Request for SoCal IL Observation Sites

            ***Cross-Posted to a number of lists. Apologies for duplication.***
 
Dear Southern California Librarians,
 
Please help… Once again, UCLA Department of Information Studies graduate students will be enrolling in IS 448, "Information Literacy Instruction: Theory and Technique," to be offered in Spring Quarter 2012, beginning April 3d.  The goal of this 10-week-long 4-unit course is:
 
         By the end of this course, students will be able to identify and analyze
         information literacy instructional needs, design, implement, and evaluate
         appropriate instructional responses, and make revisions as necessary.
 
Joan Kaplowitz and I proposed this course in 1989 and first taught it in 1990. It requires students to complete a number of different assignments that incorporate both practical and theoretical aspects of Information Literacy Instruction (ILI). One of these assignments is an "Instruction Report." Between April 3d (the first day of class) and May 8^th (due date for the assignment), students will need to interview a librarian and then observe and comment on her/his synchronous (live) group ILI session, online or in person. In addition, they will review and comment on an ILI web site.
 
My students will be using the database of Southern California librarians willing to have their instruction sessions observed by others, maintained by the ACRL California Chapter’s SCIL--Southern California Librarians group. Students need to fill out a form and SCIL will try to match their requests with librarians who have volunteered to be listed in this database. http://www.carl-acrl.org/ig/scil/
 
However, if you have not listed yourself in this database, please let me know if you would be willing to have students observe one of your synchronous group ILI sessions in April 2012. These could be any of the following:

·         standalone sessions offered independently by the Library
·         course-integrated one-shot sessions developed in conjunction with a teaching faculty member
·         one class meeting of a credit IL course taught by librarians
·         any other synchronous group information-literacy-related session involving at least one librarian.

I will instruct students to keep your names and your institutions completely confidential in their reports, though you may request a copy of the student's paper from the student, if you would like. 
 
Students will contact you directly to make appointments for a brief interview and to observe one of your sessions. During the interview they will ask you about your instructional experience as well as the context and expected learning outcomes for the session they will be observing.
 
If you would like to volunteer, please email me the following information:
            1. Your institution's name
            2. Your name or the name of the contact person who can make these arrangements
            3. Your email address & phone number, including area code (for appointments and
            other information)
            4. Type of instruction that may be observed
            5. Dates, times and places when your ILI sessions will be offered
            6. Any other pertinent information you would like to offer
 
Students may call or email you to set up an appointment any time beginning the first day of class, April 3, 2012. Their Instruction Report is due May 8, 2012, so I would be grateful for any and all responses.
 
Please share widely, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions: estherg@ucla.edu
 
Thank you in advance for your help!
            Best,
                        Esther
 
Esther Grassian
Adjunct Lecturer
UCLA Department of Information Studies

ILI Problems for Case Studies

***Cross-posted to a number of lists. Apologies for any duplication.***

 
I discovered a few years ago that the very act of describing a difficult information literacy instructional (ILI) problem in writing can help make it more manageable, as it causes you to think about its most important and vexing aspects. Once you have gone through this process, you may find it easier to come up with ideas for solving the problem. 

UCLA Department of Information Studies graduate students taking "Information Literacy Instruction" (IS 448) in Spring Quarter 2012 (beginning April 2012) will need to do a project focused on an ILI case study, preferably, representing a real-life problem. The project will be in the form of a mock grant proposal to address and help solve this problem. (See example below.) I need your help in developing up to date, real life case studies, so I'm asking readers of this post to send me some of your difficult or challenging ILI problems. 

Teams of students will select from among a number of case studies for their projects, and some of their ideas may help you. While there is no guarantee that they will select your case study, if they do, with their permission, I will send you a copy of their grant proposal ideas regarding your instructional problem. 

If you would like to submit a case study, I would really appreciate it if you would do so by following the format and categories utilized in the sample case study below. Please include your name, address, phone number and email if you would like a copy of their proposed solutions, and indicate whether or not students may contact you if they have questions about your case study.  

Please send case studies directly to me, rather than responding to the list: estherg@ucla.edu  

Thanks in advance for your help!                                   

                                      Esther

Esther Grassian
Adjunct Lecturer
UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies,
Department of Information Studies
Email: estherg@ucla.edu

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SAMPLE ILI CASE STUDY

"Blended" Information Literacy Instruction (ILI) Credit Course for Undergrads

Institutional context:

One of nine campuses in a large public research university system, offering Bachelors, Masters, Doctoral and Post-Doctoral programs.  

User Population:

32,000 students total; 24,000 undergraduates (top 12% of high school senior class); 8% of undergraduates are underrepresented minorities; 4% of all students are international students; 8,000 graduate students (graduate Teaching Assistants teach a number of undergraduate courses); 2,800 faculty members; members of the general community, including "advanced placement" high school students, college students from surrounding areas, teachers, visiting scholars and researchers. 

Library context:

Third largest academic library in the country; 8 million volumes; 91,000 periodical subscriptions (print and online); 12 libraries on campus, one off-campus library; online catalog with automated circulation; 110 librarians; 300 support staff; Undergraduate Library has 175,000 volumes, subscribes to 250 periodicals, and provides access to all of the electronic resources available to other campus libraries through local and statewide licensing, with the exception of databases restricted to Law School and Management students and faculty. 

Instructional Problem & Existing IL Programs:

You are one of five reference/instruction librarians in the undergraduate library. Librarians all participate in an extremely heavy instructional program, including customized one-shot course-integrated sessions for 30-40 classes/10-week Quarter, as well as individual research appointments, paper point-of-use guides, various instructional Web pages, and online information literacy tutorials. Librarians also spend about 10 hours/week at the Reference Desk or on digital reference. 

Your library has been a leader in reaching out to faculty and TAs on campus regarding basic ILI for undergraduates, and in developing new and innovative forms of ILI. One librarian in your library has developed an interactive tutorial focused on plagiarism and documentation. You have been the primary developer of another general interactive IL tutorial that includes Camtasia Studio videos output as Flash movies. You have also developed and taught one-unit ILI courses for undergrads, one for upper-division students, and the other for freshmen.  With the support of the Head of your library, you have been trying to encourage other librarians to teach these and other one-unit IL courses, and you think that a "blended" course (part in-person/part online) would entice more of them to give it a try. The Head of your library is very supportive of this innovative approach and wants you to work with other librarians, faculty, grad students, and IT staff to develop a grant proposal to support it. 

 All of the librarians in the Undergraduate Library are available to assist with instruction, though at different levels and with different skills, and other partners may assist as well.

-- 
Esther Grassian
Distinguished Librarian
Adjunct Lecturer
UCLA Information Studies Dept.
 &
Information Literacy Librarian, Retired
(Formerly, UCLA College Library)
estherg@ucla.edu
Twitter: estherg
SL: Alexandria Knight
https://sites.google.com/site/esthergrassian/
https://sites.google.com/site/teachinfolit/