The following is an account of the Joint Progression Standards Meeting held last Friday. Many thanks to Eleonora Dubicki (Monmouth University) for preparing these notes.
Progression Standards Meeting
Joint Meeting SIL, ACRL/NJLA User Education Committee, and CJARL
Held at Monmouth University
December 12, 2008 10am – 12pm
Participants: Jacqui DaCosta – session leader (TCNJ), Eleonora Dubicki (Monmouth), Gary Schmidt (Ocean CC), Amy Clark (Brookdale CC), Jesse Traquir (Berkeley College), Martin Crabtree (Mercer County CC), Caitlyn Cook (Ocean CC), Ellen Parker (Atlantic Cape CC), Daniel Calandro (Mercer CC), Pamela Price (Mercer CC), Pat Dawson (Rider U), Heather Huey (NJIT), Nancy Madacsi (Centenary), Anne Ciliberti (WPUNJ), Nancy Weiner (WPUNJ), Beatrice Priestly (LBPL and Monmouth), Ruth Hamann (Passaic CCC), Lynee Richel (County College of Morris), Lisa Coats (Monmouth)
VALE executive committee charge – Work together to develop progression standards for students progressing from two year to four year colleges, for the entire group of 52 NJ academic libraries.
Anne Ciliberti – In the recent changes in articulation standards, four year schools must accept credits from 2 year schools. In current definitions of standards, technology and Information Literacy skills are grouped together so that either one satisfies the category, but in reality students need both not just one of these skills.
Many session participants felt that we need to pursue our progression standards recommendations with the Council of Community Colleges, President’s Council (to seek NJ academic officers endorsement.)
Task force – meet in January, March and present at NJLA. Standards should be completed by this summer.
Brainstorming – entire group participated to identify issues and topics that should be addressed by the task force and the documents produced:
- What do we want these standards to be?
- Standards vs guidelines/mandates vs suggestions
- There are K-12 standards for IL, but they aren’t well disseminated. 4 groups. NJ Dept. of Ed. http://www.nj.gov/education/cccs/s8_tech.pdf
- If you get through Middle States accreditation, then school will have addressed IL articulation standards.
- How do you assess whether students have the necessary IL skills when they come to college?
- Heather – it helps to meet with classes multiple times. At NJIT IL is covered in humanities 101 , which meets 3 times – citations, book or articles, evaluate websites.
- Nancy - Focus on our freshman and sophomores to be at when they move to 4 year. What is the competency they should have at end of sophomore year and take this to governing body. Help differentiate between IL and Technology Literacy.
- 2 yr schools have open admissions, how do you address the needs of all types of students – those continuing those who are non-matriculating.
- Mark - Where should IL standards be enforced – librarians, faculty
- Pam - Should there be specific standards for people in professional programs – nursing, therapy.
- Ma Lei: ACRL – standards are the standards and objectives. That’s where should start. Merge with Middle States standards – give visions
- Lynee – needs will be diverse across so all types of students and schools, we should look at macro level which are relevant to everyone – evaluating information and ethical and legal uses.
- Is there a model we would like to follow? What type of wording? Go with simplicity.
Break-out group highlights:
Group 1:
- conceptualizing the document, macro
- Preferred Oswego format, focus on the degree of difficulty. Standards for 1) 1st yr 2) 2nd year
- Copyright only at upper division
- Prefer one page for presentation to groups, bullet point format for simplicity in presentations
- Outcomes assessments (by institution)
- Broad framework to cover difference student contexts, include non-traditional and DL learners
Group 2
- Progressive statements
- non-jargon language to communicate effectively to administrators/non librarians
- Use ACRL standards as a foundation- benchmarks, incoming proficiency, second level
- Assessment – where does it happen, how is faculty involved?
- IL should be embedded in the curriculum
Group 3
- Need to sell information literacy to admin, faculty – highlight IL failures that have been in the news. Context is very important.
- Ethical/Legal/economic issues important in lifelong learning (ACRL5)
- Important to understand “critical thinking” as many faculty see IL – IL not always addressed outside of library
- Need to have a broad foundation
- Simplicity (ACRL too detailed)
- Need to add another layer of experience to Bloom’s taxonomy to include active learning, significant, intentional learning
Group 4
- Accreditation – suggest models as a mandate
- Checklist for competency – simplify wording
- Role of the librarian
- Skills assessment/ outcomes
- Evidence
- Critical thinking
Group 5
- Simplicity in the document produced, eg. SUNY, Rochester
- What should be mastered by end of freshmen and sophomore years? Or expectations by credits – 30 credits, 60/64 credits
- Individual schools can contextualize our document
- Simplified ACRL standards 1-5 eg. SUNY, Eg. 1) Information need – one sentence explanation, then identify competencies needed
- Rows – Standards then competency (how you demonstrate)
- Columns – Level (1st and 2nd) and Upper
- Use a brief introduction to explain the proposed standards ½ - one page
Resources which were shared with participants prior to the meeting or mentioned during the session:
- Middle States IL: http://www.msche.org/publications/Developing-Skills080111151714.pdf
- Core Library and Research Skills Grad 9 – 14+ (Rochester Regional Library Council)
- Information Literacy Learning outcomes for SUNY Oswego Undergraduates
- Criteria for Information Literacy Competency (New Jersey City University)
- California State University Checklist of Information Competencies
- NJ skills assessment chart for K-12: http://www.state.nj.us/education/techno/techlit/tapin/2ci_skills_array.pdf
- NJ Dept of Education website: http://www.state.nj.us/education/techno/techlit/compare/
- NJ Dept of education, Professional and Educational standards: http://education.state.nj.us/cccs/?_list_cpi;c=8;s=1;g=12
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
December 12, 2008 Joint Meeting at Monmouth University
Below are some excerpts from an e-mail distributed by Jacqui DaCosta (TCNJ) regarding our December 12 joint meeting with VALE_SIL and NJ_ACRL_UE.
