Information Literacy and the Freshman Class

Information Literacy and the Freshman Class

               The Cannavino Library played an active part in the rollout of the Marist Core curriculum, through hands-on classroom participation and faculty support in First Year Seminar (FYS) and Writing for College. These freshman courses are pillars of the information literacy skill area of the Marist Core.

              In Fall 2013, the library offered six distinct FYS Common Session presentations, with topics including finding reliable background information, evaluating different information and information sources, basic research skills, and creating bibliographic citations. Faculty had the ability to select up to four of these sessions, with most sections opting for two or three talks. In all, librarians addressed 84 FYS sections.

              In our current spring semester, the number of talks offered has been reduced to three, with demand remaining high. To further support FYS faculty and students, librarians have created Course Pathfinders for 77% of the 2013 FYS sections. As the graphic below illustrates, the Pathfinders have seen robust use by students.

                Similarly, the Library has given talks and created Course Pathfinders for many Writing for College sections. In these presentations, the focus has been on the exploration of the research process, with presentations generally given just prior to students commencing work on a research paper.

                The library’s impact on the freshman experience has been significant; in more than a half-dozen majors, all of the 100 or 101 courses have received an individual class library presentation and  Course Pathfinder.  Anecdotally, faculty have reported that the Pathfinder and presentation provide a standard library experience, with students sharing a common level of information literacy as they progress to 200-level major courses. Additionally, all incoming athletes received a library orientation seminar; we can say with confidence that every Marist freshman received at least one library orientation during the 2013-14 academic year.

                Information Literacy is again emphasized in the Capping Course and the Library provides presentations to many capping courses as well.  In between Freshman and Senior year, students will benefit from further library support, be it in the form of a Pathfinder, Library presentation or both.   The basic concepts learned during freshman year will provide a basis upon which to build further subject specific knowledge.  Oftentimes when we speak with Capping classes students are surprised by the depth of resources made available through the Cannavino Library, and they find the Capping lecture as useful as the introductory lecture 4 years earlier.

  If you are interested in a Pathfinder or Library lecture (for this semester or next semester), please contact your Library Liaison.