Running head: A REVIEW OF LIBRARY-LED FACULTY WORKSHOPS: HELP

A Review of Library-Led Faculty Workshops:

Helping Distance Educators Meet Information Literacy Goals in the Online Classroom
Kay L. Venteicher
University of Maryland University College
DETT 611
April 5, 2015

A REVIEW OF LIBRARY-LED FACULTY WORKSHOPS: HELPIN

A Review of Library-Led Faculty Workshops:
Helping Distance Educators Meet Information Literacy Goals in the Online Classroom

Miller, R., ODonnell, E., Pomea, N., Rawson, J., Shepard, R., & Thomes, C. (2010). Library-led
faculty workshops: Helping distance educators meet information literacy goals in the
online classroom. Journal of Library Administration, 50,830-856.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2010.488977
This article from the Journal of Library Administration describes the University of Maryland
University College (UMUC) library-led faculty workshops designed by librarians in partnership
with department faculty for faculty training and development. The online workshop goals are to
educate faculty on how to meet the information literacy goals in the distance education
environment. The article explains how each of the workshops provides the basic definition,
concept, and importance of informational literacy objectives, how to navigate information
resources including the library and web resources, and development of an assignment which
meets these objectives. The article outlines the content of five workshop scenarios elaborating
on topics, activities, key participants, and example outcomes. The authors point out that the
value created through faculty-library collaboration and partnerships that greatly improve the
success of student attainment of information literacy goals. This article notes that the significant
time commitment by the library to design and facilitate a workshop. The finished workshop
creates future opportunities to present the material again or adapt the workshop to support
additional topic areas. The article is a good resource for individuals researching and/or working
to improve knowledge and skills of achieving information literacy objectives in the online
classroom.

A REVIEW OF LIBRARY-LED FACULTY WORKSHOPS: HELPIN

A Review of Library-Led Faculty Workshops:
Helping Distance Educators Meet Information Literacy Goals in the Online Classroom
With the digital universe doubling every two years, (Gantz & Reinsel, 2011, para. 9),
there is an increasing need for students to continue to build upon information literacy skills to
pursue higher education and lifelong learning (Association of College and Research Libraries,
2000, p.2). The basic skills necessary to achieve the foundation skills of information literacy
include the student mastery of library and information resources, selecting the best information
sources, and finally assessment, synthesis and citing of the sources. University of Maryland
University College (UMUC) has an expectation that the student will have these basic skills
(UMUC, n.d., para. 4). The goal for successful progress in undergraduate and graduate programs
is student attainment of the information literacy objectives (UMUC, n.d., para. 5-10).
Miller et al. (2010) detail the collaborative partnership formed between the librarians,
faculty, academic administrators, and information professionals in Library-Led Faculty
Workshops: Helping Distance Educators Meet Information Literacy Goals in the Online
Classroom (pp. 830-831). To support the UMUC student information literacy goals, the UMUC
Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) offers the library-led workshops in UMUCs course
management system or online asynchronous classroom, WebTycho. The classroom components
include a Conference area in which threaded discussion boards are held, a Syllabus area, a
Course Content area, a Reserved Readings area; a synchronous communications capabilities in
the Chat Room area, and conferencing through Wimba for presentations and/or discussions
(Miller et al., 2010, pp. 832-833). The library-led workshops provide faculty with
knowledge/background of information literacy competencies, the specific indicators as

A REVIEW OF LIBRARY-LED FACULTY WORKSHOPS: HELPIN

recognized in the online class environment from the students perspective, and examples of how
to achieve those goals.
The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) has developed five standards
which explain what the information literate student can do, the performance indicators, and
outcomes of each (2000, pp. 8-15). These standards are:

The ability to determine the nature and extent of information necessary (p. 8),

The ability to access needed information effectively and efficiently (p. 9),

The ability to evaluate information and sources critically and incorporate selected
information into the individuals knowledge base and value system (p. 11),

The ability to individually or as a member of a group, use information effectively to

accomplish a specific purpose (p. 13), and

The ability to understand many of the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding
the use of information and (p. 14) ethically and legally access and use information.
Library Visit in WebTycho Training

