Information literacy is a collaboration between reading, writing, thinking and information seeking skills. Information literacy fits inside other disciplines. Improved information literacy can drive improved learning of content and better mastery of a discipline can drive advanced information literacy. As students progress through their academic careers, they will achieve an increased level of sophistication in information literacy.
The Harper College Library Instruction Program works to create a supportive atmosphere for students in order to assess how the General Education Outcomes are supported through library instruction. Through evaluating the courses that are most commonly taken by Harper students as their first credit courses, the library instruction program has determined to pursue assessment of specific information literacy concepts within the framework of these classes. Our goal is to reach students as early as possible during their college career at Harper and to aquaint them with research skills and create an information literate community that will be prepared for transferring to another school or into a career.
The push for assessment in the library is in direct response to Harper's strategic goal of Outcomes Assessment. The Library and the instruction program works to improve its own contributions to student success by creating a assessment tools that directly relate to information literacy concepts. To achieve this goal, the library aims to
By assessing skills that they learn through the library instruction program at Harper College Library, librarians and instructors will be able to address gaps in students' research abilities.