Present:

Patricia Breivik, Chair
Louis Albert, San Jose Evergreen Community College
Amy Borgstrom, U.S. Department of Commerce
Mary Ellen Davis, Association of College and Research Libraries
Craig Gibson, Association of College and Research Libraries
Vicki Hancock, Tregoe Education Forum
Lacey Hawthorne, American Association of Higher Education
Woody Horton, National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
Jeanne McConnell, Institute for Museum and Library Services
Sheila McGarr, U.S. Department of Education/National Library of Education
Sara McPhee, National Association of State Directors of Career/Technical Education
Steve RiCharde, Virginia Military Institute
Sylvia Seidel, National Education Association
Emily Sheketoff, American Library Association
Julie Walker, American Association of School Librarians

1.  Information Literacy and Service Learning

This discussion session was led by Lou Albert, Vice Chancellor for Educational Services at San Jose Evergreen Community College, an internationally known expert on service learning who also holds a long-term interest in information literacy.

Major points made by Dr. Albert:

·There is a convergence between information literacy and service learning after a period of “parallel development”

·There are movements toward international cooperation and collaboration on service learning; some of the most advanced developments in service learning are occurring in countries other than the U.S.

·Advocates of service learning see a strong linkage between service learning and civic engagement. Partners in this type of linkage are community-based projects and school districts that make contributions to community-based learning projects.

·Some model programs in service learning in other countries include: Tremli College, with campuses in the Phillippines and Mexico, which has graduation requirements in service learning; and Cuddington University in Liberia.

·In the U.S., Berea College in Kentucky has long been a model for other institutions because of its emphasis on workplace learning and ties between the formal curriculum and work.

·In 1985, the “Campus Compact” was formed by various college presidents in the United States. An outgrowth of this movement was the Consortium for Community and Service Learning. Over 800 colleges and universities are now members and there are 30 compacts at the state level. The “compact” movement has renewed an emphasis on the “engaged campus” as a resource for local communities (and international constituencies as well).

·Evidence of the service learning movement’s growth: in the community college system in California, there is an increase in courses with major service learning components. (The major challenge with this development is requiring adult/commuting students to become involved in service learning because of their time demands.) A specific example of a course with a major service learning component is an accounting course linked with a local tax preparation firm; the accounting course in question was restructured to include major service learning expectations and students would volunteer to work at a local tax firm during the course.

·Reciprocal arrangements between course-based service learning and volunteer arrangements in local service agencies are especially productive.

·A notable article on the next stage of development for information literacy points out that that information literacy needs to move out from campuses into local communities. The article is Dane Ward’s “The Future of Information Literacy: Transforming the World,” College & Research Libraries News, v. 62, no. 9, October 2001, pp. 922-925.

·Service learning is a major faculty development issue because it connects information literacy, problem-solving, and critical thinking, with obvious implications for curricular change.

·Service learning connects with the larger issue of learning outcomes. The major question that our society needs to face in thinking about the future is, what kinds of learning are needed? Adjectives that describe this kind of learning are: “long-lasting,” “deep,” “relevant,” self-reliant,” “connects the learner” and “[prepares] students to work, serve, and learn in their own communities.” A valuable book that focuses on student development and service learning is Marcia Mentkowski’s Learning That Lasts: Integrating Learning, Development, and Performance in College and Beyond (San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 2000). Because of its connection with the work of work and citizenship, service learning has much to contribute to sustainable communities. Benjamin Barber has asserted that service learning is “an internship for citizenship.”

·Service learning blurs roles between formal traditional classroom teaching and community volunteer partnerships. Skill sets needed include lifelong learning and critical thinking—these have major implications for experiential education, internships, and experiences in such fields as nursing and accounting education.

·The AAHE Monographic Services, Service Learning in the Disciplines, is endorsed by disciplinary societies and focuses on education in medicine, nursing, education, social work,  and accounting.

·Service learning is a subset of experiential learning. Reciprocal relationships are the key, among students, faculty, and local community organizations.

