Summary of the
May 21, 1999 Meeting

Meeting host:
National Education Association
Washington, D.C.

Present:

Patricia Breivik, Chair, National Forum on Information Literacy
David Bender, Special Libraries Association
Kathleen Craver, International Association of School Librarianship
Ann Flynn, National School Boards Association
Craig Gibson, Association of College and Research Libraries
Dennis Hinkle, Association of Teacher Educators
Woody Horton, National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
Barbara Humes, U.S. Department of Education
Althea Jenkins, Association of College and Research Libraries
Judith Kelly, National Council of Teachers of English
Keith Krueger, Council on School Networking/Friends of the
 National Library of Medicine
Robert Larson, The New York Times
Maureen Lewis, Alliance for Public Technology
Mark Lloyd, Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy
Kristin McCabe,  American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education
Bernadette McGuire-Rivera, U.S. Commerce Department National
 Telecommunication and Information Administration
Diane Morgan, The New York Times
Hannelore Rader, Association of College and Research Libraries
Patricia Katopol, Aspen Institute
Oswald Rattery, Middle States Association
Helga Rippen, Health Information Technology Institute
Margaret Rivera, American Association of Community Colleges
Jan Schmidt, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
Sylvia Seidel, National Education Association
Carole Smith, American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education
Betsy Sywetz, Institute of Museum and Library Services
Julie Walker, American Association of School Librarians
Bob Willard, National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

1.    Information Policies Discussion (Update on Forum on Communications and ociety, Aspen Institute)

Patricia Breivik introduced Patricia Katopol of the Aspen Institute, who reported On the April 1999 discussion with the CEO members of FOCAS (Forum on Communications and Society).

The Communications and Society Program of the Aspen Institute seeks to promote thoughtful, values-based decision making in the fields of communication, media, and information policy.  In particular, the Program  focuses on the implications of communications and information technologies on democratic institutions, individual behavior, instruments of commerce, and community life.

Within the Program, the Forum on Communications and Society (FOCAS) is a CEO level body that is convened annual to address subjects relating to the societal impact of the communications and information sectors.

FOCAS seeks to find ways that communications and information technology can be employed to improve society, first by taking a critical look at how advances in these fields will affect traditional democratic values and institutions and then by asking what  policies the private and public sectors should pursue, to foster a better and more democratic society.

FOCAS participants represent a broad range of public, private, and governmental interests.  Attendees at the 1998 FOCAS CEO meeting include:

 C. Michael Armstrong, Chairman and  CEO, AT&T
 Zoe Baird, President of the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation
 David V.B. Britt, President and CEO, Children’s Television Workshop
 Ira Fishman, CEO, Schools and Libraries Corporation
 Reed Hundt, former FCC Chairman
 William Kennard, current FCC Chairman
 Michael Leavitt, Governor of Utah
 Kurt Schmoke, Mayor, Baltimore
 Lois White, President of the National PTA

 1998 Discussion

 FOCAS members are guided in their discussions by a desire to see the benefits of information and new technologies enjoyed more broadly by individuals and throughout society by enhancing:

• Skills for basic self-sufficiency
• Participation in economic, political, and social life
• Overall quality of life
• Adaptability to change
• A sense of achievement and self-fulfillment; and
• The promotion of democratic values (e.g., pluralism)

 In the summer of 1998, the FOCAS attendees determined that various competencies would be required in the new environment.  They are:

• computer literacy—familiarity with computer concepts
• technical literacy—ability to apply mathematics and science to solution of a physical problem or realization of new products
• digital literacy—Internet literacy, including search and evaluation skills

All of these literacies will be required not just in the school experience, but throughout one’s life.  And while these literacies form the basis of "information literacy," FOCAS members warned against  linking a definition of information literacy to any one technology or thinking that technology alone holds the solution to all problems.

Participants stated that teaching information literacy must include the teaching of values.  There are few gatekeepers on the Web.  If we are going to send schoolchildren there and make Web search skills a part of the curriculum, then we need to impart values as well so that they can analyze the information they receive within a value system.  For example, after Littleton, everyone knows that there is bomb-making information on the Web.  This information is available from many sources, including libraries, so we can’t blame the Web for what people do with the information.  But how different would be the reaction to that material from children who brought with them to the Web values and a sense of community?

