Aligned with the University’s goal to increase the graduate student population at Western and mirror the excellence in programs and services for undergraduates that has been a strategic priority for a number of years, the Allyn & Betty Taylor Library created a modular program for information literacy targeted to engineering, health and science grad students. Specific needs were assessed using surveys and focus groups that helped shape the content and structure of the modules. The program has been running successfully for two years. Direct communication to the Taylor community the program is marketed through the various orientation and skills workshops generally available to new graduate students.
http://www.lib.uwo.ca/taylor/workshopsandtutorials.html
Graduate student skill development.
Improving the "best graduate student experience" at Western.
NA
Offering information literacy instruction that is real and relevant for students is a key priority for Western Libraries. Forging collaborative partnerships with teaching faculty and integrating instruction into the fabric of courses and programs is a fundamental goal for the IL program at Western. Through the partnership with the Teaching Support Centre, we are able to make faculty aware of our instruction initiatives and the importance if integrating information skill development into the goals and objectives of a course. Many effective collaborative teaching partnerships have been created. Some examples: The Law librarian regularly teaches information-related credit courses for the Faculty of Law. The political science librarian is included as an integral member of the teaching team for the introductory PoliSci course. Rather than the typical 50-minute one shot approach to teaching the library and information literacy, the librarian is introduced first class as part of the team and a resource for information discovery and evaluation and then where it makes the most sense in the context of the curriculum and when most relevant to the students' integrates IL sessions. The Nursing Librarian has partnered to create an information literacy program for faculty raising the profile of IL for nurses especially with respect to the accreditation process. It has resulted in a new credit course offered in the curriculum, taught by the Nursing Librarian.
Integrated and holistic approach to IL instruction.
Increased understanding of the ARCL IL Competency Standards and alignment with Ontario Council of Academic Vice Presidents Undergraduate Degree Level Expectations.
NA
Adapted from the Assignment Calculator developed at the University of Minnesota, Western Libraries created a flexible database version of this time management and planning tool that we have adapted for general program use as well as tailored to the specific needs of a course or assignment. Instruction librarians can customize the content to include IL components and information and links required by students for particular assignments and students can opt to receive automatic e-mail reminders at key dead-line times throughout the process. Assignment Planner at https://www.lib.uwo.ca/instruct/calculator/.
NA
Primarily a tool for Instruction Librarians, the Information Literacy Committee at Western Libraries created an on-line database available at this point through our staff intranet only, for recording instruction and outreach initiatives. The committee conducted needs assessments to determine the best structure and content requirements and the Instruction and Outreach Database is now the only method WL uses for collecting and reporting statistics, useful internally for annuals report purposes but also for communicating WL statistics externally.
NA
Needs assessment conducted to inform eventual model that was developed to support instruction staff.
Providing point of need instruction for students whenever and wherever it is needed has been facilitated by a pair of interactive IL tutorials. Generic examples for Science and Arts and Social Science students attempt to make the tutorials generally useful for a large number of undergraduates.
http://www.lib.uwo.ca/taylor/researchtoolkit.shtml#assignment
http://www.lib.uwo.ca/weldon/modules/researchmodules.pdf
NA
Western Libraries is in the process of reconstructing our complete web presence making the entire website an integral research and discovery tool for the Western community. (The new catalog interface launches in January 2009: http://www.lib.uwo.ca/)
NA