ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News m July/August 2003 / 455 If you build it, will they come? Reaching out to faculty through information literacy instruction by Melissa M oore T h r o u g h o u t m y te n years in a c a d e m ic librarianship, I have often spoken with fel­ low reference and instruction librarians who want to do bibliographic instruction (BI), now called information literacy instruction, for more students, in more disciplines, working with more faculty. N o t because they don’t have enough to do already (between helping staff the circulation desk and ordering interlibrary loans, answering general ref­ erence questions and learning new databases, mak­ ing Web pages, and doing collection development in their academic disciplines), b ut because they truly believe in making lifelong learners o f their students. Frequently, though, librarians are at a loss as to how to reach beyond the introductory English class that is held every fall, or beyond those few faculty m em bers who will actually voluntarily come to the library wanting instruction. H ow do we “sell” in fo rm a tio n literacy to faculty who believe they are too busy to give up a class period for the library or who assume students can dif­ ferentiate between legitimate online research and a glossy, biased Web site? W h at about those pro­ fessors who are afraid o f the Web so they lim it student research to w hat’s in print? H ow do we reach them? Become a stu d ent A year after coming to Union University, I signed up to take a senior-level course in my undergradu­ ate discipline area (English). T o make m y life more difficult, I decided to take the course for graduate credit (so it m ight be w orth something down the academic road). T he professor decided she could kill two birds with one stone: she needed to “u p ” m y am ount o f work to the graduate level, and she w anted her students to know how to do “real” research. T he result was a three-course sequence of BI that covered reference materials, databases, and Internet searching— all focused on the spe­ cific requirements o f the course (including a 20- page paper and a 100-source outline o f world lit­ erature) and were supplemented by an annotated 7-page bibliography o f relevant reference materi­ als, a research assignment I wrote, and other ap­ propriate research guides. Take a course you would find interesting, “go after” a faculty member by signing up for a course in his or her specialty. You may not be called on to construct an elaborate BI session like I was, b ut it will enable you to develop a rapport w ith the faculty member and prove that librarians are in­ telligent and every bit the peer o f teaching fac­ ulty. I will be teaching the same sequence for the eighth time this September, and the feedback each year is the same: “I wish I had known all this as a freshman.” It doesn’t get m uch better than that! Use y o u r course listing At U nion, it’s very simple to see w hat courses will be offered (and by whom) the next semester. Nearly Melissa Moore is reference librarian and team leader fo r puba et tuoborAhtuhlic services a t Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, e-mail: mmoore@uu.edu mailto:mmoore@uu.edu 456 all o u r fa c u lty have to te a c h fre s h m a n a n d /o r s o p h o m o re -le v e l co u rses each te rm , b u t th e y a lso t y p ic a lly h a v e o n e o r tw o u p p e r - le v e l courses fo r m ajo rs in th e field. T h e s e u p p e r - d iv isio n co u rses are u su a lly in th e ir area o f sp e ­ c ialty, a n d th e s u b je c t m a tte r is o f p a rtic u la r in te re s t (a n d e x c ite m e n t) to th e m . I