Librarian Faculty Collaboration:
A Blueprint for Integrating Information Literacy
into the Curriculum
Karen Halliday
Jacqueline Limoges
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 self-directed, and assume greater
control over their own learning.
- Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher
Education, ACRL
Goals for this Session
• Discuss rationale for the IL initiative.
• Outline the model and theory of our approach.
• Outline the steps used to integrate information literacy into the
nursing curriculum.
• Provide information on the infrastructure that supported our
efforts.
• Discuss the pedagogy we used.
• Reinforce the benefits of collaboration & benchmarking.
• Discuss strategies that helped us with our project and that may
be useful to you.
• To generate discussion on information literacy activities.
Rationale
• With the emergence of the knowledge economy and the
commodification of knowledge, higher education has a role in
teaching students how to access and evaluate information.
• Knowledge enables innovation and growth in the economy.
• Information literacy enables access to the unique bodies of
literature required by the professions.
• Information literacy contributes to graduates’ abilities to be full
participating members of their professions and society.
Rationale
(Ontario Learning Resources for Nursing Project)
• Changes to nursing education require the
B.Sc.N. as the entry to practice and the
increasing professionalization of nursing
supports IL initiatives.
• The report of the Nursing Education
Implementation Committee.
• Curriculum changes including critical thinking,
research-based practice and access to
electronic databases.
Rationale
(Ontario Learning Resources for Nursing Project)
• The project generated the Ontario Learning
Resources for Nursing: Electronic Nursing
Resources to Support the Ontario Nursing
Baccalaureate Program by Peg Allen in June
2001.
• Consortium deals with all colleges &
universities to have access to the OVID
databases.
Diversity, Equity and Access
• Support for information literacy initiatives helps
the students learn and honour different ways of
knowing and different knowledges.
• Assists all students with different backgrounds and
abilities to learn these skills in a supportive
environment.
• Multiples strategies assist different styles for
learning.
Models
Knowledge Hub Model:
– Both a physical place in the Library Commons and
virtual entity developed to support learning
communities at Georgian College.
– Resources & pathfinders which support program
areas.
– Nursing faculty liaison role within Knowledge Hub.
– Supportive environment for nursing students.
– Strengthen relationship between librarian &
faculty.
Models
Information Literacy Integration Model:
Selected integration model based on evidence in
nursing literature and best practices.
Evidence & Best Practices
• ACRL’s Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education.
• Best Practices Initiative Institute for Information Literacy,
approved by ACRL 2003, entitled “Characteristics of Programs
of Information Literacy that Illustrate Best Practices: A
Guideline.”
• Guided by research:
– Discipline specific information literacy.
– Integration into curriculum.
– Librarian/faculty collaboration.
– Students must have built-in opportunities for success.
– Transferability of Il skills from course to course and to
profession.
Research
(Key Articles)
Brown, C., Murphy, T. & Nanny,
M. (2003). Turning TechnoSavvy into Info-savvy:
Authentically Integrating
Information Literacy into the
College Curriculum. Journal
of Academic Librarianship,
29(6), 386-399.
Grafstein, A. (2002). A DisciplineBased Approach to
Information Literacy. Journal
of Academic Librarianship,
28(4), 197-204.
Johnson, C. (2003).
InstructionalOutreach Across
the Curriculum: Enhancing the
Liaison Role at a Research
University. Reference
Librarian. Issue 82, 19-38.
Thompson, G. (2002). Information
Literacy Accreditation
Mandates: What They Mean for
Faculty and Librarians. Library
Trends, 51(2), 218-242.
Verhey, M.P. (1999). Information
Literacy in an Undergraduate
Nursing Curriculum:
Development, Implementation,
and Evaluation. Journal of
Nursing Education, 38(6), 252259.
Wallace, M.C., Shorten, A., P.A.,
McGurk, C., & Brewer, C.
