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Information Literacy Strategic Plan

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Preface

In its General Education Requirements, the Louisiana State Board of Regents (http://www.regents.louisiana.gov/Academic/PP/Attachments/IV.html) has stated that, "Colleges/universities shall insure that each degree student has achieved basic computer and information literacy before graduation." Louisiana State University's own Planning Document (www.lsu.edu/new/UPCDRFT.html) states at Objective 6.7 that the university will "promote among students, faculty and staff mastery of information technology and high skill levels in information retrieval, assessment, interpretation, and application." Thus, Louisiana State University has committed itself to the cause of information literacy in principle.

Likewise, the LSU Libraries' Mission Statement (http://www.lib.lsu.edu/lib/longrange.html) includes an objective to provide proactive instruction for patrons (Objective 4.1) through a variety of media. According to the ACRL's Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, "information literacy is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education." (http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm)

While the Libraries' current instructional efforts acknowledge these objectives and have moved toward achieving them, the User Instruction Group seeks to fortify and expand these efforts. Accordingly, the User Instruction Group offers this strategic plan as a guide to accomplishing campus-wide information literacy.

Mission The User Instruction Group at LSU Libraries supports the missions of both the library and the university. Through person-to-person, classroom, and online methods, library instruction promotes information literacy and awareness and use of the library system's vast resources among the university community and the general public as well.  More specifically, the User Instruction Group strives to provide all members of the LSU community with the skills to retrieve, evaluate, and use all formats of information effectively, efficiently, and ethically.

 

Implementation

The LSU Libraries’ User Instruction Group, composed of all librarian-instructors, will be responsible for implementing this Strategic Plan. This responsibility will include reviewing the Information Literacy Strategic Plan goals, creating objectives annually for implementation of the Plan's goals, and delegation of each of these objectives to an individual member or a group composed of members of the User Instruction Group. Each such individual or group will report its progress on the objective with which it has been charged at User Instruction Group meetings. If the User Instruction Group determines that the objective has been completed, then the individual or group responsible for that objective can be released from its charge. The LSU Libraries’ Instruction Coordinator shall be responsible for the final draft of the annual Strategic Plan objectives.

The User Instruction Group members involved in implementing specific objectives will provide a brief annual report in May to the Committee on the progress toward their objective. These reports will be compiled to become an overall progress report by the User Instruction Group on the Strategic Plan goals for that year. This report should be kept on file as a record of the Committee's activities for that year.

Goals

  • Collaboration with Faculty
    • Collaboration of Library instructors and liaisons with discipline faculty on assignments or syllabi (or in-class instruction, if appropriate).
      • Program analysis with particular attention to how the program incorporates information literacy. (Liaisons should review the LSU Academic Programs Assessment Matrix at http://www.cae.lsu.edu/vsa/ for their department’s standards.)
        • Use the above analysis to create, where appropriate, a progression of information literacy goals as the major advances (i.e., try to intensify information literacy goals beyond a basic level).
      • Expand e-struction.
      • Educate faculty on how library instructors can help them and encourage them to work with library instructors.
      • Conduct one-shot instruction as requested by faculty.
      • Create IL resources web page for faculty.
      • Create unified goals for general one-shots.
      • Develop teaching tips or training classes for liaisons.
  • Collaboration with Campus Programs
    • Collaborate with other programs on campus to facilitate Information Literacy.
      • Communication across the Curriculum
      • Honors College
      • Residential Life Program
  • Systematizing
    • Coordinate Information Literacy Program efforts to develop some progression of skills in students over the course of their college careers.
      • Work with Vice Provost for Academics to develop an information literacy requirement by making it a part of another course or program which is required by the University (e.g., ENGL 1001 and 1002, EDCI 1001).
      • Review discipline department goals for areas to provide some progression in students' information literacy skills.  (See Collaboration with Faculty, above.)
  • Outreach
    • Strive to increase the Library's presence and profile on campus.
      • Create IL handouts for marketing.
      • Look for and become involved with media and events where IL promotion can effectively take place (e.g., Open Access Week). 
  • LIS 1001
    • Consider the value of LIS 1001 to the university.
      • Create an assignment clearinghouse for instructors.
      • Increase the number of online sections of LIS 1001.
      • Continue and improve upon current techniques for assessment of LIS 1001 program.  (See Assessment, below.)
  • Tutorials
    • Continue and expand the employment of online tutorials, especially by using demonstrably effective technologies including those which promote interactivity.
      • LSU-created tutorials
        • Implement assessment/interactivity within the tutorials.
        • Create more specialized tutorials.
        • Promote the use of TigerTAIL and other tutorials.
  • Assessment
    • Determine student and faculty information literacy needs and the effectiveness of the overall LSU Library Instruction program.
      • Needs testing via faculty and student surveys.
      • Survey the students who have completed LIS 1001 to measure the extent to which skills learned in the course are continuing to be used.
      • Develop an online evaluation for one-shot classes.

Plan Assessment

Once every year, the User Instruction Group should review the entire Information Literacy Strategic Plan to determine if changes in the plan should be made. This should include all aspects of the plan, including whether additions or changes should be made to the Preface, whether the plan implementation mechanism should be changed, and whether goals need to be removed, changed, or augmented.

Respectfully submitted August 31, 2005
Revised December 7, 2005 by: Alice Daugherty, Mitch Fontenot, and Paul Hrycaj
Revised August 2009 by Michael Russo and Jorie Porter