Teaching basic skills is still required.  But we may have to teach them in a different way or use different materials.  Baltimore schools hosted a demonstration project which used computers to help children improve their reading and writing skills.  Testing showed demonstrable improvement, but teachers didn’t like using the computers and the experiment was ended.

This lack of interest in or ability to properly use information technology on the part of teachers led to a discussion of teacher preparation and planning.  The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future concluded that 75% of current teachers are not fully qualified for their jobs.  Many student teachers are not trained to use technology in the classroom, and those that are don’t have the more important skill to know when to use it.  The teacher can no longer be the primary source of information for the student.  Teachers must understand this and be willing to show students how to engage in access and problem solving skills, using other sources of information.

The initiatives generated by the conference were:

• Promote greater awareness of information literacy
• Assess and hold educators and political leaders at all levels accountable for students’ proficiency in information literacy
• Give teachers the preparation and support they need to do a better job
• Involve parents more deeply in their children’s education
• Develop a dramatically different technology-based educational alternative
• Increase funding for research in education and information literacy

A subheading of parental involvement was employer involvement: failure to educate children properly is a business crisis as well as an educational crisis.  Local employers need to form partnerships with schools in their communities.  These partnerships can provide needed resources to schools, reward students who excel, and let schools know what skills future employees will need to get and hold good jobs.

Prep session participants revisited much of the same territory.  The initiatives again called for promoting awareness of information literacy, this time through television (where most people gain their information).  A digital television network promoting literacy was one suggestion.

The group called for 3% of the federal education budget to be set aside for educational research and demonstration projects.

Discussion continued regarding teacher education.  Teachers must learn how to use multimedia in information technology to address various learning styles.  Teacher certification should include information literacy.

The participants spent considerable time discussing measurement and standardization problems.  It was suggested that information literacy become part of such national tests as the Iowa Tests, Regents Exam, and SAT.  It is important that all students be tested for information literacy throughout the school experience, not just in high school and not just in certain populations such as the college-bound.

The issues surrounding information literacy continue to invite debate.  However, we appear to be getting closer to determining a definition of information literacy from which action can proceed.  The debate was been joined by business, which not only needs qualified workers, but is also willing to assist schools by providing needed resources.  The development of partnerships between education and business, combined with a new planning focus that intertwines technology and education policy, will work greatly to improve information literacy for all segments of society, in and out of the classroom.

[National Forum members and guests Bernadette McGuire, Mark Lloyd, and
Maureen Lewis noted their previous involvement in technology- and education-
Related discussions at the Aspen Institute.]
 

Questions asked of, and suggestions for, Patricia Katopol by National Forum members:
 

1. The importance of statewide plans in teacher education programs for training in information technology (and the ancillary issue of how funding is used to support such training)—North Carolina has an especially strong program for training its teacher education students in I.T. skills.
2. Have corporate members of the Aspen Institute examined how their employees search for and use information? (this would related to research conducted by Christine Bruce in Australia and research also conducted in Singapore)
3. The Special Libraries Association has commissioned a research study on quality and use of information in corporate environments; this study, called the "Return on investment" study, is due to be published in spring 2000.  John Lithium of the research center at SLA has information on this important study.
4. There is a continuing need to involve statewide agencies in studying information literacy in the world of work and linking it with curricula and teacher education training.
5. Little is currently known about the real, if any, pay-off of expanded access to information technology.  Recently, a research grant at Wayne State has been dedicated to studying the impact of Internet access on the lives of African-Americans.
6. Advancement (www.advancenet.org) is a research-oriented organization intended to study technology’s impact on educational outcomes.  Toolkit, a package of materials and methods to assist with this research, is available on the advancement Web page.
7. It’s important, when discussing information literacy in the workplace, to link individual productivity with organizational productivity.
8. North Carolina has a state law requiring certification in information literacy in colleges of education.
9. There is a need to re-emphasize the use of information (courses in library science programs need to emphasize the use and management of information, rather than just searching and finding, classifying and organizing)
10. Lack of funding and lack of faculty in colleges of education pose major problems for information literacy training.

 What should the Forum members tell the CEOs?

