Information Skills Program
The Information Skills Program offered by the JCU Library is developed and implemented by Library staff in collaboration with academic and academic support staff.
The Skills Program is a sustainable model of information literacy that:
Recognizes the importance of information literacy to support JCU’s strategic objectives and plans;
Supports the attainment of JCU’s Graduate Attributes;
Provides academic staff with the tools to embed information learning and literacy skills and concepts into their courses;
Equips JCU students and staff with the information skills and attitudes required for learning, teaching and research
Contributes to our students’ academic success, employability, and lifelong learning goals;
Contributes to our students’ overall satisfaction
Is subject to ongoing assessment and continuous evaluation.
Objectives of the Information Skills Program
The objectives of the information skills program are to:
Develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required to find, evaluate, and use information
Continually assess the information literacy needs of JCU students
Provide comprehensive information literacy support across the curriculum
Continuously improve the Information Skills Program through ongoing assessment and refinement
1. Develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required to find, evaluate, and use information
Objectives | Strategies | |
1.1 | Employ a graduated or tiered approach to teaching IL | Aim for a coordinated approach with IL embedded explicitly in core subjects & integrated vertically through the curricula Offer discipline specific & generic classroom IL modules at various levels (integrated/inter-curricula) |
1.2 | Foster a supportive learning environment by creating teaching assignments, supporting materials, and learning activities | Proactively collaborate with academic staff to identify opportunities for IL education Create classroom & online tutorials for on and off-campus students Provide InfoHelp Desk support – in person, email; phone; chat Collaborate with TLD to create Library Guides that cover all the skills needed to complete common assessment items |
1.3 | Be strategic about IL training & target core subjects for embedding IL at the program or course level. This approach would have a far greater chance of sequentially building students’ skills. | Identify core subjects in each degree program & ask teaching staff to add Library Guides widgets to their LearnJCU subject sites Encourage teaching staff of core subjects to collaborate on subject-specific Library Guides to get 1st year students off to a good start with academic literacy and learning skills Target academic staff who are interested in collaborating on IL projects Supplement the discipline specific examples from other institutions with JCU examples of IL embedded into subjects/courses |
1.4 | Review IL training for each discipline to ensure that we are preparing students for the specific assessment items & skills they are required to develop | Discuss the learning outcomes & the type of assessment items that are set for each course with teaching staff: What skills do they expect their students to have? Where do students struggle? What training would be of most benefit? What skills are specific to the discipline? Are there assessment rubrics should know about? Continue to refine the way information literacy is taught & promote the idea of developing guides for specific subjects in a discipline Show teaching staff examples of subject-specific guides & explain how this scaffolded support will help students develop the skills they need to complete their course, effectively presenting information literacy in the context of the discipline |
1.5 | Evaluate students’ progress & solicit feedback from students regarding their IL experiences | Create tutorial quizzes & self-assessment opportunities Consider standardised IL testing Survey students about their attitudes & confidence levels with IL skills Examine evidence from assessment items Consider E-portfolios for some disciplines |
2. Increase awareness among administrators, academic staff, and students of information literacy to academic success
Objectives | Strategies | |
2.1 | Publicise the Information Literacy Strategy | Create new IL web pages Incorporate the Information Literacy Strategy into the Library’s Operational Plan |
2.2 | Communicate the Information Skills Program across the JCU campuses | Communicate the value of embedding information literacy at every opportunity to individual academic & academic support staff Promote IL at Faculty & School meetings to raise awareness about the forms of assistance that can be provided by the Library Librarians attending Teaching and Learning Committee meetings Help academic staff feel confident with their own skills by providing opportunities through School seminars & lunchtime drop-in sessions for staff to update their skills Use Library Guides for classroom and online instruction Publicise the availability of Library Guides in departmental email distribution lists/blogs/chat |
2.3 | Promote the Library Guides platform for teaching IL skills | Publicise Library Guides & demonstrate how they can be used to scaffold IL training & how widgets can be used to direct students to discipline, subject or assignment specific guides Encourage academics to include links to Library Guide content boxes or whole Library Guides from their LearnJCU subject sites Encourage academics to utilise subject-specific Library Guide to support students with the skills they need to undertake their 1st year assignments, e.g., A Guide for your subject Encourage academics to include links to individual Library Guide content boxes or whole Library Guides from their LearnJCU subject pages. Instructions for creating these links have been prepared already |
