Meeting of the Minds: Practical
Ideas for Information Literacy
Collaborations in the 21st Century
Kean University Library
December 5 and 6, 2008
Kean University Librarians
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Craig Anderson
Linda Cifelli
Janette González
Shirley Horbatt
Chrisler Pitts
What Is Information Literacy?
Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring
individuals to "recognize when information is
needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate,
and use effectively the needed information." 1
Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong
learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all
learning environments, and to all levels of
education. It enables learners to master content
and extend their investigations, become more
self-directed, and assume greater control over
their own learning. An information literate
individual is able to:
1American
Library Association. Presidential Committee on
Information Literacy. Final Report.(Chicago: American Library
Association, 1989.)
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Determine the extent of information
needed
Access the needed information effectively
and efficiently
Evaluate information and its sources
critically
Incorporate selected information into
one’s knowledge base
Use information effectively to accomplish
a specific purpose
Understand the economic, legal, and social
issues surrounding the use of information,
and access and use information ethically
and legally (American Library Association,
2006)
Information Literacy and
the 21st Century Academy:
Opportunities for PK-20
Collaboration
Practical Reasons for Collaboration
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Generate student interest by
exposure to the university setting,
often including a greater number of
information resources
Demonstrate that the need for
information literacy skills doesn’t
stop with high school graduation, but
continues into college
Help to ease the transition from high
school to college libraries
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Bring information literacy to the
attention of both school and
university administrations with the
goal of generating the allocation of
resources needed to provide effective
information literacy instruction
Provide an atmosphere of creative
synergy where librarians and
educational media specialists
generate new ideas
Librarians and teaching faculty
need to develop students’ critical
thinking and problem solving skills
for lifelong learning to compete in a
global knowledge-based society.
What can we do to advance
integration of information literacy
into the PK-20 curriculum?
How Are We Going to Teach
Information Literacy Skills to Our
Students?
To teach information literacy skills,
information literacy standards and
indicators have to be integrated into
the subject curriculum. To accomplish
that task it is necessary to have the
library as the principal laboratory,
where faculty and librarians work in
collaboration.
“Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education
provides a framework for assessing the information literate
individual. It also extends the work of the American Association of
School Librarians Task Force on Information Literacy Standards, in
that way providing higher education an opportunity to articulate its
information literacy competencies with those of K-12 so that a
continuum of expectations develops for students at all levels.”
Information Literacy Competency
Standards for Higher Education
http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/learningstandards/standards.cfm
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm
AASL Standards for the 21stCentury Learner
"Standards for the 21st-Century
Learner offer vision for teaching
and learning to both guide and
beckon our profession as
education leaders. They will
both shape the library program
and serve as a tool for library
media specialists to use to
shape the learning of students
in the school.”
http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/learningstandards/standards.cfm
Information Literacy Competency
Standards for Higher Education
“In the following competencies,
there are five standards and
twenty-two performance
indicators. The standards focus
upon the needs of students
in higher education at all levels.
The standards also list a range
of outcomes for assessing
student progress toward
information literacy.”
Information Literacy Competency
Standards for Higher Education
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm
PK to 12
The Standards
Higher Education
The Standards describe how
learners use skills, resources,
and tools to
1. inquire, think critically, and
gain knowledge;
2. draw conclusions, make
informed decisions, apply
knowledge to new situations,
and create new knowledge;
1. The information literate
student determines the
nature and extent of the
information needed.
2. The information literate
student accesses needed
information effectively and
efficiently.
Information Literacy Competency
Standards for Higher Education
PK to 12
3. pursue personal and
aesthetic growth.
4. share knowledge and
participate ethically and
productively as members
of our democratic society;
Higher Education
3. The information literate
student evaluates
information and its sources
critically and incorporates
selected information into
his or her knowledge base
and value system.
4. The information literate
student, individually or as
a member of a group, uses
information effectively to
accomplish a specific
purpose.
Possibilities for Fostering
Collaborations in the PK-20
Information Literacy Environment
Strive for a commitment regarding
information literacy integration in
your institution’s strategic plan and
mission statement.
Collaborate with undergraduate
and graduate teacher education
programs to integrate information
literacy instruction and
assessment into education
courses (American Library
Association, 2006).