[begins]
On Friday December 12, 10:00-12:00, we will be meeting at Monmouth University, Magill Commons Room 109 (for directions, please see below and on agenda). If you need any further information on the venue or parking, please contact Eleonora Dubicki (edubicki@monmouth.edu)
The purpose of the meeting is to start the process of producing some IL benchmarks/standards that would enable institutions to assess students in the transition from 2 to 4 year colleges, at different stages (e.g. First Year, Sophomore, etc.). It would be really helpful if you could take a look at some of the links and documents attached, prior to the meeting, as these might guide and help us to get off to a running start:
http://www.cccnj.edu/library/informationliteracy.cfm (Cumberland CCC)
http://www.oswego.edu/library/instruction/outcomes.pdf (SUNY Oswego)
http://www.msche.org/publications/Developing-Skills080111151714.pdf (See App. 1 - NJ City Univ)
http://www.topsy.org/ICAP/Standards&Outcomes.pdf (Bay Area Community Colleges)
http://www.fiu.edu/~library/ili/outcomes.html (Florida International University)
You might also want to look at:
http://www.bergen.edu/gened/Distribution_Policy_F7.pdf (Gen. Ed, Foundation Course Goal Categories)
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/objectivesinformation.cfm (ACRL generic objectives)
[ends]
[begins]
On Friday December 12, 10:00-12:00, we will be meeting at Monmouth University, Magill Commons Room 109 (for directions, please see below and on agenda). If you need any further information on the venue or parking, please contact Eleonora Dubicki (edubicki@monmouth.edu)
The purpose of the meeting is to start the process of producing some IL benchmarks/standards that would enable institutions to assess students in the transition from 2 to 4 year colleges, at different stages (e.g. First Year, Sophomore, etc.). It would be really helpful if you could take a look at some of the links and documents attached, prior to the meeting, as these might guide and help us to get off to a running start:
http://www.cccnj.edu/library/informationliteracy.cfm (Cumberland CCC)
http://www.oswego.edu/library/instruction/outcomes.pdf (SUNY Oswego)
http://www.msche.org/publications/Developing-Skills080111151714.pdf (See App. 1 - NJ City Univ)
http://www.topsy.org/ICAP/Standards&Outcomes.pdf (Bay Area Community Colleges)
http://www.fiu.edu/~library/ili/outcomes.html (Florida International University)
You might also want to look at:
http://www.bergen.edu/gened/Distribution_Policy_F7.pdf (Gen. Ed, Foundation Course Goal Categories)
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/objectivesinformation.cfm (ACRL generic objectives)
[ends]
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Stephen Bell on Teaching Information Literacy Skills, from ACRLog 11/25/2008
Here's an interesting post on today's ACRLog from Stephen Bell, in which he addresses the debate about how to best provide students with the information literacy skills they need: librarian taught for-credit-information literacy courses, or information literacy integrated across the curriculum. Bell references articles/blog posts by William Badke and David Watt, which are also worth a look.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
CJARL Meeting - December 12, 2008 10am-12pm
This is good news.
What’s even better news is that many of our academic Librarian colleagues throughout New Jersey are also noticing this trend. Just as we’ve been discussing information literacy competencies and standards during our CJARL meetings, our colleagues on the User Education committee of the New Jersey Chapter of ACRL and VALE’s Shared Information Literacy (SIL) committee have been doing the same.
The progression standards are currently being conceived according to two areas: (1) high school to collegiate progression and (2) 2-year college to 4-year college progression.
That said, it’s about time that we convene all three groups for a kind of “mini-summit” geared toward hashing out our thoughts and ideas on progression standards.
Eleonora Dubicki of the NJACRL-UE committee has graciously arranged accommodations for the joint meeting to take place in Magill Commons (part of the dining/conference facilities) at Monmouth University from 10am-12pm on Friday, December 12, 2008.
This meeting will take the place of our previously-scheduled meeting from 10am-12pm on December 12.
It promises to be a great meeting.
-Gary
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
"Panel Issues Guide to Using Copyrighted Material in the Classroom"
This brief article from "The Chronicle of Higher Education" refers to a very interesting--and handy--report created at American University in D.C. on the subject of copyright. The report is written in easy-to-understand language that many teaching faculty will appreciate:
The guide argues that discussion of copyright in education has too often been shaped by copyright holders, "whose understandable concern about large-scale copyright piracy has caused them to equate any unlicensed use of copyright material with stealing." The authors say they hope their work will help professors understand their rights better under current law.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
"Wikipedia and the Meaning of Truth"
I suppose we're still discussing wikipedia. Just when you thought the worst was over. Seriously, though, it really is still necessary to keep this on our radar screen. -Gary
"Wikipedia and the Meaning of Truth: Why the online encyclopedia's epistemology should worry those who care about traditional notions of accuracy."
By Simson L. Garfinkel
With little notice from the outside world, the community-written encyclopedia Wikipedia has redefined the commonly accepted use of the word "truth."
Why should we care? Because Wikipedia's articles are the first- or second-ranked results for most Internet searches. Type "iron" into Google, and Wikipedia's article on the element is the top-ranked result; likewise, its article on the Iron Cross is first when the search words are "iron cross." Google's search algorithms rank a story in part by how many times it has been linked to; people are linking to Wikipedia articles a lot. [more]
"Wikipedia and the Meaning of Truth: Why the online encyclopedia's epistemology should worry those who care about traditional notions of accuracy."
