New school year, New approaches, New ideas

The new school year is well under way. Where DOES the time go. Registration went the best this year since I’ve been here I think, although our numbers are down by 30 this year from last year.

“We” are trying a new approach this year to Information Literacy. Instead of trying to cram (!) it all in at library orientation, we are trying “embedded instruction” in the English class. This does miss some who elect to take their G.E. classes somewhere else, but hopefully this will catch most. I have two class hours with the class to teach them how to use the online catalog and the online databases. We’ll still have orientation but it will be more “shallow” shall we say concentrating more on the library handbook and the tour.

Here are some websites I found on Information Literacy:

Information Literacy Curriculum

Colorado Standards for Information Literacy

Library Media Learning Outcomes

More sites can be found in this list: Resources for School Librarians

Here’s one in library instruction outcomes from FIU.

Here’s a blog by an Information Literacy Librarian.


Another idea we are pursuing is meeting with the faculty one on one for their book ideas, requests, favorite authors, and what they need for the classes they teach. I have met with four so far. Then I go researching what they want and report back to them what we have and what I have found that we can get if they are interested. Obviously this will take more of my time but I really think that this will improve communication and support between the library and the teaching faculty.