In a for-credit elective information literacy course it is often difficult to keep the material both engaging for the students and exciting for the instructors while still keeping the course objectives in sight. In an effort to make some changes to their LIB100 class, instructors at Wake Forest University introduced documentary films as the content around which the course and the assignments were built. Films on a variety of contemporary topics were chosen: Food, Inc., The Union: The Business Behind Getting High, Maxed Out and Big Bucks, Big Pharma. The students were divided into groups to work on a final presentation on one aspect of their film and examples from the films were used to illustrate various points over the course of the class. Additionally, a short documentary on the drinking age was shown to the class and formed the basis of examples and demonstrations by the instructors. The design, implementation and outcome of the course will be discussed including ideas for others interested in using film and lots of lessons learned.

1. Take Five: Using Documentary Film in Information Literacy Instruction Rosalind Tedford Asst. Director for Research & Instruction Molly KeenerScholarly Communication Librarian Z. Smith Reynolds Library Wake Forest University

3. 4500+ undergraduates

4. 7000+ including graduate students

5. 475+ Full-time faculty

7. 52 Library Staff

8. 28 Library Faculty and 24 Support Staff

10. Began in 2003

11. Currently 11 or 12 sections per semester

12. 15 students per class

14. Social Science, Business & Accountancy, Humanities, and Science sections

16. WFU absorbing Center for Documentary Studies

17. Student engagement

18. Contemporary issues http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr-morshee/3497290513/sizes/o/#cc_license

19. Which Documentaries? The Drinking Age (in-class example) Big Bucks, Big Pharma Food, Inc. Maxed Out The Union: The Business Behind Getting High

21. Groups formed around other four films

22. Groups picked research questions out of film content

23. Assignments geared toward finding resources to answer questions

24. Context (Background) Information

25. Scholarly Books and Journals

26. Stakeholders

27. Final projects were group presentations

28. All students had to watch all films before final presentations http://www.flickr.com/photos/divemasterking2000/2414395273/

29. Final Presentation Requirements Your research question and how you arrived at it. Some background about the filmmakers. A background of the issue at hand -- NOT a recap of the film. A description of the scholarly research on your issue. A summary of the sides of your issue. What are the primary arguments made in the debate about your topic? A discussion of the stakeholders surrounding your issue and how they impact the debate and discussion. The challenges you encountered when researching your issue. End with a question that will begin discussion among your classmates.

31. Didn't always connect that their assignments should focus on research question, not just general topic/focus of film

32. Selecting films available online helpful

33. Too many films for 6 week class - in future will focus on single film

34. Need to bring back clips into class to make point

37. Will use The Union as the ‘text’ for the class

38. Will look at the issue from all of the Social Science perspectives

39. Will keep an eye out for a good documentary on the drinking age