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A PLAN FOR A LIBRARY INSTRUCTION PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

JUNE, 1993

Library Instruction Committee:
Barbara Francis
James Glenn
Kate Lee
Alice Primack, Chair
Rosalie Sanderson
Pam Sawallis

The Library Instruction Program is proposed as a new systematic program of library instruction for the University of Florida community. It is designed to teach UF students at the undergraduate and graduate levels how to use libraries and information resources effectively, and to ensure that faculty and staff are aware of and competent in using information resources needed for teaching and research. The Program comprises user awareness, orientation, and bibliographic instruction. Ideally, the Program will reach each student, faculty, and staff member several times, with increasingly sophisticated levels of instruction.

The goals of the Library Instruction Program for UF students are as follows.

Students will acquire information seeking skills as a basic component of their education at UF and they are competent in using services and resources in the UF Libraries.

Graduates of the university are prepared for life in an information-based society—i.e. they are prepared to make effective lifelong use of information, information resources, and information systems.

Goals for faculty and staff are as follows.

Faculty and staff are aware of services and resources in the UF Libraries and are competent in using those resources needed for teaching and research.

Faculty members are knowledgeable about the library’s role in teaching, and they can make effective use of library classroom partnerships.

Program objectives, methods, and expected specific skills and competencies are outlined in the accompanying charts. The User Awareness section is designed to be implemented on a campus-wide basis. It should reach all students, faculty, and staff when they are new to campus and also continue to reach them throughout their time at UF to keep them aware of changes and new resources in the Libraries. Most of the Orientation and Bibliographic Instruction functions are site-specific. Within each library site, we recommend that a systematic program should be developed, which would provide orientation and instruction to each user in increasingly sophisticated doses. Wherever possible, instruction for students should be integrated into academic courses and should include practice through assignments which are required as part of the course. Likewise, instruction for faculty and staff should whenever possible be integrated into their normal activities.

In addition to this Program for campus-affiliated users, we would like to work through area school media specialists to offer a program to help area students and teachers know what to expect and to make better use of the UF Libraries.

We recommend piloting various aspects of the Library Instruction Program before actual implementation. Pilots would allow testing and evaluation of activities at awareness, orientation, and bibliographic instruction levels.

STAFFING

We recommend that teaching should be in the job assignment of each librarian and some LTAs and should be considered in annual evaluations. Records of sessions taught should be reported to instruction coordinators on a standard reporting form, with summary lists given to supervisors. Since most teaching librarians and LTAs will also serve at Reference desks, flexibility will need to be built in to balance instruction time with other duties. Those who are teaching should be trained in teaching methods. Ongoing refreshers and means of sharing ideas, e.g. meetings and a local UF BI List should be set up.

We recommend that in some cases non-library staff should be trained to do library instruction. For example, the existing arrangement in which Teaching Assistants for English Composition 1101, 1102 and 1145 are trained by Libraries personnel and then use this to teach their students about the Libraries could be expanded to include all of the objectives and expected competencies for this level. Resident Assistants in dormitories, and staff from academic departments could be trained to provide assistance with LUIS. Additional Student Assistants could be hired and trained to provide assistance with LUIS and other materials.

ADMINISTRATION

We recommend that administration of the Library Instruction Program be handled by a Library Instruction Coordinating Team. This Coordinating Team would be appointed and directed by the Assistant Director for Public Services (except for Health Science Center Library and Legal Information Center members). Each Team member would head (or be official library instruction representative to) a Group which would work on a certain aspect of the Program. Each of these Groups would consist of the Team member and of volunteers enlisted from the library staff. The functional Groups would be as follows.

Library Awareness Group: to coordinate the Awareness functions of the Program, campus wide

Humanities and Social Sciences BI Group: to coordinate Orientation and Bibliographic Instruction functions for areas served directly in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library.

Science/Engineering BI Group: to coordinate the Orientation and Bibliographic Instruction functions in Marston Science Library

Health Sciences BI Group: to coordinate the Orientation and Bibliographic Instruction functions in Health Science Center Library

Legal BI Group: to coordinate the Orientation and Bibliographic Instruction functions in the Legal Information Center

Documents BI Group: to coordinate the Orientation and Bibliographic Instruction functions in the Documents Department

Branch Libraries BI Group: to coordinate the Orientation and Bibliographic Instruction functions in the branch libraries

Electronic Formats Training Group: to coordinate training in electronic formats in all sections of the Library Instruction Program. This could involve the Electronic Training for Library Users Task Force and its successors.

Instructional Training and Materials Group: to coordinate training/refreshers for librarians, LTAs, student assistants, and non-library people who would be doing library instruction; to collect and make available sample handouts and lesson plans; and to develop campus-wide library user handouts and instructional aids.

(SEE SEPARATE FILE “PROGRAM CHARTS”)