Information Fluency Task Force Report: Guidelines

February 16, 2002

Group Members:
Gary Lindquester, Rhodes
Bryan Alexander, Centenary
Stanley Campbell, Centre

The group agreed that Jim Rettig's diagrammatic presentation of Information Fluency appropriately represented the continuous and progressive nature of the topic. It should be seen as a process that should be emphasized in the curriculum in both a horizontal (subject to subject) and vertical (through ones discipline) manner in accordance with the statements of Susan Hagan.

The Guidelines Task Force also discussed recommendations for consideration in preparing a second proposal to the Mellon Foundation. Specifically, the following items arose from the meeting:

• faculty development - to include stipends and/or release time for faculty to increase their own competency with information literacy and/or computer skills. Release time for IT and/or librarians to work directly with faculty may be included.
  
  
• establish an Information Fluency / Collaborative Teaching and Learning Center on a member campus modeled after the ACS Technology Center at Southwestern.
  
  
• establish curriculum development grants with a focus on "cross-disciplinary" or on "through the major" projects
  
  
• establish a consortium web site to serve as a resource center for information fluency tutorials, surveys, model projects, discussion, interaction with other consortia, current news, etc.
  
  
• establish a new committee structure to include only an ACS IF Caucus with stipend-supported representatives from each campus that would track, report, encourage, and advise initiatives on their home campuses.
  
  
• consider the issue of "web writing" as a new curricular issue
  
  
• explore intellectual property issues to better inform ACS institutions and leverage legal and other professional costs.

  
  Gary Lindquester,
  for the Guidelines Task Force