1. A broad array of professionals (technologists, librarians, and others) need to be involved in planning for information literacy.
2. CEOs might consider volunteering some of their I.T. people for support in information literacy projects.
3. CEOs might also consider funding research projects in the workplace
4. There is a need for "human infrastructure" for effective use of technology in K-12.
5. CEOs need to be reminded that information is the most valuable commodity in most organizations.
6. The need for the human element and "human interface" is paramount in the corporate environment (the integration of information/library expertise with technology).

2. Being Fluent with Information Technology Report

There was a brief discussion of the National Research Council Report, Being Fluent with Information Technology, previously discussed in an early draft stage by Dr. Herbert Lin at a Forum meeting.  This particular report’s special focus is on information technology competencies or "fluency" aspect of  not information literacy rather than the broader cause of information literacy which includes evaluation of information content.

Bob Willard and Woody Horton reported on the NCLIS meeting in Ann Arbor during the ACRL Conference last spring in Detroit.

A faculty exploratorium, "Teaching Teachers to Teach," was part of the conference of special interest to NCLIS.

Also of major interest was the Information Literacy Program/Presentation atWayne State during the conference.  Currently, information literacy is not oneof NCLIS’ priorities, but will likely become so in the near future.

NCLIS is now engaged in policy discussions regarding library and information services, such as the usability of products and services created by the information industry (resulting from migrating print resources to electronic format, especially Government information); also, the continuing concern with finances for libraries and purchasing power for libraries.

The meeting summary from January was approved as read.

ASL/Softlink and IFLA have provided funding for an international study of the principal’s role in developing and supporting information literacy.  The study is being organized by an international research team consisting of Lyn Hay and James Henri from Charles Sturt University in Australia and Diane Oberg from the University of Alberta in Canada.  Six countries are involved in the international study.  The coordinators for the studies in each country are:  Lyn Hay and James Henri for Australia; Diane Oberg for Canada; Liisa Niinikangas for Finland; Colette Charrier for France; Setsuko Koga for Japan; James Herring for Scotland; and Yoon-ok Han for South Korea.

The project is to develop a quantitative test to examine the factors of influence and support that exist between a school librarian and principal.  Factors such as correlation of years of service, types of experience, qualifications of the principal and school librarian, financial status, size of school, and methods of communication will be measured.

The researchers and coordinators of the studies done in such countries will be describing the development and findings of this international project at future IASL and IFLA conferences.
 

Barbara mentioned the forthcoming Consumer Brief on Information Literacy, "Understanding Information Literacy," which will be available through GPO and will also be available to school districts and professional groups;  It will also be available on the Web.
 

Helga provided an overview of her organization, which is concerned with the quality of health information now available on the Web.

She asked other Forum members to consider messages concerning technology and education that need to be conveyed to policymakers.  She suggested that a joint approach, possibly involving position papers, with IEEE-USA.

The Health Summit Working Group (HSWG) seeks to increase the information literacy of Internet users.  Organizations are invited to endorse this group’s policy paper, "Criteria for Assessing the Quality of Health Information," available at http://chitiweb.mitretek.org/hswg.

Anyone with questions about the quality of health information should contact Helga Rippen at:  hrippen@mitretek.org.

In support of information literacy training for teachers, both initial teacher education and continuing education are important.  Financing of teacher education remains a crucial and ongoing concern.

Dennis noted the UIE (Using Information Effectively) Program at Towson State University, where he teaches; this program is a six-hour requirement in certain majors, including education, using a course-integrated model for instruction in information literacy.    He also pointed out the "Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers" grant and a summer institute for training teachers regarding information technology.  All of these initiatives show the current emphasis given to faculty development regarding information literacy and information technology.

Sylvia discussed the following issues:  the increasing importance of partnerships in infusing information technology into the curriculum; and related to technology itself, the importance of maintenance and ongoing training.

Some problems with infusing technology into the curriculum:  school administrators spend money on hardware rather than on software and training; and students themselves are often teaching their own teachers how to use technology.

School principals have a crucial role in the effective use of technology in the curriculum; to assist them, interns are needed to work with teachers and administrators on information literacy and technology issues.
 

David mentioned that SLA is especially concerned with knowledge literacy, a concept possibly broader than information literacy.  SLA has focused on competencies for information professionals; one of these competencies states that "the special librarian provides excellent instruction and support for library and information service users."

Special libraries are often under a mandate to become part of a total "virtual organization" with their parent organization/corporation.