f th e re is a special fa c u lty m e m b e r y o u w a n t to re ac h , or a d isc ip lin e y o u feel c o m p e te n t in b u t have no p r o f e s s i o n a l c o n t a c t w i t h , c h e c k y o u r in s t it u t io n ’s c o u rse listin g s in t h a t area. P ic k u p th e p h o n e ( i t’s m o re p e rso n a l th a n an e- m ail) a n d call th e p ro fe sso r, o ffe rin g w h a te v e r y o u feel c o m fo rta b le w ith fo r th a t c ourse: an a n n o ta te d b ib lio g ra p h y o f re fe re n ce so u rces in th a t specialty; a W e b lio g ra p h y o f re p u ta b le a n d re liab le sites o n th e s u b je c t m a tte r; a lis t o f th e l i b r a r y ’s j o u r n a l h o l d i n g s r e le v a n t to t h a t course; o r even a ta ilo re d in fo r m a tio n lite rac y session in th e ir cla ssro o m fo c u sed o n th e ir s tu ­ d e n ts ’ u p c o m in g a ssig n m e n t. A n y o f th e s e w ill e n a b le y o u to g e t y o u r fo o t in th e d o o r a n d sh o w th e p ro fesso r th a t y o u h ave skills h e o r she m a y n o t have (o r m ay sim p ly n o t have th e tim e to use). O n c e t h a t in itia l c o n ta c t is m a d e , y o u w ill be s u rp ris e d by th e fo llo w -u p p h o n e calls y o u w ill receive in s u b s e q u e n t sem esters. O n e caveat: D o n o t sp e n d h o u rs p re p a rin g u n s o lic ite d m a te ria l fo r a p ro fe s s o r o r class. M y e x p erien c e has b e e n t h a t y o u se ld o m get o u t o f it w h a t y o u p u t in to it. Talk to th e p ro fe sso rs w h o do u se BI F ind o u t w hy professors w ho use BI regularly do so. Is it because th ey have a conference to a tte n d a n d d o n ’t w a n t to cancel class? M o st likely, i t’s m ore fu ndam ental th an th at. T hose faculty w ho are w illing to give you a class perio d (or m ore) believe th at th eir students will be the b e tte r for it. T h e sacrifice they have m ade pays for the quality o f research th ey see at the e n d o f th e assignm ent. A sk those professors (n o t in an official, evaluative w ay b u t inform ally) w h y th ey use BI. W h a t results do they see? W h ere are those results? A re there things you do th a t th ey th in k o th e r faculty could take advantage o f if they kn ew a b o u t them? I re c e n tly ta u g h t a lo ca l w o rk s h o p o n c o l­ l a b o r a tin g w i th f a c u lty a n d h a d o n e o f o u r h is to ry fa c u lty m e m b e rs c o m e a n d o ffer advice a n d take q u e stio n s . H e is a b ig lib ra ry user, a n d h e has c alled o n m e to p ro v id e re so u rce s for several c o u rses o ver th e last five years, fro m a n n o ta te d b ib lio g ra p h ie s o f c h ild r e n ’s lite r a ture to a list o f reference m aterials on the A m eri­ can S outh. H is advice to th e w orkshop attendees? P ursue y our faculty m em bers. Advertise w h a t you can do to help them . A n d then do it well. T h e faculty w hom y ou th in k o f as y our biggest fans are a great resource; use them . R e se a rch a p p o in t m e n ts I serve as o n e o f tw o re fe re n c e l ib ra ria n s a t U n io n . M y colle ag u e a n d I b e g an a n e w in it ia ­ tive last fall c alled R esearch A p p o in tm e n ts . T h e c o n c e p t is to a ssig n a f u ll- tim e lib r a r y s ta f f p e rso n to e ach d e p a r tm e n t in th e u n iv e rs ity to serve as th e c o n ta c t p e rs o n fo r t h a t d e p a r t ­ m e n t a n d to assist s tu d e n ts in c o n d u c tin g re ­ s e a rc h .1 T h is lis t has b e e n d is tr ib u te d to all fac­ u lty a n d fre s h m e n a n d is p o s te d in th e lib ra ry . T h a t w ay, fa c u lty c a n re fe r s tu d e n