A Shared Repository of Information Literacy TeachingLearning Tools by Phyllis Wright Brock Universit

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A Shared Repository of Information Literacy
Teaching/Learning Tools??byPhyllis WrightBrock
University
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Origins of the Idea

• A six-month academic leave allowed me to study
  some aspects of information literacy
• Visited academic libraries in British Columbia
  and Ontario in 2002-2003

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Results of the Library Visits

• All are considering how to, or are in the early
  stages of integrating IL into the curriculum
• Librarians are overworked
• A great deal of work is being duplicated
• There is little time to design and create
  tutorials
• The 50-minute BI session continues to be the norm

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Results, continued

• Librarians continue to teach how to use tools
  instead of concepts
• Some librarians are not yet willing to switch
  from BI to IL
• Conflicts exist about what IL should look like,
  about the philosophy of teaching IL, and who
  should teach it

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Results, continued

• Time is spent creating tutorials, but they are
  not frequently used
• IL needs to be tied to assignments
• Most librarians want IL integrated into the
  curriculum workload is a problem
• Need to have credible standards
• IL is not about librarians teaching, but about
  student needs

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Results, continued

• Team teaching works well
• Few instances of formal evaluation/assessment
  programs
• Need champions amongst faculty

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Ontario Council of University Libraries

• Contacted the Chair of OCUL in November 2002
• She asked that I submit a formal proposal for an
  IL Cooperative Project for consideration by all
  20 Directors
• I then couldnt seem to find my way into this
  proposal

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Problems?? But, of course!

• How would I approach the proposal?
• How would I describe content?
• Who would prepare content and keep it current?
• How much time would it take to build the
  Repository?
• What software/hardware would we use?

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Problems

• How much would it cost to create?
• How would the project be managed
• Would sustainability be possible?
• Where would the Repository reside?

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Attempts to Resolve the Problems

• Drafted a formal proposal and asked colleagues
  for input
• Decided to abandon the proposal
• Prepared a proposal for a Feasibility Study for
  an Information Literacy Cooperative Project which
  was submitted to the Directors in early May and
  Approved on May 23, 2003

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Striking a Committee

• Asked to Chair the Feasibility Study Committee
  and select members
• Members include Cory Lavery, Queens, Marian
  Press, OISE/UT, Ann Romeril, Ottawa, Lisa
  Sloniowski, Windsor, Phyllis Wright, Chair, Brock

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Needs Assessment - Some Tidbits

• Of 33 surveys sent out, 25 completed
  questionnaires were returned
• Of the 25 respondents, 21 had someone at their
  institutions who was responsible for coordinating
  library instruction

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Who was in favour of a Repository?

• 22 of the 25 respondents were in favour 2
  against
• Advantages
• Avoid duplication of work within our consortium
• Smaller institutions would have the same high
  quality materials
• Sharing allows access to a large number of
  resources

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In favour, Continued

• Saves time at each institution
• Creates uniformity and team work amongst
  institutions
• Have one place to locate IL teaching resources
• Facilitate the development of consistent learning
  objectives

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Against

• The two who answered no, clarified their
  responses with reasons
• Requires constant monitoring and updating
• I develop my own materials to support my teaching
  style

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When asked whether the ACRL Standards were
suitable to the Canadian environment

• 23 of 25 said yes, and 2 said no
• Those who said no indicated that the standards
  are very high and need to be simplified to make
  them achievable

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Who would collaborate in the development of the
Repository?

• 21 said yes, 2 said no
• Those who said no indicated that it would depend
  on staff availability
• There were insufficient staff members

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Gender Balance

• 12 males and 12 females responded to the survey.
  One survey was completed by a team therefore no
  gender was provided

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Comments

• It was mentioned that such a project was long
  overdue
• Most would be happy to contribute to the
  repository
• Concern that only a few people would do all the
  work
• Support staff and librarians work together in
  some institutions to design teaching modules.

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Havent made recommendations yet, so
Dont tell!
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WebCT and Information Literacy

• Used 4 English courses as prototypes
• Created quizzes
• Added course syllabi and course guides
• Added Help sheets, e.g. Evaluating Information,
  How to Narrow a topic, etc.
• Created links to the Catalogue
• Linked to relevant databases

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WebCT - continues

• Presentation made to faculty in April 2003
  project favourably received
• Pilot Project this fall with three courses
• Given class time in small chunks, e.g. 20 minute
  sessions as needed
• Have office hours in the English Department to
  assist students on demand

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Thank you.
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