One especially noteworthy study conducted recently by researchers in special libraries concerns "return on investment" in corporate settings (this is called the Portugal Research Project on Return on Investment).

SLA’s Annual conference will be held in late May 1999 in Minneapolis;
About the organization can be found at: www.sla.org.
 

Althea mentioned the very successful ACRL Conference in April 1999 in Detroit, which had a "conference within a conference" and many specific programs on information literacy.

The Immersion Program of the Institute for Information Literacy will be held in Plattsburgh, NY, for the first time in summer 1999.  The Immersion Program is designed to train librarians in information literacy concepts, teaching skills, assessment, and leadership and program development.  The Immersion Program itself is but one component of the overall Institute: other initiatives are concerned
with best practices in programs, and developing community partnerships.

In addition to the national Immersion Program offered at Plattsburgh, the State University of  New York (SUNY) system has contracted with ACRL to have an Immersion Program offered specifically to its librarians after the national program.

Currently under development is a survey is being designed to assess U.S. participation in international programs and conferences where major information policy, information literacy, and library issues are being discussed.  Letters are now being sent out now; an interactive web survey will be available soon.

Judith distributed basic information on NCTE and noted some current initiatives in which the organization is involved, including working with challenged or censored books in school and public libraries.

The Alliance is an umbrella group focusing on access to technology for all age groups.  Now ten years old, the Alliance is currently working with the FCC on equity issues.

Questions about the Alliance should be directed to Maureen at:  mlewis@apt.org.

Information literacy remains a major concern for NCSS.  Recent activities have focused a great deal on issues relating to educational technology.  The April 1999 issue of the NCSS journal, Social Education, was devoted to instructional technology issues and was entitled "Bits.Bytes.Bugs:  Social Studies Education In the Digital Age."   Articles included  "the Social Studies Classroom on the Eve of the Cyber Century," "Help! I’m Lost in Cyberspace!" "Threshing Out the Myths and Facts of Internet Safety: A Response to ‘Separating Wheat from Chaff,’ "John Kay’s Civil War:  A Multimedia Internet Project for Middle School Social Studies,:" "American History Websites for Use in Secondary Schools," "Content-Rich Commercial Websites in the Social Studies," and "Radarsat Satellite Images: A New Geography Tool for Upper Elementary Classrooms."  In addition, a special NCSS bulletin on technology in social studies education is being prepared for release this year.

NSBA/ITTE makes information literacy one of its goals as it strives to help schools improve student achievement through the integration of technology in teaching and learning.  Since last fall, NSBA’s ITTE:  Education Technology Programs has hosted a conference and meeting and has published materials that help education leaders learn to select, fund, and apply tools, techniques and practices that assist students and teachers in becoming accomplished, lifelong users of information technologies.

A Briefing for School Leaders, a meeting February 5-7 in Scottsdale, AZ, brought leading educators up to speed on technological advancements such as virtual schools (e.g., CyberSchool, http://cyberschool.4j.lane.edu) and grounded them in planning techniques to integrate technology into their own school systems.

Ask the Experts!, ITTEs new online hotline for school leaders, featured in May the topic "Planning for Internet in the Classroom:  Leadership, Safety and Information Literacy."  A leading issue in the discussion was whether to use Internet filters, and to what extent, in schools to prevent students, faculty and/or staff from viewing material online that is deemed inappropriate.  Alternatives, often used in conjunction with filters, include training, student "licenses" for use, signed "acceptable use policies," and adult supervision of students.

Three new ITTE publications help educators create school buildings and policies that make technology’s benefits easier to access.  Technology and School Design:  Creating Spaces for Learning written by leading school architects and technology consultants-helps administrators and facility planning committees plan for and fund school building and remodeling designed to help hardware, software, staff and students work at peak performance.  Legal Issues and Education Technology:  A School Leader’s Guide coaches school leaders in creating Acceptable Use Policies and in taking other measures to make technology use-particularly on-line technology-safe for students, faculty, staff, school boards and school districts.  ADA compliance, Year 2000 preparedness, and open meeting "sunshine" laws for school boards also are covered.  The authors are members of NSBA’s Council of  School Attorney’s.  Leaders Guide to Education Technology-a good publication to share with others who need to "get on board" the school improvement effort-combines research, analysis and recommendations to help educators make sound technology decisions regarding student achievement, education equity and workforce preparedness.  It is published by the EDvancenet project, a partnership of the National School Boards Foundation, the Consortium for School Networking and MCI WorldCom, and is available online at http://www.edvancenet.org.  More information about these three books is available at http://www.nsba.org/publicat.html.  The books may be ordered from the NSBA Distribution Service in Maryland, (800) 706-6722, fax (301) 604-0158.

