WVU Libraries

The WVU Libraries have selected six faculty members to participate in the fifth year of its Information Literacy Course Enhancement Program, an initiative to enhance courses to help students improve their research skills and to become more discerning when searching for and using information.

A collaborative endeavor between the Libraries and the Provost’s Office, the program focuses on fulfilling the University’s 2020 Plan which calls for “engaging undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in a challenging academic environment.” Information literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, and effectively use information.

“We at the Libraries are proud of the integral role we play in every student’s academic pursuits,” said Myra N. Lowe, Interim Dean of Libraries. “We are pleased that the Course Enhancement Program continues to help students to become better researchers and to gain more from the classroom experience.”

Carroll Wilkinson, WVU Libraries’ Director of Instruction and Information Literacy, is eager to build on the past success and work with the new teams.

“Fostering collaborative teaching between librarians and faculty is a challenging and rewarding part of my responsibilities in the University Libraries. To see the positive results in student learning is really exciting. ” Wilkinson said.

Selected from a field of applicants, this year’s group includes Jenny Boulware, lecturer in the Department of History, Eberly College of Arts & Sciences; Brian Jara, senior lecturer, Center for Womens’ and Gender Studies/Eberly; John Jones, assistant professor, Department of English, Eberly; Ugur Kale, assistant professor, Technology Learning and Culture/College of Education and Human Services; Tom Sydow, professor, English, Potomac State; and Farshid Zabihian, assistant professor, Engineering, WVU Institute of Technology.

They will work with Wilkinson and their librarian liaisons Linda Bane, Potomac State; Kevin Fredete; Jewel Rucker, WVU Tech; Mary Strife; Jessica Tapia; and Martha Yancey to create discipline-specific active learning assignments that incorporate information literacy concepts. Faculty will each earn a $3,000 stipend or, if a 12-month faculty member, other relevant professional remuneration.

Faculty will begin teaching the revised courses during the Fall 2013 or Spring 2014 semester and take part in the Information Literacy Showcase during the Libraries’ Faculty Assembly program in May 2014.

This year’s showcase will be held in the Milano Reading Room, Wise Library, on May 13 and will include professor/librarian teams for the 2012-13 academic year. Poster sessions are scheduled from 8-9 a.m. and 10:30-11 a.m.

There will be a presentation and panel discussion at 9 a.m. in Room 104, Downtown Campus Library. It is titled “Teaching Students the Value of Thoughtful Research: Source Assessment and Ethical Writing.”

Participants for the 2012-13 academic year included David Beach, assistant professor, associate undergraduate writing coordinator, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences; David Bess, associate professor of music education, College of Creative Arts; Kristen Dieffenbach, assistant professor, College of Physical activity and Sports Sciences; Mikel Holcomb, assistant professor of physics, Eberly; Lauryl Lefebvre, assistant professor of educational leadership studies, College of Human Resources and Education; Afrin Naz, assistant professor, computer science, WVU Tech; Donley Studlar, Eberly Family Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Eberly; Sven Verlinden, associate professor of horticulture, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design; Lisa Weihman, associate professor of English, Eberly; and Mark Wilson, associate professor of economics, WVU Tech.

Their librarian liaisons were Linda Blake, Kelly Diamond, Noel Kopriva, Barbara LaGodna, Bill Rafter, Jill Rafter, Alyssa Wright, Martha Yancey, and from WVU Tech, Mitch Casto and Jewel Rucker.