One Size Does Not Fit All: A Programmatic Approach to Course-Integrated Library Information Literacy Assessment in an Academic Library

Randall Library at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) has developed and implemented a course-integrated approach to information literacy (IL) instruction assessment. UNCW librarians have created various assessment tools to measure specific student learning outcomes for IL components in academic departments across campus. The panelists will discuss the instruments used to evaluate IL outcomes in UNI 101/201 (First-Year Seminar), COM 200 (Research Methods in Communication Studies), HST 290 (The Practice of History), and EVS 495 (Seminar in Environmental Studies). Each of these courses has been designated as an information literacy intensive course within UNCW’s general education curriculum. First-Year Seminar students complete an information evaluation assignment following their mandatory library IL sessions, and a team of librarians assess their responses based on a rubric developed in-house. In COM 200, following IL instruction sessions, students complete a test designed by both the course instructor and librarian. The history librarian assesses the HST 290 students’ final research papers for demonstrated history-specific IL skills using a rubric. And within EVS 495, a questionnaire is used to assess students’ IL skills both before and after a required consultation with the sciences librarian. Additionally, librarians have assisted the campus in assessing IL skills using a modified version of the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ Information Literacy Value Rubric. This rubric is used to assess IL skills in a variety of course across disciplines and across course levels. The panelists will reflect on what has worked, what has not, and future assessment plans