ts n e e d in g h e lp w ith re se a rc h to a sp e c ific lib r a r y s ta f f m e m b e r. S tu d e n ts w h o are in th e lib ra ry try in g to research a n e c o n o m ic s p ro je c t a n d r u n n in g in to p ro b le m s can refer to th e p o s te d list a n d ask a t th e f r o n t d esk fo r th e lib ra ry s ta f f m e m ­ b e r a ssigned to e co n o m ic s. I f th e lib ra ry s ta ff m e m b e r is n o t c u rre n tly available, th e s tu d e n t can m ak e an a p p o in tm e n t (we u su a lly a llow 30 m in u te s ) w ith th e lib ra ry s ta f f m e m b e r to re­ ceive o n e -o n -o n e tra in in g in se a rc h stra te g ies a n d lea rn h o w to use specific re so u rce s (p r in t a n d o n lin e ) in th a t d isc ip lin e . I t ’s a c o m b in a ­ tio n o f su b je c t-sp e c ific BI a n d th e b ro a d e r fo ­ cus o f m a k in g th e s tu d e n t in fo r m a tio n lite ra te , all a t th e level o f th e in d iv id u a l. T h is p a rtic u la r p ro je c t is g e are d to w a rd th e s tu d e n t, ra th e r th a n th e p ro fesso r, b u t th e l a t­ te r serves as g o -b e tw e e n . W e h ave e x p e rie n c e d som e success w ith th is p ro je c t a n d seen it spread by s tu d e n t r e c o m m e n d a tio n . W e have tw o o th e r lib ra ria n s a n d tw o s t a f f m e m b e rs w ith n o n ­ lib ra ry degrees se rv in g as c o n ta c t p e rso n s w ith us, so t h a t th e lo a d o n th e re fe re n c e s ta f f is n o t q u ite as great. A n d hey, i f we h ave a sig ­ n ific a n t success ra te , w e w ill have g ro u n d s for re q u e s tin g a d d itio n a l p ro fe s sio n a l staff! In fo rm a tio n lit e r a c y w o r k s h o p F in a lly , w e o f f e r e d a n i n f o r m a t io n lite r a c y w o rk s h o p last fall o n o u r c a m p u s to in te re s te d s tu d e n ts . I t w as a tw o -h o u r, in tro d u c to ry -le v e l w o rk s h o p o ffe re d fo u r tim e s in O c to b e r to s t u ­ d e n ts, faculty, staff, or c o m m u n ity p a tro n s . T h e w o rk s h o p w as u n iv e rs a l (n o t fo c u sed o n a d is­ c ip lin e ) a n d c o v e re d s u c h sk ills as B o o le a n s e a rc h in g , e v a lu a tin g W e b sites, a n d c ritic a l C&RL News ■ July/A ugust 2003 / 457 thinking. W e used A C R L ’s In fo rm atio n Literacy C o m petency S tandards (2000) as a guide.2 W h e n we first began th ro w in g th e idea o f a w orkshop a ro u n d a year ago, we asked 40 or so o f o u r s tro n g e s t fa c u lty lib ra ry /B I users i f th e y th o u g h t the w orkshop w o uld help th eir students, a nd if they w o uld be w illing to p ro m o te it to their students (since the w orkshop is voluntary). T h e response was extrem ely positive, w ith one faculty m em ber insisting h e w o uld m ake it m an d a to ry for his upper-division classes. In reality, o u r t u r n o u t was n o t w h a t w e h a d h o p e d . N e a rly 50 a tte n d e e s cam e to th e fo u r sessions, in c lu d in g o n e fa c u lty m e m b e r (th is o n a c a m p u s o f n e a rly 2 ,0 0 0 s tu d e n ts ). Several fa c u lty m e m b e rs o ffe re d to give s tu d e n ts ex tra c re d it i f th e y a tte n d e d o n e o f th e w o rk s h o p s, so it seem s n o t all o f th e s tu d e n ts a c tu a lly cam e d u e to a p e rs o n a l d e sire to lea rn s o m e th in g . N o n e th e le s s , th is w o rk s h o p ta u g h t us so m e ­ th in g . It is m y fe elin g t h a t d ista n c e fro m an a ssig n m e n t a ctu ally c rip p le d th is w o rk s h o p o p ­ p o rtu n ity . It is m y h o p e th a t in th e fall o f 2 0 0 3 , instead o f generic in fo rm a tio n literacy w orkshops, we can offer