Two other recent publications were created with ITTE's help.  The 1998 StaR Chart:  A Tool for Assessing School Technology and Readiness, with a focus on professional development, is the second report of the CEO Forum and is online at http://www.ceoforum.org.  The National Educational Technology Standards for Students, published by the International Society for Technology in Education, stipulates performance standards for technology literate students and is available at http://www.iste. org.

ITTE now is preparing for its 1999 Technology + Learning Conference, November 10-13 in Dallas, TX (http://www.nsba.org/T+L).

The NTIA has recently been much engaged in policy debates concerning the e-rate ($2.5 billion is being sought from Congress for this initiative).

Other issues in which the NTIA is involved:

• the "digital divide" and how that will be reflected in the 2000 Census;
• the need to convert public television programming into digital format;
• an evaluation study of the benefits of information technology to organizations and communities;
• the need to recruit and retain well-qualified information technology staff (research studies show how difficult this is)

 The theme of the NTIA conference in November 1999 will be "Networks for People."

ASCD has created the Signature Schools Program—a comprehensive program that supports school improvement with a professional development framework. This framework supports site-specific job-imbedded learning for teachers, networking structures among other schools that facilitate conversation about the same initiatives, education resources that provide a common core of knowledge and leadership support to focus school improvement.  These programs can be tailored in one of six areas:  standards, brain and learning; differentiated instruction; performance assessment; classroom management; and curriculum integration.

ASCD is part of the National Partnership for Excellence and Accountability in  Teaching (NPEAT).  This is funded by OERI and has studied ways to bridge the gap between research and practice.  The work of NPEAT is divided into three strands: teacher preparation and recruitment; professional development and induction; and standards and assessment;  ASCD and other educational associations are working to answer such questions as "What are the best models for teacher preparation?"  "Does national board certification result in improved student learning?"  "What types of mentoring programs achieve the same results?"

ASCD is sponsoring a Classroom Leader Conference in July 1999.  More than 70 Master teachers in every grade level and subject area will present more than 80 Sessions.  These include programs on best practices, innovative teaching Strategies, and alternative assessment techniques.

We now offer a series of distance education sessions for educators called PD Online which are self-directed and interactive on such topics as The Brain, Parents as Partners in Schooling, Effective Leadership, Multiple Intelligences, and Planning for Technology.

The ASCD website now has a section devoted to products to help prevent school violence.

ASCDs International Initiative (ASCD has 53 international affiliates) consists of the following:

(1) developing relationships with educational associations, schools and ministries of education around the world;

(2) providing consulting services.

ASCD has members in over 100 countries; has published 28 books in 12 languages, with another 20 under consideration.

 ACSD is in the process of building the "International Center on Teaching and Learning" which will highlight the best practices of other countries; ASCD also serves as a resource for the World Bank, IDB (International Development Bank in Latin America), USIA, USAID, and AED.

 The overriding emphasis on every college and university campus, particularly in  relation to information literacy and information technology, is faculty development.

 "Training the trainers" is the model colleges and universities will have to adopt to have the hoped-for "multiplier effect" of information literacy across their curricula.

Cooperation and partnerships among diverse organizations, with a common goal of information literacy education, are becoming ever more essential.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is supporting the Association of College & Research Libraries’ initiative to develop detailed competency standards that determine if students are information literate. Assistant Director Oswald Rattery has been assigned to the ACRL-sponsored Task Force, which has been meeting frequently since February 1999.

The Task Force of seven people from across the country includes representatives from four academic libraries, the information science discipline; a four-year college, and the Commission presenting the perspectives of regional accreditation.  The draft standards are being presented for public comment at the Assessment Forum of the Association for Higher Education in June, and at the Annual Conference of the American Library Association, also in June.  They will be available also on ACRLs Web site at www.ala.org/acrl/.

