ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News m March 2001 / 275 Sharing Y & COLLABORATIONCOMMUNITa vision Information literacy partnerships (K -1 6 ) by Janet W. Nichols Picture an active school library media cen ­ter. Mike and Eric sit side by side at a com puter preparing a Pow erPoint prese tion. Sue works with her team to capture a visual image using a digital cam era while another team searches a specialized ency­ clopedia for information on specific topics related to the reading o f Richard Wright’s B lack Boy. Paul and Fred share favorite sci­ en ce Web sites with Kevin and Brian while D eborah and Beverly search the online cata­ log for books related to the exploration o f the moon. W hat do all o f these actively engaged re­ searchers have in com m on? T hey are all pro­ fessional educators and participants in a two- y e a r p ilo t p r o je c t b e tw e e n W ayne State University’s (W SU) David Adamany Under­ graduate Library and suburban Ferndale High S c h o o l and D e tro it’s N o rthw estern High School. Funded by a $20,000 grant from the Herrick Foundation and first reported in the March 1999 NASSP Bulletin, the project has recently b een completed. Summative evaluations by admin­ istrators, library media specialists, and teach­ ers provide clear indications o f both the suc­ cess o f the partnership and suggestions for future partnering. Follow ing is information regarding the project, including the planning process, staff development workshops, and implications for others looking for partnership opportunities with K -1 2 educators. nt The vision E ven p rior to th e o p e n in g o f the David a­A dam any U nd ergrad uate Library in S e p ­ te m b e r 1997, p lan s w ere u n d er w ay to in­ v estig a te o p p o rtu n ities fo r inform ation lit­ e r a c y p a r tn e r s h ip s b e t w e e n a r e a h ig h s c h o o l e d u cato rs and a ca d em ic librarian s. Library m ed ia sp ecialists from th e D etroit u rb an area w ere invited to attend fo cu s grou p s to d iscu ss w ays in w h ich librarian s from the undergrad uate library m ight w ork w ith them in d ev elo p in g p rogram s w ithin th e sch o o ls. From these initial meetings and based on a vision o f providing staff developm ent for inform ation literacy to local schools, admin­ istrators from th e u n d erg rad u ate library m oved forward to identify schools and indi­ viduals w ho might b e interested in investi­ gating the practicality o f developing such a partnership and, more important, in testing its impact. S o o n after the o p e n in g o f the u n d er­ grad u ate library, fou r s c h o o ls w ere id en ti­ fied and adm inistrators, library m ed ia s p e ­ cialists, and te a ch e rs co n ta cted and invited to attend an initial p lan n in g m eetin g . At this point, th e o n ly c le a r goal w as to dis­ cu ss th e c o n c e p t o f in fo rm atio n literacy a n d to d e te r m in e w h e th e r th e s c h o o ls w o u ld b e in terested in w o rk in g w ith u n i­ versity librarian s to d ev elo p an in fo rm a­ tio n literacy program . Jan et W. Nichols is coordinator o f instruction and informatioAbout h rohtuaetn services in the David Adamany Undergraduate Library at Wayne State University, e-mail: janet.nichols@wayne.edu COM M UNITY & COLLABORATION mailto:janet.nichols@wayne.edu 2 7 6 / C & R L N e w s • M a rch 2001 " A n y t im e o r g a n iz a t io n s c a n w o r k c o lla b o r a t iv e ly , p o s it iv e t h in g s h a p p e n ." T h e p la n n in g p r o c e s s From the initial meetings, it was clear that there was administrative interest in moving forward to establish a partnership with the university. School administrators identified key teacher leaders within their school and included them with the school librarians in the planning process. The university included administrators as well as faculty and librarians on th e p la n n in g te a m . T h ro u g h o u t the y e ar, m o n th ly m e e tin g s f o ­ cused on developing a theoretical understanding o f inform ation literacy and looking at practical applications for working with the schools. A sub­ committee com posed of representatives from each sch o o l and the under­ graduate library devel­ o p ed a plan and p re ­ sen ted it to the w hole committee. The outline o f the plan included a daylong infor­ mation literacy workshop for the committee repre­ se n ta tiv e s and s c h o o l leaders followed by on-site workshops for staff from targeted departments. All com mittee members emphasized the importance o f con­ ducting workshops on-site using existing ma­ terials and technology rather than working in the university environment using resources that might not be readily available in the schools. Based on the subcommittee’s recomm en­ dations, a daylong information literacy work­ shop was planned, hosted, and conducted by WSU librarians and faculty. Participants included librarians and teachers from three o f the identified high schools, with the fourth school having withdrawn due to staff changes and a major reorganization. Attendees were given a theoretical introduction to the con­ cept o f information literacy, which was fol­ lowed by practical applications. Time was provided