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University of Washington
Information Literacy Learning (uwill)

An Approach for the 21st Century

The workplace of the present and future demands a new kind of worker. In a global marketplace, data is dispatched in picoseconds and gigabits, and this deluge of information must be sorted, evaluated, and applied. When confronted by such an overload of information, most workers today tend to take the first or most easily accessed information—without any concern for the quality of that information. As a result, such poorly trained workers are costing businesses billions of dollars annually in low productivity, accidents, absenteeism, and poor product quality. There is no question about it: for today’s and tomorrow’s workers, the workplace is going through cataclysmic changes that very few will be prepared to participate in successfully and productively unless they are information literate.1

American Library Association, 1998

Context: Survey data collected from University of Washington students who graduated from the University from one, five, and ten years ago indicate that "locating information needed to help make decisions or solve problems" is one of the most valuable skills acquired during their undergraduate education.2 A number of initiatives addressing information literacy have already been undertaken at the University of Washington, including Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) 100, Information Management & Technology (IMT) 220, UW Libraries course-related information skills workshops, and various partnerships involving UWired, including the Interdisciplinary Writing Program. While each of these initiatives addresses important needs for undergraduate learning, none appear capable of scaling to address the broadest possible campus constituency. How does the University of Washington deliver information literacy instruction without acquiring major new resources, without adding courses to an already-crowded curriculum, and while operating within the existing academic, physical, and programmatic infrastructure?

Proposal: The UW Libraries will create the web-based Information Literacy Learning (uwill) toolkit comprised of interactive, multimedia learning tools, including tutorials and assessment instruments that address specific elements of information literacy from discipline-based perspectives. The long-term goal of the project is to develop a web-based learning resource that will be centrally managed within the UW Libraries, but developed through the participation of librarians and departmental faculty. As envisioned, the assessment of student learning from these tutorials will provide a roadmap for the next levels of information literacy instruction in the disciplines.

uwill will allow more effective point-of-need instruction for students by extending the structured learning for a course beyond the 50-minute session and the walls of the classroom. "Just in case, just in time, just for you"3 flexibility in delivering asynchronous information literacy instruction facilitates the targeting of specific assignments and may address all learning styles and preferences. Delivery of self-paced learning modules, followed by optional consultations with librarians and faculty in person, by electronic mail, or online, creates a learning model that allows students to interact with course content when motivation is highest. While the learning units comprising uwill will provide instruction to distance and distributed students, the key element of consultation between students and librarians and other instructional resources (e.g. writing instructors) will be provided in the UWired Commons and other campus computing facilities, through real-time chat, in-person appointments, telephone, electronic mail, discussion lists, and other appropriate methods.

Developed in partnership with teaching faculty, uwill will permit the building of appropriate information-seeking challenges into assignments and course learning objectives and make it easier for faculty to include information literacy instruction in their courses without "sacrificing" precious class sessions. Effective use of uwill will also enable higher level information literacy instruction in subsequent course work, building the extended problem-solving skills suggested by the Fluency with Information Technology (FITness) vision articulated by the National Research Council4 and the Assocation of College and Research Libraries Information Competencies for Higher Education5. Library staff resources will be more effectively used in providing higher level critical thinking skills instruction to students who have acquired baseline competencies through uwill.

How uwill Will Work: UWILL is designed to be fully integrated into UW courses by providing templates that enable faculty and librarians to design and construct highly focused portals to information learning resources appropriate for course objectives. The uwill templates will allow instructors to easily build information literacy problems into their syllabi by providing:

