INFORMATION LITERACY:
AN ACTION PLAN

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• An active Library Committee, with members representing all faculties, to provide feedback and leadership in implementing a coordinated approach to a campus-wide information literacy/ developmental research skills program.
• Support by Center for Innovation in the Liberal Arts in facilitating cross-campus dialog and faculty professional development.
• Support by and collaboration with the ACC, WRI program, the Dean, and Associate Deans. 
• Funding to support faculty in the implementation of an information literacy/developmental research skills program, including:
• Information Literacy Institute, a summer faculty development program to provide a pilot group of faculty and/or departments with an opportunity (1) to explore information literacy/research skills from a disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspective (2) to redesign or create curricula with information literacy/developmental research skills fully embedded (3) to serve as models for other faculty and/or departments.  Stipends would be offered to faculty and staff. 
• Interdisciplinary faculty discussion groups to gather for bi-weekly luncheons. This model is based on the experience of the 1977 NEH grant and more recent Boldt luncheons.
• Cross-campus workshops on electronic resources. These would be open to any interested faculty and/or departments. 
• Release time to provide the opportunity to define and implement information literacy, explore assessment tools, and create Web pages to support information literacy. 16
• Information literacy lecture series.  These could include faculty panels or external consultants.
• Assistance of College’s Office of Academic Planning in developing tools to assess (1) student learning resulting from new models of research instruction (2) collaboration between librarians, faculty in other disciplines, and the ACC (3) curricular innovation that supports information literacy. 
• Assistance of support from the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations in identifying possible grant sources.

• Incorporate topic of information literacy/developmental research skills into Library Review.
• Convene the Library Committee to review Information Literacy Action Plan and make recommendations on ways to proceed.
• Meet with representatives from ACC, WRI, the Center for Innovation in the Liberal Arts, and the Center for Integrative Studies to discover ways in which information literacy integrates with and/or complements their programs. 
• In conjunction with the Library Committee, initiate discussions on information literacy and the research process with other appropriate group(s) that might include:
• Department Chairs 
• Individual departments 
• Faculty Development Committee 
• GEC (General Education Committee) and CEPC
• Student Senate
• Continue work with Psychology and Music faculty on (1) serving as model departments in the integration of developmental research skills into all course levels of the curriculum (2) investigating additional ways to collaborate in developing curricula. 
• Collaborate with the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations in identifying possible funding sources.
• Plan information literacy lecture series.

• Collaborate with departments and programs to identify core research competencies considered important for students to have in accessing and using information resources. 
• Begin to revise, in collaboration with departments and programs, the multi-tiered bibliographic skills guidelines so that they take into account information literacy, the impact of technologies, and the proliferation of electronic resources. 
• Offer cross-campus workshops to individual faculty and/or departments on electronic resources. 
• Reaffirm the College's commitment to integrate library-based research into GE seminars. Explore the expansion of such commitments.
• Invite faculty members and/or departments to submit proposals to participate in a pilot Information Literacy Institute. This summer program would provide faculty members with the opportunity to explore in conversation with colleagues (1) core research competencies considered important for students to have in accessing and using information resources (2) the different ways in which student research (in the library, the lab, and the field) is/could be conducted within their discipline (3) new approaches to integrating information literacy and research skills into their courses. Their programs could then serve as models for other faculty on campus. 
• Investigate ways to assess (1) student research and learning evolving from new models of research instruction in the library and other academic departments (2) collaboration between librarians, faculty in other disciplines, and the ACC (3) curricular innovation that supports information literacy. 
• Examine "best practices" at institutions similar to St. Olaf. 

• Offer pilot Information Literacy Institute to selected faculty members and/or departments. 
• Implement assessment tools for measuring (1) student learning (2) curricular innovation that supports information literacy (3) collaboration among the various involved constituencies. 
• Organize interdisciplinary faculty discussion groups to examine:
• Ways in which information literacy/developmental research skills are already incorporated into courses.
• Ways in which the theoretical perspectives and developmental research skills of diverse departments and programs are/are not linked.
• Impact on departments and courses of implementing new skills. 
• Ascertain appropriateness of bringing an Information Literacy/Developmental Research Skills Proposal to the GEC, the CEPC, and/or the faculty as a whole.

• Invite faculty members and/or departments to participate in additional summer programs based on the initial pilot project.
• Offer continuing opportunities for faculty to convene and assess the ways in which developmental research skills are embedded in theirs courses and/or majors.