008

IL101: Information Literacy in a Nutshell  Definition  Development  IL as a Liberal Art  Information/Computer Literacy

Who is Information Literate?  “To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information”.  “Ultimately, information literate people are those who have learned how to learn. They know how to learn because they know how knowledge is organized, how to find information, and how to use information in such a way that others can learn from them. They are people prepared for lifelong learning, because they can always find the information needed for any task or decision at hand.” American Library Association's Presidential Committee on Information Literacy

The Standards The Information literate individual:  Determines the nature and extent of information needed;  Accesses needed information effectively and efficiently;  Evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system;  Uses information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose;  Understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues, surrounding the use of information and access and uses information ethically and legally. Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education

Performance Indicators and Outcomes 1.The information literate student defines and articulates the need for information. Outcomes Include: a.Confers with instructors and participates in class discussions, peer workgroups, and electronic discussions to identify a research topic, or other information need b.Develops a thesis statement and formulates questions based on the information need c.Explores general information sources to increase familiarity with the topic d.Defines or modifies the information need to achieve a manageable focus e.Identifies key concepts and terms that describe the information need f.Recognizes that existing information can be combined with original thought, experimentation, and/or analysis to produce new information Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education

Accreditation Standard 4: The Academic Program “The institution ensures that students use information resources and information technology as an integral part of their education. The institution provides appropriate orientation and training for use of these resources, as well as instruction and support in information literacy and information technology appropriate to the degree level and field of study.” NEASC, 2005, Standard 4.6

Accreditation – continued  Standard 7: Library and Other Information Resources  “The institution demonstrates that students use information resources and technology as an integral part of their education, attaining levels of proficiency appropriate to their degree and subject of professional field of study. The institution ensures that students have available and are appropriately directed to sources of information appropriate to support and enrich their academic work, and that throughout their program students gain increasingly sophisticated skills in evaluating the quality of information sources.” NEASC, 2005, Standard 7.8

The Teaching Library  Otis Hall Robinson provided his visionary statement of librarians as teachers in 1876  Switch focus from things to people  Maximizes the use of its facilities, its information resources, and its information technology to promote learning.  The library becomes a central or the prime learning place on the campus.

The Teacher-Librarian Accreditation agencies call for librarians to:  Serve on curriculum committees;  Speak out on direction of general education and disciplinary education;  Be involved with the development and revision of courses;  Work with faculty on exercises and assignments to improve student learning and to assess student outcomes.

Current IL Program 1.User Awareness 2.Orientation 3.In-class training for students: 2.1. General IL instruction 2.2. Discipline-specific IL instruction 3.Faculty training

What Else Can Be Done?  Drop-in clinics  Workshops  Ten-minute library invitation  Lectures outside of class time  Online tutorial  Pretest

The Student Perspective  Personal experience;  Information overload;  One textbook  One database  Lack of information/motivation

The Survey

Partnership of Faculty and Library NetworkingCoordination CooperationPartnership AllianceRelationship TeamworkLiaison Building bridges

Essentials for Successful Collaboration  Shared understood goals;  Mutual respect, tolerance, and trust;  Competence for the task at hand by each of the partners;  Ongoing communication. Ruth Ivey “ Information Literacy: How do Librarians and Academics Work in Partnership to Deliver Effective Learning Programs?” Australian Academic&Research Libraries 34 (June 2003)

The Curriculum  Integration;  Course ingredients;  The practice of research  Curriculum map

The Assignment  The syllabus;  Additional required course readings;  Required types of sources for the research;  The process of information gathering;  The library as a case study project.

Drawbacks  Perceived lack of interest;  “Sink-or-swim” model;  Time constraints;  Competing demands of teaching and research schedules;  Faculty staffing patterns;

Benefits  “You do my job, I got paid.”  High quality research;  Increased motivation, reflection, innovation, and breadth of content and delivery;  Increased usage of the library;  Improved collection development.  Information literate graduates

Thank you! Please feel free to contact me any time. Gergana Georgieva