By Simson L. Garfinkel
With little notice from the outside world, the community-written encyclopedia Wikipedia has redefined the commonly accepted use of the word "truth."
Why should we care? Because Wikipedia's articles are the first- or second-ranked results for most Internet searches. Type "iron" into Google, and Wikipedia's article on the element is the top-ranked result; likewise, its article on the Iron Cross is first when the search words are "iron cross." Google's search algorithms rank a story in part by how many times it has been linked to; people are linking to Wikipedia articles a lot. [more]
Monday, October 13, 2008
CJARL Meeting Notes – 10/10/08
Location: CJRLC Corporate Offices in Freehold, NJ.
In attendance (and in no particular order):
1. Amy Kearns Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative
2. Martin Crabtree Mercer County College
3. David Peterson Burlington County College
4. Gary Schmidt Ocean County College
5. Amy Clark Brookdale Community College
6. Carol Moroz Manchester Township High School
7. Valerie Tucci (via phone) The College of New Jersey
8. Jacqui DaCosta (via phone) The College of New Jersey
9. Susan Kadezabek
A note from the Chair:
Over the past year, Information Literacy (IL) has become a reoccurring—almost habitual—topic of discussion during group meetings. The conversations have always been highly engaging, thought-provoking, and stimulating. It has now evolved to the point that the group seeks to expand its scope to include input from High School Librarians as a means of more closely examining the issue and better enabling our understating of how IL is addressed at the pre-undergraduate level.
During a meeting with CJRLC’s Connie Paul and Amy Kearns in early summer 2008, CJARL member Amy Clark and I indicated the group’s current interest in IL and our desire to peruse collaboration with High School Librarians. Both Paul and Kearns have been highly supportive of our group and should be thanked for their tremendous insight, energy, and willingness to act as facilitators in support of our goals. During the meeting, Paul invited Clark and me to CJRLC’s Annual Executive Board meeting in August and encouraged us to pursue opportunities for collaborations (and further insight) there.
While attending that Executive Board meeting in August, I had the great fortune to meet Carol Moroz, the Librarian at Manchester Township High School. Carol expressed great interest in the group’s desire to collaborate with High School Librarians as a means of evaluating her school’s IL teaching curriculum and assessment strategy. Carol accepted my invitation to meet with us during our October meeting.
Given the presence of our distinguished guest, this month’s meeting was unique in so far as we dedicated our time exclusively to the subject of information literacy, thereby making the best use of our time. This was only the group’s fist salvo across the broadsides of collaboration between High School Librarians and Academic Librarians so the conversation tended to be fairly broad, focusing on how we can address the ever-widening divide that students must confront when the IL competencies that they acquired in High School come face-to-face with the expectations of their first year College Professors.
Bottom-up curriculum development and a lack of clearly communicated assignments on the part of teachers were cited as endemic problems at the High School level. The development of standardized assessment instruments to determine (and draw attention to the importance of) the IL competence of incoming freshmen were cited as goals that need to be addressed at the collegiate level.
One of the most interesting ancillary components to all of this, however, is that CJARL is hardly the only group in New Jersey that is currently having this conversation—and along these very same lines. The User Education Committee of the New Jersey Chapter of ACRL and the VALE Information Literacy Committee are both engaged in their own analysis. I encourage members of CJARL to get involved in these—and other—initiatives. I also invite committee members from other organizations to join our discussion group to hear some other voices on the issue. It’s all done in the name of further collaboration.
Respectfully submitted on Monday, October 13, 2008,
Gary Schmidt
Chair, CJARL
Ocean County College
Toms River, NJ
NEXT MEETING: December 12, 2008 10:00am-12:00pm at Ocean County College (Room L101D). Directions available at www.ocean.edu. Agenda to follow at a later date.
In attendance (and in no particular order):
1. Amy Kearns Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative
2. Martin Crabtree Mercer County College
3. David Peterson Burlington County College
4. Gary Schmidt Ocean County College
5. Amy Clark Brookdale Community College
6. Carol Moroz Manchester Township High School
7. Valerie Tucci (via phone) The College of New Jersey
8. Jacqui DaCosta (via phone) The College of New Jersey
9. Susan Kadezabek
A note from the Chair:
Over the past year, Information Literacy (IL) has become a reoccurring—almost habitual—topic of discussion during group meetings. The conversations have always been highly engaging, thought-provoking, and stimulating. It has now evolved to the point that the group seeks to expand its scope to include input from High School Librarians as a means of more closely examining the issue and better enabling our understating of how IL is addressed at the pre-undergraduate level.
During a meeting with CJRLC’s Connie Paul and Amy Kearns in early summer 2008, CJARL member Amy Clark and I indicated the group’s current interest in IL and our desire to peruse collaboration with High School Librarians. Both Paul and Kearns have been highly supportive of our group and should be thanked for their tremendous insight, energy, and willingness to act as facilitators in support of our goals. During the meeting, Paul invited Clark and me to CJRLC’s Annual Executive Board meeting in August and encouraged us to pursue opportunities for collaborations (and further insight) there.
While attending that Executive Board meeting in August, I had the great fortune to meet Carol Moroz, the Librarian at Manchester Township High School. Carol expressed great interest in the group’s desire to collaborate with High School Librarians as a means of evaluating her school’s IL teaching curriculum and assessment strategy. Carol accepted my invitation to meet with us during our October meeting.
