IFS Best Practices Workshop  

1. Title: Best Practices in Teaching Credit-Bearing Information Literacy Courses for Librarians

2. Sponsor(s):  MCCCD Library Instructional Council

3. Date:  Thursday, March 24, 9:00am-12:00pm, Rio Salado College, Room 5B.

4. Type of Event: This will be a three-hour (3.0), in-person workshop hosted at Rio Salado College.

5. Instructional Goal: The goal of this event is for participants to acquire and share knowledge in teaching credit courses in Information Literacy, using traditional, hybrid, and online formats.  Courses that will be covered include IFS 101, IFS 102, and IFS 105.  There will also be presentations on assessment and marketing of information literacy classes.

6. Rationale:  Librarians have long struggled with how to make information literacy come alive for students.  Students need a context in which to practice information literacy skills for optimal learning to occur; and this workshop strives to give librarians some tools to accomplish just that.  Courses in Information Literacy continue to grow, as the demand for credit-bearing courses in the discipline increases.  District librarians have taught IFS 101 for several years, and IFS 102 and IFS 105 have recently been added to the curriculum.  Librarians throughout the District teach these courses, but have no forum for sharing best practices and teaching methods.  This workshop will facilitate learning and sharing among faculty who teach the classes, or are interested in teaching the classes in the future.

Included in the workshop will be presentations, discussions, and hands-on activities, which will cover a variety of strategies for refining and/or improving teaching skills in the credit-bearing information literacy courses.  Librarians will leave the session with strategies and skills to achieve optimal student learning in information literacy.

7. Target Audience: All MCCD library faculty who currently teach, or are considering teaching any of the IFS credit courses.

8. Presenter(s):

Karen Biglin, SCC Library Faculty, Lead Instructor has been involved in teaching information literacy at both college and university levels for over 30 years.  She has taught IFS 101 online for the past 2 years; and is a Quality Matters certified reviewer.  She is the current Chair of the Library Instructional Council.  She enjoys sharing her enthusiasm for online resources with students and faculty.

Shelia Afnan-Manns, PVC Faculty Librarian received her Master's in Library and Information Science from UCLA where she concentrated on information literacy and archival studies while also serving as coordinator of the Pacific Bell/UCLA Initiative for 21st Century Literacies.  In summer 2007 she was accepted to ACRL's Information Literacy Immersion program, and in 2007/08 she served as a member of the national evaluation team for an Institute of Museum & Library Services grant awarded to Emporia State University School of Library & Information Management to increase the number of ethnic minorities within the profession.  Sheila worked two years at Portland Community College and one year at Glendale Community College (AZ) before joining the Paradise Valley Community College Library Faculty (PVCC) in fall 2008.  At PVCC she teaches numerous instructional sessions with embedded gen ed assessment.  She has taught LBS201 and currently co-teaches IFS101 with colleague Kandice Mickelsen.  With her Library colleagues, Sheila is offering college leadership in open access strategies for better student access as well as outreach to numerous populations on campus. 

Danielle Carlock, SCC Faculty Librarian specializes in health science reference and instruction and is a member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals. She has designed IFS 105 to be taught in an 8 week, online format and will be offering it in Spring 2011.

Karen Docherty, Rio Faculty Librarian is the Virtual Reference Coordinator for the ten Maricopa Community Colleges. In this capacity she has led a formal assessment process to gauge the quality and effectiveness of their 24/7 chat service. Karen has also taught online versions of IFS 101 and 105, and LBS 101 and 201. She has recently been involved in a project to turn IFS 101 into an 8-week hybrid course. She is currently the Chair of the Ask a Librarian committee and participates in many other District-wide library committees.

Cyntihia Ippoliti, PVC Faculty Librarian has taught IFS 101 in a face-to-face setting for several years, and will share her expertise in that area with the group.

Kelly Lambert, PC Faculty Librarian, initiated the new curriculum for IFS 102, and piloted the first section of it at Phoenix College during Summer 2010.

Kande  Mickelsen, PVC Faculty Librarian found that after several years of teaching Language Arts and Business classes at the junior and high school level, Kande received her MLIS from the University of Arizona and promptly opened Liberty High School's library in the Peoria Unified School District.  She moved to the community college arena in 2008 and her commitment to innovative instruction continues at Paradise Valley Community College in the role of Instruction Librarian.  Kande spearheads information literacy opportunities within the content areas while working with faculty members to embed IL outcomes within their objectives especially in the realm of critical thinking skills; she co-developed IFS101 concentrating on information, media and visual literacies and currently co-teaches this course with fellow librarian Sheila Afnan-Manns.  With her Library colleagues, Kande is offering college leadership in open access strategies for better student access as well as outreach to numerous populations on campus. 

Frank Torres, GCC Faculty Librarian has had success in marketing the IFS 101 in a face-to-face at GCC, and will share his processes.