ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 506 IC & R L N ew s ■ M a y 2001 CONFERENCE CIRCUIT The Associated Colleges of the Midwest Conference Information literacy and liberal education by Elizabeth O. Hutchins T he Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) held a highly successful confer­ ence on “Information Literacy and Liberal Education,” March 9-11, 2001, at Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Illinois. Launching a strong ACM literacy initiative underwritten by a major Mellon Foundation grant, this con­ ference brought together representatives from 13 ACM colleges who met to “contemplate new ways of student learning, different ap­ proaches to pedagogy and curriculum, and new ways of structuring collegial relationships.” Particularly noteworthy was the broad rep­ resentation o f various college constituencies, including academic deans, disciplinary fac­ ulty, librarians, and instructional technology specialists. Other participants and observers included members of the Mellon Initiative Team and ACM staff. Seldom, if ever, could participants remember a conference that in­ cluded all the “players” involved in curricu­ lum change and pedagogical discourse. This weekend offered a unique opportunity, en­ thusiastically embraced by participants. With more than a hundred educators sharing a wide spectrum of ideas, it is anticipated that these two days o f meetings will serve as a springboard for ongoing collaborative activities to enhance information literacy on each of the participating campuses and across the ACM. Inform ation th eo ry and practice Mary Jane Petrowski (head of Library Instruc­ tion, Colgate University) opened the confer­ ence with a keynote address on “Finding Common Ground: Information Theory and Practice,” in which she reviewed and reflected on information literacy through the lens of Christine Bruce’s The Seven F a c e s o f In fo r m a ­ tion Literacy. She was joined in this plenary session by David Spadafora (president, Lake Forest Col­ lege) and Kim Tunnicliff (president, ACM), in setting the tone for subsequent discussions on the ways technology is impacting peda­ gogy and what it means to be truly literate in a discipline. A discipline-based approach Five sessions followed the keynote address with each one building on previous discus­ sions, broadening the interdisciplinary dis­ course, and providing a spectrum of models for promoting information literacy at liberal arts colleges. About the author Elizabeth O. Hutchins is coordinator o f library instruction a t St. O laf College in Northfield, Minnesota, e-mail: hutchine‹ãstolaf. edu C&RL N ew s ■ M a y 2001 / 507 ACM conference attendees (left to right): Jim Cubit (Lake Forest College), Joy Pike (Center for Educational Technology), Mary Jane Petrowski (Colgate University), Karen Williams (Ripon College), and Sarah Lohnes (Center for Educational Technology). Session I, “Being Liberally Educated in the Digital Age: A View from the Disciplines,” featured three presentations by professors of English, biology, and communication stud­ ies. Gina Hausknecht (associate professor of English, Coe College) jump-started the con­ versation by exploring the challenge inher­ ent in developing a critical pedagogy for teaching the humanities online. Participants were challenged with queries of: How might we develop a critically engaged technologi­ cal pedagogy? Is the Internet a mall or a library? Do hot links, in making all informa­ tion equal, discourage independent think­ ing? Issues of evaluation and intellectual prop­ erty were raised and continued to be topics of interest and concern during the week­ end. Subsequent presentations by professors of Biology (Robert Wallace, Ripon College) and Communications Studies (Adrienne Christiansen, Macalester College) addressed “Promoting Scientific Literacy Among Under­ graduates in the Age of Electronic Informa­ tion” and “Information Literacy Through Teaching Argument Analysis.” The second session, “Information Literacy at ACM Colleges: Meeting of the Minds,” of­ fered discipline-specific break-out sessions that provided participants with the opportu­ nity to exchange views on the challenges and opportunities embedded in promoting information literacy. These were lively in­ terchanges that allowed for in-depth discus­ sions on the different ways in which information literacy may be implemented. There was also a clear commitment