Information Update - Fall 2003
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Projects Enhance Library Instruction
In the June 2, 2003 USA Today Bonus Section is a quote from
Joe Procopio, a tech consultant from Chapel Hill, N.C. Joe says: "As
technology gets richer, the learning curve gets longer. "The
University of Scranton faculty, staff, and students are going to
experience this learning curve this coming year as the Library
migrates to a new system. To help ease this learning curve several
projects
are in the works. Several of these projects are ongoing and will
reflect changes in the new system, but two of the projects are
completely new and are very exciting.
Narda Tafuri, Linda Neyer, Clara Hudson (Librarians), and Ed Slack
(Technical Advisor) will be working as a sub-team for Information Literacy,
putting together a basic web tutorial on "How to Use the Library. "Focus
will be on using the Weinberg Memorial Library specifically." This
tutorial is not designed to replace class integrated Information Literacy
but to enhance it. The librarians recognize that not all basic pertinent
library information can be included in one 55 minute Freshman Seminar
class, and hopefully this tutorial will help enrich students' library
experience. It will also help those who have had some Information Literacy
to go back and refresh their memory if they have forgotten the
basics.
The second new project is the development of pre- and post-exercises
for the Freshman Seminar classes that schedule Information Literacy.
These exercises can be e-mailed to the Freshman Seminar faculty
before the scheduled library visit, passed on to the students,
then returned
to the faculty for points. Each correct answer is worth so many
points, and when it is posted it will automatically total the points
at the
bottom of the exercise. The post-exercise will follow the same
format. This should help strengthen the students' knowledge
of the Library and be in a format that will easily allow corrections
and
changes to the questions as needed.
The library tour video put together last year by Linda Neyer, along
with Mary Beth Holmes and her students, was used very successfully
as part of the Freshman Seminar lectures. This will be updated to
reflect system changes.
Also, we will be revamping the Computer Information Literacy PowerPoint
presentation, handouts and exercises. The changes will address
the students' complaints of having "heard this before
in another library class."
The whole purpose of our Information Literacy is to close the gap
between what students know as high school, consumer, and game playing
computer and library information users and what is expected of them
as academic library and computer information literacy researchers.
Updating our program should enhance our success rate in addressing
these needs.
Katie Duke
