---

A proposal to develop a
system-wide information literacy module
April 1, 1997

---

Project Director

Shaleen Barnes , BA, MLS Information Services Librarian at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Participants

University of Massachusetts Worcester, Gael Evans, Reference Librarian

University of Massachusetts Worcester, Peg Spinner, Reference Librarian

University of Massachusetts Lowell, Ronald Karr, Reference Coordinator

University of Massachusetts Amherst, Joyce Merriam, Head, Reference Department

University of Massachusetts Amherst, Jill Ausel, Reference

University of Massachusetts Boston, Frances Schlesinger, Instruction Librarian

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Peggy Dias, Academic Computing

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Diana Carns, Academic Computing

Executive summary

This proposal is for funds to develop and deliver an information competency module over the World Wide Web (WWW) for all UMass students. This module, which could be incorporated in a number of different ways into the classroom, will be designed to teach students to evaluate both print and electronic sources and to understand the ways in which information is generated. Librarians from all five campuses, in collaboration with faculty members and computing professionals, will incorporate the module into designated freshman-level courses as a pilot in Spring 1998.

The librarians and computing professionals who form the UMass Information Literacy Project, in collaboration with the Massachusetts School Library Media Association (MSLMA) also intend to seek funding from the Massachusetts Department of Education to pursue the development of state-wide competencies and assessment tools that form a unified, coherent curriculum for 7th through 16th. This curriculum would build on the efforts made by the UMass Literacy Project during the 1996-1997 academic year and the extensive and sophisticated efforts already being made at the public school level, in particular grades 7th through 12th.

The goals of this Web-based module would include learning and assessing some of the most important and pressing competencies that have been developed by the UMass Information Literacy Project this year - namely, critical thinking skills applied to the World Wide Web. Based on a multi-institutional Utah model and an information literacy course offered at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, this WWW module would be unique in a number of respects: by offering a module that could be incorporated into a number of different freshman level courses, regardless of discipline; by offering a component that could be considered as part of a general education package; and by building on the efforts of k-12.

Project rationale and background

During the 1996-97 academic year, a core group of librarians and computing professionals from all five of the UMass campuses, with funding from the President's Office, met to develop a set of information literacy competencies that all UMass students should have before they graduate from the University. These meetings, the UMass Information Literacy Project, provided the basis for the development of a Web site [/libraryinfo/infolit/InfoLit.htm] and a set of competencies. While campus- and system-wide discussions and refinements still need to occur, one of the most pressing needs that emerged is to teach evaluative skills related to print and electronic resources. Ironically, the WWW helped to create the problem and the WWW provides the ideal delivery vehicle to solve it, because it is cost effective, pedagogically sound, resource based, and, with the right teaching, reinforces collaborative learning.

The information technology explosion in libraries has made critical thinking skills more important than ever. Students can find more materials about their topic more quickly than ever. . . but they still don't know how to identify bias, differentiate between fact and opinion, recognize authority, broaden or narrow as necessary, or evaluate resources they have found. Formerly, librarians, with the help of faculty, provided a certain filtering mechanism because they chose certain reference sources or books or journals for the library collection.The World Wide Web has no such filtering mechanisms, which is both its strength and its weakness. At UMass Dartmouth, librarians find that more and more faculty are requiring that their students use the World Wide Web, then are dismayed at the sources students use.

An information literacy module, based on the library model of going into a class once or twice over the course of a semester to teach basic research skills, would have the capacity to be delivered outside the boundaries of space and time and even discipline . . . anytime, anywhere, as long as the student had the equipment, the software, and of course the wherewithal. Students would learn to ask appropriate questions: Which articles are the best for the topic I have chosen? Is a print or an electronic source the best? How can I narrow or broaden my search? What are some questions that still need to be answered or that were raised in my reading?

For the last two decades, libraries have voiced the need for students to have formal course-integrated library instruction that would not only reinforce academic course work, but also would serve students by preparing them to be lifelong learners. To accomplish this, it was never enough simply to learn the skill of finding materials. The real challenge in library instruction, as in instruction in general, was teaching critical thinking skills that could be transfered to new subjects and environments. During these same two decades, librarians have developed formal library instruction programs that include professional staffing of Reference Desks, classroom instruction, appointments, for faculty and students, and faculty and staff development.

Another development that occured during our discussions this past year was that we realized that information literacy efforts at the University level must build on the efforts already under way in K-12. The University of Massachusetts is an institution of public higher education, with a vast majority of students who come from and stay in the Commonwealth. As a result of those discussions, we met with the past and current presidents of the Massachusetts School Library Media Association, Carolyn Markuson and Peggy Hallisey. Both are very excited about the prospect of working together to provide a seamless information literacy curriculum to students in public k-16 throughout the Commonwealth (see attached letter of support). We have contacted the Massachusetts Department of Education regarding that piece of the project.