Building Bridges: Connecting Faculty, Students, and the College Library

Monty L. McAdoo

Building Bridges

Connecting Faculty, Students, and the College Library

Bui

lding

bridge

s McAdoo ALA

Packed with useful tips and techniques, this handy guide offers advice on

working with both instructors and students to develop assignments that

successfully integrate your library’s resources. Managing relationships with faculty

and students can be complicated, and Building Bridges shows how you can establish

effective liaisons, with

• Tips to alert instructors of the library’s ever-changing resources in

order to craft stimulating, up-to-date assignments

• Straightforward, practical discussion of relationships among students,

faculty, and information professionals, and how these groups can

work better together

• Resources, references, and more for librarians who wish to better

understand library assignments

The information in this book will help you bridge the gap between the library,

faculty, and students to make sure your library’s resources are being utilized to their

fullest potential.

American Library Association

50 East Huron Street

Chicago, IL 60611

1-866-SHOP ALA

(1-866-746-7252)

www.alastore.ala.org

Second

Edition

Joanna M. Burkhardt

Mary C. MacDonald

50 Standards-Based Exercises for College Students

teaching information literacy

www.alastore.ala.org

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9 780838 910191

ISBN 978-0-8389-1019-1

Building Bridges

Connecting Faculty, Students, and the College Library

Monty L. McAdoo

American Library Association

Chicago 2010

Monty L. McAdoo is instructional services librarian of the Baron-Forness

Library at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in Edinboro, Pennsylvania.

His research interests include faculty understanding and use of information

literacy and information technology. He is also interested in the philosophy

of library and information science. McAdoo earned his master’s degree in

library science at the University of Pittsburgh and his doctorate of edu￾cation in administration and leadership studies at Indiana University of

Pennsylvania.

While extensive effort has gone into ensuring the reliability of information appear￾ing in this book, the publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, on the accu￾racy or reliability of the information, and does not assume and hereby disclaims

any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions

in this publication.

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of Ameri￾can National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed

Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McAdoo, Monty L.

Building bridges : connecting faculty, students, and the college library / Monty

L. McAdoo.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8389-1019-1 (alk. paper)

1. Academic libraries—Relations with faculty and curriculum. 2. Information

literacy—Study and teaching (Higher). 3. Library orientation for college students.

4. College teaching. 5. Libraries and students. I. Title.

Z675.U5M358 2010

027.7—dc22

2009028889

Copyright © 2010 by the American Library Association. All rights reserved except

those which may be granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision

Act of 1976.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-1019-1

Printed in the United States of America

14 13 12 11 10 5 4 3 2 1

To my bridge, Michelle, for all of her support,

patience, understanding, and more

v

Contents

Introduction vii

Part I The Need for Bridges: Creating

a Context for Success

ONE Information Literacy and the Need for Effective Assignments 3

Part II Building a Foundation: Librarian￾Faculty Collaboration

TWO Working with Faculty and the Curriculum 13

Part III Building the Bridge: Developing

Effective Library Assignments

THREE Common Reasons Assignments Fail 33

FOUR Using Information Technology 45

FIVE Writing-from-Sources and Essay Assignments 55

SIX Term/Research Papers 67

SEVEN Citing Sources and Information Ethics 75

EIGHT Assignments in the Online Environment 83

vi Contents

Part IV Bridge Collapse! Library

Assignments That Fail

NINE Tours 93

TEN Scavenger Hunts 101

Part V Crossing the Bridge: Working with

Faculty-Developed Library Assignments

ELEVEN In the Classroom 117

TWELVE In the Library 125

THIRTEEN Some Final Words 133

Appendix A Association of College and Research Libraries

Information Literacy Competency Standards

for Higher Education 135

Appendix B Defining Moments in Information Literacy 143

Appendix C Overview of Instruction in American Libraries 147

References 151

Index 153

vii

Introduction

Assignments are the bridges between the classroom and true learning.

This premise serves as the foundation for the entire book. Obviously, the size

of the gap between a lack of understanding and understanding varies by student.

When created and administered effectively, though, assignments allow students to

successfully navigate and cross these gaps—regardless of the size of the gap. That

is, assignments act as bridges between the content conveyed by the professor and

both students’ understanding of that content and their incorporation of it into their

knowledge bases.

