Searching for respect: academic librarians' role in curriculum development

This chapter will provide readers with an overview of the typical ways to implement and incorporate information literacy curriculum into required university course offerings. Attention will be paid to identifying discipline based curricular practices and collaborative opportunities for participation and planning. In addition, both past and present library instructional formats and the concept of curriculum mapping will be discussed to highlight best practices for strengthening information literacy curricular programming. An overview of recent pressures placed upon higher education curricular reform will be discussed in order to provide background on the competing curricular issues that often appear to detract attention away from information literacy. Examples of how curricula are developed with department, college, and university-wide will be explored in order to offer guidance to librarians working to increase the likelihood of success and curricular respect when it comes to integrating information literacy into both the course and programmatic levels of instructional content. This book chapter appears in Proven Strategies for Building an Information Literacy Program, co-edited by the author and Sue Curzon.