In November of this year, the Commission also will sponsor a breakout session on information literacy at its Self-Study Institute, which is for representatives from institutions in the Middle States region that are preparing for their decennial self- study process and visit by an evaluation team.  Oswald Rattery will lead the discussion of not only what institutions are expected to do with regard to information literacy of their students, but how the self-study process is itself an exercise in information literacy by administrators and faculty.  They, too, must decide what it is they know or do not know about their own college or university gain access to that information, evaluate it, and then use it to prepare a self-study report for the campus and for the Commission.

 The College Board—Jeff Hale

 Jeff announced the following:

• there is a new President and Executive Director of the Advanced Placement Program;
• a National Commission on the Future of the Advanced Placement Program has been established;
• in cooperation with IBM and LOTUS, "The Learning Collaborative" has been created, which allows teachers to meet and discuss via the network, to share teaching videos and curricular materials.

Patricia discussed the possibility of holding an international conference on information literacy within the next two-three years.  She noted that two Australian conferences will devote attention to information literacy in summer 2000:  one is a library conference and one is a lifelong learning conference.  She has been invited to speak at both.

Members of the Forum raised the following issues about a possible international conference:

• how will overseas participants be identified? (ASCD’s international affiliates might be a good example of networking through Forum organizations)
• perhaps this proposed conference should be linked with conferences already planned, to obviate logistical and funding problems (IFLA is being held in Boston in 2004)
• it will be important to have a research focus at this conference
• it will be important to select the target audience carefully
• the theme of the conference should be "future focused"; one possibility is "lifelong learning and information literacy in the workplace"
• a modular program could be included in existing conferences of current organizations (allowing for some customization)
• should the conference be an invitation only or an open meeting?
• perhaps there could be a "research agenda" with a pre- or post-conference attached to existing conferences
• the purpose of the conference needs to be carefully delineated
• there could be corporate sponsorship, maybe fundraising or grantwriting to fund the conference
• there will be a need to highlight "state of the art" developments from a wide range of expertise
• one strong possibility is government sponsorship in other countries
• it might also be possible to use the ASCD listservs to probe for interest in such a conference
• planning this conference: need to have more than one planning group, one for logistics, one for content
• identify a "lead person" in other countries on information literacy issues, develop e-mail lists, ask preliminary questions about participation and funding

Forum members should let Patricia know if they want to serve on a planning group for the conference.

NCATE has moved to performance-based standards for teacher education, involving
State licensure and compliance with national organization standards; there is a requirement that specific institutions have appropriate assessment procedures in place.

The NCATE Standards Committee will meet again in August; specific language regarding information literacy is now included in the standards.

Guidance is needed for generalists who are members of boards of examiners in teacher education; these examiners have to understand concepts of information literacy as they apply to student learning.

The standards are available at:  www.ncate.org.  The NCATE web site has a separate set of standards for elementary teachers.

[Dennis Hinkle and Kristin McCabe will be working with Patricia to form a task force to follow through on recommendations from the Forum on the NCATE standards]

8. Update on Institute of Museum & Library Services Conference on 21st Century
Learner—Betsy Sywetz

Betsy discussed the recent IMLS-sponsored meeting on the 21st Century Learner, which included representatives from wide range of groups (theater, music museums, others).  The focus of this meeting was on the learner in informal learning situations.

At this meeting, a demographer and a futurist spoke.  Among the key issues dealt with were definitions of various levels of collaboration, the aging of the population is the most significant social issue, and such themes as "The Community as a Learning Environment," and "The City as Campus."

Betsy also mentioned the Digital Library for Education, a Presidential Initiative designed to increase access to educational and cultural resources for children and all Americans.  This initiative, if funded, would include leading-edge material for help America’s children meet high academic standards in math and science, hundreds of thousands of historical and cultural artifacts that are now only accessible to scholars visiting archives, and hundreds of thousands of books and images of paintings and other museum resources.  Possible areas of IMLS support for this initiative include:  an online registry of electronic books; research to help libraries, museums, and archives meld their different ways of describing collections into seamless access for the user; and grants to museums and libraries to provide electronic educational resources.

Keith Krueger introduced Rob Larson and Diane Morgan, from the New York Times.
Rob and Diane discussed the "Learning Network", a project that reformats the Daily news and discussions of current events into lesson plans.