·The principles of information literacy are implicit and embedded in service learning.

The following comments were made in regard to how information literacy and service learning efforts can complement each other:

·Much academic information literacy instruction is artificial—not connected with real life.

·There have to be “real consequences” for students in their research projects  to avoid the sense of disconnectedness and artificiality.

·”Conventional” students may change their entire outlook if exposed to/engaged in community projects. For example, one project involved building a playground for disabled children; students involved in this service learning project found that they had to research regulations about disabilities.

·Linkages between vocational education and service learning need to be expanded.

·The large faculty development issue: college and university faculty, as well as K-12 teachers, have to rethink/reframe their pedagogy and their courses.

·The “Public Allies” initiative, now present in more than 10 U.S. cities, offers a placement service to college graduates to place them in community organizations for internship-like arrangements.

·Voter registration initiatives: these are insufficient if not accompanied by deeper voter education.

·Public libraries have begun an initiative to view teens and young adults as community assets rather than as “problems.”

·The “Scholarship of Engagement”: information literacy can support the engagement movement among practitioners.

·There is one specialized journal on the service learning movement, The Journal of Community Service Learning.  Articles on service learning/information literacy connections need to appear in a variety of professional journals.

·The learning communities movement is not connecting and cross-pollinating enough with service learning.

·Another model from different institution: at Portland State University, there are general education and capstone service learning courses.

2. Approval of Summary of January 25, 2002 meeting.

The meeting summary was approved as read.
 
 

3a. Members’ Reports.

Tregoe Education Forum—Vicki Hancock
The Tregoe Education Forum is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping educators and students develop the essential skills necessary  for resolving complex and difficult issues. The Forum works within schools and districts to transfer the same analytical thinking processes that were developed in 1958 by Kepner-Tregoe, Inc., an international consulting company. For over 40 years, these processes have significantly improved the problem-solving and decision-making skills of managers and workers in major organizations all over the world. These processes promote thoughtful action by providing a systematic approach for gathering, organizing, and analyzing information before reaching conclusions.

Vicki reported specifically on the Tregoe Decision-Making Framework, a model for teachers, administrators, and students that employers higher-order skills to reach sound decisions.
 

American Association of School Librarians—Julie Walker
Julie offered one suggestion to Vicki Hancock on the Decision-Making Framework: Tregoe needs to consider how to build in evaluation and filtering skills into the Framework.

Julie noted that AASL’s information literacy standards were published in 1998, and concurrently, that a five-year implementation plan was created to train educators at all geographical levels in using the standards—this was part of the Information Power document.

Since then, AASL has been much concerned with weaving the standards into the NCATE standards and standards for professional certification of school library media specialists.
As part of the certification process, media specialists must now develop portfolio demonstrations exhibiting collaborative abilities.

In October 2003, AASL will hold an “Information Matters” conference.
 

National Association of State Directors of Career/Technical Education—Sara McPhee
This is Sara’s first attendance at a Forum meeting.
 

American Library Association/Washington Office—Emily Sheketoff
Emily reported on activities of the Office of Information Technology Policy, and noted that information literacy is not well understood among policymakers and others.
 

American Association of Higher Education—Lacey Hawthorne
AAHE is currently very interested in assessing the impact of information literacy through learning outcomes, and using student portfolios as one method of this assessment.
 

AAHE’s 2002 Assessment Conference, “Assessment: A Shared Commitment”, will be held June 20-23 in Boston. The conference features Robert Coles as the opening plenary speaker, and offers and entire day on the future of assessment, 12 communities of practices and 44 preconferences for exploring specific assessment issues.
 

U.S. Department of Commerce—Amy Borgstrom
Amy reported on the Technology Opportunities Program, which in the current budget cycle had $12.5 million to distribute and received 750 grant applications. Emphasis in grant proposals is on community economic development, community projects, culture and arts proposals, and public health.
 

National Education Association—Sylvia Seidel
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) changes now show “leave no teacher behind” as a complement to “leave to child behind.”

