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Library ~ Information Literacy
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This material is provided for the benefit of librarians and educators interested in designing an information literacy curriculum. If you wish to use any of the material please contact Tom Eland at 612-659-6286, or by email. All materials are owned by the library and information studies faculty of Minneapolis Community and Technical College and cannot be used without the explicit permission of the faculty.

In addition to the course material presented on this page, the MCTC library faculty work with faculty from various subject disciplines to embed information literacy instruction and assessment in their classes. The library faculty have developed a research portfolio that aids faculty is assessing research and information literacy skills. (See the portfolio at the end of the Resources section.) In addition to the research portfolio, library faculty work with other subject faculty to adapt the INFS 1000 assignments and grading rubrics for use in subject classes. A report on a formal embedded information literacy project can be found in the 2005-2006 Annual Program Assessment Report below.

(Last updated: 16 December 2008)

Professional Reading
  • Badke, William. "Ten Reasons to Teach Information Literacy for Credit." Online 32.6 (Nov. 2008): 47-49.
  • Holschuh Simmons, Michelle. "Librarians as Disciplinary Discourse Mediators: Using Genre Theory to Move Toward Critical Information Literacy." portal: Libraries and the Academy. 5.3 (2005): 297-311.
  • Owusu-Ansah, Edward K. "Beyond Collaboration: Seeking Greater Scope and Centrality for Library Instruction." portal: Libraries and the Academy. 7.4 (2007): 415-429.
  • Shanbhaq, Shilpa. Alternative Models of Knowledge Production: A Step Forward in Information Literacy as a Liberal Art." Library Philosophy and Practice. 8.2 (2006). <http://libr.unl.edu:2000/LPP/lppv8n2.htm>. 7 Feb. 2008.

Course Support Material
  • Syllabus Note: Small variations may occur in the syllabi of individual instructors.
  • Research Portfolio: This research portfolio and assessment rubric is for use in subject classes that require a research paper or project. The portfolio allows faculty members to assess students information literacy skills in addition to their writing skills.

Course Readings and Videos: (see syllabus for how material is integrated)

Assignments with Grading Rubrics:
  1. Locating & Evaluating Background Information
  2. Defining Your Research Topic
  3. Locating and Evaluating Books
  4. Locating and Evaluating Scholarly Journal Articles
  5. Locating and Evaluating Magazine & Newspaper Articles
  6. Locating and Evaluating Alternative Press Resources

Handouts: (Used with exercises and assignments)

Examinations

Mid-Term Exam Material

Final Exam Material

Information Literacy Program Assessment Reports
View eight years of information literacy program assessment. All sections of INFS 1000 use the same syllabus, assignments, midterm, and final competency exams and grading rubrics. This allows us to do a comprehensive program assessment across all sections of the class. The annual program assessment uses data gathered from the final exam project. The assessment report is based upon the 5 key competencies measured in the final exam project grading rubric. The 2007-2008 report is our last report. We learned much from the annual assessments over the years and used the data to constantly revise the course. We have moved on to do program assessment for our Library Information Technology A.S. degree program.