(1999). Integrating Information
Literacies into an
Undergraduate Nursing
Programme. Nurse Education
Today, 19(2), 136-141.
Steps Used to Integrate IL
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Assessment of needs and readiness of faculty and
students.
Identified key faculty members and librarian.
Assessments made for required supports, and
availability of resources.
Discussions were held related to possible
strategies.
Reviewed the literature for guidance.
First steps developed and reviewed with Dean of
Health Sciences and Director of Library.
Steps Used to Integrate IL
•
Visited three college/university sites to benchmark
with their IL initiatives: Queen’s University, York
University, and Seneca College at King Campus.
Benchmarking
• Visited three sites that offer the Baccalaureate of Nursing
program: 1) Queen’s University, Seneca College at King
Campus and York University.
• Site visits allowed comparison of similar goals and recognition of
best practices.
• Helped to identify the current position of our own initiatives and
to determine areas for improvement.
• During our site visits we attended a nursing research class and
assessed online tutorials.
• Consider benchmarking as a continuous process rather than a
one time exercise.
Steps Used to Integrate IL
•
Researched IL initiatives within the nursing
literature.
•
Concluded that we would like to integrate
assignments into the curricula for years one and two
and offer suggestions to faculty on required
references for all assignments.
Steps Used to Integrate IL
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Assessed the nursing curriculum to see where IL
initiatives could be placed.
Contacted faculty who were currently teaching
those courses for further input.
Worked with Dean and Director of Library to gain
support for our Knowledge Hub Model which
included downloading a faculty for 6 hours to assist
the librarian with IL initiatives and work in the
Knowledge Hub area. This was supported.
Steps use to integrate IL
• Concurrent project to manage
plagiarism was useful
– This project supported appropriate use of
literature
– Helped us as a faculty to understand IL
– Provided some additional frameworks for
integration
Steps Used to Integrate IL
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Worked with faculty during period of curriculum
revision through informal conversations.
Provided a formal presentation on the benefits and
characteristics of IL to the full nursing faculty.
Provided information on various strategies to
support and encourage student development.
From here, we devised two different strategies for
the written curriculum, and one strategy for ongoing
support.
Two Strategies for the
Curriculum
Assignment in Curriculum
• Created an assignment
in years one and two in
the Professional
Development courses
called Development of
Self as Nurse.
• Created specific
learning outcomes for IL
in this course.
Multiples Strategies for
Referencing
• A list of possible
strategies were
provided to the faculty
(with rationale). The
faculty chose the
appropriate strategies
for their course work.
Steps Used to Integrate IL
Course Assignment
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Collaborated to create two assignments supporting
literature searching skills of the nursing database,
CINAHL.
The assignments were for both year one & two
B.Sc.N. and Practical Nursing students.
Librarian provided hands on training session to
students on literature searching (faculty member
present to reinforce importance and content).
Nursing faculty member present in the library to
offer support to students for this assignment and for
the integration of research into essays.
Pedagogy
• Used active learning in
computer labs.
• Created assignments
demonstrating incremental
learning.
• Integrated within curriculum
of 1st and 2nd year nursing
students and PN students
with instructor’s approval.
• Encompasses critical
thinking and reflection.
• Accommodated different
learning styles.
• Created opportunity for
contact between
librarian/faculty & nursing
students for assistance.
• Identified competencies to
be achieved.
• Built on student’s existing
knowledge and/or
experiences.
Learning Outcomes
• Navigate through the CINAHL database by
correctly using the search features.
• Employ effective search strategies to retrieve
relevant articles that support future learning
assignments.
• Determine location and availability of articles.
• Evaluate search results to determine
relevancy and reliability of information.
Steps used to Integrate IL
Other options
• Faculty for other courses integrated
various IL strategies to support further
learning.
– Required search strategies to be included
with reference lists.
– Provided feedback related to acceptable
web sites.
– Increased standards for supporting
literature
Other Options
• From the initial list given to faculty, common
strategies were used, but not all were adopted the
second year of the project.
