Review of Library Resources and Information Literacy
Proposed new course: WGS 126: Engaging Communities
Since the inception of the Women’s Studies program at Saint Mary’s, there has been a librarian
representative serving on the WS Advisory Board. This has helped the Library to stay informed
about changes in the program regarding majors, curriculum, guest speakers, and faculty who
teach W.S. courses. Involvement on the Board has also helped the Library to better support the
Program by offering Library Exhibit space in promotion of Women History Month and/or guest
speakers, keeping the W.S. web pages updated to reflect new resources, curriculum changes and
faculty interests, and collaboration on Information Literacy assignments and assessments. In
addition, there has always been a strong and ongoing collaboration with the Program Chair, the
Board, and faculty who teach WS courses and the development of the Library collection and
information literacy instruction.
[Library Review, July 2011]
As stated above in the Library Review from 2011, I greatly appreciate the partnerships with
WaGS Directors, Coordinators, and faculty who collaborate with me to design research
assignments that meet the learning outcomes of the course as well as supporting the information
literacy requirements of the core curriculum. With the introduction of a service learning
component in the WS 1 in fall 2011, we integrated the students’ experiences into the Library
research assignment: “Research paper on a social, political, sexual, theoretical, or global issue of
importance to gender that connects some aspect of your service learning experience. Include
information from at least three articles from a scholarly, organizational, and popular information
source.” While commendable and essential, it seems to me, to include Service Leaning into the
WaGS curriculum, I completely agree with the Director’s assessment that this was asking a lot of
students and faculty for an introductory course. I’m pleased and supportive of this petition to add
a Community Engagement opportunity within a new and well-developed new course.
The Library Collection. Since the study of women and gender is multi-disciplinary, multiethnic, and international, it crosses the disciplinary boundaries of information found in the
humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Therefore, in addition to the library’s allocation
specifically for WaGS, the program benefits by additional resources from other disciplines which
add considerable breadth to the collection. Since the topic and focus of this course will change
from year to year, it is likely that the collections from other disciplines taught at Saint Mary’s,
e.g. Sociology, Social Justice, Justice, Community, and Leadership, Education, etc. will support
the teaching and learning needs of this new course.
Library Instruction / Information Literacy. This is not a research class per se, but instead, will
build on academic methods and theory, experiential learning, reflection, and personal experience.
WaGS students receive formal Library Research sessions in several other core courses, such as
WaGS1, WaGS 100, WaGS 177, and WaGS 190. If it is determined at some later time that
students in this class would benefit from formal Library instruction, librarians are available to
develop a session in support of the information literacy goal(s).
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Recommendations: Because there may be some minor research requirements, or student
interests related to their experience, and since there is no formal Library Research component, I
would suggest the Library Statement be included in the Course Syllabus. An example is provided
here:
LIBRARY STATEMENT
Reference/Information assistance is available at the Reference Desk, by phone (925)
631-4624, text message at (925) 235-4762 or Chat( IM). Check the Library’s “Ask
Us” link for details: http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/library/ask-us.
In summary, I have no concerns related to library resources or support for this new course and
hope that approval of this course will be granted. Thank you for consulting me regarding the
Course Proposal.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon Walters
Librarian, WaGS
October 29, 2014
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