California State University, Northridge
Office of the Vice Provost
Information & Technology Resources
DATE: August 28, 1997
TO:
Dr. Charles Lindahl
Interim Senior Vice Chancellor
Academic Affairs
Dr. Tom West
Assistant Vice Chancellor
Information Resources and Technology
Dr. Warren Baker
Chair
Commission on Learning Resources & Instructional Technology
Dr. Blenda J. Wilson
Vice Chair
Commission on Learning Resources & Instructional Technology
FROM:
Susan C. Curzon
Chair
Information Competence Work Group
As you know, in April, 1995, the Information Competence Work Group was charged by the Commission on Learning Resources and Instructional Technology (CLRIT) to develop a systematic program for information competence in the CSU.
Both CLRIT and the Council of Library Directors (COLD), who chose the information competence initiative as part of their strategic plan, considered that every CSU student should be able to:
Over the past two years, the Information Competence Work Group, in collaboration with the Libraries of the CSU and many faculty and staff, has been very active in pursuit of an information competence program for the CSU. Awareness about the issues and the importance of information competence has been raised substantially by the efforts of many committed to this project.
The Information Competence Work Group believes that information competence
will succeed as a priority for the CSU if awareness is constantly raised
about the issues and importance of information competence and information
about the success and problems of various programs is continually shared.
Therefore, the Information Competence Work Group has taken a four-pronged
approach to developing information competence in the CSU. The four
elements are:
The encouragement of programs: This includes the
development of courses or other programs and workshops which cover the
wide variety of issues relating to information competence. All programs
should have an assessment component.
The transfer of knowledge about information competence: This includes providing information on the successes and failures of various
programs, new thinking on information competence, teaching the teachers
programs, and assessment.
The linkages between programs both within and beyond the CSU:
This includes any multi-campus effort or collaboration between the CSU
and other universities, schools or agencies.
The creation and provision of tools to assist with information
competence: This includes the creation of workbooks, software,
model lists or any other instructional tool to assist with the teaching
and learning of information competence.
The Information Competence Work Group has been pursuing ten major goals. All of the proposals granted and programs developed have been directed toward our established goals. The following are the goals which were contained in the report "Information Competence in the CSU" and endorsed by CLRIT:
In 96-97, $50,000 was sent to each campus for "Baseline Hardware/Software Access, Training and User Support". Of that $50,000, it was recommended that $10,000 be allocated for information competence. A query was sent to all library directors as to the status of the funds. Twenty library directors responded. Thirteen campuses followed the recommendation. Another six libraries responded that the campus had not used the funds for information competence; and one campus provided the funds to the library but it was not used for information competence projects.
The following is a report of the projects as of July, 1997:
Chico:
The Library received $5,000 which it applied to its proposal
"Information Competence for Business Students." The other
$5,000 will be supporting a campus wide information literacy initiative.
Fresno:
The Library received $10,000 and used it to develop a "Teaching the
Teachers" workshop to provide materials and other support for faculty
teaching information competence.
Hayward:
The Faculty Development Center in conjunction with the Library used
$20,000 to develop a program on information competence through reforming
the General Education program.
Long Beach:
The Library received $10,000 which it used to purchase equipment to
improve instruction in the bibliographic instruction lab.
Los Angeles:
Academic Affairs with library participation used its $10,000 to develop
an information competence web site.
Monterey Bay:
The Library received $7,000 and used it to develop a self-paced, Web
tutorial, an assessment component and an information competence component
in the Freshman ProSeminar course.
Northridge:
The Library received $10,000 which it applied to a new 3 unit course
on information competence and as a match for its proposal on "Information
Competence: A Workshop Series for Area High Schools and Junior
Colleges".
Pomona:
The Library received $10,000 to create an information competence web
page that provides access to general library information, reference assistance,
and interactive bibliographic instruction for high school students and
teachers.
San Bernardino:
The Library received $10,000 to develop a comprehensive bibliography
on information literacy and added information literacy resources to the
Library's collection.
San Diego: (This paragraph added 10/31/97)
The Social Science Research Lab used the $10,000 to develop and administer
student and faculty surveys to determine student access to, use of, and
competency in computer/information technology.
San Jose:
The Library and the Library School revised an on-line "workshop"
available to all undergraduate students on personal information management
for $10,000.
San Luis Obispo:
The Library received $10,000 which it applied to its proposal on
"Information Competency Implementation through Interactive
Materials".
San Marcos:
The Library received $3,000 which it used as a match for its share
of the proposal called "Information Competence for Business
Students".
The remaining $7,000 was a match for its proposal called "Information
Competence: A Workshop Series for High Schools".
Sonoma:
The Library received $10,000 which it applied to its proposal on
"Information Competency for Business Students".
In addition to the Baseline funding, the Information Competence Work Group has awarded 6 proposals over the last two years. All of these proposals were granted in accordance with the goals established for information competence.
This project will develop multimedia presentations, collaborative in-class exercises, self-paced Web instructional modules, and an electronic workbook. It also supports a central clearinghouse for information competence on the Web.
In addition, the Information Competence Work Group has completed a report called "Information Competence in the CSU"; hosted a successful conference attended by CSU faculty and staff; commissioned a study on student assessment of information competence; launched collaboration with WASC and the UC; and spoken at a variety of conferences on the work in information competence underway in the CSU.
The Information Competence Work Group will be sending an RFP to all campuses in September for funding in 1997-98. We will also be holding a November conference to view the various projects and discuss future issues and initiatives. Attendees will include the UC.
The Information Competence Work Group is recommending that it continue until the close of the fiscal year 98-99. We will be proposing another round of proposals in 98-99, a capstone conference in 1999 to pull together all that we have learned, and the publication of all the various grant deliverables for use by all the campuses.
Information Competence Work Group as of July 7, 1997
cc: Provost Louanne Kennedy
COLD
Information Competence Work
Group
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