Beginning in 2005, the Pitts Theology Library began offering a weekly series of library workshops focusing on development of information literacy competencies through in-depth, hands-on training of print and electronic resources for theological reading, research, and writing. Lunches are purchased at reduced rate from local restaurants and offered to the first 12 workshop registrants at no charge: http://www.pitts.emory.edu/services/workshops/index.cfm. In 2006-07, there was an average of 14 attendees at each workshop.
To equip all Candler School of Theology and Graduate Department of Religion graduates with the following core set of information competencies:
Find books and articles on a specific biblical passage using the library catalog and ATLA RDB;
Find all instances of a Greek/Hebrew word in the Bible using search software;
Find significant primary texts from Christian history using the online catalog and credible websites;
Find significant secondary texts on Christian history using the online catalog and databases;
Evaluate credibility and relevance of information resources using expert web-guides;
Use information in ethical and efficient way through use of citation styles and software.
Print survey during each workshop and online assessment of learning outcomes after each workshop.
Initiatives are underway in 2008 to implement meaningful assessments of student learning outcomes in these sessions.