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The Olive Tree |
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The Olive Tree |
In 1996, then Dean Albright asked for volunteers from the professional staff of
Fogler Library to plan a course in information literacy. She wanted the library
to be in the forefront of preparing students be have a theoretical understanding
of information flow as well as have the skills necessary to navigate the many
kinds of information resources available. Her dream was to have the course
required for all undergraduate students. A group of 5 public service librarians
started meeting on a regular basis to map out an outline of such a course. Over
the course of 2 years, discussions occurred on the mechanics of developing such
a course and getting it approved by the University, the subject matter to be
included in such a course, and the target audience for the course. Most
importantly a mission statement, goals to support the mission, and measurable
learning objectives to achieve the goals were developed.
Starting with two pilot courses in the late 1990’s, LBR 200 has blossomed into a
3-credit course taught during the fall and spring semesters by a small group of
librarians from Fogler’s public service staff. The course, housed in the College
of Liberal Arts and Sciences, meets the University’s general education
requirement under Human Values and Social Context/Social Context and
Institutions. Because of Fogler public service librarians’ excellent
relationships with University faculty members, the course is now listed as a
required course for students in the Ecology and Environmental Sciences (EES)
Program as well as for Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) majors.
LBR 200 is usually taught three times an academic year, with the course being
offered on Wednesday afternoons during the fall semester and on Tuesday evening
and Wednesday afternoon during the spring semester. Typically we have between
17-20 students in each class with the majority of students during the day class
either in the EES or CSD program. The Tuesday evening class tends to have a
number of non-traditional students. Based on end-of-year comments from the
students during their formal evaluation of the course and its instructor and
from many campus faculty members who know about the course, the course content
and those teaching it are meeting the information needs of students to a very
high level.
Just what is taught in LBR 200? Week by week the course content varies with the
instructor but all students learn about and discuss legal, economic, social, and
public policy aspects of information resources; strengths and limitations of
different types of information resources; information resource formats;
strategies for the critical evaluation of information resources; how to
structure and implement research strategies and information resources available
at Fogler Library.
Because of staffing we will never realize Dean Albright’s dream of having the
course be required for all University of Maine undergraduates. That being said,
however, LBR 200 has become a course on our campus that both students and
faculty recognize as being a very important part of the academic fabric and
Fogler’s public service staff very much look forward to continuing to offer this
course into the future.
LBR 200 is truly a Fogler Library success story!
Home | Olive
Tree | Spring 2008 Issue