Given the presence of our distinguished guest, this month’s meeting was unique in so far as we dedicated our time exclusively to the subject of information literacy, thereby making the best use of our time. This was only the group’s fist salvo across the broadsides of collaboration between High School Librarians and Academic Librarians so the conversation tended to be fairly broad, focusing on how we can address the ever-widening divide that students must confront when the IL competencies that they acquired in High School come face-to-face with the expectations of their first year College Professors.
Bottom-up curriculum development and a lack of clearly communicated assignments on the part of teachers were cited as endemic problems at the High School level. The development of standardized assessment instruments to determine (and draw attention to the importance of) the IL competence of incoming freshmen were cited as goals that need to be addressed at the collegiate level.
One of the most interesting ancillary components to all of this, however, is that CJARL is hardly the only group in New Jersey that is currently having this conversation—and along these very same lines. The User Education Committee of the New Jersey Chapter of ACRL and the VALE Information Literacy Committee are both engaged in their own analysis. I encourage members of CJARL to get involved in these—and other—initiatives. I also invite committee members from other organizations to join our discussion group to hear some other voices on the issue. It’s all done in the name of further collaboration.
Respectfully submitted on Monday, October 13, 2008,
Gary Schmidt
Chair, CJARL
Ocean County College
Toms River, NJ
NEXT MEETING: December 12, 2008 10:00am-12:00pm at Ocean County College (Room L101D). Directions available at www.ocean.edu. Agenda to follow at a later date.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Chronicle arcticle: "Connecting Schools and Colleges"
In preparation for this Friday's meeting, I thought I'd share a recent article (dated: October 10, 2008) from The Chronicle of Higher Education that relates to student preparedness for undergraduate work.
"Connecting Schools and Colleges: More Rhetoric Than Reality"
Permalink: http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i07/07a04001.htm
"Connecting Schools and Colleges: More Rhetoric Than Reality"
Permalink: http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i07/07a04001.htm
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Constitution Day @ Ocean County College - Part II
Please join us at Ocean County College on Monday, September 15, 2008 & Wednesday, September 17, 2008 for Constitution Day celebrations!
Constitution Day is on Wednesday, September 17th. In honor of this special, annual event, Ocean County College will be hosting a series of faculty lectures on September 15 & 17. Faculty and staff from neighboring institutions as well as the public are welcome to attend. No registration is required, but please RSVP by September 9 if you would like to join us for lunch on the 15th.
Monday September 15:
8:30 - coffee and light refreshments
9:00 - War Powers of the President Under the Lincoln Administration, Dr. Frank Wetta
9:30 - The Electoral College, Professor Bradford Young
[break]
11:00 - Your Right to Know: An Introduction to the Federal Depository Library Program, Librarian Caitlyn Cook
12:00 - Lunch
1:00 - Colleges, the Constitution and the Courts, Dr. Fran Polk
Wednesday September 17:
8:30 - coffee and light refreshments
9-11- Government Documents in the Classroom, a library-sponsored roundtable workshop introducing the breadth of government information available to students and instructors alike. This workshop will serve as an introduction to government material, but will cover greater depth and subject variety than the presentation on the 15th. Presented by OCC librarians Torris Andersen, Caitlyn Cook and Pamela Dong.
All presentations will take place in the Technology Building on the Ocean County College Campus. You can access a campus map and driving directions here:
http://www.ocean.edu/welcome/maps/maps_directions.htm
Visitors are welcome to park in Lots 1 or 2, additional (and closer) handicap parking is available next to the Information Technology Building (labeled #11) and in the faculty lot (labeled F1) on the campus map.
For more information or to RSVP, please contact Caitlyn Cook at ccook [at] ocean [dot] edu.
We look forward to seeing you!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
October 10, 2008 Meeting
Many thanks to CJRLC for hosting our meeting.
Constitution Day @ Ocean County College
Save the Dates!
Monday, September 15, 2008 & Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Constitution Day is on Wednesday, September 17th. In honor of this special, annual event, Ocean County College will be hosting a series of lectures on September 15 & 17. Faculty and staff from neighboring institutions as well as the public are welcome to attend.
The first day (September 15) will feature a series of lectures from Ocean County College and Kean@Ocean Faculty on topics such as (1) The War Powers of the Executive, (2) The Electoral College, and (3) An Introduction to the Breadth of Government Documents Material Provided under the Federal Depository Program. This day will also include a debate between two members of local, Ocean County elected political office. More on that later….
The second day (September 17) will be geared more toward faculty and will include a roundtable workshop focusing on how Faculty can incorporate government documents into the classroom.
Many thanks to Caitlyn Cook, Ocean County College’s Government Documents Librarian, for her hard work and energy in planning this event.
For more information or to RSVP, please contact Caitlyn Cook at ccook [at] ocean [dot] edu.
Monday, September 15, 2008 & Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Constitution Day is on Wednesday, September 17th. In honor of this special, annual event, Ocean County College will be hosting a series of lectures on September 15 & 17. Faculty and staff from neighboring institutions as well as the public are welcome to attend.
The first day (September 15) will feature a series of lectures from Ocean County College and Kean@Ocean Faculty on topics such as (1) The War Powers of the Executive, (2) The Electoral College, and (3) An Introduction to the Breadth of Government Documents Material Provided under the Federal Depository Program. This day will also include a debate between two members of local, Ocean County elected political office. More on that later….
The second day (September 17) will be geared more toward faculty and will include a roundtable workshop focusing on how Faculty can incorporate government documents into the classroom.
Many thanks to Caitlyn Cook, Ocean County College’s Government Documents Librarian, for her hard work and energy in planning this event.