2.4 | Market the IL training & resources | Review how IL training is marketed to students & staff Maximise librarians’ time spent preparing for & conducting training by increasing the minimum group sizes Review the titles of IL training to make them more appealing to students Seek advice on marketing our courses from JCU Marketing staff. Conduct focus group discussions with students to find out: What would appeal to them? What would capture their attention? What skills they think they need? What format they prefer? What training titles appeal to them? How they like Library Guides? |
3. Continually assess the information literacy needs of JCU students
Objectives | Strategies | |
3.1 | Determine the baseline state of information literacy for incoming undergraduate students | Consider standardised IL tests for incoming students Informal survey of students Review feedback from librarians, academics, academic support staff & TLD Discuss the special needs of some student cohorts, e.g., International Student Centre & Indigenous Australian Studies students |
3.2 | Determine academic staff IL expectations of students | Librarians review course syllabi & become familiar with the type of assessment items in each course Discuss expected skills for core 1st year subjects and with teaching staff & 1st year coordinators and work out the best ways to develop those skills with the available resources (online, face-to-face, generic, discipline-specific etc) Examine skills that need to be learned & plan the best way to support students’ development of those skills in each discipline Librarians collaborate with TLD about common problems experienced by students |
3.3 | Monitor the changing information literacy environment | Librarians attend conferences Librarians share resources, e.g., handouts, exercises, slide shows Take advantage of professional development activities offered within JCU and external to the institution |
4. Provide comprehensive information literacy support across the curriculum
Objectives | Strategies | |
4.1 | Provide self-directed learning opportunities at the point of need (supplemental/extra-curricular) | Offer a combination of lectures, hands-on & online tutorials that support specific learning outcomes or assessment items Ensure there is a “safety net” of online resources for off-campus students or students who are not able to attend on-campus training |
4.2 | Offer information literacy training & resources specific for disciplines | Tailor generic IL resources to match the skills required for each discipline |
4.3 | Provide resources for building skills incrementally from novice to advanced for each discipline | Target core subjects in each program in order to provide the necessary skills in year 1, 2, 3 and beyond |
4.4 | Offer academic staff training for incorporating information literacy into courses/curriculum | Librarians collaborating with academic staff to add widgets to LearnJCU subjects Create packages of customisable IL rich activities for embedding into curricula Analyse assessment tasks required of students in their first semester & highlight the generic skills being called upon to complete those tasks |
5. Encourage collaboration and partnerships between library and teaching staff to provide appropriate instruction and research activities
Objectives | Strategies | |
4.1 | Librarians collaborating with academic staff, Associate Deans, T&L & academic support staff on curriculum design & special projects | Librarians attending faculty & school meetings Librarians participating in campus & departmental committees Librarians meeting with academic staff one-on-one to promote the idea of embedding IL into core subjects Librarians participating in departmental email distribution lists Librarians obtain copies of course assignments & match IL training to expected skills & assessment items Ensure that the information skills taught are specific to the discipline Librarians attending Teaching & Learning events |
4.2 | Collaborating with other librarians & library staff | Sharing best practice amongst InfoHelp staff Sharing IL assignments & feedback Consider peer-review of IL training Engage in reflective practice of IL activities Participate in targeted professional development activities & conferences |
6. Continuously improve the Information Skills Program through ongoing assessment and refinement
Objectives | Strategies | |
6.1. | Set benchmarks | Undertake an environmental scan to identify best practice Look for opportunities to collaborate with other institutions |
6.2 | Review pedagogy | Design resources to support diverse learning styles Incorporate appropriate technologies Include active & collaborative activities in training Encourage critical thinking & reflection Build on students’ existing knowledge & link to real-life experiences |
6.3 | Create an assessment plan | Identify possible measures of success Trial assessment plan with selected student cohorts |
6.4 | Modify Information Skills Program based on analysis | Encourage students to complete evaluation forms & continuously review the feedback received Consider self-reflection & peer-review of IL training Evaluate the number of direct & indirect references to information literacy in subject &/or course outlines |
Some of the objectives and strategies above have been adapted with permission from Indiana University – Purdue University Library.