ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ O ctober 2003 / 587 C o l l e g e & R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s news Applying lessons learned at ACRL’s Immersion Program by M arie G arrett E ach year ACRL’s Institute for Informa­tion Literacy sponsors the Immersion Pro­ gram to train librarians in their roles as teachers and coordinators of information literacy pro­ grams.1 Immersion faculty provide a rich, intense learning experience; participants depart with in­ formation, ideas, and enthusiasm. But what ex­ actly does one do with this four-and-a-half day investment in education? Each participant will answer this question differently as each institu­ tion requires unique approaches. In sharing my experience, I hope to inspire interest in the Im­ mersion program, to encourage others to share their experiences, and to spark ideas that may take root and flourish elsewhere. I attended the Wisconsin Immersion program at Edgewood College in June 2001. As instruc­ tional services coordinator with the University of Tennessee (UT) Libraries, I enrolled in Track 2 for program developers. My colleague, Jacqueline Kracker, attended the August 2001 national pro­ gram at Plattsburgh State University of New York. As a new librarian, she chose Track 1 for teachers. The program equipped us for building informa­ tion literacy into our teaching and instructional programs. Our collaboration afterward strength­ ened the quality of the information literacy work­ shops we developed for our UT colleagues and provided encouragement along the way. Back at UT after completing the Immersion Program, my initial priority was to create a cul­ ture of information literacy within the library in preparation for engagement in campus-wide in­ formation literacy initiatives. With the support of Rita Smith, head of reference and instruc­ tional services, four reference department meet­ ings during the fall of 2001 were devoted to in­ formation literacy. Kracker and I planned and pre­ sented four workshops based on the Immersion curriculum, distilling four-and-a-half days into four-and-a-half hours. The sessions progressed from exploring information literacy concepts to experiencing the practice of incorporating it into our teaching to generating ideas for outreach on campus. We encouraged all interested library staff to attend. For the first session, “Exploring What Infor­ mation Literacy Is and What it Means to Us,” we asked participants to read a brief article from the T eacher L ibrarian titled “Competency Standards for Higher Education”2 and to review our own recently created information literacy Web site.3 Smith introduced the series by providing the UT context for this initiative. We asked attendees to describe a person who uses information effectively or to list characteristics of an information literate person. Together, we explored the various aspects of information literacy, discussed how the con­ cept fits into our work, and examined how our current teaching endeavors fit into information literacy. The next two sessions focused on assessment. In “Taking Information Literacy into the Class­ room, Part I: Learning Outcomes and Assessment,” we defined learning outcomes and discussed as­ sessment as student learning. Working in small groups with the competency standards, we prac­ ticed the process of asking what we teach and why and what students learn as a result, changing our approach based on this information. ' We also About the author Marie Garrett is instructional services coordinator at the University o f Tennessee Libraries, e-mail: mgarrett@utk.edu Taking Immersion home mailto:mgarrett@utk.edu 5 8 8 / C&RL News ■ O cto b e r2003 presented some classroom assessment techniques.5 As background for this session, attendees read Mark Battersby’s “So What’s a Learning Outcome Any­ way?”6 In “Taking Information Literacy into the Class­ room, Part II: Putting Assessment into Practice,” workshop participants built on a homework as­ signment given during a previous session. Each instructor selected an instructional situation and identified learning outcomes, designed an assess­ ment, and developed criteria for judging the re­ sults. We shared observations about the process and discussed how our teaching might change be­ cause of our experience with assessment. Instruc­ tors who had tried assessment techniques follow­ ing the initial assessment workshop shared their experiences. From the classroom, we moved to a broader context. Our concluding session, “Taking Infor­ mation Literacy to the University Community: Extending Our Vision,” explored making the tran­ sition from bibliographic instruction to informa- tion literacy and forming partnerships with fac­ ulty. Barbara Dewey, dean of the libraries, pre­ sented her vision for information literacy on the UT campus and encouraged us in our outreach to faculty. With Patricia Iannuz2i’s article “Faculty Development and Information Literacy: Estab­ lishing Campus Partnerships”7 as background, we identified “hot initiatives” on the UT campus. The program concluded with a brief overview of future plans for our information literacy efforts. Following the workshops, six librarians joined me in forming an Infonnation Literacy Planning Group. In the spring of 2002, we developed a new mission statement for Instructional Services as a context for our work and a one-year informa- tion literacy plan. We also drafted a long-range information literacy plan, seeking library-wide in­ put. Recently, we sponsored a libraiy-wide con­ test to find an infor m tion literacy slogan or logo. The winning entiy highlights a redesign for our information literacy brochure targeted to acquaint faculty, administrators, and students with overall information literacy concepts and to publicize UT’s information literacy initiative. The goals outlined in our one-year plan led to the formation of three working groups: a faculty partnerships working group to promote informa­ tion literacy concepts with faculty and to facili­ tate partnerships; a foundational skills group to re-envision our work with the freshman composi­ tion program and to create foundational tutorials for information literacy; and a campus partner­ ships group to identify and facilitate partner­ ships with appropriate groups and organiza­ tions on campus. Two people from the ini­ tial planning group lead each of the working groups. The work of these teams draws upon the expertise of subject librarians throughout the libraries and broadens the outreach of the program. As we widen our involvement, we continue to expand and refine our ap­ proach to integrating information literacy into the campus culture. Our outreach to faculty will build on a series of well-publicized workshops for faculty and graduate students throughout the fall semester. We also plan to sponsor focus groups or faculty round tables, to increase our publicity efforts, and to host a reception for new faculty in the spring. Subject librarians have helped us identify poten­ tial faculty partners, and as our efforts expand, we will invite faculty representatives to join us in our planning. Our ultimate goal focuses on enhancing stu­ dent learning— on helping equip students with information skills and abilities that will benefit them in the academic world and beyond, through­ out their work and life experiences. At times the process seems to move slowly on this large univer­ sity campus, but we make steady progress toward building a strong foundation for information lit­ eracy efforts. The recent appointment of our head of reference to the campus General Education Committee positions us well to partner with fac­ ulty in integrating information literacy into the undergraduate curriculum. Our experience thus far leads me to offer these words of encouragement for others who seek to engage librarians, faculty, and students in devel­ oping information literacy programs: • Recognize that building an information lit­ eracy program takes time, persistence, and patience, and believe that you will see good results from your efforts. (co n tin u ed on p a g e 6 0 9 ) A p p ly f o r Im m e r s io n '0 4 Immersion ’04 will be held at the University of Washington, July 30-August 4, 2004. The Invitation to Apply is available online at www.acrl.org/immersion; the deadline to ap­ ply is December 5, 2003. Immersion ’04 is limited to 90 individuals and acceptance to the program is competitive. http://www.acrl.org/immersion C&RL News ■ O ctober 2003 / 589 C&RL News ■ O ctober 2003 / 609 Just as important, the e-selection tools proved to be good marketing and public relations mecha­ nisms for the library. Our library is perceived as a campus technology leader, a place where the staff continuously explores new tools and technologies to improve existing resources and services to bet­ ter serve our constituents. The benefits from us­ ing the tools are both tangible and intangible: wiser selections leading to improved collections, im­ proved faculty-librarian communication, greater understanding, and deeper collaboration. ( “T aking Im m ersion hom e, ” con tin u ed fr o m p a • Focus on the long-term goal while celebrat­ ing successes along the way. • Begin with a small group of people and work toward incorporating a variety of ideas and tal­ ents from a variety of groups. • Build on the expertise and strengths of vet­ eran librarians and draw upon the enthusiasm and new ideas of new librarians. • Keep your focus on students and on their learning. • Share your experience with others. I wish each of you well with your information literacy initiatives on campuses large and small. Students will benefit from your creativity, caring, and perseverance. Thank you to the Immersion faculty8 for your commitment to creating quality educational ex­ periences for librarians who teach. Thank you to ACRL for sponsoring this national program each year and to the Wisconsin Association of Aca­ demic Librarian’s Information Literacy Commit­ tee for sponsoring the 2001 regional program. Immersion ’01 provided a learning experience well worth taking home. Notes 1. For more information, see www.acr org/immersion. ( “C r im in a l. . . ” c o n tin u ed f r o m p a g e 5 9 3 ) p o sitio n papers, the NAME newsletter, links to journal sites, legislation in­ formation, death investiga­ tion images, and a list of medical examiner and coroner offices, which as of September 1, 2003, onl y o ffe rs f our si t es. A c c e s s : www. thename.org/. E-selection tools can yield a high return with a minimal investment for an academic library of any size or collection scope. Having fewer or no paper selection cards to deal with is an added bonus about which few librarians or faculty can complain. Note 1. Operational details, screen shots, and de­ scriptive notes are provided at staff.philau.edu/ bells/eselect.htm. ■ e 5 8 8 ) 2. Association of College and Research Li­ braries, “Competency Standards for Higher Education,” T each er L ibrarian 28.3 (Feb. 2001): 16- 1 8 . 3. Visit the University of Tennessee’s informa­ tion literacy Web site at www.lib.utk.edu/instruc- tion/infolit/infolit. html. 4. Based on Debra Gilchrist’s presentation, “Improving Student Learning.” 5. From Angelo, Thomas A. and K. Patricia Cross. Classroom Assessment Techniques: A H and- book fo r College T eachers. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 1993. 6. Mark Battersby and the Learning Outcomes Network, “So What’s a Learning Outcome Any­ way?” Vancouver, B.C.: Centre for Curriculum, Transfer, and Technology. Available at www.c2t2. ca/page.asp?item_id=394&path=. 7. Patricia Iannuzzi, “Faculty Development and Information Literacy: Establishing Campus Partnerships,” R eferen ce S ew ices R eview (Fa l l Winter 1998): 97-102,116. 8. The Immersion faculty: Craig Gibson, George Mason University; Debra Gilchrist, Pierce College; Randy Burke Hensley, University of Ha- waii-Manoa; Beth S. Woodard, University of Illi­ l. nois at Urbana-Champaign; and Anne E. Zald, University of Washington. ■ Notes 1. Madeleine R. Nash and Richard L. Faraino, “Internet Resources in Legal Medicine and Foren­ sic Science,” M ed ical R eferen ce Services Q uar- teriy 18.1 (Spring 1999): 59-68. 2. Cynthia Holt, “Forensic Science Resources on the Internet” Issues in S cien ce a n d Technology Librarianship 37 (2003) [cited 1 September 20031. Available on the Web at www.istl.org/03-spring/ intemet.html. 3. Ibid. ■ g http://www.acrl http://www.lib.utk.edu/instruc- http://www.c2t2 http://www.istl.org/03-spring/