For more information or to RSVP, please contact Caitlyn Cook at ccook [at] ocean [dot] edu.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
From Insidehighered.com: Research Methods 'Beyond Google'
This is an interesting article about the need for information literacy integration across the curriculum and the techniques a few colleges and universities are using to make it happen. Especially interesting is the Cornell Undergraduate Information Competency Initiative.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Follow Up Information about NJAC Title 9A (from May Discussion)
From Laura Gewissler:
The following is excerpted from NJAC Title 9A: Higher Education posted on the Commission of Higher Education web site under regulatory postings: http://www.state.nj.us/highered
See section 9A: 1- 1.9 (pages 7 & 8) for the changes proposed for August 2008. Bolded sections are the proposed changes.
Excerpts:
9A:1-1.9 Library
(a) At its most elementary level, the collegiate teaching and learning process cannot proceed effectively without the essential services, collections, computerized network access, and other resources that are provided and administered by an institution's library. For this reason, much emphasis is placed upon the adequacy of the library, its collections, and its staffing. In the 21st century, emphasis is also placed on information literacy for all students.
(b) Qualified library professionals, librarians, and support personnel in numbers sufficient to serve the needs of students and faculty shall staff the institution's library. Every institution, regardless of enrollment or number of academic offerings, shall provide access to at least one qualified library professional with the exception of institutions whose library collection is primarily in a language or languages other than English. Institutions whose collection is primarily in a language or languages other than English shall provide access to a qualified library professional, a librarian, or an individual qualified by way of disciplinary expertise (for example, an earned doctorate, extensive study in the discipline, demonstrated scholarly production, etc.). Each curricular area of the institution
should have a library liaison assigned who serves as that department or program's connection to library and research services. [There shall be an annual acquisition of books, journals, and other library materials, including software; appropriate systems for computerized access to other libraries' collections and to materials such as databases; and evidence of effective use of library resources by students and faculty.]
(c) (No change.)
(d) An institution shall demonstrate the development and maintenance of a collection that reflects and supports the curriculum. An institution should compile acquisition and classification data, documenting collection strengths and weaknesses, and have in place a plan to maintain strengths and remedy weaknesses though a combination of physical, virtual, and consortia materials. Institutions are advised to consult the Association of College and Research Libraries "RCL: Resources for College Libraries" or other recognized sources for core collection development.
(e) There shall be a program for continuous acquisition of materials including books, journals, databases, and other instructional materials.
(f) The institution shall catalog and maintain all library holdings appropriately, including providing a protective environment for its physical library material that adequately protects the collection from deterioration and damage.
(g) The institution shall provide clear and consistent methods for on-campus and remote access to electronic resources, and there shall be communication of that information to students in a manner to minimize barriers to usage. To the extent possible at individual institutions, there should be a consistent method for ensuring that electronic resources are archived so that access is possible for virtual library content over time.
(h) The institution shall document evidence of library education programming that encompasses both physical and virtual collections, and the existence of a plan to assess and document effective use of library resources by students and faculty.
(i) An institution should utilize library representatives in the curriculum development process to inform the administration of the library's ability to offer adequate support for materials and library education.
Page 8
40 N.J.R. 969(a)
(j) An institution may enter into contract with another library or libraries for the provision of collections and services, physical or virtual. Institutions shall demonstrate that the collections are appropriate for the curriculum of the institution, that students have convenient access to contracted library services, that there is adequate library instruction provided to students to use effectively the services of the contracted library, and that there are qualified library professionals or librarians available to assist students. The institution shall retain full responsibility for adequacy of resources available to students. Institutions are encouraged to participate in appropriate consortia that allow them to expand and more effectively deliver information resources and services.
(k) An institution shall have in place a plan that articulates how students will obtain information literacy skills as they progress through the curriculum. The plan shall identify outcomes for information literacy skill development, and how those outcomes are measured and assessed. Institutions are encouraged to use a combination of assessment methods to include formal testing, development of student portfolios, examination of research papers bibliographies, and/or other means. Institutions may use either a compartmentalized, or distributed, method of library education, or some combination that meets the needs of the institution. An institution shall provide evidence
of faculty and administrator involvement in the development, implementation and operationalization of
the information literacy plan. The institution has the responsibility, through its library or though other appropriate means, to make the information literacy plan available to the learning community. Within three years of initial licensure, an institution shall document how students are achieving information literacy outcomes.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
FYI: Information Literacy & Instruction Blogs
Lisa Coats passed these along and thought they might be of interest to the group. Enjoy!
Pegasus Librarian: http://pegasuslibrarian
InfoLit Librarian: http://danielrhood.com/blog/
Academic Librarian: http://blogs.princeton.edu
Guardienne of the Tomes: http://guardienne.blogspot.com/
Please Be Quiet: http://genneaux.wordpress.com
Information Literacy at I[daho]SU: http://spencerjardine.blogspot
CJARL Meeting Notes – 05/23/08
Location: Georgian Court University, Lakewood, NJ
In Attendance: Brookdale Community College – Steve Chudnick, Amy Clark Jeanne Ostrowski; Georgian Court University: Mary Basso, Jeff Donnelly, Laura Gewissler, Barbara Herbert; Mercer County Community College: Martin Crabtree; Monmouth University – Lisa Coats; Ocean County College – Caitlyn Cook, Pamela Dong, Gary Schmidt
Announcements:- The ACRL-NJ/NJLA-CUS User Education Committee is sponsoring a program entitled, "Teaching as Performance" on May 30 at Monmouth University from 10:30 - 2:30. Registration deadline is May 23.
- The FutureTech for Libraries Symposium will be held at TCNJ on June 13 from 9:30 - 3:30. Registration deadline is June 6.
