Present:

Patricia Breivik, Chair, National Forum on Information Literacy Teresa Antonucci, American Association of Higher Education Jaleh Behroozi, National Institute for Literacy Alan Bundy, Australian Library and Information Association Martha Crawley, Institute for Museum and Library Services Amy Garmer, The Aspen Institute Craig Gibson, Association of College and Research Libraries Nora Gyuk, Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development Ronald Hall, Michigan Small Business Development Center Judith Kelly, National Council of Teachers of English Anthony McDonald, George Washington University Paula Montgomery, International Association of School Librarianship Sahon Palmer, U.S. Department of Commerce/Technology Opportunities Program Jason Phelps, National Association of State Directors of Vocational/Technical Education Consortium John Randall, Literacy Volunteers of America Oswald Ratteray, Middle States Commission on Higher Education Judy Russell, National Commission on Library and Information Science Sylvia Seidel, National Education Association Emily Sheketoff, American Library Association Neela Shiralkar, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Teresa Sweeney, RMC Research Corporation Kevin Thibault, Center for Workforce Preparation

1. Information Literacy and Economic Development (Ronald Hall, Michigan Small Business Development Center, Guest Speaker)

Ron Hall, Director of the Michigan Small Business Development Center, led the Forum in a discussion of the relationship between information literacy and economic development, particularly focusing on small businesses.

Ron presented a number of statistics showing the crucial role of small businesses in the U.S. economy:

--Over 25 million business tax returns were filed in 1999, an increased of 73% since 1982

--Over 5.48 million firms with between 1 and 500 employees existed in 1998, an increase of 10.5% from 1997

--About 21 million Americans (17%) of all U.S. non-agricultural workers are engaged in some kind of entrepreneurial activity

--Non-farm proprietor income in 1998: $548.5 billion

> --Over 50% of U.S. workforce work in small businesses

--72.7% of the 3.59 million new jobs developed between 1994-95 were created by small firms; about one-third of these (over 1.3 million) came from new firm creation; over 1 million of these new jobs were created by businesses with 1 to 4 employees

--78% of small firms are organized as proprietorships or partnerships

--898,000 new firms were started in 1998 (1.5-2% annual growth rate)

--Three-fourths of new business owners are employed at a wage job when they started their businesses

--60% of new businesses are started at home.

> --Women-owned businesses increased 89% from 1987 to 1997 to an estimated 8.5 million (all firms grew only 29%)

--Minority-owned businesses increased 168% between 1987 and 1997; these businesses now have 23.8 million employees and 3.1 trillion in revenues

--Business bankrupts in 1998 were 44,000-the lowest since 1981.

--Small businesses are responsible for 60-65% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product)

Among the information needs of businesses are:

• Information about medical insurance for employees; one solution is for small business associations to provide group insurance
• Technology--rapid changes requiring technical expertise; small businesses usually don't have this expertise "in house"
• Changes in global marketplace
• E-commerce models and transactions, particularly business-to-business transactions
• Management and operations: how to use management, strategic planning, efficient operational techniques
• Information about employees

Small businesses operate under certain constraints: they do not have librarians or information specialists; they do not have "networks" of expertise in the business community at first (such networks have to be developed); they lack thorough knowledge of potential customers and the marketplace; and they lack a sound knowledge of workforce needs among potential employees.

Questions for Ron Hall:

How "information savvy" are small businesses? Those entrepreneurs and small business owners who already have life experiences with computers, technology, and information will likely be successful; those without this background and technological capability will struggle and perhaps fail. Obviously those small businesses with computer technology and network capabilities have no problem obtaining information; very few of them, however, have the ability to differentiate good information from unreliable information.

Small businesses will increasingly have their own access to the Internet through moving to wireless technologies. However, are "low profit" small businesses being underserved in terms of technology? Are they dependent on public libraries instead of being able to invest in technologies? The answers are uncertain, but Small Business Development Centers are not currently supporting small businesses' technological needs; and there is no research now on the impact of computer/Internet access on quality of life or business success of small business owners.

Do small business owners go directly to the Internet as their first source of information? The most likely source of information for most small business people is a personal friend (based on research reported by the Aspen Institute in 1998). The problem is that most personal friends are often not good sources of business information. Preparing for financial aspects of running a small business is a major challenge, in fact, for most entrepreneurs.

Other notes about the future of small business:

--Age factors: younger entrepreneurs will perhaps be more willing to use technology and the Internet

--Partnerships with community colleges: Small Business Development Centers have offices located on many community college campuses, creating a strong link between community colleges' workforce training curricula and small business development support

--An enormous challenge for small businesses' "information success" is the provision of local and regional information through easy-to-use searching in specially created databases

--Activities in which Small Business Development Centers can become engaged to promote information literacy: developing relationships with policymakers; working with youth entrepreneurs; and understanding role of libraries in "distribution network" for information

2. Approval of January 2000 meeting summary

The meeting summary was approved as read.

3. Reports from Member Organizations

National Institute for Literacy-Jaleh Behroozi

The National Institute for Literacy is an independent federal agency focused on literacy issues in American society.

