By Patricia Carroll-Matthes, Developer
Ulster County Community College
Macdonald DeWitt Library
Stone Ridge, NY
914-687-5220
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This project was awarded the Instruction Section's Innovation Award, which will be presented at the Instruction Section's Dinner on Friday, July 5, 1996 to Patricia Carroll-Matthes.

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A description of program development at a small two year community college where librarians not only developed a for-credit information literacy program, but involved teaching faculty from various academic disciplines in course development and teaching a one credit Information Literacy course. Campus political hurdles to jump. Realities of faculty collaboration. Persistence required to effect change.

COURSE DEVELOPMENT PHASE: 1992-1994:

From idea to adoption by curriculum committee. Evolution of credit courses from one 2 credit offering to two courses, a 1 credit Information Literacy course and a 3 credit Electronic Access to Information course. Overcoming opposition and resistance.

COURSE PROMOTION AND TRAINING PHASE: 1994-1995

Recognition that librarians could never staff sections needed to teach significant numbers of students and that many faculty did not themselves understand electronic information for the needs for such courses. Dialogue with faculty director of new Teaching/Learning Center on campus and Dean of Instruction. Support built for collaborative effort. Development of training course for faculty and professional staff to help them acquire the experience themselves and to enable them to teach sections of the Information Literacy course or to incorporate new information sources into their own programs. Recruitment of faculty for course. Delivery of 8 hour course over four days in two different sections team taught by three librarians. Follow-up with training participants.

COURSE IMPLEMENTATION AND REVISION PHASE: 1995-1996

Course initially taught spring '95. first faculty member (Chemistry professor) taught fall 95 course. Course evaluation and development meetings with librarians and faculty collaborators. Three additional faculty scheduled for spring 96 courses (Psychology/Learning Skills, Nursing, Communications) . Information Literacy course adopted as requirement for two academic programs. Continued promotion with faculty and staff. Business faculty makes commitment to teach fall '96 along with Chemistry professor. Continue contact with faculty participants including team teaching and content support. Continue to meet teaching team and evaluate course content and strategies. Persistent lobbying benefits. Foreign Languages faculty member expresses interest in teaching in fall. Invitation to deliver 3 hour faculty workshops, Internet for Novices and Beyond the Basics on the World Wide Web, for faculty development programs.

RESTRUCTURING OF COURSE FOR DELIVERY TO LIBRARIANS IN REGION: 1996

A successful LSCA Title III Grant proposal for Teaching Electronic Information Literacy to staffs of libraries (public, school, and academic) in the region will adapt the faculty training to train librarians of this relatively rural, 8 county-wide region. The goal is to empower other librarians to embark on their own, information literacy programs, and train other librarians, teachers, and the public. Spring '96 delivery of 3 sections of new 15 hour training course to encourage librarians to gain competency in using electronic tools and understand the basic information literacy concepts. collaboration with regional library network in grant proposal and training implementation. Participants will be expected to train other librarians, library staff, faculty, students, or public library users.

RESTRUCTURING OF COURSE FOR THE WORLD WIDE WEB

Awarded a grant from the State Library of New York of Educational Technology to redesign Lib 111 as course available on WWW. Development team includes faculty from mathematics and nursing as well as librarians and a graphic artist. Project debut fall '96.

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GENERAL COURSE GOALS FOR INFORMATION LITERACY (LIB 111)
This course will provide students with an overview of the intellectual resources of a college library system and the fundamentals of the research process. Students will:

1) become familiar with print and electronic information resources,
2) develop skills needed for utilizing information sources effectively and judging their appropriateness for their research, and
3) be able to apply the principles learned in this course to research projects in other courses they are taking or to research projects designed by the instructor.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND BASIS OF GRADES

This class will meet for one two hour session every week for the first seven weeks of the semester. There will be weekly readings, exercises, and written assignments. It is assumed that students will spend time outside of class reading, doing exercises and assignments, and practicing using the tools introduced in the class.

REQUIREMENTS

-Class attendance is required.
-Class participation is required.
-Completion of short exercises/research assignments
-Final examination must be passed in order to successfully complete the course.
Grades will be determined based on the satisfactory completion of the above requirements.

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COURSE OUTLINE

TITLE: Information Literacy

DEPT.: LIBRARY

COURSE NO.: LIB 111.06

SEMESTER: Spring, 1996

INSTRUCTOR: Larry Berk, Head Librarian

TEXT: List, Carla. _Introduction to Library Research_. New YorK: McGraw-Hill, Second Edition, 1993. (Required)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will introduce students to the organization, use, and retrieval of information both within and outside the library. Students will gain an understanding of the structure of information, be able to locate information and critically evaluate that information. They will develop the skills necessary to meet their research needs.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Students will have an overview of the intellectual resources of a college library system and the fundamentals of the research process. At the completion of the course, students will be able to do the following:

1. Understand the role of information and the role of the library.
2. Define and understand basic library and information terms.
3. Use basic reference sources, the library's online catalog, periodical indexes, and computerized resources.
4. Develop an effective search strategy.
5. Understand the differences between different types of information resources.
6. Use critical thinking skills to evaluate sources.
7. Use standard citation format in listing resources.
8. Develop an awareness of how to access the many remote computerized information sources available.
9. Apply library research methods to a research project.
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LIBRARY 111---OUTLINE OF LECTURES/DISCUSSIONS/DEMONSTRATIONS

WEEK 1 COURSE INTRODUCTION
The library today and tomorrow
Overview of electronic information technology and terminology
The microcomputer workstation basics
How the UCC library is a microcosm of any research library
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Problem analysis, search strategy
Overview of how research in major academic fields differ Difference between:
fact and opinion
` scholarly and general interest
primary and secondary sources
Role of periodicals in research and information
Evaluating resources
Introduction of course assignments

WEEK 2 PERIODICAL INDEXING SOURCES
Indexing class exercise
Indexes and abstracts, print, CD-ROM and online formats
Access points and record structure>
Document delivery including interlibrary loan
Controlled vocabulary, Boolean logic, truncation

WEEK 3 LIBRARY CATALOGS/COMPUTER NETWORKS
Card catalog and online public access catalogs (OPACs)
Library of Congress Subject Headings and other thesauri
Dewey Decimal Classification system and others
Introduction to OCLC and FirstSearch databases (WorldCat)

WEEK 4 REFERENCE SOURCES/INFORMATION SERVICES
FirstSearch databases, cont'd
Reference sources overview
Encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries, statistical sources
Specialized reference sources in disciplines
Books in Print, Grolier CD-ROMs

WEEK 5 INTERNET 1
Internet overview
World wide Web, Search Engines, and directories
Netscape hands-on practice

WEEK 6 INTERNET II
Internet-follow up
E-mail, listservs
Electronic journals and texts, bookmarks
FirstSearch follow up
Course review

WEEK 7 COURSE REVIEW AND FINAL
Research team projects
Final competency exam
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