Information Literacy Learning Menu

1 Part of regular individual lecturers’ courses. This type of IL facilitation is done as part of a general course conducted by the lecturer. It is a good starting point for IL work and provides an opportunity to convince engineering lecturers of IL benefits. The following are some actions that engineering librarians can take to facilitate this process:

  • Meet faculty administrators (Dean, Deputy Dean & Heads of Department) and share IL benefits with them
  • Meet individually or in groups all the teaching staff
  • Distribute documents stating the benefits of a faculty-wide IL programme
  • Offer information literacy services to lecturers in their course planning
  • Prepare IL learning exercises as examples of how to focus the course on information literacy learning
  • Make the library the information laboratory
  • Prepare a workshop for lecturers where IL concepts and the importance of implementing them in the classroom are discussed

 2 Independent curricular courses. These courses are offered independently and solely devoted to information literacy, but they are part of the students´ curricula. Full responsibility is given to engineering librarians in the information learning process. Guidelines to planning an independent IL course:

  • Plan the IL course or courses to coincide with the faculty curriculum design
  • Base the course on constructivist pedagogy—incentive is on students to practice concepts
  • Make the course interesting and appealing to students according to teaching engineering subjects
  • Exercises should focus on something that will benefit students in their regular classes
  • Partner with a lecturer’s course, so that IL exercises are on the same subject
  • Adjust course length according to the available time
  • Courses should not be too long—four to ten hours is ideal
  • Divide topics and distribute them in more than one course if necessary

 3 Extra-curricular courses.

An extra curricular course is easier to plan, because it is independent from faculty curricula. However, the long-term goal is to have IL courses as part of the curricula. The following are suggestions for extra-curricular courses:

  • Follow the format and procedures for any regular faculty course
  • Choose course dates when students may have less academic work
  • Students have less time to take this type of course at the beginning and end of terms
  • Provide some recognition to those who take the course, such as a certificate
  • The library can have its own information certificate program
  • Take this independent road only if it is necessary, remember that embedded programmes are more successful

4 Independent short courses.

They are the means for training specific IL objectives and for updating skills of the lecturers and students. Because they need to be linked in a deliberate way to the curriculum, these courses should only be taught as a last resort. Effective learning only takes place when it is contextualized and embedded (the very core of constructivist theory (Walton, personal communication, November, 2004). If you do offer them, a series of short courses can be integrated into a full course. The following steps can be equally applied to embedded as well as independent generic courses/modules:

  • Plan information literacy workshops to enhance specific skills
  • Workshops should be focused on engineering subjects
  • Time length should be short and scheduled when students have a study break, i.e., lunch periods or evenings
  • Create a programme for the whole term with different workshops options
  • Workshop facilitation can be shared among librarians, if they are available
  • Keep the sessions lively
  • Name the workshop with catchy words focused on the actual content
  1. 5 Courses for lecturers. Lecturers are the key actors for the engineering information literacy programmes’ success. Lecturers need to learn new information competencies, although sometimes, they may not recognize it. Therefore, lecturers should be offered a diverse and flexible IL training. Librarians should keep the following in mind when training lecturers:
  • Lecturers are the most important members of the faculty of engineering to convince of IL benefits
  • Create a course or courses tailored to the needs of lecturers
  • With each course facilitated, faculty of engineering IL advocates will be achieved
  • Design a hands-on experiential course to facilitate the IL learning that lecturers can adapt for use in their classrooms
  • Offer the course before or after the term ends
  • Make the IL course part of faculty training programme curriculum
  • Promote the course among those faculty members who are library advocates
  • Offer the course at a special time and include a coffee break
  • Prepare learning activities that participants can reflect upon, taking into consideration their own teaching needs
  • Remember that participants who are faculty members can be more demanding, so prepare you course content and materials well

6 Other activities.

They can include demonstrations, lectures, library visits, and training sessions. A good information literacy program should include a broad menu of regular and complementary IL options to support learning that include:

  • Offering lecturers on-request information literacy training sessions
  • Creating a menu of options with ready-to-go to teaching sessions
  • Providing information about objectives and benefits for participants
  • Preparing and distributing handouts for each type of activity
  • Providing sessions in classrooms or other venues that may not be as well-suited as the library
  • Recognizing academics who offer library IL opportunities
  • If your time is limited, reserve dates and times to do this IL work