Robin Brown, Information Literacy Librarian and Library instruction coordinator

Borough of Manhattan Community College 

New York, NY 

English

Instruction Librarians and College Faculty in general 

 We need to recruit and train classroom faculty to teach information Literacy 

Information literacy represents much more than teaching the mechanics of using the library systems.  It’s about learning to find, evaluate and synthesize information.  It is the fundamental backbone of lifelong learning. Once that is understood, it’s very clear that it cannot be taught in an hour by a guest lecturer.  That really leaves two choices -- either information literacy becomes a subject that is taken for credit, or it needs (like writing) to be integrated into other subjects across the curriculum.  

What I propose is a presentation that describes the work I have done here at Borough of Manhattan Community College to recruit “classroom faculty” who are willing to integrate the principles of information literacy into their courses.  I have done this both informally and formally (with a week long workshop that taught both theory and practical skills).  This is not a substitute for traditional instruction sessions, but part of a range of choices that I am working on developing.  

This, of course, offers plenty of fuel for lively discussion after the presentation.  

Strand 2
Evolving roles