Embedding information literacy into 1st year HE courses

1. 50 Shades of
Information Literacy:
redux
Embedding information literacy into 1st year HE courses
• Karen Hardman (Bury College)
• Louise Minta (University of Liverpool)
• Lorna Thomson (Bury College)

2. Oh baby baby, how was I supposed to
know, that something wasn’t right here
 Information literacy and research skills had traditionally been delivered to HE students as
• Generic non subject-specific sessions.
• Optional.
• En masse – in the lecture theatre.
• Start of term.
 Library always offered bespoke sessions but
• They were ad hoc.
• There was poor take-up.
• Relied on the lecturers/tutors understanding the value.

3. Ch ch changes – turn and face the
strange
 In 2014 the librarians were asked to run a series of information literacy
sessions with L3 BTEC students.
 This project resulted in a successful application for funding from HEFCE.
 The project aimed to embed information literacy in all first year HE courses.
 2016 the project was piloted with first year Beauty Management Students.
 2017 the project was rolled out to all first year HE students.

4. I’ll tell you what I want, what I really
really want…
 The librarians wanted to get to know the students.
 Offer bespoke sessions that demonstrated the value of the skills being taught.
 We wanted to reinvent the image of the library.
 Show the students how much we were able to support them.
 Break down the psychological barriers that students had to using the library.
AND
 Tackle statements such as this….
When asked why they had never asked a librarian for help, the following
answers were given…
“I feel I can find a book myself so don’t feel I need to ask.”
“Most are unapproachable, cold and sometimes rude.”
“Felt awkward. Felt like I could do it myself.”
“They are not there to help with work”

5. At first we were afraid…we were
petrified
 This was a completely new style of delivery for the library team.
 The funding from HEFCE provided us with 80 additional hours: 40 for delivery
and 40 for planning.
 We developed Schemes of Work.
 Worked closely with the lecturers.
 Developed bespoke sessions for each subject area.
 Covered a range of topics including:
• Referencing
• Searching
• Evaluation
• Databases

6. Want more and more, people just
want more and more
From the onset, the library team realised the potential of the project and worked
hard in order to ensure that we developed lessons and activities that we would be
able to easily adapt without the funding.
We wanted to be able to make the best use of time to ensure that we could offer the
same quality of sessions in the years that followed, when funding was no longer
available.
As far as the librarians involvement went, the funding covered staff time and our
printing costs.
There was a lot of effort involved in designing the lesson plans and games.

7. I don’t need dollar bills to have
fun tonight – We love cheap thrills
The librarians worked hard to research and develop a robust series of activities to
teach information literacy.
We aimed to ensure that the activities designed were not expensive and could be
easily adapted for future sessions.
The main bulk of the work was completed in extensive detail in order to ensure that
in the future, minimum effort was involved in updating the course delivery.

8. It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the
fight. Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
The project was run over the course of the Autumn semester.
During the project evaluation the following testimonials were given by students….
“I am more confident when it comes to using the
library because I have learned how to use the
resources provided”
“I am more confident in asking for help when
before I would have struggled and tried to do it
myself”
• 100% said it should continue
long-term.
• 100% felt their knowledge of
research techniques had
improved
• 93% said it would not have
worked without the librarians.
• 93% said attitudes towards
librarians and using the
library had improved.

9. Movin' on up, nothin' can stop us
 The success of the project allowed us to present a case for further funding through
the college.
 Although very keen, senior leadership were understandably concerned about the
cost implications.
 Librarians presented a new plan using evidence + reflections of the previous year:
 Looking at what had been the main learning points.
 Developing plans that would condense into shorter SoW.
 Being more flexible with the team’s timetables.
 The plan was accepted and we were granted an additional 70 hours (funded by the
college).

10. These are crazy days but they make me
shine. Time keeps rolling by……
• Information literacy has now been successfully embedded into all first year HE courses.
• The library team has incorporated the delivery of the sessions into the yearly action plan and
additional funding is no longer required to support the project.
• Our validating universities have commended the project and this work has helped secure
validation for further HE courses.
The library have successfully been awarded funding from Greater
Manchester Aim Higher to run a similar project with L3 BTEC
students.
Finally