• For example, practicum assignment was deleted the
second year, and then reinstated.
• What do we need to do to continue the momentum
for this?
Internet
• Students are able to obtain information
quickly from unknown sources without peer
review.
• Students know how to use the Internet but
lack skills to evaluate web sites.
• Quality of literature suffers when students
accept readily accessible information from
Internet or full text databases.
Strategy for Ongoing Support
• Nursing faculty member in the library for
office hours every week.
• Ongoing liaison person for faculty
related to information literacy.
• Visible and accessible for consultation.
• Able to offer ongoing support at faculty
meetings related to scholarship.
Knowledge is of two kinds: we know a
topic for ourselves, or we know where we
can find information upon it.
-Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1775
Benefits of Collaboration
• Faculty know their curriculum and where IL initiatives
may best be placed for maximum effectiveness.
• Faculty influence others that IL is beneficial to
students and to adopt Il outcomes in their course
work.
• Collaboration ensures that students are required to
use library resources as a part of higher learning.
Benefits of Collaboration
• Faculty have a voice in curriculum meetings,
committees, councils and academic senates
lending support to IL initiatives.
• Collaboration with instructional designers.
Instructional designers assist with learning
pedagogy and creation of Il assignments.
Things You Need to Consider
• Time to create, evaluate and maintain
assignments as courses, instructors or
expectations change.
• Your budget must have funds for initiatives.
• Do you want your IL to be discipline specific
or generic? Stand alone or integrated into
curriculum?
• You need faculty who value information
literacy and the benefit of IL on student’s
lifelong learning.
Things You Need to Consider
• Do you have instructional designers to help
you create assignments and rubrics etc.
• Do you have to educate the faculty on
databases or IL in general?
• Are you perceived as a colleague?
• Do you have a supportive culture for your
initiatives?
Things You Need to Consider
• Readiness of students and faculty.
• Where is the best place for an initiative in
your curriculum? For example, when are
students asked to write and research in the
curriculum? The need for this information
makes it easier to integrate.
Supporting Infrastructure
• The Knowledge Hub Model.
• Nursing Program ready for the initiative.
• Perception of the librarian’s status status as faculty.
• Faculty support of information literacy.
• Instructional designers to support our own teaching and
learning.
• Administrative support from library directors, co-ordinators and
deans.
• Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL)
Guidelines & Standards.
Recommendations
• Visit other sites for benchmarking purposes.
• Read the IL literature to see what is relevant and
effective – this includes literature on teaching and
learning.
• Collaborate with key people such as faculty,
administrators, instructional designers, students and
other librarians.
Recommendations
• Ensure faculty have knowledge of IL and any
literature that can assist with their
understanding.
• Select the right faculty to collaborate with.
• Have your administrator take your cause to
academic councils or other influential
committees.
Jacqueline’s Experience
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PD
Collegial relationships
New role with students
Chance to critically examine the curriculum
with another set of lenses
• Changes to quality of assignments
Karen’s Experience
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The power of collaboration.
Gained knowledge of curriculum.
The importance of networking.
Teaching and learning component.
Persistence.
Students’ Perspective
• Feel supported to learn.
• Researching this way becomes the norm to them
because they learn this in first year.
• They like being able to get help with their
assignments.
• Many come to understand the connections among
literature, critical thinking and writing.
• They feel connected with the library when working on
assignments.
Where are we going with this?
• Nursing student awards for competence in
information literacy.
• Foster more critical thinking within the curriculum.
• Create more authentic learning opportunities within
the curriculum.
• Increase evaluation of our initiatives.
• Maintain and increase awareness of information
literacy among faculty and students.
• Branch out into other disciplines/program areas.
To know where you can find anything,
that in short is the largest part of
learning.
- Anonymous
Questions for discussion
• What are other universities – colleges doing?
• Are there other approaches?
• Next steps…
Thank you
Comments?