THE

INFO

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N COMMONS

AND INSTR

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EMBEDDED LI

BRARIAN

CUNY IT

CONFE

RENCE: DECEMBER 5

, 2013

Vee Herrington, Chief Librarian and Director of Academic Technology, Guttman Community CollegeRandy Hensley, Professor, Head of Information Services, Baruch College

OVERVIEW OF PRESENTATION• The Embedded Librarian—for the entire

college!• The Guttman model and pedagogy• How are we different?

• Information Commons• Library services developed specifically for the

college model• The Future of Information Literacy• The vision for our IL Model

EMBEDDED LIBRARIAN

• Moves librarians out of the traditional library setting and into a new framework for providing library services

• Emphasizes the importance of forming a strong working relationship between the librarian and a group or team of people who need the librarian's information expertise

• Shifts librarians role from reactively supporting faculty to developing a unique understanding of what customers need and delivering proactive results

• Librarian is team member

The high-tech Information Commons and theInstructional Team provide the framework for the Embedded Librarian model for the entire college!

Technology + Instructional Team = Embedded Librarian Model

House 1 House 2

House 3 House 4

Information

CommonsLibGuides

Digital Resources

InstructionalTeams

AssignmentsIssues

IL

Embedded Librarianship

Guttman Community College

•CUNY’s first new college in over 40 years•Comprehensive assessment environment!•Goal is to increase graduation rates and retention—to maximize success!•Support from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, Robin Hood Foundation, and Stella and Charles Guttman Foundation

Can’t talk about the creation of a Can’t talk about the creation of a library services model for library services model for Guttman, without talking about Guttman, without talking about the college modelthe college model

THE PEDAGOGY: FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE

• Learning Communities:House structure• Instructional Team (with librarian) for each House• Student Mentors very central to model• No departments; curriculum integrated; issues based• High-tech: Digication ePortfolio is a key component of our

pedagogy--also Mediascape technology, laptops, Smart Boards, LibGuides

• Student focus on collaboration, reflection and active learning

• Experiential learning and partnerships within New York City to engage students and connect them with city resources

• Developmental (remedial) coursework blended with college credit courses

Guttman isn’t just a school located in New York City. . . It’s a school with New York City as its central theme!

CLASSROOMS DESIGNED FOR COLLABORATIONAND ACTIVITIES

• Classroom furniture all movable

• Laptops with WiFi• Smartboards

FOCUS ON COLLABORATION

• It doesn’t look like a traditional library!• The “Commons”—was created specifically for the

students and the pedagogy of the new college• Might not work at other colleges, but is successful

at Guttman• Not built on tradition, in any sense of the word!

THE INFORMATION COMMONS: THE INFORMATION COMMONS: AN INNOVATIVE SPACE FOR AN AN INNOVATIVE SPACE FOR AN INNOVATIVE COLLEGE!INNOVATIVE COLLEGE!

This looks like a library except for the pizzaThis looks like a library except for the pizza

INFORMATION COMMONS

• College is high-tech and innovative– so is Information Commons

• Librarians on instructional teams – proactive role

• Collaboration is central--therefore, not quiet!• Mediascape technology/ laptops• Access, not ownership http://library.ncc.cuny.edu• Relaxed and totally student centered• 7 am to 10 pm hours & weekends• Few rules• Creates a digital learning environment• Also serves as the Student Union, lunch/dinner

area, auditorium, etc.

Information Commons: Mediascape Technology

Place to collaborate!

THE INSTRUCTIONAL TEAM AS THE HEART OF THE EMBEDDED LIBRARIAN MODEL

• Librarians embedded in entire college• Central to the Guttman model is the instructional

team• The instructional team makes the library services

model possible• Constant communication among the faculty, staff

and librarians in regards to curriculum issues, student behaviors, problems, and attitudes

• The Instructional Team brings library services to the forefront

THE LIBRARIAN ON THE INSTRUCTIONAL TEAM

THE FUTURE OF INFORMATION LITERACY

Saunders, L. (2008). The Future of Information Literacy in Academic Libraries: A Delphi Study. Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 9(1), 99-114. doi: 1 0.1353/pla.0.0030

•Librarians need the opportunity to partner more fully with faculty in instructional and assignment design.

However, for librarians to be truly integrated into the curriculum rather than offering oneshot sessions, they must have much more pedagogical and theoretical knowledge. (This is why we are hiring our faculty IL person)

•Two areas of concern are to what extent information literacy is context-dependent and whether a holistic approach is more effective than the current competency based definition.

•They felt that the ongoing debate within the library field only helps to reinforce the idea that information literacy is a library skill rather than a meta-skill relevant to all disciplines.

INFORMATION LITERACY: A COLLABORATIVE ENDEAVOR

• Information Literacy (IL) is central to student learning at Guttman

• Faculty, librarians and administrators work together on all aspects of IL

NEW INFORMATION LITERACY FACULTY POSITION• Information Literacy Librarian: New Position and New Role

• Reports to Chief Librarian, but located with the faculty, not in the library• Takes the lead on the creation and development of the IL

program at Guttman• Teaches a credit bearing course: Either Critical Issues or

Ethnographies of Work• This course will be the best practices “lab” for integrating IL

into the curriculum and into the institutional learning outcomes

• Professional development with faculty

TEACHING INFORMATION LITERACY

• Finding by item, type and range – Scaffolding• Item: Finding a known item• Type: Finding a type of article• Range: This is a variety of types and is topic driven--give them a subject and they

find relevant information

• Topic discussions habitually identify finding strategies Enquiry• Identify a search strategy Emerges as you discuss subject • Evaluation as a selection element

• Reading text as information literacy • Writing as a relationship between argument and evidence• Plagiarism: Using Turnitin only as a student tool

Can’t teach students how to write an argument unlesswe teach them about appropriate evidence