Four librarians from GRU Libraries attended the Georgia Conference on Information Literacy (GaCOIL) in Savannah, Georgia this past weekend.
GaCoil provides an opportunity for educators to share research and best methods related to teaching, learning, and assessing essential lifelong learning skills. Attendees included those from academic, school, and public libraries as well as educators in all academic disciplines and grade levels. Sessions covered a diverse range of topics aimed at assessing information literacy needs of users, including how to:
- determine the extent of information needed in a given situation.
- access the needed information effectively and efficiently.
- evaluate information and its sources critically.
- incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base.
- use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
- understand the economic, legal, ethical, and social issues surrounding the use of information.
Representing GRU Libraries were Camilla Baker, Virginia Feher, Kim Mears, and Autumn Johnson. Camilla Baker presented her paper, “Authentic Assessment in the Library Classroom: Transforming Activities into Assessment,” which examined the use of active learning exercises as a tool for measuring class performance. Feher, Mears, and Johnson presented “Information Literacy/Information Architecture: Lessons Learned from a Card Sorting Exercise,” and shared their experience building a user-centered website. Both presentations sparked lively discussions on the challenges of supporting and assessing information literacy.
For more information about the Georgia Conference on Information Literacy visit
http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/ce/conferences/infolit/.