  • a menu of real-world problem-solving exercises designed by faculty and librarians, with assistance from local employers, to integrate information literacy processes into course content;
  • models of information cycles which illustrate and describe the ways in which information is created and distributed within a discipline;
  • multimedia database tutorials introducing the mechanics of a database and connecting those mechanics to the principles of information retrieval and evaluation appropriate to the discipline, the course, and the problem to be solved;
  • tutorials for faculty interested in creating appropriate and challenging information literacy assignments. Forms-based questionnaires will assist faculty in two ways:
    1. Identify appropriate tools and methods for teaching specific information literacy competencies within the context of course learning objectives. This mechanism will help faculty to select appropriate templates and tools from the uwill archive and suggest possible student activities designed to achieve specific information literacy learning objectives; and
    2. Identify the skills required of students for successful completion of course objectives and create lists of training opportunities for those skills not addressed in either formal course work or in uwill-based activities. Faculty will then be able to inform students about the skills required for successful completion of the course and where and how these skills may be acquired, either on campus or in the community.
uwill will build on the distributed resource model currently available through UWired Catalyst.® While Catalyst® is intended to be exclusively a distributed set of tools used independently by faculty for more effective learning in their courses, uwill will require ongoing collaboration between faculty and librarians to ensure that its content will continually evolve to reflect emerging information resources and technologies, as well as student learning needs. In an age of prodigious information production and dissemination, librarians are uniquely situated to monitor new developments at the confluence of scholarly communication, media, and information technology. This strategic knowledge base, in concert with the disciplinary expertise of faculty, will shape new directions for uwill content, ensuring continuing relevance of learning tools by designing appropriate linkages of information literacy activities to course content and real-world challenges. Links to uwill will be provided from the UWired web site and from the UWired Catalyst® templates.

Problem-based Learning: The core of the learning units in each disciplinary "wing" of uwill will be problem-based activities that require students to acquire and evaluate information resources in the process of solving a problem. Community and regional businesses and other professionals will be contacted as potential partners in the identification and articulation of these problems, or cases. "Problem-based learning is a curriculum development and instructional system that simultaneously develops both problem solving strategies and disciplinary knowledge bases and skills by placing students in the active role of problem solvers confronted with an ill-structured problem that mirrors real-world problems."6 Within the problem-based learning model, students can seamlessly acquire factual knowledge, mastery of general principles or concepts that can be transferred to solve similar problems, and examples that can be used in future problem solving situations of a similar nature. They become aware, too, of the nature of information, how and when it is produced, and for what purposes, in order to make more informed decisions, both personally and professionally.

Foundation Elements: The Libraries has already designed and implemented several web-based learning tools, including an introductory Information Skills Tutorial (Research 101) linked to the UW Libraries Information Gateway (http://www.lib.washington.edu/uwill/research101) and a site linked to Psychology 209 (http://faculty.washington.edu/jwholmes/psych209/) which introduces the fundamentals of the literature review to this gateway course. Both sites incorporate models of publication/information cycles which identify types of information sources generated by disciplines and tutorials on the mechanics of searching appropriate databases. "Learning environments should be structured to allow students unlimited access to multiple resources in the classroom, the library. . .and beyond the school walls."7 This work was originally undertaken to address the difficulties inherent in scheduling and teaching fifty-minute workshops designed by librarians to address the needs of students working on research papers, speeches, and presentations for course credit. Lack of Collaboratory availability, the diversity of learning styles and paces, and the varying perspectives taken by students in response to a common assignment, all suggest the need for more personalized and easy-to-access approaches to information literacy instruction.

The uwill Team will also draw upon the experiences of other successful initiatives in the field (including the University of Texas System’s TILTã and the University of Arizona’s RIOã ). The UW Libraries has also taken steps to accommodate the face-to-face mediation suggested by this new model of instruction by moving the Reference Department of the Odegaard Undergraduate Library into the heart of the UWired Commons computer lab. The Commons, and other campus computer labs (including those in Mary Gates Hall) represent learning spaces that will allow students to receive follow-up instruction from librarians, faculty, and writing instructors at times of the students’ greatest need. These extended classroom facilities will emphasize an ongoing, need-driven learning process that effectively mirrors the evolving work and living environment for the 21st century and beyond.

Assessment: Needs assessment in all aspects of information literacy will drive template and tool selection and design. This assessment will be undertaken with the assistance of Nana Lowell, Associate Director of the UW Office of Educational Assessment, Judith Ramey, Professor and Chair, UW Department of Technical Communication, the Washington State HEC Board assessment coordinators8, partner faculty and librarians, and the uwill team. Outcomes assessment will be designed and implemented with assistance from the UW OEA. Usability testing of the site will be conducted by the UW Libraries in collaboration with the School of Library and Information Science and Technical Communication. Strategies for identifying the Libraries’ unique contribution to learning outcomes will also be explored.

Libraries Development:The UWILL structure will foster partnerships among UW Librarians in all disciplines and units. Internal staff training required to effectively share and modify the templates will contribute to the development of a staff of teaching librarians. Librarians from Suzzallo, Odegaard Undergraduate, College of Forest Resources, Natural Sciences, College of Engineering, and UW Bothell Libraries will participate in the uwill pilot. Librarians will be involved in creating curricular content and contributing to the expansion of disciplinary knowledge bases.

