In 2000 Carleton received a three-year Mellon grant. We wanted to integrate information literacy into the curriculum, focusing on the discipline major. Our call for participants resulted in five departments agreeing to participate. The departments are Classical Languages (including Hebrew), Economics, English, Geology, and History. The initiative offered the library and the departments a wonderful opportunity to focus on information literacy within these disciplines.

We organized the grant into the following categories:

• Departmental retreats to define information literacy and discuss curricular approaches
• Curricular grants to redesign courses or assignments that integrated information literacy so that students were better prepared for comps
• Assessment of activities
• Evaluation of the overall project

As we look back over the three plus years, we see that all departments are enthusiastic about the initiative. Most departments began the project with skepticism because no one really knew what information literacy meant. It was not a term used in the disciplines, and the librarians did not stress the ACRL (Association of College & Research Libraries) definition and standards since they are less embraced in the liberal arts setting. Initially, the faculty also expressed concern about how to handle another curriculum requirement, but with each year this concern lessened.

Outcomes

• Faculty participation:
  • 2001: thirty
  • 2002: twenty-seven
  • 2003: forty-one
• Carleton's Educational Curriculum Committee has requested a report on information literacy from all departments as part of their college-wide analysis of five academic literacies: writing, speaking, information literacy, visual, quantitative (Spring 2004)
• Strengthened liaison librarian model
• Increase in reference statistics, individual and small group consultations, and personal email reference assistance
• More collaboration between faculty and librarians
• Assignments better designed to help students be prepared for their senior project
• Requirements for the Carleton Writing Portfolio now includes the ability to identify and effectively use appropriate sources
• Increased experience creating and implementing surveys and analyzing results
• Lead institution for a nine-college first year information literacy survey funded by Midwest Information Technology Center (MITC)
• Library-sponsored cross-disciplinary discussion seminar funded by the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM)

Themes that emerged

• Department-based initiatives that allowed the focus to be on discipline-specific needs
• Grants allowed time to focus on student learning
• Concern over additional curriculum requirements diminished as time went on and faculty realized they were already involved in information literacy but wanted it to be more effective
• Systematic approach allowed departments to identify gaps and inconsistencies
• Development of intentional and coordinated information literacy assignments, but allowing for flexibility in the methods employed
• Sharing assignments extremely useful
• Preference by some faculty to teach information literacy skills themselves rather than ask the liaison librarian
• Students and faculty liked the subject liaison librarians model
• Problems emerged when staff changed, leading to interruptions and inconsistency
• Interdisciplinary classes more complex to support
• Cross-discipline discussions were stimulating and valuable for sharing problems, solutions, and successes

Elements of the Carleton model that emerged

• Faculty leadership
• Focus on the upper level classes
• Focus on faculty development
• Focus on individual or small group appointments with departmental liaison librarians

Recommendations

• Department-based initiatives that allow the focus to be on discipline-specific needs
• Coordinating with the timing of other events, such as departmental reviews or a Writing Across the Curriculum program, and other campus initiatives
• Allow opportunities for cross-discipline discussions
• Assist departmental liaison librarians in gaining subject expertise
• Help faculty think about being in partnership with the librarians
• Use temporary librarians to provide relief for liaisons; do not use them as liaisons
• Be prepared for unpredictable staffing situations in the departments and in the library