INFORMATION LITERACY:
AN ACTION PLAN

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• To review and assess the current bibliographic instruction program.
• To support a campus-wide focus on the research process in the midst of rapidly expanding information resources and technologies.
• To develop and articulate a definition of information literacy and/or a developmental research skills sequence  appropriate for St. Olaf College and its students.
• To design and implement an information literacy/developmental research skills program that is sensitive to disciplinary distinctions and builds on the earlier 3-tiered model of bibliographic instruction. 
• To offer to faculty professional development opportunities to become familiar with a variety of information resources, explore different research strategies, and redesign courses and assignments with information literacy/developmental research skills integrated into the course objectives.
• To collaborate with faculty in developing new paradigms of research instruction across the curriculum.
• To collaborate with appropriate institutional offices in developing evaluation tools which allow for regular assessment of student learning, outcomes, and the effectiveness of the program.
• To develop a sense of shared ownership of the program by participating constituencies.

Given their established commitment to teaching research methodologies, the Libraries are offering to assume a leadership role in initiating a cross-campus examination of information literacy/developmental research skills. 

   Faculty in other academic departments and programs 

Effective information literacy/research skills is/are ideally situated within a department's or program's framework. Continued close collaboration between these entities and the Libraries will be essential in implementing a re-visioned program.

   Academic Computing Center

As documented in the report from the Task Force on Innovation in the Liberal Arts, “Faculty now seek to integrate the technological possibilities and information resources of the World Wide Web into their courses."13  To become life-long learners, today’s students need to be both information and computer literate.  With a renewed focus on student learning, the Libraries and the ACC need to be consistently collaborating and supported by the college in this collaboration.

   Center for Innovation in the Liberal Arts

The Center's goals, as outlined in the Final Report from the Task Force, resonate with those of this Action Plan. With its commitment to support instructional uses of new technologies; "collaborative strategies in assignments; testing and evaluation;…(and) summer workshops and colloquia to bring faculty together for conversations about innovative, collaborative, and integrative professional and pedagogical work,"14  the Center is well-situated to facilitate cross-campus discussions and collaboration on information literacy.

   Administration

As noted above, the Dean’s and Associate Dean’s support of the Libraries' commitment to explore and implement information literacy has contributed to new library initiatives. Continued understanding of the Libraries' expertise in pedagogy and information resources will enhance the Libraries' ability to lead in this area. 

   Students

Clearly any re-visioning of library instruction and further integration of information literacy/research skills into courses will require not only student feedback but also an assessment of student learning. An excellent example of faculty-student collaboration has been the partnership between student preceptors, the psychology department, and the Libraries in the development of an Information Literacy Lab in Psychology 122.15