The core of the web site (www.nytimes.com/learning/) is a lesson plan.  The consultant for this project is from the Bank Street College of Education, and a full-time teacher is  involved in preparing the site.  Different days of the week focus on different subjects and themes.  The lesson plans are tied to the GEM Project.

The content sections of the site are divided into sections for students, parents, and teachers.  Some sample features include: "Ask a Reporter" (a browsable archive);"News Quiz"; "On This Day", and NY Times Correspondents’ web sites.

This project is linked with the Highwire.com project that allows high school journalism classes to publish school newspapers online.  Through a revision process and competition, the best articles get published under auspices of NY Times editors’ reviews.

Julie Walker of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) reviewed the Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning, which are part of the Information Power document.
Information Power: Because Student Achievement is the Bottom Line is a national plan for coordinating the implementation of  Information Power:Building Partnerships for Learning.  This plan includes 31 objectives that the Information Power Implementation Task Force uses as a guide for their initiative.  A planning chart has been created and will be used to monitor the progress of the Task Force and state coordinators.  To date, 43 states and Washington, D.C., are represented by at least one state coordinator.

World Book ALA Goal Grants are being used to measure impact of information literacy standards, and to gather and disseminate research about the impact of the school library on academic achievement.

--The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is holding a briefing on
May 20, 1999, for members of the Department of  Education who have familiarity
With the Board and its work and deal with teacher quality issues in the work  (background is available at http://www.nbpts.org).

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is an organization of teachers and other educational stakeholders working to advance the teaching profession and to improve student learning.  The National Board is governed by a 63-member board of directors, the majority of whom are teachers.  Created in 1987 as a nonpartisan, independent, and nonprofit organization, its mission is to establish high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do, to develop and operate a national voluntary system to assess and certify teachers who meet those standards, and to advance elated education reforms for the purpose of improving student learning in American schools.

From Irene Doskatsch from Magill Campus of University of South Australia:  Fourth National Information Literacy Conference organized by the University of South Australia and the ALIA Information Literacy Special Interest Group will be held on Friday 3 December and Saturday 4 December 1999 City West campus University of South Australia.  The theme will be Concert, Challenge, Conundrum:  from Library Skills to Information Literacy.

1) IATUL is the International Association of Technological University Libraries, presently chaired by Nancy Fjallbrant of Chalmers University of Technology.  One of the conference strands will be information literacy, and Patricia Senn Breivik will be the key contributor to that strand.  The IATUL conference is primarily attended by senior administrators in libraries.

2) The LIANZA Conference (Library and Information Association New Zealand) ’99 has tow sub-themes within the conference program, one of which is ‘Information Literacy, Language and Learning’.  Christine Bruce has accepted an invitation to present a session entitled:  Information Literacy:  an international overview of programmes and research.

3) Christine Bruce and Philip Candy are presently editing a new monograph titled Information Literacy Around the World:  advances in programs and research.  Proposed chapters include contributions from Canada, Great Britain, Sweden, Singapore, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.  The monograph will be published by Charles Sturt University Press, hopefully in late 1999 or early 2000.

NORDINFO, The Nordic Council of Scientific Information, has prepared a three-year strategy for the institution where one of the focal points is Information literacy.  This means that we will be giving grants and financial support to a variety of activities in this area within the Nordic countries during the next three years.  We aim at starting activities in the area in the year 2000.

Among the activities NORDINFO plans for the year 2000 is a Summerschool of 1-2 weeks on Information literacy.  The Summerschool will be financed by NORDINFO and it will be held in Malmo, Sweden in August.  A planning committee has been appointed but the program has not been set yet.

1999 Conference in Adelaide, South Australia
The Australian Library and Information Association Information Literacy Special Interest Group is planning a national conference to be held at the University of South Australia, City West on December 3-4, 1999.  Keynote speaker will be Professor Ken Hancock.  We would welcome anyone from the U.S. who would like to attend.  December in South Australia can be rather warm but pleasant nonetheless.

Newsletter
The newsletter of the groups is available on our web page http://www.alia.org.au/sigs/infolit/

Tentative date for January Meeting:  January 10, 2000

• "literacy and information literacy"
• "quantitative literacy"
• "democracy/voting and literacy"