Erlinda Anne Estrada Mission College Library Santa Clara CA

1. Information Competency: Next StepsPresented at California Library Association Conference, Ontario CANovember 15, 2003 Erlinda Anne Estrada Mission College Library Santa Clara CA http://www.salsa.missioncollege.org/estrada

2. OK, so we’ve got budget problems

3. And no mandates have come from the state: • Proposed changes to Title V that would have made information competency a graduation requirement for California community colleges were challenged by the Department of Finance. • The Board of Governors have a lot of other things on their minds (see previous slide).

4. But information competency skills are still important for our students.

5. So how do we make information competency a priority on our campuses: • With no new mandates from the state. • With no new monies from the state. • With hardly any money at all for anything????

6. We “work smarter” by: • Using existing resources so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. • Using the new accreditation standards and research to our advantage. • Staying informed.

7. Steps in implementation: • Research information competency. • Inform and involve the campus. • Decide on which standards to address. • Decide on implementation model(s) for your particular institution. • Obtain approval through the shared governance groups and the Board of Trustees. • Publish the requirement in the catalog/schedule of classes. • Implement.

8. Research

9. Research super site: http://www.topsy.org

10. http://www.topsy.org/infocomp.html

11. Inform and involve the campus • Have librarians participate in shared governance groups, like Academic Senate, on your campus. • Have the Academic Senate form a subcommittee to explore implementing information competency on your campus. • Attend department meetings and “evangelize” about information competency. • Conduct informational forums on your campus. • Emphasize that information competency is not just a librarian’s concern, but everyone’s, because it contributes to student success.

12. Accreditation Standards for community colleges adopted 2002 support your efforts: • Standard II, A 3a: “General education has comprehensive learning outcomes…including the following: A capability to be a productive individual and life long learner: skills include…information competency….” • Standard II C 1b: “The institution provides ongoing instruction for users of library and other earning support services so that students are able to develop skills in information competency.” • Glossary: “Information Competency: Capability to access, evaluate, and use information in fulfillment of coursework and independent study”

13. http://www.accjc.org

14. Standards: ACRL Standards

15. Models: • Separate courses and/or tutorials • Added units to existing courses • Co-requisites • Information Competency “across the curriculum” • classes incorporate information competency skills, possibly supplemented by workshops, library orientations, assignments

16. Examples of models:

17. BACC Information Competency Assessment Project

18. Requesting copies of the exam

19. At Mission College we followed the pattern: • Researched standards, models. • Informed the campus via presentations to Academic Senate and other shared governance groups, and during flex day activities and all-campus meetings. • Formed an Information Competency Task Force, a sub-committee of the Academic Senate.

20. The task force • explored models for implementation. • made a recommendation for implementation to the Academic Senate, drafted in the form of a resolution. • The Academic Senate approved the resolution, which made information competency a proficiency requirement for graduation at Mission College.

21. The resolution is very open-ended: • “that the Mission College Academic Senate recommend that Information Competency be included as a proficiency requirement for graduation.  Students would be able to demonstrate information competency skills in one of the following ways:  • 1)  by the successful completion of the course Library 10, Information Competency; or • 2) by successful completion of selected courses (to be determined) that infuse elements of information competency, possibly supplemented by library information competency workshops; or • 3) by passing a standardized information competency exam, • and that the Academic Senate form a subcommittee to consider the most appropriate way to implement the requirement.”

22. Next steps to implementation: • The task force is adding more faculty to the committee to work on: • curriculum changes in English 1A and Communications Studies courses • Adapting the proficiency exam for Mission College Library’s resources. • systems to track students’ progress, with the assistance of the Assessment Coordinator.

23. Further timelines: • In fall 2004, Mission College and West Valley College will present to the Board of Trustees our plans to implement the information competency proficiency requirements. • By February, 2005 we’ll prepare the new text for the catalog and schedule of classes. • Implementation will begin Fall 2005.

24. Staying informed • ILI-L Information Literacy Instruction Listserv • hosted on the ALA server, and sponsored by the Instruction Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries. • Discusses Information Literacy Instruction, Bibliographic Instruction, Library Use Instruction, and Library Orientation. • Subscription required: Send message to listproc@ala.org with "subscribe ILI-L your name" in the body of the message.

25. Attend workshops and network with your colleagues: • CLA (http://www.cla-net.org) • California Academic and Research Libraries (http://www.carl-acrl.org) • California Clearinghouse for Library Instruction (CCLI) (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/prodev/jaw/CCLI/) • Southern CaliforniaInstruction Librarians (http://clics.ucsd.edu/scil/index.html)

26. And don’t lose hope. We’re all in this together, and can help each other out.