PREPARING ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS FOR A CHANGING ROLE: A CASE OF A CANADIAN INFORMATION LITERACY PROGRAMME

2005 ◽  
pp. 112-125 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Literacy Programme ◽  
Changing Role

scholarly journals Engelond: A Model for Faculty-Librarian Collaboration in the Information Age

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scottt Walter
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Instructional Program ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Pilot Program ◽  
Medieval Studies ◽  
Academic Curriculum ◽  
Information Literacy Instruction ◽  
Further Development

The question of how best to incorporate information literacy instruction into the academic curriculum has long been a leading concern of academic librarians. In recent years, this issue has grown beyond the boundaries of professional ibrarianship and has become a general concern regularly addresssed by classroom faculty, educational administrators, and even regional accrediting organizations and state legislatures. This essay reports on the success of a pilot program in course-integrationi nformation literacy instruction in the field of medieval studies. The author's experience with the "Engelond" project provides a model for the ways in which information literacy instruction can be effectively integrated into the academic curriculum, and for the ways in which a successful pilot program can both lead the way for further development of the general instructional program in an academic library, and serve as a springboard for future collaborative projects between classroom faculty and academic librarians.

scholarly journals Embedded Peer Inquiry Specialists: A Gateway to Information Literacy

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Salomon ◽  
Julia Glassman ◽  
Simon Lee ◽  
Alicia Reiley
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Course Evaluations ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Combined Model ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Information Literacy Skills ◽  
Academic Year

Peer-assisted learning has been embraced by higher education as a way to boost student success. At the same time, academic librarians have found embedded librarianship to be an effective way to develop students' information literacy skills. The embedded librarianship model, however, is difficult to scale. The UCLA Library is testing a program that combines embedded librarianship with peer learning to solve some of the challenges associated with those models.The program works by embedding a student who has completed a General Education (GE) lecture course back into the current year's course to help students with research and writing assignments. The embedded student, called an "Inquiry Specialist,” is nominated by that course's faculty. The program launched in 2015 in five courses that serve a total of 830 students. Assessment is ongoing and includes: 1. IRB-approved study that will compare data (grades, retention, first-generation status, etc.) from students who connected with an Inquiry Specialist with those who did not; 2. Information literacy pre- and post-assessments; 3. Analysis of course evaluations; 4. Student survey.Results indicate that the combined model is an effective and scalable gateway to information literacy. During the first six weeks of Fall, 830 students (15% of the freshman class) attended a 40-minute library orientation. Approximately 20% of the 830 students subsequently sought additional help from the Inquiry Specialists. An analysis of course evaluations demonstrated that students in courses with an Inquiry Specialist rated their improvement in library and research skills 25% and 19% higher, respectfully, than students in courses without an Inquiry Specialist. Student scores on the information literacy quiz increased by an average of 9%. When surveyed, 68% of students said the Inquiry Specialists were “Very Helpful” (36%) or “Helpful” (34%). Plans are underway to double the size of the program in the 2016-17 academic year.

scholarly journals Microaggressions as a Barrier to Effective Collaboration Between Teaching Faculty and Academic Librarians: An Analysis of the Results of a US and Canadian Survey

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Alwan ◽  
Joy Doan ◽  
Eric Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Working Relationships ◽  
Teaching Faculty ◽  
Effective Collaboration ◽  
And Performance

Facilitating effective collaboration with teaching faculty (TF) for the purposes of student success and performance is often a priority for academic librarians (AL). The topic of effective partnerships between these two groups has received a great deal of scholarly attention within the field of library and information science (LIS). However, in practice, harmonious working relationships can be difficult to establish and maintain. This is in part due to the lack of understanding of the role and status of AL by TF. The existing divide between these parties has led to discourse and dismissive actions on the part of TF that may be perceived by some AL as microaggressive. While some work has been done on microaggressions in higher education, little quantitative data exists on status-based microaggressions by TF towards AL and its effect on collaboration in the context of information literacy (IL). In early 2016, the researchers surveyed U.S. and Canadian AL in order to collect data on perceived status-based microaggressive experiences. Analysis of the data indicates that status-based microaggressions, although not ubiquitous, do exist. Moreover, the data indicates that some librarians may experience more frequent instances of status-based microaggressions based on self-reported demographic characteristics.