to hav­ ing the librarians and IT spe­ cialists as part of these conver­ sations. Faculty/I ibrarian/IT p artn ership s Naturally these discussions led to the third session’s emphasis on partnerships among disci­ plinary faculty, librarians, and in stru ctio n a l te c h n o lo g is ts . Spanish, history, and education professors demonstrated ways in which collaboration with IT staff has enabled the incorpo­ ration of innovative uses of tech­ nology into curricula. Projects were wide-ranging, including research on 200 years o f American urban g ro w th (M ic h a e l E b n e r an d D ia n e Snedden, Lake Forest College), production of multimedia casebooks by students teach­ ers (Jean Ketter and Alex Wirth-Cauchon, Grinnell College), and innovative uses of software in Spanish (Sylvia Lopez, Beloit). In addition, a panel o f four St. Olaf fac­ ulty— two librarians (Elizabeth Hutchins and Kris MacPherson) and two psychology pro­ fessors (Charles Huff and Bonnie Sherman)— traced the evolution of a 20-year partner­ ship between the College Libraries and the Psychology Department, a collaboration that has incorporated team-teaching, shared cur­ riculum development, and joint participation in grants. The role of the college library This session’s panel of four library directors (James Cubit, Lake Forest College; Samuel Demas, Carleton College; Jea n Dohham, Cornell College; and Jeff Douglas, Knox Col­ lege) addressed the future o f ACM libraries and what each deemed the appropriate roles of libraries on college campuses. There was a general consensus that libraries were sig­ nificant in offering cross-disciplinary gath­ ering places; supporting a culture of inquiry; maintaining quality resources frequently unique to individual campuses and curricula at a time when the digital culture may be- 508 IC & R L N ew s ■ M a y 2001 . . . it w a s im portant to have cam pus-wide support fo r inform ation literacy so tha t it m ay becom e an institutional priority w ith strong adm inistrative backing. come “the unexamined norm”; and focus­ ing on the process of learning through the lens of information literacy. Cross-campus collaboration was considered critical. With many of the stimulating sessions rais­ ing more questions than answers, brain­ storming roundtables in the evening focused on the question of “What are the necessary conditions for a college to successfully imple­ ment a strategic plan for an information lit­ eracy campus?” There was a general agree­ ment that it was important to have campus- wide support for information literacy so that it may becom e an institutional priority with strong administrative backing. A 21st-century lib eral edu catio n Future collaborative efforts with information literacy will be a natural outcom e o f this conference. Session V ’s panelists Elizabeth H ayford (p r e s id e n t, ACM); Mary J a n e Petrowski librarian, Colgate University); Su­ san Perry (Mt. H olyoke College/M ellon Foundation consultant); Brian Rosenberg (dean, Lawrence University); and Jam es Schwartz (dean, Grinnell College) offered a vision o f a shared future as they explored what it m eans to get a liberal education the early 21st century. The co n fe re n ce ’s unique exchange o f know ledge across disciplines and areas o f expertise will serve as a m odel for future conversations among ACM disciplinary fac­ ulty, librarians, and instructional tech no l­ ogy staff. It is anticipated that with Mellon Foundation support, ACM colleges will be involved over the next three years in a series o f inform ation literacy workshops addressing institutional and pedagogical is­ sues. Also, with Mellon support, ACM and Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) will be establishing a Midwest T ech n ol­ ogy Center, which will advance an under­ standing o f the use o f technology for teach­ ing and learning. ■ View these choice articles from Biomacromolecules today - for F R E E - at http://pubs.acs.org/biomac Detecting llie Slmpe Change o f Complex M acrom olecules during Their Synthesis with the Aid o f Kinetics. A New Lesson from Biology ■ Virgil Percec and Marian N. Holerca Engineering the Extraceũidar Matrix: /I Novel Approach to Polym eric BiomaterUds. 1. Control o f the P hysical Pwperties o f Artificial Protein Mat rices Designed to Support Adhesion o f Vascular Endothelial Cells • Eric R. Welsh and David L. 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