In public schools currently, testing is all-important, and states are working out their own requirements for testing.

The NEA is reaching toward an international focus in many of its projects and activities.
 

U.S. Department of Education/National Library of Education—Sheila McGarr
The staff at the National Library of Education are currently involved in assisting ESEA staff in the Department of Education with peer review.

There is some uncertainty about the future of OERI because Congress may not reauthorize the program.
 

Institute of Museum and Library Services—Jean McConnell
The National Leadership Grant Program is in its fifth grant cycle; there are now new guidelines for National Leadership grants. Many grant applications last year focused on lack of library media specialists.  Grant guidelines are available on the organization’s web site at: imls.gov.

IMLS now has a new director, Dr. Robert Martin. Beverly Shepard, previous director, is departing to become executive director of Old Sturbridge Village.
 

Association of College and Research Libraries—Mary Ellen Davis
Several updates were provided:
Information Literacy Web Site with Expert Locater:  ACRL has created an expanded Information Literacy Web sit (http//www.ala.org/acrl/infolit), which is in the process of being rolled out to the public.  The site functions as a gateway to resources on information literacy as well as a gathering place for some of the association’s most important initiatives on the topic.  The site includes an expert locater, enabling users to locate information literacy specialists by name, geographic region, and area of expertise.  Experts can also sign up on the Web site to be added to the locater.

Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education:  Demand continues to be strong for ACRL’s Information Literacy Competency Standard for Higher Education.  The assocation has disseminated 2,500 copies of the standards this year and has completed several reprints to meet demand.  In addition, the standards are available on the ACRL Web site and are accessed more than 3,500 times per month, on average.

21st Century Literacy Summit:  Along with several ACRL members, ACRL Executive Director Mary Ellen Davis attended the invitational 21st Century Literacy Summit hosted by the AOL-Time Warner Foundation and Berttelsman Foundation in March 2002.  This conference brought together European and US “decision-makers from politics, business and academia” to consider how all people can acquire the skills and experience needed to face the “challenges of the digital age.”

Best Practices in Information Literacy Invitational Conference:  Ten institutions have been selected to participate in ACRL’s Best Practices in Information Literacy Invitational Conference, which will be held in Atlanta, June 11-13, 2002.  The purpose of the conference is to bring together individuals involved in model programs to collaborate on further development of best practice characteristics.  As a result of the conference, a series of composite models for best practices will be developed.  Additionally, the proceedings of the conference will be shared with the wider profession as documentation for a benchmarking process.

From Expectations to Results:  Library/Faculty Partnerships for Assessing Student Learning Outcomes:  At the ALA Annual Conference in June, ACRL will offer this full-day preconference, culminating a two-year IMLS National Leadership grant for faculty/librarian partnerships in assessing the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education.  The preconference will provide a forum for the grant recipients to distribute findings and share their experiences with over 100 attendees.

Institute for Information Literacy (IIL) Immersion Program:  This four-and-a-half-day national institute provides intensive information literacy training and education for instruction librarians.  The program examines the evolving educational role of academic librarians with particular emphasis on understanding information literacy as an education reform movement.  Two tracks are offered:  Librarian as Teacher, which focuses on individual development for those who are interested in enhancing, refreshing, or extending their individual instruction skills, and Librarian as Program Developer, which focuses on developing, integrating, and managing institutional and programmatic information literacy programs.  In summer 2002, ACRL is offering two Immersion Programs to be held at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

2001 Academic Library Trends and Statistics:  ACRL has begun data collection for its 2001 Academic Library Trends and Statistics.  The trends section of this publication (available in print and online) will focus on information literacy activities at institutions of higher learning.

3b. Members’ Reports from Members not present.
 

Center for Digital Literacy/Syracuse University—Ruth Small and Marilyn Arnone
Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies is partnering with the Robin Hood Foundation and the New York City Board of Education for the Reinventing Urban School Libraries (RUSL) initiative.  This project combines the renovation of elementary high need/high risk school libraries, provide both technology and print collections to each school, and retrain classroom teachers as school library media specialists to completely revolutionize library programs and services to the children of New York City.

