Ms
Janine Lockhart
(Cape Peninsula University of Technology)
The lack of a formal Information Literacy Policy within the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) has been hampering successful information literacy integration within the curriculum across all courses within the university. The Library realized that there had to be an institutional policy, as also indicated by Breivik and Gee [cited in Grafstein 2002:198]:
Although librarians have in one form or another been teaching IL for many years, these projects have met, and will continue to meet, with minimal success, as long as they are initiated solely by librarians and supported only within the confines of the library.
Breivik and Gee argue that information literacy programs can only be successful “when they are developed within an explicit statement of philosophy from the highest levels of academic administration” where it is established that IL is a compulsory part of all teaching and learning at the university.
Hence, this paper explores the process that was followed to get a formal IL policy in place, as well as the implementation and monitoring process thereafter. Levels of information literacy integration had to be determined at the time to be able to monitor progress. Therefore the CPUT Library embarked on doing an Information Literacy Audit across the university. It was important to identify the gaps and work on strategies to address courses with partial or no integration. This paper analyses the methodologies employed to gather the necessary data as well as the audit results and the implications of this for general IL integration into the curriculum.
Summary
Biographical summary of presenter:
Ms J Lockhart has worked in academic libraries for 10 years and presently holds the position of Librarian: Training, Development, Information Literacy and Conference Organizing at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology Libraries. She has a Master’s degree in Business and is a qualified Education, Training and Development Practitioner and Assessor. She is also the chair of the Information Literacy Committee at CPUT. This committee is a sub-committee of the Senate Teaching & Learning Committee. She has presented a paper titled “The before and after of an Information Literacy Policy at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology” at the IATUL 2011 conference in Warsaw, Poland that was held from 29 May – 2 June 2011.
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