Find information literacy
“champions” among the teaching
faculty. Call upon faculty to share
their own best practices for
information literacy instruction
and assessment and to advocate
for information literacy integration
in their departments.
Increase collaborative efforts by
teachers and librarians to develop
research projects (Breivik, 2000). Take
advantage of the Net generation’s tech
savvy. Assessment can focus on
student-created authentic information
products, such as web pages, ejournals, blogs, podcasts, multimedia
presentations, etc.
Social Networking 1635-2002
Social Networking 2003-Present
Flash Mobs
Utilize Web 2.0 technologies to offer
Library 2.0 services (Casey &
Savastinuk, 2006). Making library
research information and assistance
available through IM, text messaging,
blogs, wikis, MySpace, Facebook,
Second Life, etc. could “better meet
the social norms, behaviors and
expectations of millenial generation
students” (Bell, 2007).
Library 2.0
Facebook
Second Life
MySpace
Twitter
NJPLP21
http://njplp.wikispaces.com/
What is the status of
PK-20 Information Literacy
collaboration?
National Collaborative Efforts:
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Task Force:
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Professional Association/Committee
Memberships:
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Blueprint for Collaboration, AASL/ACRL Task Force on
the Educational Role of Libraries (American Library
Association, 2006)
AASL/ACRL Interdivisional Committee on Information
Literacy
Library Instruction Round Table (ALA)
Instruction Section (ACRL)
Professional listservs (including INFOLIT and ILI-L)
Conferences and Workshops:
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ALA conferences
AASL conferences
LOEX conferences
National Collaborative Efforts:
Look to other states for benchmark
collaborative efforts. Some examples:
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Central Pennsylvania K-16 Information
Literacy Network (Pennsylvania State
University, 2008)
CLOC (Community Librarians Outreach and
Collaboration, 2008)
Institute for Library and Information
Literacy Education (Burhanna & Jensen,
2006; Kent State University, 2008)
Statewide Collaborative Efforts:
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Professional Association & Committee
Memberships:
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New Jersey Association of School Librarians
User Education Committee of the NJLA-CUS / ACRL-NJ
Conferences and Workshops:
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Professional development activities sponsored by the
User Education Committee of the New Jersey Library
Association, College and University Section (NJLA-CUS)
and the New Jersey Chapter of the Association of College
and Research Libraries (ACRL-NJ)
Professional development activities sponsored by the
New Jersey Association of School Librarians
Local Collaborative Efforts:
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PK-12/Higher Education Collaborations:
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Librarians work with teachers and media specialists to plan
learning activities for PK-12 classes that visit university
libraries.
Librarians work with PK-12 students participating in
programs such as Upward Bound, Adelante Scholars, and
Science Star.
Community College/4-year College
Collaborations:
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Librarians at 4-year colleges and community college
librarians share information literacy documents.
Local Collaborative Efforts:
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First Year Experience (FYE)
Collaboration:
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General Education Collaboration:
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Librarians collaborate with FYE instructors to
incorporate information literacy objectives and
activities into the course.
Librarians collaborate with faculty in integrating
information literacy activities and assessment into
General Education courses.
Collaborations with Upper-level and
Graduate courses:
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Librarians collaborate with faculty in integrating
information literacy activities and assessment into
numerous courses.
Local Collaborative
Efforts at Kean University
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In January 2008, a team of Kean
University librarians applied for a
2008-2009 Quality First Initiative
(QFI) grant.
The QFI proposal requested funding
for Kean University librarians to work
collaboratively with area high school
teachers and library media
specialists to develop and implement
information literacy lesson plans.
QFI Grant Funding Awarded
April 2008
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The team invited several area high
schools to participate in the
collaborative information literacy
project.
Two high schools are coming in the
fall semester of 2008.
Three high schools are coming in the
spring semester of 2009.
1st High School Collaboration
November 2008
1st High School Collaboration
The Great Gatsby
Library Tools for Research
Looking Ahead….
We look forward to working with
the students, library media
specialists and teachers of the
remaining participating high
schools.
Copyright © 2008 Kean University Library.
Prepared by Craig Anderson, Linda Cifelli, Janette González,
Shirley Horbatt, Eleanor McKnight, and Chrisler Pitts.
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Copyright © 2008 Kean University Library.