The American Library Association's (ALA) Presidential Committee on Information Literacy, Final Report states that, "To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information" (1989).   The ACRL guidelines for information literacy curriculum include target areas for gaining such literacy.  These areas are described as tool, resource, social-structural, research, and publishing literacy. Information literacy in this sense includes all formats analog and digital, traditional print, and electronic multimedia.  

We recognize that teaching and servicing the information literacy needs and issues of our patrons is a major responsibility of us as a university library.  We are developing the new Addlestone Sessions to address this obligation.

Addlestone Sessions Mission Statement:

The Addlestone Sessions are learning sessions designed to expose our patrons to and enhance their knowledge of and capabilities in information literacy, learning, teaching, and research.  Each hour and a half session will offer insight into these areas by way of explanation of concepts, demonstration of specific tools, and practical use as supported by best practices and successful application.  Sessions will offer practical exposure to areas of interest to our patrons and will be taught or facilitated by instructors who have unique insight, interesting experiences, or special knowledge and capability in such areas.

Addlestone Sessions will be informed by standards and guidelines of information literacy cultivated by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL).

http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/acrlinfolit/infolitoverview/infolitforfac/infolitfaculty.cfm. 

The sessions being planned for fall 08 and spring 09 are a substantial departure from our past stand-alone PowerPoint, Excel, and web editing sessions.  These initial sessions will be related and integrated in a thematic way and use no software that would require College technical support.  In these initial sessions we are aiming for “a practical exposure” for our targeted campus audience (students and faculty) and friends of the library patrons to web 2.0 applications, which are being increasingly utilized for teaching / learning collaboration and personal productivity. Such applications address areas described in the ACRL information literacy guidelines  specifically those relating to the use of tools, publishing (online) and social-structural knowledge and capabilities.

This overview produced by Jared A. Seay

Addlestone Library

July 2008