Integrating libraries into the curriculum: The CHIPS project

Libraries have played a role in support of teaching, but only in rare instances have they had a key role. Of course the faculty use library resources in preparing lectures, and there are often substantial collections of reserve materials drawn from the library, but these represent passive roles. At Columbia University Health Sciences, we are creating a pivotal role for the library with the Columbia Health Information Perspectives project (CHIPS). The objectives of the project are to promote the development of the curriculum as an integrated whole; to create an electronic curriculum that enables students to move through the learning process with a significant degree of control over how and when, where, and in what sequence they learn; and to track the progress of students against individual objectives, course requirements, and learning timelines while providing tutor-like assistance.published or submitted for publicatio