Information literacy and the undergraduate curriculum - The Library and Undergraduate Education

Library Trends, Fall, 1995 by Hannelore B. Rader

BACKGROUND

Almost forty years have passed since Knapp (1958) of the Monteith College at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, stated: "If we wish the library to function more effectively in the college ... we must direct our efforts toward the curriculum, working through the faculty" (p. 83 1). This sentiment has been echoed by numerous leaders in the library profession over the years and has surfaced to a much greater extent in the last few years as the information technology revolution has begun to manifest itself. Librarians have continually been concerned with students' library and information skills, with faculty attitudes toward the library, and with the importance of the library's involvement in curriculum development. For the purpose of this document, "curriculum" is defined as the structure of the educational process and the framework for planning educational experiences' (Regan, 1980). Educational processes and experiences may be traditional; electronic, in an online environment; or remote, through distance education. Various studies during the past several decades have shown that the courses, not the students, are the determining factors in the degree to which a library contributes to the academic programs, specifically the curriculum. Students will obtain necessary library and information skills through appropriately planned coursework determined by faculty, their attitudes, and teaching methodology. Librarians' involvement in curriculum planning and cooperative teaching with faculty will help students develop important and vital information skills, and faculty will value such involvement (Pearson, 1978).

Missions of the College Curriculum (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1977) gives definitions of general education and advocates teaching students necessary information-gathering skills. This report was used by many academic librarians in an attempt to integrate library instruction into the curriculum of their institutions. A good example of this at the time was Sangamon State University in Springfield, Illinois, an upper-level institution where librarians were equal partners with faculty in the instructional process.

Similar to other writers in the 1970s on librarians and the curriculum, Haeuser (1979) wrote about the opportunities for librarians to become involved in curriculum planning whenever revisions of the curriculum are being made. This opportunity has existed throughout the 1980s and the 1990s.

One of the more famous, and certainly the longest surviving, example of a successfully integrated library instruction program has been at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, under the guidance of Farber. Another good example has been the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, which features the "teaching library," where library instruction was a required part of the general curriculum for students, and a test had to be passed to assess library skills before students could graduate. Many more institutions could be named where library instruction has been, and still is, a requirement, and where librarians have worked with faculty to integrate library instruction into the curriculum.

Several library instruction surveys throughout the 1980s indicate that successful integration of library and research skills instruction into the academic curriculum was rare. Whenever it did occur-e.g., at Earlham College-several special factors were present:

* library administrators had long-term commitments to integrate library

instruction into the curriculum;

* librarians and faculty worked together in curriculum development; and

* the institution had a strong commitment to excellent educational outcomes

for the students in the areas of critical thinking, problem-solving,

and information skills.

During the past two decades, librarians hoped that gaining faculty status would help them to be more successful in integrating library instruction into the curriculum while being viewed as partners in the educational and teaching process on campus. That hope was not fully realized in most academic institutions, although in some cases it did result in a much closer dynamic relationship between librarians and faculty in universities and community and private liberal arts colleges. The acquisition of faculty status certainly helped librarians attain membership on faculty committees, including, among others, curriculum-related committees. That accomplishment, combined with the continuous mandate to revise the general academic curriculum, enabled librarians to make some progress toward integrating library instruction modules into the curriculum in selected institutions.

In the 1980s, information technology began to have a major impact on libraries, librarians and, to some degree, higher education. Although libraries had begun to automate in the 1960s with the start of the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), the second and third generation of library automation systems, combined with the beginnings of electronic information formats, resulted in an accelerated rate of change within academic libraries. The changes affected not only collection activities and library services but also how users access information and the type of skills needed to do it effectively and efficiently. As the availability of online databases grew and end-users needed special training, librarians became even more concerned about teaching students success in using libraries and information. An added wrinkle in this concern was the fact that many faculty also needed help and guidance in using electronic information formats but often did not want to admit it.