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Month: October 2014

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Hi, everyone.  I'm April Cunningham, the project lead, and I'm going to be posting here regularly to update you on our progress.

October’s been a big month for our plans to develop a new IL test based on the draft ACRL IL framework.  We’re moving full-speed ahead because we believe the framework will be adopted by ACRL at the ALA Mid Winter Conference in Chicago, January 30-February 3, 2015.

This month we created an Advisory Board of librarians and educators deeply committed to IL.  We’ll be meeting with them and engaging them in online discussions so their collective expertise will guide the plans for the test.

So far we’ve discussed what types of results the test should generate so that it’s meaningful as a tool for planning and learning.

Next we’ll work on defining which information literacy practices students should be able to demonstrate at each stage in their development as undergraduates.  We have our work cut out for us, but it’s a very exciting conversation!

Please welcome our Advisory Board (updated 12/7/14):

Liz Berilla Information Literacy and Assessment Librarian at Misericordia University in Dallas, PA
Rachel Bowen Political Science professor at Ohio State University in Mansfield, OH
Alan Carbery Assistant Director of the Champlain College Library in Burlington, VT
Carrie Donovan Head of Teaching and Learning for Wells Library at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN
Michelle Dunaway Librarian; student in the Education Evaluation & Research PhD Program at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI
Jennifer Fabbi Dean of the Library at  Cal State San Marcos in San Marcos, CA
Jessame Ferguson Director of Hoover Library at McDaniel College in Wesminster, MD
Hal Hannon English Composition professor at Palomar College and Saddleback College in southern California
Wendy Holliday Head of Academic Programs and Course Support for Cline Library at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ
Nancy Jones Administrator of Support Services at Encinitas Unified School District in Encinitas, CA
Jane Liu Chemistry professor at Pomona College in Pomona, CA
Pearl Ly Director of Library Services at College of Marin in Kentfield, CA
Erika Montenegro Instruction Librarian at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, CA
Dawn Person Professor in the Educational Leadership Department, Coordinator of the Community College, Higher Education Specialization for the Educational Doctorate, and Director of the Center for Research on Educational Access and Leadership (C-REAL) at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton, CA
Kathleen Powell Teacher Librarian at Poway High School in Poway, CA
Melanie Sellar Librarian and Instructional Designer in Los Angeles, CA
Dominique Turnbow Instructional Design Coordinator for the UC San Diego Library in La Jolla, CA
Steve Wise Senior Research Fellow at Northwest Evaluation Association in Portland, OR

 

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As you may be aware, Project SAILS has been operated by Carrick Enterprises, Inc. since 2012.  Two of the original SAILS team members formed the company in order to continue providing the SAILS tests to institutions throughout the United States and, starting this year, around the world.

Project SAILS is based on the 2000 ACRL Competency Standards for Information Literacy in Higher Education.  With the upcoming move to the new ACRL Framework, Carrick Enterprises will be developing an entirely new assessment instrument. This is a big job and we plan to provide more information about the instrument at the ACRL conference in March in Portland.

We are extremely happy to be able to announce that Dr. April Cunningham has taken on the job of coordinating the design of this new instrument. April is the Instruction/Information Literacy Librarian at Palomar College, a comprehensive community college in northern San Diego County. She is active on the Learning Outcomes Council, which coodinates institutional student learning outcomes assessments (including assessment of Palomar's general education information literacy outcome).  She is also one of the curriculum developers/facilitators for ACRL's Assessment in Action project. We could not have found a more qualified person to lead this effort. Please help us welcome April to the project!