On August 2, 30 RUSL students will visit Syracuse where they will be greeted by our faculty, staff, and students and enjoy a party in their honor.  They will spend the next 10 days experiencing Syracuse University—taking their first courses, learning the distance learning technology they will use in future courses, and touring national projects like AskERIC and the Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM).

The Center for Digital Literacy at Syracuse University has submitted several grant proposals for various research and development projects related to the RUSL project.  For example, a proposal submitted to IMLS seeks to fund the full development of S.O.S. for Information Literacy, our multimedia database of best teaching practice (presented last year at an NFIL meeting) that will feature strategies for teaching information literacy to students in high-risk, high-need urban schools.  Another proposal was submitted to the John Ben Snow Foundation to fund a three-year project to (1) study the impact of our library science education on the quality of service delivered by these students, (2) develop a mode for effective interventions for meeting the information needs of at-risk students, and (3) create a range of materials for use by children and educations in high-risk urban elementary schools related to the teaching and learning of information literacy skills and the fostering of literature appreciation.
 

International Association of School Librarianship—Penny Moore
IASL has an information literacy special interest group led by Jenny Ryan in Australia.  This provides a forum for information literacy discussion among members.  However, the key activity IASL engages in to promote dissemination of research and sound practice in information literacy is of course its conference.

Last year the conference in Auckland attracted 460 delegates and provided New Zealand teacher librarians with a focus.  This coincided with the establishment of the School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa and has prompted a raft of professional development activities across the country.  This year the 31st IASL conference is being held in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, from 5-9 August and has attracted delegates from 21 countries.  The conference theme focuses on the essential contributions school libraries make to a knowledge society.  For further details, visit the conference website http://www.iaslmalaysia2002.org or email fatimah@btp.moe.gov.my.

The International Association of School Librarianship also supports development of information literacy through its award programme.  The prestigious Takeshi Murofushi Research Award has been made this year to Assistant Professor Marlene Asselin, a member of the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, for her study concerning the preparation of pre-service teachers to teach for information literacy.  This is a pilot study for a future, larger international study.

In addition, IASL works with UNESCO to provide books for children in developing countries.  This year UNESCO has extended the awards from one to five grants of US $5000.  Applicants had to guarantee shelves, space, personnel and service and verify this through a letter or other documentation by the school principal or designated supervisor.  The 2002 recipients are:  Janine General Education School (Oman), Action Solidarity Ret our (Rwanda), Outer Islands High School (Micronesia), EGB 21 Primary School (Argentina), Bangizwe, KwasZulu Natal (South Africa).  IASL is currently working with UNESCO to revise and extend this programme to provide vital steps towards information literacy in developing countries.
 

NORDINFO
Held seminars:
The Faroese Librarian Association arranged a seminar in May 2002 on Competency development for librarians and the concept of Information Literacy. NORDINFO sponsored two speakers, Christina Tovoté from Stockholm University Library and Gitte Larsen from the Royal School of Library and Information Science in Denmark.

If I have understood it correctly there were 80 participants (that must have been the whole society!) and all were very thrilled. We have not yet received any report but you might get some information from Christina at christina.tovote@sub.su.se

Ongoing activities:
Summer School on Information Literacy and the pedagogical role of the librarian to be held on 17-28 June 2002 at the Royal School of Library and Information Science in Denmark. The summer school is planned for 20 participants and there were 46 applications from all the Nordic countries. Those who were chosen were from: Denmark (4); Finland (3); Faroe Island (1); Iceland (2); Norway (5) and Sweden (5). The contact person is Annette Skov at the Royal School of Library and Information Science in Denmark (db@db.dk)

NORDINFO has sponsored the summer school with 24.390 euro.

