The library is working over the summer to make a number of changes to the information literacy program at Wayne College. There are two primary reasons for the change:

1. We anticipate the advent of the GenEd Core online courses will increase the number of students needing information literacy instruction. We want to offer these online students, and all students at Wayne College, a high quality online experience. In the past the workshops have focused on in-class, hour-long workshops. The new information literacy modules will be shorter and more focused, and offered exclusively online. We will additionally offer faculty opportunities to enhance the online modules by scheduling a variety of live library labs designed to reinforce the skills learned in the modules.
2. Recently there has been a shift away from ACRL’s Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education to a new framework, Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. As we work to connect our information literacy initiatives to the new framework, it is an appropriate time to review and improve the program as a whole.

In a nutshell: The workshops are being replaced by “Information Literacy Modules.”

• The modules are now going to be offered exclusively online.
• There will be more modules but they will be shorter and focused on fewer sets of skills.
• The modules will have shorter quizzes. Recommendations for passing scores will be determined and communicated later this summer.
• For best results, instructors should assign the modules that directly apply to specific assignments and require them to be completed when it makes sense to that assignment.
• Closer to the start of the semester I will reach out to you all again with more in-depth descriptions of the modules, along with ideas of assignment connections and library lab activities that you might consider to reinforce the skills in each module.
• Think about these modules as a flipped approach to information literacy instruction: Have the students complete the modules outside of class to learn the basic concepts, then schedule short, hands-on activities to reinforce the skills with your assignments and their topics in mind. We hope this will result in meaningful information literacy experiences that the students will then be able to transfer to future courses and assignments.

Modules being rolled out Fall 2015:

• Module 1: Using Databases for Research
• Module 2: The Research Plan: Developing Research Questions
• Module 3: The Research Plan: Developing Online Search Strategies
• Module 4: The Research Plan: Distinguishing Among Formats
• Module 5: The Research Plan: Popular and Scholarly Sources
• Module 6: The Research Plan: Choosing Appropriate Databases
• Module 7: Searching Library Catalogs (Basic)
• Module 8: Searching Periodical Databases (Basic)
• Module 9: Advanced Database Searching
• Module 10: Internet: The Nuts and Bolts
• Module 11: Internet: Databases vs. Search Engines
• Module 12: Internet: Advanced Search Strategies

Other modules being developed to be rolled out as they are completed:

• Searching Multiple Databases (Search-a-Roo)
• Evaluation: The Criteria
• Evaluation: Applied by Format
• Ethical Use of Information
• Citing and Bibliographic Management Tools

Please stay tuned and look for more updates to the information literacy initiatives as they are developed this summer. Be sure to contact Maureen (mlerch@uakron.edu) with any initial questions or concerns you have in the meantime.