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Information literacy competencies in social work.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

The Social Work Library at the University of Michigan integrates library instruction into the school's fall orientation, two foundation courses, and several advanced research courses, in a structured approach to establishing information literacy competencies across the curriculum. Beginning with the entry level of "Novice" in orientation, progressing to "Journeyman" and "Mastery" in two foundations courses, the ultimate goal is to have 350 incoming students each year advance to the "MSW" level of evidence-based practice (decision-making based on research findings rather than on tradition, authority, and experience). How course-integrated library instruction is structured, assessed and currently evolving is described in this paper. The library's pre/post tests and results are available on request from the author.

Introduction

The Social Work Library at the University of Michigan is a branch library located within the school. Housed at the library are 42,000 books, 200 periodical subscriptions, and an extensive website for social work students (Reiman-Sendi, 2003). The primary clientele are over 600 Masters of Social Work (MSW) students. Of the 341 students making up the class of 2002-03, 23% are students of color and 6% are international students. Of the 275 who attended a mandatory library orientation in August 2002, 87% were between the ages of 20-30, 10% were between 30-40, 3% were between the ages of 40-50, and 1% were over 50.

As consecutive chairs of the Social Work/Social Welfare Committee of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) since 1999, the two social work librarians at Michigan have worked with other librarians across the country on information literacy competency standards for social work students. They have also served as Ex Officio members of the University's School of Social Work Curriculum Committee. This privilege has enhanced their residence within the academic user community, built bridges within the two organizational cultures, and fostered collaboration around class assignments. The Social Work Librarian is on the school's Information & Technology Committee and the Public Services Librarian has been invited into discussions on Promoting Critical Thinking and Information Literacy. Their joint proposal, incorporated into this article, has been forwarded to the Social Work Curriculum Committee and is on their agenda this fall. In addition, they were able to assess some learning outcomes of first semester students in Fall 2002. The ultimate goal, consistent with educational policy and accreditation standards of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) (2001), is to ensure full exposure and assessment at the beginning of the program and then periodic reevaluations (using the same instruments) later.

Library Literature Review

According to D'Angelo (2001), much of the information literacy instruction in libraries today is based on Carol Kuhlthau's model (1988, 1991, 1993). The model on the library search process, with its focus on critical thinking and information-seeking behavior, has provided a context for assessing information competency instruction. D'Angelo's study on "Integrating and assessing information in a gateway course" is a qualitative study of one course in one undergraduate program. The pre-test asked open-ended questions about the research process, e.g., "What information do you think you need prior to composing this essay?" The post-test was administered after the second instructional session and asked how students would change their answers. D'Angelo later read the finished products and applied an evaluation rubric to determine if the information literacy concepts taught were applied in the essays. Though access to student assignments is rare for librarians, this is the ideal faculty/librarian collaboration since it led to the instructor altering the assignment (to emphasize the research process and the students' own thought processes) and the librarian altering the library session (by using...

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