The Campaign for Information Literacy: Politics, Personalities, Perseverance

In early 2010, Loyola Marymount University (LMU) adopted information literacy as an Undergraduate Learning Outcome. How did this transpire? Several strategies were used by librarians to promote information literacy, including the development of effective working relationships with the Office of Assessment and the Center for Teaching Excellence. Librarians also implemented several additional “High-Impact Educational Practices.” As a result, information literacy is now a new core curriculum outcome and faculty can apply for grant money to integrate information literacy into their courses. The second half of this presentation will describe how LMU assesses information literacy for WASC accreditation. The LMU librarians and the Office of Assessment collaborated to administer a direct assessment of information literacy through the iSkills Test developed by ETS. The Office of Assessment created a report that summarized this direct evidence of student learning, as well as student responses to related questions on two indirect measures, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the 2012 Alumni Outcomes Survey.