- The NJLA Reference Section is sponsoring a tour of the TCNJ library on Wednesday, May 28 at 3:00 pm. Contact Lisa Coats for more information: lcoats@monmouth.edu
- If anyone is interested in contributing to the CJARL blog - with interesting articles, blog posts, etc. to keep our discussion going between meetings - contact Amy Clark.
- After today's meeting Gary Schmidt, Ocean County College, will be taking over as Chair of the group!
NEXT MEETING: October 10, 2008 ~ Location TBA
Discussion: Subject Research Guides In a follow up to the discussion about Portals from the March meeting, Georgian Court librarians shared via demonstration the subject/course-specific research guides they "house" in the university's course management system, Blackboard. GCU librarians have found that the relationships with faculty largely determine the extent to which the guides are used. The group discussed ways to organize and facilitate access to subject guides in the CMS or on library websites, logistical challenges to maintaining subject research guides, and philosophical questions surrounding subject guide content and students' abilities to find and select authoritative information on their own. Middlestates, General Education, and Information LiteracyMembers shared experiences preparing for Middlestates visits with regard to general education and information literacy. Amy shared the work of the ACRL-NJ/NJLA-CUS User Education Committee in addressing the "Technological OR Information Literacy Competency" category in the new General Education guidelines associated with the new Lampitt bill and the comprehensive state-wide transfer agreement (community colleges to public colleges/universities in NJ). Laura mentioned NJ's Title 9, which requires that information literacy programs must be assessed/show that assessment is taking place. The group agreed that an information literacy program must exist before it could be assessed, and many agreed that such a comprehensive information literacy program do not exist at their institutions. Perhaps future revisions of the "Technological or Information Literacy competency" category associated with the state-wide general education model associated with the Lampitt bill will help to make such institution-wide information literacy programs a reality. Future of Print Encyclopedias The discussion came out of a New York Times column, (and it was commented upon in a number of places including recently on the Gypsy Librarian blog). Group members discussed advantages of having print encyclopedias and the need to have most subject-specific encyclopedias in print (due to lack of availability electronically), although it was noted that this is changing. Increasing online course offerings and multi-location campuses were cited as reasons whey electronic encyclopedias were preferable; making their existence known was cited as an issue. Someone mentioned "also available electronically" stickers for placement on print collection as a way to market the electronic collection. High School Partnerships/Collaborations This discussion topic grew out of the article: Burhanna, Kenneth J. "Instructional Outreach to High Schools: Should You Be Doing It?" Communications in Information Literacy (Fall 2007). Barbara Herbert discussed a working relationship she had with an area high school. The group members recalled that the region's Information Literacy group previously identified such collaborations as a project, but nothing lasting really came of it. The group discussed the need for students to establish "healthy" information-seeking habits before they get to college, but struggled with how to make this happen when less healthy ways of obtaining information are so quick and easy, (recall Gary's Whole Foods vs. McDonald's analogy). This led to a discussion of the "good enough" searching/finding so prevalent among our students, and what we can do to address it. It was noted that teachers at the high school level sometimes enable poor information seeking habits when they direct students to Wikipedia, (in ways not designed to teach them how Wikipedia works, which we discussed as a positive approach).
A few references came up in this discussion: Colbert's "Wikiality" clip New book: True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society, by Farhad Manjoo Movie:Idiocracy (also referred to in a blog post by Marc Meola on the ACRLog) ALSO: Ways folks are using - or might use -- Wikipedia as a teaching tool: Here's a lesson from factchecked.org (a wonderful lesson plan resource from the folks at the Annenberg Public Policy Center) that aims to:- Examine the ease with which Wikipedia entries can be altered (either innocently or maliciously).
- Discuss the accuracy of Wikipedia as an encyclopedia and consider the usefulness of any encyclopedia as a source of information.
- Search Wikipedia for specific factual errors.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Next Meeting: May 23 at Georgian Court University
The next CJARL meeting will be held at Georgian Court University on Friday, May 23 between 10:00 am and 12:00 noon. Directions, parking information, and meeting location to follow.
Here are a few ideas for discussion. We certainly don't have to address all of them -- (or any of them, for that matter!) Please send your ideas (or weigh-in on those presented here) before the meeting and I'll put together a loose agenda.
Here are a few ideas for discussion. We certainly don't have to address all of them -- (or any of them, for that matter!) Please send your ideas (or weigh-in on those presented here) before the meeting and I'll put together a loose agenda.
- Explore Georgian Court's Information Literacy shell in their course management system
(discussed at the March meeting)- Related article: Developing Students' Information and Research Skills via Blackboard.
- General Education/Lampitt Bill and the troublesome "Technological Competency or Information Literacy" category:
- The ACRL-NJ/NJLA-CUS User Education Committee is working on submitting a proposal that this be looked at in the Fall. If possible, I'd like to get some ideas and feedback from members of this group to share. (I'll bring copies of relevant documents for those who aren't familiar with the Lampitt Bill.)
- What Happens to Your Research Assignment at the Library?
- This article appeared in Vol. 56/Issue 1 of College Teaching (Winter 2008), (full-text available through Academic Search Premier). It addresses the work that librarians do with students at the reference desk-- primarily in the area of topic selection/narrowing -- when assignments assume students have these skills, and it suggests techniques discipline-area faculty might use to build topic focus strategies into research assignments. Might be interesting to hear what experiences members have with this issue and what approaches work best -- with students and faculty.
- Federated searching: your thoughts and experiences...
- Does anyone have partnerships/working relationships with local high school libraries/academic departments? Should we? A few interesting pieces on this issue:
- Burhanna, Kenneth J. "Instructional Outreach to High Schools: Should You Be Doing It?" Communications in Information Literacy (Fall 2007).
