§ Virtual Library Project:
Information Literacy Work Group [ILWG] Meeting: December 16, 1997 Elizabethtown, KY The Information Literacy Work Group met December 16, 1997, in the Conference Room of the Elizabethtown Community College Learning Resource Center. All members of the work group were present. The outcomes of the meeting were as follows: Working definition of Information Literacy: A user is information literate if he or she can recognize when information is needed and is able to locate, evaluate, effectively use, and communicate that information. Based on this definition, the group devised goals for the Information Literacy program for the Virtual Library Project. They are: Goal 1: To promote the awareness of the importance of and the need for information in educational endeavors, in the workplace, and in daily life. Goal 2: To develop skills in locating and retrieving information. The student will need to: Formulate question/state problem/form a thesis statement Develop and initiate a search strategy [which includes the following brainstormed list: Classification systems, how information is organized, search strategies (syntax), brainstorming synonyms, understanding databases, controlled vocabulary, Boolean searching, subject headings, fields, records, subject v. keyword, truncation, online catalog concepts, material types, scholarly v. popular] Locate appropriate sources and utilize individual tools Interpret the search results [includes definition and parts of the citation, local holdings, etc. without evaluating the actual information, which goal 3 encompasses.] Goal 3: To develop the ability to critically analyze and evaluate information for: Accuracy Authority Coverage Objectivity Timeliness Relevance Goal 4: To encourage responsible use and application of information through awareness of: Copyright compliance Appropriate documentation Based on these goals, the group recommends that part of the money allocated to Information Literacy should be used to hire an instructional designer to design an interactive tutorial that includes a mechanism for measurement. Other suggestions for budget items included: Travel expenses for training, materials Training for teaching faculty on how to integrate these information literacy modules into their courses Marketing, public relations, brochures Should only partial funding be granted to this project, the group felt that a program should be devised that may be smaller in scale, but should still accomplish all four goals. Respectfully submitted, Cindi Trainor [This page was last updated on 26 July 2000 at the old SAALCK web site. It was moved and reformatted in January 2003]