Curriculum-integrated infolit instruction in partnership with faculty and TAs.

Librarians at the NCSU Libraries have successfully partnered with faculty from the Colleges of Engineering and Textiles since 2001 to implement curriculum-integrated library instruction. Curriculum integrated instruction is a strategic program that stresses building library instruction into an already existing curriculum. Student learning is centered on appropriate and specific competencies for their course level from freshman to senior year. Assignments that build the competencies are built into core courses at each level, and engineering librarians visit the classroom, providing a guest lecture that is solely focused on what students need to know to do the assignment. An information literacy rubric was created to define the ultimate goals of the program, and from this document, grading sheets have been developed so that faculty and TAs know how to grade assignments. Partnerships with faculty are the essential component of any curriculum integrated library instruction program and developing a strategic plan for cultivating these relationships is crucial. By communicating these goals and this vision to Deans, department heads and relevant faculty members, meaningful and sustainable partnerships for the program are created. Faculty support is critical to achieving the mutually shared goal of having students develop information research skills that promote success throughout their collegiate, professional and personal lives. For further description, see 2001 ASEE Paper:
http://www.asee.org/conferences/annual/pdf/upload/2001-Best-Overall-Paper-and-PIC-IV-Best-Paper.pdf
http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/instructiontoolkit/

Goals:

• That the instruction be effective in the short term (students have what they need to get the assignment done).

• That the instruction be effective in the long term (program produces information literate engineers).

• That the program be scaleable, i.e., that 2 or 3 FTE librarians can reach thousands of students.

Assessment:

• Through grades on assignments and, in E101, a survey.

• Number of contact hours and classes we work with.

The Economics of Information Project.

This project involves the design of instruction to help students understand how economics affect access to information. Our strategies include: teaching students how scholarly information is a business; engaging students in a dialogue about journal pricing and scholarly communication; exposing students to how Google/Google Scholar work and how economics shapes what these tools can reach ("Deep" or "Invisible" web vis-a-vis the library); helping students distinguish between discovering information and accessing it. The teaching philosophy inherent in this work is that it is essential to balance instruction between teaching the contexts surrounding information with hands-on experiential learning. Aspects of this instruction can be used with any group of students as part of a library instruction workshop. The test-bed for this work has been with junior/senior science and engineering students and graduate students.

Goal:

• Students will have a deeper understanding of how economics affect access to information.

Assessment:

This is still in the pilot stage; we have solicited feedback from faculty and will be analyzing data from class exercises/tests.

LOBO, an online tutorial combining screen shots, video, and text slides.

LOBO: LOBO stands for "Library Online Basic Orientation," an online tutorial that introduces students to the NCSU Libraries and guides them through their research assignments. LOBO is required for English 101 students at NCSU. Students complete LOBO in several sittings, not all at once, and in conjunction with a class assignment. Non-students may also find LOBO helpful as a general introduction to library research. LOBO addresses many goals, among them forming a common basis for information literacy instruction, reaching virtually all incoming students, balancing conceptual and practical lessons, and providing interactivity and communication. In 2005, LOBO was the subject of an assessment study investigating the use of rubrics to score student answers to the open-ended questions located throughout the tutorial. Documents in the Engineering toolkit: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/instructiontoolkit/
We have filmed ourselves for several classes--two examples from Fall 07:

CHE 205 (engineering):
http://mediasite.eos.ncsu.edu/Mediasite/Viewer/Viewers/Viewer240TL.aspx?mode=Default&peid=db9d06ca-cefe-4141-932b-6d54f8aecc58&pid=4119dffe-4846-498b-adef-664b9adb5825&playerType=WM64Lite&overridePort25PluginInstall=true

E101(engineering):
http://mediasite.eos.ncsu.edu/Mediasite/Viewer/Viewers/Viewer240TL.aspx?mode=Default&peid=a3118ebd-b4ad-4f52-87cb-ad60de7aa651&pid=ef1af36a-2441-4ec5-9a9c-2993a230623f&playerType=Port25

Tour of Textiles Library Movie, Fall 2007:
http://streamingserver.tx.ad.ncsu.edu/ramgen/promo_videos/cot/library.rm

Goals / Assessment:

NA

Catalog with enhanced features and navigation.

In 2006 the Libraries launched its new online catalog. The catalog leverages the advanced search and Guided Navigation capabilities of the Endeca ProFind platform while capitalizing on existing cataloging records. The catalog offers the speed and flexibility of popular online search engines and takes advantage of rich content and cutting-edge capabilities.

Goals / Assessment:

NA

Libraries implement WolfBlogs and WolfWikis.

The Libraries implemented WolfBlogs and WolfWikis to support the personal and curricular activities of the NC State community. Specifically, WolfBlogs and WolfWikis are services provided by the NCSU Libraries to support the academic and scholarly communication activities of current faculty, students, and staff of North Carolina State University. Content includes a comprehensive gathering of campus policies, regulations, governance, and rules organized into 11 categories. (From the Website) “NC State is committed to providing information related to its administration and operations in a manner that is clear, concise, organized, accessible, and current. To that end, NC State has a cataloging system for the identification and classification of its policies, regulations, and rules. This system provides ease of use to students, faculty, and staff, as well as others such as potential students and employees.” This website serves as the central location for NC State's policies, regulations, and rules. As of February 2008, WolfWikis had 2350 users; 981 pages; 1807 uploads; 1265834 views.

Goals:

See above

Assessment:

NA