The Library Instruction and Information Literacy Program is dedicated to ensuring students, staff and faculty learn to effectively find, evaluate and use information. Our mission parallels the college's mission to "develop liberally educated persons who are able to gain and to apply knowledge humanely, intelligently, and effectively in a complex, changing world."
The Instruction and Information Literacy Program attempts to do the following:
- Prepare students to become lifelong learners by fostering adaptable Information Literacy skills through classroom instruction as well as individual reference interactions. Interactions actively engage students and, when possible, require hands-on sessions.
- Support faculty by providing their students with the research skills needed to successfully complete specific assignments.
- Promote library resources and provide training in the use of those resources. Promote the Library as an integral part of a student's education and foster reliance upon its resources.
- Cultivate enthusiasm and support for Information Literacy by meeting with faculty and staff. In collaboration, determine best practices for infusing those skills into assignments and/or curriculum.
- Create tools that teach and assess mastery of Information Literacy skills at each level of academic development.
- Evaluate librarians' teaching strategies for improvement as needed.
Goals & Objectives:
- Help students determine their information needs.
- Help students learn how to find and access information: determine the most useful techniques for finding information.
- Introduce students to research tools such as databases paid for by the college, free online websites, professional research tools and print materials. Help students understand the difference between free and paid for materials, and how to access such materials.
- Determine how to critically evaluate all information received, especially in the Internet age. Students will learn how to evaluate sources on the World Wide Web, including subject databases, government websites, professional websites, etc.
- Identify and determine the differences among research sources (for example, scholarly journals, magazines, trade journals, encyclopedias).
- Help students identify the most effective ways to use the information gathered/received: for example, the difference between primary and secondary sources.
- Help students understand the political, legal and moral issues involved in information use and application. Such issues as intellectual property, fair use, copyright law and plagiarism will be discussed.
- Help students determine the best way to acknowledge the sources of information. Students will become familiar with a range of citation styles and software tools used for bibliographies, endnotes, etc.
Implementation:
With an emphasis on active learning, the program serves the Curry College community by offering Library instruction in the following formats:
- "One-shot" course-integrated classes
- First year Library Orientation
- Library Workshops and Seminars
- Research Assistance
- Assessments of student learning, both short- and long-term
- Provide Research Guides and Tutorials to support student learning
- Progressive, complementary instruction programming aimed to evolve with students as they progress through their academic careers.
- On and offsite impromptu instruction via the reference desk, telephone, email and instant messaging.
Outcomes:
- Promote lifelong learners
- Promote self-reliant and self-directed information users
- Foster critical thinking. Students fluent in information literacy will know how to a) take control of information overload; b) find information; c) use information; d) evaluate information found; e) respect and acknowledge the authority of information producers.
- Cultivate improved information organization skills, allowing students to capture relevant information from materials more effectively and develop an intuitive understanding of its effective use for coursework.
- Promote greater awareness and use of the information technology available to the Curry College community.
Last updated: February 15, 2011.