- I also recently listened to the "Thinking Out Loud" podcast by George Needham (OCLC) and Joan Frye Williams, which reported on the University College of London CIBER group's report from January 2008 entitled, "Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future." While I haven't read the report, the podcast, referring to the report, mentions the importance of establishing good research habits early in students' lives, and suggests that by the time they get to college most students are set in their Google-ing ways. (This seemed to support the idea for a greater collaboration between college and high school and even elementary schools with regard to information literacy skills.)
- NJLA/Computers in Libraries -- information sharing
- YOUR DISCUSSION TOPICS HERE! :)
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Interesting "Article Note" from the Gypsy Librarian blog...
I feel like I take (or try to take) a pretty balanced view about the implementation of Library 2.0 stuff with regard to academic libraries, and I'm always interested in what people are saying about the future of academic libraries. I came across this "article note" on the Gypsy Librarian blog and thought others might be interested as well. Although I haven't read it myself, the article referenced is Jeffrey Gayton's article in the January 2008 issue of The Journal of Academic Librarianship entitled: "Academic Libraries: 'Social' or 'Communal?' The Nature and Future of Academic Libraries. Enjoy!
Monday, March 10, 2008
3.07.08 Meeting Notes
CJARL Meeting Notes – 03/07/08
Location: CJRLC Headquarters, Freehold, NJ
In Attendance: Brookdale Community College – Amy Clark; Georgian Court University: Laura Gewissler; Mercer County Community College: Martin Crabtree; Monmouth University – Lisa Coats, George Germek; Ocean County College – Gary Schmidt; CJRLC - Amy Kearns
- NJLA Conference registration is open. Early bird registration ends April 4.
- CJRLC Spring Membership meeting will be Thursday March 8 at Battleground Country Club in Manalapan. Additional details forthcoming on CJRLC's website.
- There is a program about open-source software at Princeton University on April 2. (I don't know the details about this....sorry!)
- The region's School Group Open House is scheduled for April 23, 3:30 - 6:00 pm at Princeton Day School. Linda Braun, (an expert on technology and literacy) will be presenting.
- "A Reference Renaissance: Current and Future Trends" Conference: August 4-5, 2008 in Denver, CO. Check out Library Garden for more details.
- There is a job opening for a Systems Librarian at Mercer County Community College. Visit http://www.mccc.edu/welcome_jobs.shtml#job5 for more details.
- The Reference Section of NJLA is sponsoring a program at Columbia High School on March 11 from 2:00 - 5:00 pm, on the Academic, School, and Public Library Collaboration Project. Contact Paul Schroeder or Lisa Coats for details.
- If anyone is interested in contributing to the CJARL blog - with interesting articles, blog posts, etc. to keep our discussion going between meetings - contact Amy Clark.
- If anyone is interested in taking over as chair of this group, effective summer or fall 2008, please contact Amy Clark.
NEXT MEETING:
May 23, 2008: Georgian Court University, Lakewood, NJ
Information Literacy Assessment Efforts:
Monmouth University Librarians shared some information about their ongoing information literacy assessment project. Pre- and post-test data collected over 4-5 semesters (with sections of a required freshman-level information technology course) is now being compiled, and librarians are conducting a literature review. Some issues identified include that depending on the section of the course, an assignment may or may not have been required in relation to the library session. The pre- and post-testing did not occur during the library session; pre-testing typically occurred the week prior to the library session and post-testing typically occurred one or two weeks after the library session.
Mercer has piloted the TRAILS test with their English 101 and 102 courses, and is now in the process of adapting the questions to best meet their needs before moving ahead with a more formalized assessment project. At the beginning of the term, students in English 101 (Composition 1), a course in which there may or may not be a library introduction, will take the pre-test. After completing 101 and 102, a research-based composition course in which library instruction is strongly suggested, the students will take the post-test. We look forward to hearing the results as they unfold!
Several institutions are preparing for, or currently going through the Middle-States process. It was suggested that since compliance with Middle-States' recommendations is on all administrators' radars, librarians should highlight Middle States' emphasis on information literacy to get buy-in on administrative levels. Amy C., who is involved with the NJLA-CUS/ACRL-NJ User Education Committee, indicated that the committee used this tact to suggest changes to the proposed state-wide General Education changes in the Lampitt Bill. The General Education core competencies lump information literacy with technological competency, and the fulfillment of this competency is an either/or proposition. Drawing on Middle-States documents, the committee drafted a proposal to separate these two categories. The committee's proposal was endorsed by the ACRL-NJ executive board, and members of the committee will be meeting with the Chair of the NJ General Education Committee to discuss the proposed document in April.
Georgian Court University has re-vamped their general education program. GCU has instituted a first-year experience program, which requires two visits to the library: one for a general orientation, and one to gather research for an assignment related to a book all freshman are assigned to read. GCU is also initiating a transfer seminar to bring transfer students up to speed with information literacy and other skills.
Cameron, L., Wise, S. L., & Lottridge, S. M. (2007, May). The development and validation of the information literacy test. College & Research Libraries, 68(3), 229-236. This article discusses the Information Literacy Test (ILT) developed and used at James Madison University.
Scharf, D., Elliot, N., Huey, H. A., Briller, V., & Joshi, K. (2007, July). Direct assessment of information literacy using writing portfolios. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 33(4), 462-478. Retrieved from Science Direct database. This details the NJIT information literacy assessment project.
Sonley, V., Turner, D., Myer, S., & Cotton, Y. (2007). Information literacy assessment by portfolio:A case study. Reference Services Review, 35(1), 41-70. Retrieved from Emerald Insight database. doi:10.1108/00907320710729355. References a UK-based portfolio assessment project.
