NELIG Annual Program 2006
Information Literacy Beyond the Diploma

Information Skills for the Real World: A Panel Discussion

Three panelists will share their experience, expertise, and insights into what information skills are needed to be successful in careers or graduate school, and to become responsible citizens of the 21st century. 

The panelists are: 

Arlene Violet - Earning the nickname “Attila the Nun” for her ceaseless advocacy of the poor, former Sister of Mercy Arlene Violet became the first female elected Attorney General in the US in 1984. Now, as one of the most influential women in America, Arlene hosts a daily radio talk show in Providence tackling contemporary and controversial issues of public concern. Arlene’s promotion of an informed and empowered citizenry is a prime example of information literacy as the foundation of life-long learning.

Alex Caracuzzo, MLIS, MBA is Associate Head Librarian at MIT’s Dewey Library for Management and Social Sciences.  He is also the liaison to the MIT Sloan School of Management, working with other MIT librarians and Sloan staff to create library and instruction services targeting the Sloan community.  Prior to coming to MIT, Alex held positions outside academia with Fidelity Investments, Albany International, and the Boston Public Library.  He is the immediate past-president of the Rhode Island Chapter of the Special Libraries Association.

Janet Kolodzy - Ms. Kolodzy has been a reporter, writer, and producer, including positions as Senior Writer/Editor at CNN International, Senior Producer at CNN World Report, and Assistant State Editor at the Cleveland Plain Dealer. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Journalism at Emerson College.

Chemistry Instruction for Advanced Undergraduates: Forming lifelong research skills
Jennifer Hart, Science Reference Librarian, Brandeis University

Preparing advanced chemistry students to perform professional level research requires developing in them a sophisticated understanding of key resources in the field. I will discuss how we cultivate students’ abilities to distinguish between important chemistry sources, learn techniques to gather appropriate data and organize the information obtained.

Implementing Information Literacy Competencies in Undergraduate Science Curricular
Deng Pan, Keene State College

Information literacy needs to be embedded within a disciplinary context. The purpose of this presentation is to introduce a collaborative model of faculty, librarian and students in undergraduate science programs in terms of students’ information literacy development. The core of this model, i.e., information literacy competencies, will also be elaborated.

Get ‘Em Coming and Going: An Interactive Information Literacy Workshop for Pre-Service Teachers
Genevieve Innes, Public Services & Education Librarian, Western Connecticut State University

In fall of 2005, I delivered a library workshop on the Big6 Information Literacy framework for two sections of the class “Curriculum Strategies for Elementary Education.”  Prior to the workshop, students completed the WCSU Libraries’ TIP (Tutorial for Information Power) online tutorial (http://library.wcsu.edu/tip/), explored the Big6 website (http://www.big6.org), and incorporated the framework into their thematic units.  During the workshop, students worked in small groups to share opinions and experiences.  Student comments confirmed that this cooperative, active instructional approach promoted student engagement and learning. 

Creating and Implementing a Nursing Information Literacy Program at TRCC
Mona Florea – Reference/Instruction Librarian, Three Rivers Community College
Lili Rafeldt – Assistant Professor, Three Rivers Community College

The Nursing Information Literacy Program at TRCC educates students to use core print and online nursing information resources, to construct information search strategies by selecting effective search methods and techniques, to critically evaluate information and use it ethically and responsibly as registered nurses.

All Learning is Local: Giving Students a Stake in Research
Carolyn White, Assistant Professor/Library Specialist, University of New Hampshire at Manchester Library

Moving away from teaching research skills as a discrete exercise, we collaborated to craft a research assignment and corresponding information literacy sessions which invited students to research a topic of local concern. Our goal was to show students that analytical research skills would serve them through their lives.