The need for effective assignments is perhaps best demonstrated by the conse￾quences that can result from the administration of an ineffective assignment. Among

the many consequences may be one or a combination of the following:

1. Lower grades

2. Increased anxiety over present or future assignments

3. Feelings of confusion, frustration, and self-doubt

4. Diminished quality of the final product

5. Failure to grasp the concepts being conveyed

6. Inability to master the content being conveyed

7. Lowered ability to successfully participate in an information-rich society

Ineffective assignments also have consequences for the faculty members who

make them. Some of these include

viii Introduction

1. Diminished reputation in the eyes of their peers and colleagues

2. Diminished reputation in the eyes of students, who may equate ineffec￾tive assignments with ineffective teaching or teachers

3. Frustration that students don’t complete assignments as intended

4. Lowered expectations caused by the perceived inferiority of students’ pre￾viously submitted work

5. Students’ avoidance of future courses taught by such professors

6. Watering-down of assignments so that students get it

Because of the nature of their work, librarians are often bridges between the

student and the faculty member. For example, working directly with students as they

attempt to complete their assignments, librarians are likely to be the first to see the

problems with assignments and to see firsthand how students actually navigate these

problems and otherwise complete their work. In addition, librarians are typically

perceived as neutral or on the same level as faculty members. As a result, students

often approach and ask librarians to interpret assignments, to make suggestions, and,

in some cases, to speak with a faculty member on their behalf to indicate that they

tried but simply could not complete the assignment.

But librarians’ roles should not start and stop on the front lines. Librarians

can and should play a role in the development of assignments as well. Because we

work with students on a daily basis, we see firsthand what works and what doesn’t.

Consequently, we can provide valuable insight into how to improve an assignment or

otherwise modify it to help ensure it’s achieving its intended objectives. Sometimes

the glitches may be as simple as a typographical error that prevents students from

locating a required source. Other times, the problems may be more involved or

may revolve around the practical aspects of the assignment (e.g., students working

in groups vs. independently)—problems and issues of which faculty members are

often unaware or are unclear about how to resolve.

The idea of assignments and librarians serving as bridges is reflected in the orgaÂ

nization of this book.

Part I: The Need for Bridges. This section provides a brief history and discussion

of both information literacy and instruction in libraries. In so doing, it provides both

evidence of and a rationale for the need to create effective assignments. The section

concludes with a brief summary of some of the ways information literacy can play a

role in that process.

Part II: Building a Foundation. Like any construction project, successful bridge

building begins with a firm foundation. In terms of creating effective assignments,

librarian–faculty-member collaboration serves as that foundation. This section

provides a discussion of some of the many issues and concerns involving working

and interacting with faculty members. Suggestions for improving librarian–faculty￾member relationships and for taking a more active role with the curriculum are also

provided.

Introduction ix

Part III: Building the Bridge. With a firm foundation in place, the next step

is actually building the bridge. To that end, each chapter in this section looks at a

specific type of assignment involving the library. Among other things, definitions, a

discussion of various assignment-specific issues, and examples of what can go wrong

as well as suggestions about how to address problems are included for each type of

assignment.

Part IV: Bridge Collapse! This section looks specifically at tours and scavenger

hunts and discusses how and why they almost always fail when used as academic

assignments.

Part V: Crossing the Bridge. Many times, the bridge has already been built by

the time a librarian becomes involved in the process. Specifically, students come to

the library with an assignment of which a librarian is unaware, or a librarian is asked

to teach a class about the resources and services that will help students complete

a specific assignment. The chapters in this section revolve around working with

assignments that have already been created and distributed.

Of course there are times when nothing can be done to correct problems and

make an assignment more effective. The final chapter offers a few suggestions for

working and dealing with perennial problem assignments and the faculty members

who distribute them.

In writing this book, I geared my comments and suggestions primarily to librar￾ians who are relatively new to the profession or who don’t work with students or fac￾ulty on a regular basis. These librarians often have little or no experience working

with faculty or with the curriculum or with providing instruction. I was a member

of this group when I became a librarian and wish I’d had a book of this nature to

assist me with what has taken me years to learn through various on-the-job experi￾ences and working in higher education. That said, although a good portion of what

I’ve written may seem self-evident to more seasoned librarians, it is my hope that all

librarians will find something of use in what they read.