Prior to teaching in the online environment, Miller et al. (2010) state that faculty undergo
a 5-week training course that introduces best practices for online pedagogy and introduces a
library module that outlines UMUCs library resources, information literacy goals, and
assignment design (p. 833). This training is the initial introduction of new UMUC faculty to
CTL offerings of online training and development program; it demonstrates the collaborative
environment found between the librarians, faculty, academic administrators, and information
professionals with the library-led training workshops. This introduction to the UMUC library
resources and services is composed of library database exercise and a creation or rewrite of an
assignment that address information literacy. The course familiarizes the faculty with the library

A REVIEW OF LIBRARY-LED FACULTY WORKSHOPS: HELPIN

and targets incorporation of information literacy standard one and emphasis on performance
indicators one, two, and three of standard two in the online classroom. Miller et al. (2010)
explain that faculty members often request inclusion of library instruction into their classroom to
enhance the student experience after completing the workshop (p. 841).
Natural and Social Sciences Workshops
Miller et al. (2010) discuss the collaboration of the library and the undergraduate sciences
departments of UMUC that focus on incorporating information literacy goals and skills into the
relevant subject-specific disciplines and classrooms in UMUCs Social Sciences and Natural
Sciences Departments. Similar to the library visit in the WebTycho training, the department
academic director and the librarian cofacilitate the workshops that run 10 or 12 days in duration.
The workshop schedules include information literacy overview, exploration of library database
resources and the World Wide Web, delving into resources for assignments, rubrics and learning
objectives, and a final project of creation and discussion of a class assignment. Information
literacy standards one through four are targeted for inclusion into the online class and
assignment. Miller et al. (2010) point out the workshops provide a greater understanding of
library resources that can be used to augment the online classroom and create classroom
assignments that teach both course content as well as information literacy goals (p. 840).
Google and Open Educational Resources Workshops
The Google workshop is 7-days and offers an orientation in basic and advanced Google
search methods, use of Google Scholar, Google Books, Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google
Images, with a look into copyright and classroom issues and Google developments. Two
librarians cofacilitate the workshop and follow similar concept search exercises as conducted as
with the previous workshops. The Open Educational Resources (OERs) workshop mirrors the

A REVIEW OF LIBRARY-LED FACULTY WORKSHOPS: HELPIN

Google workshop with two librarians cofacilitating the 8-day workshop. The workshop
introduces OERs, explains finding and evaluating OERs, ways to adapt OER content for online
class inclusion, and understanding copyright and intellectual property concerns surrounding
content use. These two multidisciplinary workshops touch on all five standards of information
literacy with both providing additional resources beyond the UMUC library and support
information literacy goals. The workshops incorporate valuable lessons in the use of copyright
and intellectual property. Miller et al. (2010) point out the workshops provide greater
understanding of UMUC library resources that can be used to enhance the online classroom and
create classroom assignments that teach both course content as well as information literacy goals
(p. 840).
Conclusion
The workshops provide an effective means for the collaboration between the library and
academic departments to increase faculty awareness in available UMUC library and external
resources. The continued partnership of the library staff, academic departments, and the Center
for Teaching and Learning has created workshops for different disciplines and versions. The
workshops provide the online/hands-on experience that is reinforced with feedback from peers
and facilitators. As Miller et al. (2010) state, the workshops provide opportunities to improve
not only discipline specific learning but the information literacy of students in the online class
environment (p. 855).

A REVIEW OF LIBRARY-LED FACULTY WORKSHOPS: HELPIN

References
Association of College and Research Libraries. (2000). Information literacy competency
standards for higher education. American Library Association. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/standards/standards.pdf
Gantz, J. & Reinsel, D. (2011, June). Extracting value from chaos. EMC Corporation. Retrieved
from http://www.emc.com/collateral/analyst-reports/idc-extracting-value-from-chaosar.pdf
Miller, R., ODonnell, E., Pomea, N., Rawson, J., Shepard, R., & Thomes, C. (2010). Library-led
faculty workshops: Helping distance educators meet information literacy goals in the
online classroom. Journal of Library Administration, 50,830-856.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2010.488977
University of Maryland University College. (n.d.). UMUC information literacy faq for faculty.
[Web page]. Retrieved from
http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/informationliteracy.cfm