Information
Literacy
by
Mary Beth Parkinson, Information Literacy Librarian
Ensuring the information literacy of our students is one of the challenges presented by the information age in which we live. Information literacy encompasses a set of skills we must teach our students for academic, professional, and life-long success. To develop the information literacy competency skills of our students, classroom faculty and librarians must work together in teaching our students to: search beyond the Internet, which is actually limited in terms of scholarly, full-text sources; think critically about the information they gather; utilize the many valuable print and electronic resources subscribed to by the Library; and learn that gathering information and conducting research is a thoughtful and methodical process.
The librarians at the Brendlinger Library and West Campus Library are pleased to offer assignment-related classes focusing on library research strategies and information literacy. Class sessions cover pertinent reference services, electronic search techniques, and a demonstration of online databases. To schedule daytime classes at the Brendlinger Library and discuss instruction, please email or call Mary Beth Parkinson at 215-619-7480. For evening instruction, please call Robert Erb at 215-641-6622. To schedule daytime instruction at West campus, please call Marie Devine at 619-718-1867 or Kevin Strunk at 610-718-1912. For evening instruction at West, please call Terri Sharif at 610-718-1820. For more information regarding information literacy instruction, click 'Guide to the Library' from the Library Web Page. Then click 'Faculty', 'Information Literacy', and 'Library Instruction.'
A new library program, "Laptops and Lunch", offered through the Teaching and Learning Center, is intended to support the ongoing teaching of essential information literacy skills in the classroom. These sessions present faculty the opportunity to keep up-to-date and to practice using the resources available to students through the Library Web Page, while getting ideas for integrating information literacy skills into the curriculum and learning goals. Last semester, a special session was held for Social Sciences faculty. This semester, the first session was scheduled for Humanities faculty on Wednesday, February 16 th in the new Teaching and Learning Center classroom on the upper level of the Library. The next session, scheduled for Wednesday, March 16 th, same time and location, will be open to faculty from all divisions.
Faculty, please bring a sandwich and your research questions, and we'll provide a beverage, fruit and dessert for you to enjoy while you get ideas for supporting information literacy in your classroom!
