Minutes
LACUNY Instruction Committee
Meeting
December 5, 2003, 2 pm – 4
pm
Members
in Attendance:
Miriam
Laskin, Hostos
Edward
Owusu-Ansah, Staten Island
Meeting
commenced at 2 pm.
Weather wreaked havoc on the attendance at this meeting, but the three in attendance made the most of it. Two members were actually attending for the first time: Charles Keyes from LaGuardia; and Miriam Laskin of Hostos, who had indicated on several previous occasions her intention to attend, could finally join us. Miriam talked about the program at Hostos, and having no limits on her time could be as detailed as she desired. Hereunder is reproduced, virtually verbatim, Professor Laskin’s presentation:
Hostos’ instruction program was created in Spring
2001, and launched in September of that year. The college now has four
librarians who teach workshops, with two ready to give a hand if needed.
Workshops are also offered in Spanish when requested since Hostos is a
bilingual institution.
The
library offers six
open workshops (1 hr. each in duration). Three of these constitute basic workshops
designed to cumulatively introduce students
to information literacy concepts and competencies. The three basic workshops are: Info Lit 101, Keys to Database Searching, and Surf Smart I. The other three, intermediate
workshops, are: Finding Articles,
Surf Smart II, and Information Resources for Health & Human
Services.
The program creates a monthly schedule for the
open workshops (and offers 4 - 6 a week), in a variety of time
slots that cover mornings, afternoons and some evenings. 70-75 workshops
are offered per semester, with an approximate attendance of 500 students per
semester (out of a total of about 4,000 students at Hostos).
Students can sign up for as many workshops as
they wish, either from the Hostos Library Web site or in person at the reference
desk. Attendance verification forms are provided to students who need to
present them to requiring professors as proof of attendance. More
and more professors at Hostos are requiring anywhere from 1-3 IL workshops as
part of their courses. Hostos' new Liberal Arts Core Curriculum
includes Information Literacy, and all Liberal Arts students
are now required to take Hostos' College Orientation course (SSD1000), which
includes an IL requirement of all 3 basic workshops. Beginning in
Spring 2004, there will also be an IL component in the more advanced academic
courses at Hostos, designated WI (Writing Intensive). This will help Hostos
accomplish its goal of incorporating IL at all curricular levels.
Students fill out an evaluation form at the end of
every workshop. Data and information from the evaluation forms are used by the
Library Department, along with attendance records, for
purposes including assessment.
The library also works with subject faculty on
course-integrated workshops, tailored to the specific needs of such faculty.
Course-integrated workshops are also arranged for professors with the condition
that they first require their students to take at least two basic library workshops before their
scheduled course-integrated session.
As incentive for attending the workshops, these workshops
have been tied to Hostos' laptop loan program. Students who take at least two open workshops are
entered into the loan program and may take out a laptop for either 3 hours or 3
days, renewable. The popularity of the loan program has increased attendance at the
workshops.
Meeting
adjourned.
Submitted
by:
Edward
Owusu-Ansah