a few discipline-specific w orkshops. I w o u ld like to o ffer w o rk s h o p s fo r E n g lish m ajo rs a n d H is to ry m a jo rs, a n d m y colleagues are c o n sid e rin g o th e r d isc ip lin es for w h ic h th e y m ig h t offer o n e , as w ell. O f te n we le a rn m o re fro m o u r m is ta k e s t h a n fro m o u r successes, a n d c e rta in ly th is a tte m p t w o u ld q u a lify as an “e n lig h te n in g fa ilu re .” C o n c lu s io n s T h a n k s to lib ra ry sc h o o l, lib ra ria n s have skills th a t m a n y fa cu lty m e m b e rs d o n o t. R a th e r th a n a d o p t an u s /th e m m e n ta lity , w e n e e d to c o m e to g e th e r w ith te a c h in g fa c u lty fo r th e b e n e fit o f o u r s t u d e n t s . L o o k f o r w a y s , w h e t h e r th r o u g h th e c la ssro o m o r o u tsid e it, to fo cu s in o n s tu d e n ts ’ re sea rc h n e ed s a n d m a k e y o u r in ­ s ti tu tio n a p lace o f tr u e life lo n g le a rn in g . A n d re m e m b e r, th e o n ly fa ilu re is to q u it try in g . A t U n io n U n iv e rs ity , w e are s till b u ild in g , a n d fa c u lty are still c o m in g . N o te s 1. O u r R e se arc h A p p o in tm e n ts P ro je c t is a d a p te d fro m th e c o n c e p t p re s e n te d in “T h e d isa p p e a rin g reference desk” by P eter G io rd a n o , C h r is tin e M e n a rd , a n d R ebecca O h m S p e n c er, College & Research Libraries N ew s 62 (Ju ly /A u ­ g u st 2 0 0 1 ): 6 9 2 - 9 4 , 7 0 0 . 2. For ACRL’s In fo rm atio n Literacy C o m p e ­ te n c y S ta n d a rd s visit h ttp ://w w w .a la .o rg /a c rl/, an d click o n “S tandards and G u idelines.” ■ R e g is te r n o w f o r “ In fo rm a tio n L ite ra c y an d A s s e s s m e n t ” o n lin e s e m in a r T h e th ird se m in a r in th e A C R L /T L T G ro u p o n lin e se m in a r series o n in fo rm a tio n literacy will be h e ld Ju ly 14 to A ugust 1, 2 003. “In fo rm a tio n L iteracy a n d A ssessm ent” of­ fers a sequence o f th ree sy n c h ro n o u s W ebcasts to in tro d u c e fo u r im p o rta n t activities a n d /o r d o c u m e n ts relevant to assessm ent o f in fo rm a ­ tio n literacy program s: 1. Characteristics o f Programs o f Inform ation Literacy T h a t Illustrate Best Practices-, 2. Information Literacy Competency Standards fo r Higher Education; 3. the ARL SAILS (Standardized Assessment o f Inform ation Literacy Skills) Project; and 4. th e T L T Flashlight Project. W ith a p ractical focus, th e sem inar leaders will p rovide specific exam ples o f h o w to use th ese d o c u m e n ts /a c tiv itie s a n d th e ir associ­ a te d ideas to c o n d u c t a n a sse ssm e n t o f in ­ fo r m a tio n lite ra c y p ro g ra m s. S e m in a r leaders are: D e b ra G ilc h ris t, d i­ re c to r o f lib ra ry /m e d ia services, P ie rce C o l­ lege; T o m K irk , lib ra ry d ire c to r a n d c o o rd i­ n a to r o f in fo r m a tio n services, E a rlh a m C o l­ lege; a n d R o b in Z u n ig a , asso c iate d ire c to r o f F la sh lig h t P ro g ra m , T L T G ro u p . F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n v i s i t : h t t p : / / w w w .a c rl.o rg /e -le a rn in g . D is c o u n ts are o f­ fered fo r ALA a n d A C R L m em b e rs a n d m e m ­ be rs o f T L T G ro u p su b s c rib e r in s titu tio n s . A $ 25 d is c o u n t p e r re g is tra n t is o ffe re d to in d iv id u a ls re g is te rin g fro m th e sam e in s titu ­ t i o n . R e g i s t r a t i o n is o p e n a t: h t tp s :/ / w w w .tltgroup.org/ilw s3registration.htm . http://www.ala.org/acrl/ http://www.acrl.org/e-learning http://www.tltgroup.org/ilws3registration.htm