NORDINFO´s next Nordic Forum will be held in Stockholm on 24-25 October 2002. The theme is Information Literacy and the language used at the forum will be the Scandinavian languages. We are preparing the programme at the secretariat.

Planned activities:
NORDINFO Board has approved a steering committee on Information Literacy with one person from each Nordic country. The chairman will be Christina Tovoté. The committee will meet for the first time in connection with the summer school in Denmark in June and they will discuss several initiatives, which will be presented to NORDINFO. The committee must first put up a strategy and action plan for the coming years. One key issue is competency development on the Nordic level and maybe building a portal for information and communication between the Nordic players in the field etc.

NORDINFO hopes to get a lot of proposals from the steering committee.

There will be held an international conference on Information Literacy “Creating Knowledge” in Akureyri, in Iceland next year.
 

4. International Leadership Conference on Information Literacy Update

Woody Horton updated the Forum on developments regarding the International Leadership Conference:

·UNESCO, NCLIS, and NFIL are engaged in joint planning for this conference.

·The preferred format for the conference is: (1) an initial meeting of carefully selected experts from across countries, organizations, and roles in information literacy; and (2) a public conference to disseminate findings and reports from the first meeting of experts.

·The first meeting (of experts) was originally scheduled for Prague in spring 2002, but various imperatives of organizations, which were anticipated funding sources, (anti-terrorism imperatives) caused the need to reschedule the meeting.

·The first meeting will now possibly occur in fall (October) 2002; there are 30 papers commissioned who have been selected from 23 countries. More than half of the participants have now had time to complete their papers.

·Among the interests and sectors to be represented at the conference are public policy, community development, economic/business interests.

·Remaining funding has yet to be secured; a number of agencies and foundations have been approached for funding.

·The venue for the meeting is still Prague. Abstracts for papers given at the conference will be available at: http://www.nclis.gov/libinter/infolitconf&meet/infolitconf&meet.html

Complete papers will eventually be published.

5. National Postsecondary Educational Cooperative/Virginia Military Institute—Dr. Steve RiCharde

Steve RiCharde, Professor of Psychology at VMI, is involved in an NPEC project on student learning outcomes—NPEC has, in recent years, collected data on student learning outcomes. For example, in 2000, NPEC produced a sourcebook in two parts: part one dealing with definitions and assessment measures for critical thinking, problem solving, and writing; and part two, selected institutions using assessment results.

The current sourcebook in which Steve RiCharde is involved focuses on learning outcomes in four domains: communication and interpersonal skills; individual and team leadership skills; information competency/information literacy skills; and quantitative/computational skills.  The sourcebook is designed for the practitioner and is meant to be readable by a wide audience.

Steve has spent much time investigating the concept on information literacy as part of his work on the sourcebook project. As an educational psychologist, he links information literacy with such schemas and frameworks as Bloom’s Taxonomy, constructivist education, and Krathwohl’s taxonomy of the affective domain.

In his research, Steve discovered the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, which were developed by an ACRL Task Force with both librarians and other academic professionals as members. He noted during the Forum meeting that these Standards encompass cognitive, affective, and metacognitive skills.

Steve reported that the learning outcomes based on the Competency Standards require a well-developed assessment model at each institution implementing them. He suggested that such an assessment model would require a cross-curricular, interdisciplinary focus, that student research projects at all levels of the curriculum need to be engaged with the assessment model, that an “executive tutorial” addressing all of the information literacy competencies would bring together all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, and that capstone or senior level projects could include an “executive summary” component for information literacy assessment.

Steve noted that we are in a period of increasing sophistication about both assessment and information literacy, and that some of the web tutorials developed in the library community have potential for interactive teaching as well as sound assessment—provided that psychometric principles are incorporated into their design.
 

6. Discussion of information literacy and workplace performance:

Tom Goad, author of a new book, Information Literacy and Workplace Performance, will be the lead-off discussion leader at the next meeting of the Forum.
 

7. Future Meeting Dates:

For fall meeting—October 4.
For winter meeting—possible date of January 10, 2003