throughout the day for school teams to collaborate on ways to integrate informa­ tion literacy into their curriculum and to b e ­ gin to develop possibilities for staff develop­ ment at their schools. By the end o f the day, teams had begun to develop plans for sum­ m er- or after-sch ool w orkshops and e x ­ pressed a commitment to continue with the partnership. A v is io n b e c o m e s r e a lit y Over the summer, plans moved forward to provide staff development for English teach­ e rs a n d d e p a r tm e n t chairs at Ferndale High School on a day before the beginning o f the aca­ d em ic year. M em bers from Detroit’s Northwest­ ern High School opted fo r tw o afte r- s c h o o l w orkshops for the sci- ence department during fall semester. The third rem aining high school w ith d re w fro m th e project over the summer due to staff and curricu- lar changes. Although the delivery and activities within the workshops varied based j on the targeted academic N o rt h w e s te r n H ig h S c h o o l scie n ce teachers actively en ga ge d in research department, the content at both schools included a discussion o f informa­ tion literacy and its place within the existing curriculum and ample time for teachers to explore their media center’s print and elec­ tronic resources. All workshops were held on-site with the school’s librarian, teacher leader, and a librarian from the undergradu­ ate library as facilitators. After the first on-site workshop, teachers from Ferndale requested two additional half­ day planning sessions during the year. B e­ cause two schools had withdrawn from the project, not only was this possible within the budget, but the initial one-year project was extended to two years. During that time, teachers from Ferndale developed a team re­ search project for ninth-grade English stu­ C& RL N e w s • M arch 2001 / 27 7 dents. Focusing on the reading of Richard Wright’s B la c k Boy, teachers brainstormed topics, researched those topics and revised the initial list based on their own research, developed graphic organizers for student use, and completed a rubric for evaluation o f student work. During the second year, teachers prepared a PowerPoint presenta­ tion to introduce the assignment to their stu­ dents. In addition, English teachers revised an I-Search assignment to include teaching the Big6 model for the research process. During the first year at Northwestern, two after-school workshops were presented to the science department. Based on feedback from the science teachers, the science librarian developed four student modules for student instruction in the science library. Two after­ school workshops were planned and pre­ sented for the English Department during the second year, and teachers from both the En­ glish and science departments requested a PowerPoint workshop, which was held at their request in the undergraduate library and presented by the university’s Office for Teach­ ing and Learning. Because of the success of the Northwestern workshops, the science li­ brarian and a science teacher are working with the district library supervisor to develop an information literacy in-service program for the Detroit Public Schools. A s s e s s in g th e im p a c t Now at the end o f the funding cycle, it is time to look back and ask: “Did this project have any long-term impact on the schools involved?” and “Should the undergraduate library staff continue to pursue opportunities to partner in this way with other K-12 edu­ cators?” Based on the results of the participants’ evaluation of the project, the answer to both questions is a resounding yes. Following are sample comments from administrators, library media specialists, and teachers who partici­ pated in the partnering project. Their words will serve as encouragement for those plan­ ning similar in-service training and for librar­ ians looking for opportunities to develop K - 16 partnerships. A d m in is t r a t o r s ' p e r s p e c tiv e • “Our teachers were very excited abo the process, which fosters teaching and learn- ut " U s in g in fo r m a tio n lite ra c y e n a b le d m e t o in s tru c t s tu d e n ts o n h o w to d e fin e th e p ro b le m a n d u n d e rs t a n d th e p ro c e s s o f g a t h e r in g in fo rm a tio n ." ing far different from the traditional ap­ proach.” • “Anytim e o rgan ization s can w ork collaboratively, positive things happen.” • “I have had several opportunities to share this success with our board of educa­ tion.” • “Every teacher I talked with felt the ac­ tivities and support from Wayne State were outstanding.” L ib r a r y m e d ia s p e c ia lis ts ' p e rs p e c tiv e • “Teachers are more comfortable in talk­ ing with us about their research projects.” • “From our perspective, we would like more discussion on involving teachers in collaborating with librarians.” • “I would like to see this as a district- wide effort and am working with the district librarian to move toward this goal.” T e a c h e rs ' p e rs p e c tiv e • “The research process seems more or­ derly and less frustrating.” • “Using information literacy enabled me to instruct students on how to define the prob­ lem and understand the process o f gathering information.” • “If