The NIL helps Congress shape policy on adult basic education; develops content standards; focuses on learning disabilities and "special collections" of high quality information; offers a web sites on literacy initiatives; and in general, attempts to connect teachers, students, and adult learners.

National Association of State Directors of Vocational/Technical Education Consortium-Jason Phelps

This association is concerned with the integration of academics into vo/tech education through legislation. Part of this legislative agenda is focused on how to use information, not just the use of technology. The Workforce Investment Act, specifically, addresses the issue of information literacy as an ability of members of the workforce.

U.S. Department of Commerce/Technology Opportunities Program-Sahon Palmer

The TOP grants program focused on technology integration in local communities. Grants in the past have been awarded to initiatives addressing economic development in small rural communities, and ESL (English as a Second Language) programs.

The TOP office received 662 grant applications in year 2000.

Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development-Nora Gyuk

The ASCD web site is being changed this year. The organization is offering new search services for members, new staff development opportunities, and a set of online professional development tutorials for teachers, principals, curriculum specialists, and others.

Institute of Museum and Library Services-Martha Crawley

Primary Source
The IMLS newsletter, Primary Source, sent monthly via e-mail, explores how museums and libraries across the country use IMLS awards to further their service to the public. Primary Source provides the latest information about IMLS grant programs, showcases successful grant proposals, and highlights IMLS research and publications. Every issue contains valuable links to information at the IMLS web site. You can subscribe to Primary Source or read current and past issues on the IMLS website http://www.imls.gov.

National Leadership Grants
The deadline for three categories of National Leadership Grants for Libraries was February 1, 2000. 35 proposals were received totaling $7.4 million in the Digitization or Preservation category, 34 proposals for $6.6 million in Education and Training, and 32 proposals for $6.9 million in Research and Demonstration. The deadline for Museum/Library Collaborations was April 1. Approximately 70 proposals are being processed.

Second LSTA State Program Conference
IMLS is planning the second State Program Conference. It will be held in Washington, DC, November 15-17, 2000. The focus will be on evaluation of grant programs, and IMLS will support participation by two participants from each State Library Agency. Digitization Study Planned
On March 1, 2000, a distinguished group of experts representing all kinds of libraries, library organizations and several government agencies met at the Old Post Office Building to talk about a study IMLS is planning, which will collect information on the current status of digitization in libraries across the nation. We are continuing the process of identifying what information would be most useful to the agency, the library community and others who share a responsibility for facilitating access to information. We expect to collect data during the next fiscal year.

The conference seems to have tapped a rich vein of interest in digitization within the museum and library communities. Of participants who completed evaluation forms, 75% said they are currently engaged in digitization activities and another 15% are planning such activities. Over 80% found the conference "very relevant" to their needs. Comments included phrases such as "consciousness-raising," "it was a hotbed of inspiration," "it made me think bigger" and "I was on the edge of my seat the entire time." Many participants encouraged IMLS to convene more conferences on this topic.

Participants particularly praised discussions of standards for managing digital resources, preservation, collaboration and partnerships, evaluation, and "just seeing what everyone else is doing." There was a consensus that more coordination is needed at the national, state, and regional levels to build a framework for wide-area digital libraries that will provide access to the valuable resources of museums, libraries, archives and historical societies across the country.

Conference papers will be published in special issue of First Monday, a peer-reviewed electronic journal published on and about the Internet. The projected release date is June 5, 2000.

American Association of Higher Education-Teresa Antonucci

AAHE identifies trends in higher education and initiates programs to support those trends. The organization has over 10,000 members.

Two recent initiatives of interest to the Forum include:

--AAHE's endorsement of the ACRL Information Literacy Standards for higher education --The development of a WebCenter linked with the Carnegie Teaching Academy, which focuses on the scholarship of teaching. The WebCenter connects faculty and others with colleagues around the United States who are interested in scholarly, research-focused methods to improve teaching and learning. The WebCenter uses the same Knowledge Center software as Amazon.com does to track customer interests.

National Commission on Libraries and Information Science-Judy Russell

The NCLIS advises the President and Congress on library issues. The group has fourteen members; its most recent meeting, in February 2000, focused on information literacy. The NCLIS is conducting a survey on access to the Internet in public libraries, and on the services available to the public as a result of this access.

The NCLIS is much concerned with "digital divide" issues, and with the needs of special populations. The organization will sponsor a public hearing in 2001 on information literacy in public schools. The web site address is http://www.nclis.gov .

Aspen Institute (Forum on Communications and Society)-Amy Garmer

The Aspen Institute's Forum on Communications and Society is a CEO-level forum with 25 members, addressing information technology/information literacy issues. The primary goals of the group are for members to understand these issues as thoroughly as possible in broad societal context, and to forge partnerships related to those issues.

There are four compelling priorities identified by this group related to information literacy: (1) the need for greater research on the effectiveness of technology in teaching and learning (research studies on computers and technology in schools); (2) the need for public awareness and engagement on information technology/information literacy issues; (3) the need to realign incentives for effective use information technology in education (to be addressed through reaccreditation standards); and (4) the need for policy makers and others in government to increase the quality of their decision-making through information literacy.

International Association of School Librarianship-Paula Montgomery

The IASL holds its next conference in Sweden in August 2000. At this conference, there are numerous sessions devoted to information literacy. The IASL has an Information Literacy Special Interest Group whose primary objective is to "promote information literacy as a central concept in all school curriculums and to work toward its integration in teaching and learning practices." [See IASL web site at http://www.hi.is/~anne/iasl.html]

The conference in Sweden will offer presentations on information by librarians and teachers from Singapore, Scotland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

Literacy Volunteers of America-John Randall

George Washington University, Virginia Campus-Anthony McDonald

Anthony is a full-time computer specialist in the Federal government who was previously employed in private industry. He is now working on a dissertation at GWU; his dissertation deals with information literacy and lifelong learning.

Middle States Commission on Higher Education-Oswald Ratteray

• The Steering Committee and task forces continue to meet and discuss possible revisions to Characteristics of Excellence, our standards for accreditation. The first draft will be ready for review by members and other colleagues in October 2000.
• The ACRL task force developing information literacy competencies, of which Oswald Ratteray was a part, completed its work and the standards have been approved by the ACRL board and published.
• The Middle States survey of librarians in the region produced responses from over 115 institutions, indicating a variety of different levels of support for the concept of an institution of higher education without a physical library. In response, one regional organization of head librarians as well as the ACRL Board of Directors each submitted position papers urging the Commission to be cautious in considering accreditation of the emerging transregional and virtual institutions, which currently tend to have little or no library infrastructure of their own.
• In light of the possibility that the Commission in the near future could intensify the focus of visiting evaluation teams on student learning outcomes, as opposed to the traditional emphasis on library inputs and outputs, Oswald Ratteray has been addressing regional groups of librarians, asking the question: "How will higher education providers ensure that students graduate with information literacy skills?"
• To reinforce the need for an institution-wide focus on information literacy, staff is developing a series of workshops and conferences for academic year 2001-02 that will involve faculty-to-faculty dialogues, with input from librarians, on the use of information resources in the curriculum.
• Oswald Ratteray, representing Middle States, also participated on the team designing an ACRL workshop for librarians on implementing the new information literacy competencies on campus.

National Education Association-Sylvia Seidel

The NEA has many concerns about the current trend in many states to implement "one size fits all" standardized testing as part of accountability measures. The impact disadvantaged children of this kind of testing may well be devastating. To counter this trend, the NEA is studying how to promote a broader assessment agenda. The NEA will also soon introduce a web portal to its services and programs.

National Council of Teachers of English-Judith Kelly

The NCTE has published a new publication on information literacy entitled "Voices from the Middle." Specific chapters deal with the rationale for technology in the classroom, the use of technology in the language arts classroom, reading and interpretation of the Internet, and peer relationships and e-mail. The NCTE's annual conference will be held in November in Milwaukee; there will be a strand on information literacy at the conference.

RMC Research Corporation-Teresa Sweeney

The RMC Research Corporation engages in educational research focused on quality improvement, technical assistance, and product development. RMC Research Corporation has worked with a wide range of issues in education (teacher and administrator development, service learning, standards and accountability), technology (distance learning, program planning), families and communities (family literacy, parental involvement in education), and media (public television, children's television). Some of the corporation's clients include federal and state agencies, foundations, museums, nonprofits, television stations, and other corporations.

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education-Neela Shiralkar

• In July 1999, AACTE worked with Forum members to incorporate information literacy into the NCATE draft standards. The final draft of the standards was approved on May 11 and will go into effect for all institutions applying for accreditation in the fall of 2001. The information literacy language that is included in the final version reads as follows:

Under Standard 1, "Candidate Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions" Candidates preparing to work in schools as teachers or other school personnel need a sound professional knowledge base to understand learning and the context of schools, families, and communities. They understand and are able to apply knowledge related to the social, historical, and philosophical foundations of education, professional ethics, law, and policy. They know the ways children and adolescents learn and develop, including their cognitive and affective development and the relationship to learning. They understand language acquisition, cultural influences on learning; exceptionalities; diversity of student populations, families, and communities; and inclusion and equity in classrooms and schools. They are able to appropriately and effectively integrate technology and information literacy in instruction to support student learning. They understand the importance of using research in teaching and other professional roles and know the roles and responsibilities of the education profession. (Italics added) Under Standard 6, "Unit Governance and Resources": Rubric includes in descriptions of ideal conditions: Ø Faculty and candidates have access to exemplary library, curricular, and/or electronic information resources that serve not only the unit but also a broader constituency.

4. Announcements

Barbara Humes of the U.S. Department of Education, has accepted a new position in the Department; so she will no longer be a Forum representative.

5. Alan Bundy presentation/discussion

6. International Dialogue on Information Literacy

7. The Pacific Bell/UCLA Initiative for 21st Century Literacies was distributed

8.  The Children's Partnership discussion was postponed.

9. The next Forum meeting will be held on Monday, September 25th. The opening in-depth discussion will focus on Information Literacy and the Democratic Process.