I also made a conscious attempt to avoid redundancy. For example, the problem

of requiring students to use a resource that isn’t available isn’t specific to a particular

type of assignment. Many of the problems and suggestions discussed in this book

apply to virtually any assignment. So, as you read, be aware of and reflect upon how

these ideas and suggestions might apply to other assignments and specific scenarios

in your library or on your campus.

Lastly, although this book is geared primarily toward librarians, I suspect (and

hope) it might be read by faculty members as well. Faculty members who see their

assignments used as examples or suspect a discussion point is directed at them should

not take offense. They should rest assured that this is not an indictment against them

or an indication that their assignments are bad. The point is that we’re all on the

same team and need to work together to create effective assignments that produce

the desired learning outcomes for students to be successful in the classroom and

beyond.

In the end, it’s nice to imagine a world where information literacy is embed￾ded into the entire curriculum (for both students and faculty); where librarians are

x Introduction

involved with the development, administration, and evaluation of assignments; and

where faculty and librarians interact and collaborate with each other on a regular

and frequent basis. That day is peeking above the horizon for many of us. For now,

it is my desire that this book will in some way become one more girder in the bridge

that will take us into that new world.

Part I The Need for Bridges

Creating a Context for Success

3

one Information Literacy and the

Need for Effective Assignments

The concept of information literacy (IL) can provide a useful frame￾work for creating and ultimately evaluating the effectiveness of assignments. And

yet, there are many challenges to understanding IL. Arguably, one of the biggest

challenges is the simple fact that there are several interpretations and models of IL.

This lack of a common language can create obstacles when librarians try to speak

with faculty members about IL and its incorporation into their assignments.

That said, most definitions and interpretations are built upon the descrip￾tion offered in the final report of the American Library Association’s Presidential

Committee on Information Literacy. Issued in January 1989, the report character￾izes an information literate individual as follows:

Ultimately, information literate people are those who have learned how

to learn. They know how to learn because they know how knowledge is

organized, how to find information, and how to use information in such

a way that others can learn from them. They are people prepared for life￾long learning, because they can always find the information needed for

any task or decision at hand.

For higher education, this description has since evolved into a series of stan￾dards. Proposed and adopted by the board of directors of the Association of College

and Research Libraries (ACRL) in 2000, these standards are fully articulated in

“Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education” and are

included in appendix A. References throughout the remainder of this book to what

it means for an individual to be information literate should be read in the context of

those standards. A student who is information literate

4 The Need for Bridges

1. Determines the nature and extent of information needed

2. Accesses the needed information effectively and efficiently

3. Evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected

information into his or her knowledge base and value system

4. Individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to

accomplish a specific purpose

5. Understands many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding

the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and

legally

Instructors should attempt to incorporate these principles into their assignments

whenever possible. Some assignments (e.g., term papers) may incorporate more of

them than others. Some instructors or assignments may focus more on some ele￾ments than others. A lot depends on which type of instruction model is in place, the

objectives of the course or assignment, and the individual professor’s expectations

and needs. In any case, the more closely aligned an assignment is with one or more

of these principles, the more likely it will be to provide a meaningful and worth￾while learning experience for students and faculty alike.

The Need for Effective Assignments

The need for students and graduates alike who can successfully work with and man￾age information continues to grow. The collaboration of librarians and faculty to

create effective library assignments is an important and vital step in helping to meet

this emergent and growing need. As alluded to in the introduction, on one level the

rationale behind creating effective assignments is somewhat self-evident. Faculty

expect students to complete an assignment as intended and with the expected

results. And yet, changes in both society and higher education necessitate that these

expectations be examined more deeply.

At a societal level, we are quickly evolving from the industrial age to an informa￾tion or knowledge age. Boekhorst and Britz cite three common themes character￾izing this new age. First, information has become one of the most important assets

of society. Second, the focus is increasingly changing from acting upon the scarcity

of information to managing the abundance of information. Third, the “rapid devel￾opment of information and communication technologies has become the engine

in the process of globalization” (2004, 63). As a result, the information age requires

workers to possess a variety of new skills, and the need for and desirability of informa￾tion skills is well documented (e.g., Breivik 2005; Dolence and Norris 1995; Doyle

1994; Gumport and Chun 2005).

This so-called knowledge economy is forcing a similar transformation in higher

education. Like their public school counterparts a century ago, today’s colleges and

universities are under increasing pressure to provide practical knowledge and voca￾tional skills. Students, parents, funding agencies, administrators, and more have