I believe that teaching information
literacy at the university level is an essential part of the overall academic
success, not just for students but for the entire academic community and
beyond. Information literacy helps the student to identify that the
entire community is full of academic resources and support for their
benefit. I also believe that information literacy classes need to take
the audience in to consideration. Information literacy varies greatly and
developmental strengths and weaknesses need to be accommodated. We need
to allow for differentiated user and we need to meet them where they are.
Information literacy courses need to accommodate the academic range from incoming
freshman to seasoned researchers, and everything in between. For
students, many assignments are inquiry based, asking students to reflect on
previous research in a given field. The library is at the center of this
activity, whether it be physical or web-based. But, students need to
learn how to access information in order to succeed at these tasks. My
goal is to teach students how to interpret assignments and restructure
questions into a thoughtful and critical search query and then show them tools
on how they can get accurate and appropriate information. It is my goal as an
information literacy librarian to strengthen that connection between the
classroom and the library and to show students in a meaningful way that
critical analysis starts at the level of research. Ultimately, I want to
present to students that the library and the library staff are an extension of
their academic careers, supporting them in their success. Upper classmen
and graduate students require and deserve much different information literary
skills. They need more specialized research resources and more advanced
search tools. Besides keeping professors and researchers up-to-date on
the ever-changing front of information sources and access, my philosophy for
information literacy for faculty also requires me to act in a role of
support. My approach is to continually strengthen the connection between
the curriculum and library information services. I am teaching to help their
students succeed. I am aware of the time pressure to fit the curriculum
into a semester and understand that each class is very valuable and that I can
create meaningful topic-related instruction. The last impression I want
to give is that information literacy is a waste of their class time. I
like to work with the instructor before hand and draw example research topics
directly from the class syllabus. This keeps the students on topic and
also upholds their accountability.
My desired outcome is that students walk
away from any information literacy interaction with more tools and techniques
to search for information and also know how to scrutinize information and
empower them to feel in control and be able to manage the task in a timely
manner. With the abundance of information, my goal is to teach students
essential searching skills that they can take with them beyond the university
years into their own careers. I also want to impart to my "students"
that the act of looking for information constantly fluctuates and that there is
also the need for keeping up-to-date and learning more ways to access and
discern information. Each information literacy class is a door opening to the
world of critical inquiry and scrutiny.
I have learned as a classroom teacher that
students do their best when put to the challenge and are to be held
accountable. I also find that students are very successful when they can
-to a certain degree- be in charge of the assignment and be able to give input.
I have also found that students respond to the efforts I make when I
acknowledge their personal lives and academic and professional
priorities. These are busy people and it is significant because it
helps eliminate the intimidation a student might feel when approaching a
teacher, class, or assignment. This also helps build up their confidence
and boost their overall accountability to themselves.
My teaching style can be seen in how I
approached the Languages and Literatures Guides for
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