Partnerships: Among the partnerships promoted by uwill will be those with the departments of Psychology, Biology, Geography, and History. The Jackson School of International Studies, the College of Forest Resources, and local businesses and professional firms will also participate in the uwill pilot. Courses identified as partners in the pilot include:

  • Psychology 209
  • International Studies 200 & 201
  • College of Forest Resources 101
  • Department of Technical Communication
  • Biology 203
  • UW Writing Centers

In addition, Nancy Huling, Head, Reference and Research Services, Suzzallo Library, will act as liaison with the College of Education to coordinate efforts to link uwill objectives with Washington K-12 educators and the College's own degree requirements. UWILLhas the potential to serve as a mechanism for ongoing discussion with local K-20 educators to synchronize instruction of information literacy competencies along a continuum, ensuring smooth transitions for students between secondary schools, community colleges, and universities. The ultimate objective of uwill is to integrate seamlessly with all UW curricula. In addition to all appropriate UW departments and colleges, long-range partners will include Heritage College in Toppenish, UW Educational Outreach, and UW Intercollegiate Athletics.

Projected outcomes: The goal of the uwill project is the transformation of the way in which information literacy instruction is provided by the University of Washington and its Libraries. This will be achieved through the creation and maintenance of a web-based and -distributed service for faculty and librarians that integrates tools for teaching information literacy within specific courses and provides guidance in designing assignments that address its component skill sets. Among the salient outcomes:

  • The creation of easy-to-use and -access tools to facilitate effective and timely information literacy instruction within the context of a discipline—instruction that meets clearly articulated objectives for such instruction across campus, state, and national guidelines.
  • The formation and reinforcement of partnerships between UW Librarians and faculty, regional K-20 educators, and community employers, strengthening the Libraries’ commitment to the University and its campus and regional stakeholders.
  • An archive of tools for information literacy instruction that may be extended beyond the boundaries of the UW. The templates and much of the content of UWill may be shared with the five other baccalaureate institutions in Washington, K-12 educators, and other stakeholders in commitment to lifelong learning.
  • The provision of effective information literacy instruction to distance learners at the UW and its partners, including Heritage College and local Washington community colleges.
  • Effective long-term use of resources. After initial investment for design and development, greater numbers of students over an increasing geographic area may be reached with minimal, if any, additional expenditure.
  • The development of information literacy instruction skills among librarians and faculty at the UW.
  • A mechanism to facilitate the integration of information literacy skills instruction within the K-20 curriculum, locally, regionally, and nationally.
  • Opportunities for students from the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) to participate in the creation of templates and content for information literacy instruction. Participation in uwill will be offered as a directed fieldwork experience linked to LIS 560 (User Education).

John Holmes, Principal Investigator

  1. American Library Association. (1998). A Progress Report on Information Literacy: An Update on the American Library Association Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report. [Online] Available URL: http://www.ala.org/acrl/nili/nili.html [Accessed: November 20, 1999.]

  2. University of Washington, Office of Educational Assessment. [Online]Available URL: http://www.washington.edu/oea/r-ahome.htm [November 12, 1999]

  3. Duderstadt, James J. "Transforming the University to Serve the Digital Age," CAUSE/EFFECT (Winter 1997-1998): 21-32.

  4. Committee on Information Technology Literacy, National Research Council. (1999). Being Fluent with Information Technology. [Online] Available URL: http://books.nap.edu/catalog/6482.html [November 16, 1999.]

  5. Association of College and Research Libraries. Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education - Draft. [Online] Available URL: http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilcomstan.html

  6. Finkle, S.L., & Torp, L.L. (1995). Introductory Documents. (Available from the Center for Problem-Based Learning, Illinois Math and Science Academy)

  7. American Library Association. (1999). Information Literacy: A Position Paper on Information Problem Solving. [Online] Available URL: http://www.ala.org/aasl/positions/PS_infolit.html [November 12, 1999.]

  8. Following the Annual Assessment Coordinators Retreat in October, 1999, the Provosts of the six Washington State baccalaureate institutions affirmed that information and technology literacy should be one of the three statewide assessment goals. The work of UW Librarians and UWired in developing measure to evaluate information literacy has played a key role in establishing a statewide effort led by the HEC Board to assess post-secondary efforts in this area.

For more information about information literacy and related issues, please read the following: