INFORMATION LITERACY:
AN ACTION PLAN
It is important to recognize that there may be a number of constraints in developing a coordinated approach to information literacy at St. Olaf. Within the Libraries, this initiative has coincided with a decrease in faculty FTE, retirements, and a major library review. Across campus, other academic departments are also having to pay increased attention to issues of accountability, outcomes assessment, budget constraints, shorter class periods, cuts in faculty FTE, the call for new initiatives and programs, and the balance among terminal, adjunct, term, and tenured faculty.
Care needs to be taken that the implementation of a program of developmental research skills across the curriculum enhances both learning and teaching, rather than being just another demanding add-on. Already, some faculty whose class sizes have increased are finding the need to revise research assignments so that they are not overwhelmed. An information literacy/developmental research skills program has pedagogical implications for both classroom teachers and librarians and may well be interpreted and implemented differently with different disciplines. The faculty need time, training, and resources to encourage them to discuss and explore this topic. A strong faculty development program supported by individual departments, the Center for Innovation in the Liberal Arts, the Faculty Development Committee, and the administration needs to be in place to encourage the implementation of an information literacy action plan across the curriculum.
To support such an action plan, there may also be a need to clarify the ways in which the Libraries' and ACC's instructional roles and areas of expertise are distinct, the ways in which they overlap, and the areas in which increased collaboration would strengthen the departments' curricula. It should also be noted that while the college has moved rapidly in the area of technology with (1) the campus fully networked (2) the continual updating of software and hardware by the ACC (3) the increasing variety of electronic resources now available through the Libraries, the facilities to support a growing hands-on approach to teaching and learning are also in increasing demand. Providing enough appropriately-sized electronic classrooms dedicated to instruction and research may be a challenge.
Regionally, there also are no external pressures
to implement an information literacy/developmental research skills
program. For example, the North Central Association does not include
information literacy in its guidelines, while the Middle States
Association of Colleges and Schools does. It is up to the faculty
at St. Olaf to take the initiative in creating a coordinated information
literacy/developmental research skills program.