Determining Reference Collection Use:
Most members present keep count of the number of reference books re-shelved, without noting specific titles. Some fear that super-efficient weeding of the reference collection would open up space that might quickly be commandeered by the institution for office space. Mercer will be losing some space in the reference collection area. Martin is working with faculty to determine what can stay and what can go. Previously, Mercer would collect using Books for College Libraries, but this is no longer possible due to space constraints. Other members mentioned that so much of what was reference-book material in the print-only age is now readily available online.
Portals:
The group discussed the concept of portals and subject guides. Some librarians are maintaining subject guide web pages; others are not. OCC tags websites with specific course codes in their del.icio.us account.
At GCU, librarians have created an IL course in Blackboard, their course-management system. All students, faculty, and staff are enrolled in the course. Librarians maintain subject-specific resource guides here, which include resources listed by course/course assignment. The IL course also provides general information literacy material, such as modules/tutorials about differences between scholarly and popular sources, etc. In the course management system, use can be tracked.
This approach was noted as a manageable alternative to actually embedding a librarian within every course in the online environment. Creating the IL course, and enrolling all students provides information literacy instruction materials to distance education students. It also serves as a supplemental resource for students in traditional face-to-face courses.
Jackson, P.A. (2007, July). Integrating information literacy into Blackboard: Building campus partnerships for successful student learning. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 33(4), 454-461. Retrieved from Science Direct.
Nichols, J. & Mellinger, M. (2007, Oct.). Portals for undergraduate subject searching: Are they worth it? portal: Libraries and the Academy, 7(4), 481-490. Retrieved from Project Muse.
Open Source and ILS vendors:
The group discussed the open-source movement and some of the upcoming programs about it. Laura raised the important question of who will support all of the open-source stuff? Logistically, this seems like a very big issue, although having librarians -- not the ILS vendors -- at the helm would certainly be advantageous to us.
Impact of Loss of NJKI Resources:
We closed with a discussion of how different institutions are feeling the impact of the NJKI databases. Several members' institutions have elected to pay, (through VALE), to continue coverage of some of the now-lost NJKI databases. Amy Kearns said that region directors are not concerned (at this point) that the $2 million will be cut from the budget. The state will have to determine which databases they will provide with the money available for next year. Here's an article about the "sting" of the NJKI shutdown from the Star Ledger on Friday. (Posted to the NJLA blog.)
Monday, February 11, 2008
Mark Your Calendars: March 7 next CJARL Meeting
Our next meeting is scheduled for March 7, 2008 between 10:00 am and noon at the CJRLC Headquarters in Freehold. As always, light refreshments will be served and all are welcome to attend!
Please let me know what discussion topics you'd like to see on our "agenda" for this meeting!
Here are a few possibilities:
Lisa Coats forwarded an interesting essay by Ursula Le Guin that follows up on the discussion about reading we had at our last meeting. The essay is titled"Staying Awake: Notes on the Alleged Decline of Reading," and it appears on pages 33-38 of the February 2008 edition of Harper's Magazine.
I read a study in Reference & User Services Quarterly (Vol. 47, Iss. 2) entitled, "Determining Use of an Academic Library Reference Collection: Report of a Study" and I'd be curious to know how, or if, members go about determining the use of their print reference collections and/or how they determine what to buy, keep, weed, or take electronic. Martin, if you're planning to attend, this might dovetail with a follow-up discussion of your library's loss of reference-area space and the subsequent changes to the reference collection, (as discussed at the Oct. 12, 2007 meeting).
Two other possible items, both perhaps more IL-related, but certainly relevant to our work:
Steven Bell posted "Why Students Want Simplicity and Why it Fails Them When it Comes to Research" on the ACRLog earlier this month. This might also make an interesting discussion piece.
A colleague sent me an article by Michael Bugeja from the January-February 2008 issue of The Futurist entitled, "The Age of Distraction: The Professor or the Processor?" I have notes and questions all over the margins of my copy of this one; it too, might make for some good discussion. (If you're interested, The Futurist is available in Academic ASAP and Academic Search Premier)
Please, send additional ideas and issues in advance of the next meeting -- either as a comment to the blog, or via email to me. See you all soon!
Please let me know what discussion topics you'd like to see on our "agenda" for this meeting!
Here are a few possibilities:
Lisa Coats forwarded an interesting essay by Ursula Le Guin that follows up on the discussion about reading we had at our last meeting. The essay is titled"Staying Awake: Notes on the Alleged Decline of Reading," and it appears on pages 33-38 of the February 2008 edition of Harper's Magazine.
I read a study in Reference & User Services Quarterly (Vol. 47, Iss. 2) entitled, "Determining Use of an Academic Library Reference Collection: Report of a Study" and I'd be curious to know how, or if, members go about determining the use of their print reference collections and/or how they determine what to buy, keep, weed, or take electronic. Martin, if you're planning to attend, this might dovetail with a follow-up discussion of your library's loss of reference-area space and the subsequent changes to the reference collection, (as discussed at the Oct. 12, 2007 meeting).
Two other possible items, both perhaps more IL-related, but certainly relevant to our work:
Steven Bell posted "Why Students Want Simplicity and Why it Fails Them When it Comes to Research" on the ACRLog earlier this month. This might also make an interesting discussion piece.
A colleague sent me an article by Michael Bugeja from the January-February 2008 issue of The Futurist entitled, "The Age of Distraction: The Professor or the Processor?" I have notes and questions all over the margins of my copy of this one; it too, might make for some good discussion. (If you're interested, The Futurist is available in Academic ASAP and Academic Search Premier)
Please, send additional ideas and issues in advance of the next meeting -- either as a comment to the blog, or via email to me. See you all soon!
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