staff [are] not informed, they will continue to operate in 1960s styles o f teach­ ing.” • “I think my instruction relating to the research paper was more effective.” • “I would like more time to develop what I learned.” • “The ‘tools’ to implement must be avail­ able in addition to the training of teachers.” • “From my experience, the project em­ powers teachers.” • “Anytime teachers are provided with ad­ equate time for professional development that is relevant to their own curriculum, it is valu­ able.” (continued on page 285) Professor Maxwell altered his earthquake lecture based on a new tectonic plate theory. He found it in the latest book authored by his colleagues in Europe. T h e library got it for him. As an eBook. C S R L News ■ March 2001 / 279 O f all th e w a y s lo b rm g e B o o k s to thg w o 'W . w e 'v e c h o s e n !o d o it th ro u g h libraries, W h y ? B e c a u s e e v e n the s im p le s t a d v a n t a g e s o t e B o o k s s u c h a s s e u rc h a b ility, s u p p o r t n o w libraries serve users. B ut. w e didn't stop tf›ere O u r c o m p le te a p p ro a c h e n c o m o a s s e s M A R C records, integration with O F A C systems. eBook C he ck o i‹t capability, content *rom to o scho lar ly an d reference publishers, and m ore Visit u s at aca d e m ic, r u s t t ›t r ø y c c ™ or call 0 0 0 -4 1 3 . t ¾ ›r C & R L N e w s ■ M a rch 2001 / 2 8 5 Level 2: B a s ic p lu s— d ig ital eq u ip m en t • C am era: Many excellent, relatively in­ expensive (under $1,000) digital video cam­ eras are available. The UT Libraries is using a Sony DCR-TRV 103. It not only has excel­ lent digital image quality but, important for our planned usage, also a zoom lens for close­ ups. The camera also has an IEEE 1394 (also known as FireWire or i.LINK) port to transfer digital images directly to a computer for ed­ iting. • Digitizing eq uipm ent: The iMac-DV is an obvious choice. This computer has revo- lutionized the process o f creating digitized video. It includes everything needed to pro­ duce iMovies, plus lots o f bells and whistles to produce very professional-looking videos. The iMovie format, although not Web com ­ patible, may be exported to QuickTime for use on the Web. N o te 1. The videos may be viewed at http:// www.lib.utk.edu/refs/business/biztour. html. The QuickTime viewer plug-in is available from http://www.quicktime.com. ■ ( “S h a rin g a v is io n ” c o n t in u e d f r o m p a g e 2 7 7 ) • “I u s e d an d a p p r e c i a t e d th e PowerPoint presentation w e developed as a g roup.” • “The partnership has helped me teach research to my students more as a series o f steps rather than just saying, ‘Go re­ search your to p ic.’” • “I found out that the com puter does not increase or d ecrease critical thinking skills. It is worth m entioning that all but two o f my ninth graders com pleted a re­ search paper; w hereas formerly only 60­ 75 percent would have. • “This made me more capable o f in­ structing my students and guiding them through their own research .” Im p lic a t io n s f o r p a r t n e r in g Here at the undergraduate library, plans are under way to d evelop additional in­ formation literacy partnerships with edu­ cators at those high schools that send a sig n ifican t nu m ber o f their students to WSU. Our experience has developed lasting edu­ cational relationships with local educators. As a result, w e can see long-term benefits in expanding those relationships to b e n ­ efit teachers and students in the Detroit area and, ultimately, the education o f those stud ents co n tin u in g th e ir e d u ca tio n at WSU. From the experien ce over the past three years in planning, facilitating, and evalu­ ating the inform ation literacy partnership, the follow ing points have becom e evident: • Administrative support is critical to the success o f such a partnership. • Library m edia sp ecialists and key teacher leaders should be included in the initial planning, developm ent, and presen­ tation o f the w orkshops. • Taking the time to plan meaningful activities and listening to educators’ needs is critical to success. • T hose involved in the planning pro­ cess appreciate the fresh perspectives o f the university participants and the univer­ sity connection. • P la n n in g w o r k s h o p s u s in g th e s ch o o ls’ facilities and resources provides a com fort level for the p articip an ts in know ing what they will have access to in their ow n classroom s and in b eco m in g m ore fam iliar with the te ch n o lo g y and other resources they can use in their teach­ ing. This was em phasized during the plan­ ning process as extrem ely important for the success o f the project. • School administrators immediately see the benefits o f developing partnering o p ­ portunities with local universities for staff developm ent opportunities. • K -1 2 educators are dedicated to pre­ paring their students to be lifelong learn­ ers and are very interested in the improved articulation with higher-education profes­ sionals that such a partnership allows. N o te 1. Jan et Nichols, “Building Bridges: High School and University Partnerships for In­ formation Literacy,” NASSP B u lletin (March 1999). ■ http://www.quicktime.com