Toward engineering integration: Building a quick and effective faculty seminar

Abstract

In the spring of 2010, the Science & Engineering Library of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities partnered with the Information Literacy Librarian and offered a faculty seminar to the College of Science and Engineering. The seminar's goals included 1.) refreshing and expanding faculty's knowledge of information and 21st century literacies and 2.) creating a community of faculty committed to developing student skills in finding, evaluating and synthesizing information in their academic coursework and into their professional careers. Overall, the seminar increased faculty understanding of services and expertise of the libraries, and 21st century literacies. It also developed and strengthened ties between individual faculty members and their subject librarians, leading to a mix of outcomes from a faculty member partnering on a grant the Libraries applied for to course integrated instruction sessions to faculty participating in an e-textbook pilot. This seminar provides a strong model for re-framing information literacy in the context of teaching and learning in science and engineering, giving librarians an opportunity to strengthen relationships and increase liaison effectiveness.