preaching to the non-converted: the art of promoting information literacy to academic staff jacqui...

Preaching to the non-converted: the art of promoting information literacy to academic staff

Jacqui Weetman DaCostaThe College of New Jersey, USA

(dacosta@tcnj.edu)

A bit of self-promotion

Currently (as DaCosta) Information Literacy Librarian at The

College of New Jersey Small, highly selective (4 year)

state-funded college Tenure track post

Previously (as Weetman) Academic Team Manager at De

Montfort University, Leicester Learning & Skills Development

remit Started information literacy research

The art of preaching: session outline

Why do we need to do it? Promoting information literacy by

Publishing in journalsPresenting at conferencesSpreading the word at our own

institutions Share experiences

Preaching to the converted

Influencing students by influencing staff “… the effectiveness of information literacy

programmes depends on the teaching partners having a shared understanding of how information literacy is developed …” (Ivey 2003, Abstract)

We need to be proactive – can’t expect our academic colleagues to be mind-readers!

Getting the message out there – in journals

Jacobson & Vallely (1992): Reviewed journals published 1980-90 Found 74 articles on library instruction

in non-library journals 51% by librarians; 24% librarians with

faculty Conclusion …

Jacobson & Vallely (1992, p. 362)

“Librarians need to write more

articles about BI, not for

library journals, but for

pedagogical journals in all

disciplines.”

Getting the message out there – in journals

Stevens (2007): Reviewed journals published 2000-05 Found 25 articles on library instruction

in 54 ‘relevant’ non-library journals 28% by librarians; 48% librarians with

faculty Conclusion …

Stevens (2007, p. 9 online)

“Although there are those whowould blame faculty for notintegrating IL into their classesand their pedagogical articles ontheir own, much of theresponsibility for the dearth of ILarticles in non-library journals belongsto librarians.”

Getting the message out there – in journals

Review of 2006: Searched 21 cross-disciplinary databases

(see Appendix 1 for list) Found 29 articles on information literacy in

non-library journals (excl. duplicates) 10% by librarians; 7% librarians with faculty Yet over 500 articles published in library

journals on information literacy (source: LISA and LISTA)

Bruce (2001, p.113)

“It has been evident that little of theliterature is appearing in mainstreamhigher education journals or discipline-based journals, suggesting that thetransformation of the information literacyagenda from a library-centred issue to amainstream educational issue is onlybeginning.”

Where could you target?

Educational journals on the pedagogy of information literacy, e.g. Studies in Higher Education

Discipline-specific journals for pedagogy and case studies, e.g. nursing, physical sciences, sociology, physical education

See Appendix 2 for some suggested publications

Getting the message out there – at conferences Internal conferences, e.g. Teacher

Fellows Conference Educational conferences

CLTAD - Enhancing Curricula: contributing to the future, meeting the challenges of the 21st century in the disciplines of art, design and communication, 6th - 7th April 2006Hotel Sana Park, Lisbon, Portugal

Getting the message out there – at conferences

Educational conferences

ISSOTL 2006 (Washington D.C.)

How to find what’s on?

Staff and Educational DevelopmentAssociation (SEDA)http://www.seda.ac.uk/conferences_and_event.htmInternational Society for the Scholarshipof Teaching & Learning (ISSOTL)http://www.issotl.org/index.html

http://www.conferencealerts.com/index.htm

www.academic-conferences.org/ecel/2007/ecel07/home.htm

Fancy a trip to Copenhagen?

Taking the message closer to home – raising awareness

Survey of academic staff at De Montfort University on perceptions of information literacy

Development of Information Literacy Framework

Inclusion in De Montfort University’s Programme Planning Handbook

Taking the message closer to home – being pushy!

Attendance at validation panels

Lunchtime discussion with Engineering section leader

Increased Engineering information skills teaching by 40%

Taking the message closer to home – showing off!

Development of information literacy module on Blackboard

Curriculum Development & innovation Award

Faculty E-Learning Showcases

Talking of awards

Who has put themselves forward for aTeaching Excellence Award?

• Teacher Fellow Award?

National Teaching Fellowship Award?• Currently four librarians are National

Teaching Fellows

Get your message out there!

“It is clearly time for [Australian]

information literacy innovators to make

a much stronger, and combined, stand

about the nature and value of their work

to the rest of the higher education

community.” (Bruce 2001, p. 114)

So what are you all still doing here?

Thank you!

ReferencesAcademic Conferences International (2007) ECEL 2007 – call forpapers. Available from:http://www.academic-conferences.org/ecel/ecel2007/ecel07-call-papers.htm[Accessed March 7, 2007]Bruce, C. (2001) Faculty-librarian partnerships in Australian highereducation: critical dimensions. Reference Services Review, 29 (2),106-115.Ivey, R. (2003) Information literacy: how do librarians andacademics work in partnership to deliver effective learningprograms? Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 34 (2),100-113.Jacobson, T.E. & Vallely, J.R. (1992) A half-built bridge: theunfinished work of bibliographic instruction. The Journal ofAcademic Librarianship, 17 (6), 359-363.Stevens, C.R. (2007) Beyond preaching to the choir: informationliteracy, faculty outreach and disciplinary journals. The Journal ofAcademic Librarianship, in press. Weetman, J. (2005) Osmosis – does it work for the development ofinformation literacy? The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31 (5),456-460.