scholarly journals Let’s Get Moving!: Eight Ways to Teach Information Literacy Using Kinesthetic Activities

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-34
Author(s):  
Alexandria Chisholm ◽  
Brett Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
College Teaching ◽  
Student Movement ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Teaching Methodologies ◽  
Practical Advice ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Starting Point

Kinesthetic pedagogy uses physical movement to stimulate learning; recent studies in higher education increasingly reveal the effectiveness of kinesthetic activities (KAs) in college teaching. Accordingly, this paper suggests that academic librarians explore the use of kinesthetic activities in their instruction. Librarians have designed many excellent classroom activities based on other active learning pedagogies that happen to provide opportunities for some student movement. However, few librarians have intentionally incorporated KAs into their instructional design or contextualized their efforts within kinesthetic pedagogy. Nevertheless, some existing teaching methodologies discussed in library literature can offer a starting point for kinesthetic-conscious information literacy (IL) teachers. This article presents librarians with a menu of effective, evidence-based library activities documented in the literature along with practical advice from our trial-and-error experiences to enhance the kinesthetic benefits of these activities and manage student movement in the classroom.

scholarly journals Everyone Likes a Challenge: Getting Students' Attention with Interactive Games and Authentic Assignments

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-161
Author(s):  
Theresa McDevitt
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
University Of Pennsylvania ◽  
Indiana University ◽  
Mental Processes ◽  
Interactive Games ◽  
Information Literacy Skills ◽  
Google Search ◽  
Indiana University Of Pennsylvania

Most college students today have little trouble finding information through Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia. They find it more challenging when asked to locate, evaluate, and ethically use the highest quality and most appropriate resources, which might require them to look beyond the first few hits in a Google search. Academic librarians are spending more time designing and delivering instruction to help students develop these important information literacy skills. How can librarians design their classes to promote the learning of these higher-order mental processes? How can they capture the attention of their students and engage them in the learning process? Adding games, activities, and authentic or problem based assignments to existing instruction sessions may be the answer. This article will discuss how librarians at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) Libraries have made instruction more engaging and effective by adding action to orientations and authenticity to assignments.

scholarly journals Posing the million dollar question: What happens after graduation?

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison J. Head
Keyword(s):  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
And Training ◽  
Literacy Research

This paper reflects on the increase of information literacy research about the workplace and lifelong learning during the past 10 years. Librarians have long held that lifelong learning is the goal of information literacy instruction and training, but until the last decade, there has been a paucity of research about the information-seeking behaviour of students after they graduate. The origins and drivers of this shift in the research agenda are examined, drawing on US research studies by Project Information Literacy (PIL), and related research from around the world. Key takeaways from this body of work are discussed in addition to the implications findings have for academic librarians teaching and working with university students. Directions for future research are identified and discussed.

scholarly journals Workplace information literacy skills

2018 ◽  
Vol 119 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 469-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Yousuf Ali ◽  
Joanna Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Information Resources ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Content Type ◽  
University Library ◽  
Administrative Units ◽  
Locating Information ◽  
Survey Responses

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the level of information literacy (IL) skills competency among university library professionals in Karachi, Pakistan and to address areas of concern. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was designed, using Google Forms, to collect data from 77 academic librarians working in 25 universities in Karachi, Pakistan. The questions covered six generic attributes: library systems, information resources, searching techniques, research support, IL and generic/personal attributes. Findings The results indicate that the librarians who were surveyed had good IL skills in information searching and locating information resources. However, the average of all survey responses was 54.17 per cent, with 12 of the 24 competencies receiving scores of less than 50 per cent, thus indicating a generally overall low level of IL competency in the workplace. Research limitations/implications As the study was limited to universities in Karachi, it would be useful to apply the same methodology to other administrative units within the country. Further research is indicated on the potential impact of gender on aspects such as level of IL skills and motivation to enhance workplace competencies. Practical implications The authors have suggested a number of strategies, which would be applicable globally to any university library wishing to improve the IL skills competencies of its staff. Originality/value There have been no previous published, non-discipline-specific, research studies on the IL skills competencies of academic librarians in Pakistan.

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