Our university library recently created a satellite bookless library in a science and engineering building. The library was a product of a need for student space and a conversation with our engineering and library deans. The facility was designed to be a model for an electronic library, focusing on student collaboration and research assistance. Many of our services remain the same as our main library. As we move forward, our assessment is to make the space more useable for students and to grow our presence in providing information literacy and research assistance with the students and faculty in this building complex, while our collection development goals will be to grow our electronic collections.
The New Science and Engineering BuildingOur university is a new campus, relative to many universities in the state. However, it is growing rapidly, especially in the sciences. In the last five years, our university opened two multi-disciplinary science and engineering buildings. The newest building, the Applied Engineering and Technology Building, opened for occupancy in Fall 2009 and officially in Spring 2010; our library opened few months later, in May.
A portfolio of information literacy (IL) assignments was created for undergraduate engineering students. The portfolio, which includes 29 assignments shaped by the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, was designed in conjunction with the creation of a curriculum map covering all of the College of Engineering's undergraduate programs. The goal of this ongoing project is to provide opportunities for students to engage in short, thoughtful experiences with IL at strategic points throughout their time as undergraduates. To accomplish this, the following steps were taken: (1) Syllabi from 300 courses were analyzed to determine potential for compatibility with IL instruction, (2) sequences of required courses for each of the 10 undergraduate engineering programs were visualized to facilitate scaffolding of IL instruction, (3) a list of discrete IL concepts and skills were derived from the ACRL Framework, (4) assignments were designed to introduce students to each of those concepts and help them develop each of those skills, (5) assignments were matched to high potential courses identified during the curriculum mapping process. The next step is to collaborate with engineering faculty to refine the portfolio and work toward the adoption of these assignments as part of a holistic program. The assignments and supplementary materials are available online for other librarians to use and adapt.
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