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Enhancing information literacy: a practical exemplar.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

This case-study outlines a teaching partnership between library and academic staff at the University of Waikato. It describes the strategies adopted to develop greater student information literacy and knowledge of source materials; and demonstrates the inter-relationship between student assignments and library resourcing. Both achievements and areas of difficulty are discussed.

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At the University of Waikato, with 14,000 students, academic and library staff have sought to foster information literacy in ways that are effective and cost-efficient. Two clear trends have emerged over a decade of practical experimentation: the increased involvement of librarians in the academic teaching programme; and the deliberate designing of assessment tasks to ensure that students become confident users of the Library's resources. Developed initially in relation to a New Zealand history paper which attracts 80-100 students, the partnership involves strategies that are carefully inter-related and readily adaptable to a variety of disciplines and teaching situations, an information literacy outcome that has long been advocated in the literature. (1) Underpinning all of the assessment ideas, though, is the in-house bibliographical guide to the New Zealand Collection (NZC), Map Library and relevant electronic resources.

The Green Guide/Te Arahi Kakariki

The preparation and production of this substantial reference aid for New Zealand history students is the most tangible evidence of the working partnership in evolution. Begun in 1988 as a small pamphlet listing key reference publications, the 75-page Green Guide is now sold at cost-recovery rates (NZ$10.00) from the NZC itself, a practice which enables students from other courses to purchase it. Borrowable copies are available and the publication is also normally accessible on-line.

The current Green Guide is divided into three distinct parts. Section One lists, by title, key reference sources such as biographical, statistical or periodical publications with single or double-page illustrated entries for each category. Section Two gives background detail for the main primary source materials which students are expected to use for coursework: parliamentary debates and reports, yearbooks, census returns, police gazettes, and Commissions of Inquiry. Section Three provides advice, with examples, on how to write bibliographic citations or footnote/endnote references for the materials listed in Sections One and Two. A Table of Contents (written in both Maori and English) and an Index (English only) facilitate student use of the Guide. A floor plan indicating the shelving sequence and physical location of resources together with an inside-cover listing of contact details, staff names, hours of opening and data-base access help students to become more familiar with the NZC and Map Library services.

Transforming the Guide from an unattractive listing of useful titles to a comprehensive, illustrated and annotated finding aid has involved a great deal of staff time over the years, accompanied...

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