ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ November 2000 / 905 COMMUNITY & COLLABORATION The Community Partnerships Toolki A “ how to” on the president’s theme by Julie Todaro W hile many may agree that collabora­ tion and partnerships betw een higher education environments and outside enti may be beneficial, not every institution has the commitment (at a variety of levels) nor the infrastructure to make initiatives work. Although identifying and researching part­ nership benchmarks is part of establishing partnerships, it is by no means the only part of the process. “Going out and finding oth­ ers” who have been successful does not guar­ antee a match between institutional and or­ ganizational goals, a similar commitment to process, nor comparable infrastructure. In fact, given the uniqueness of many colleges and universities, the broad diversity of com­ munities, and the changing nature of busi­ ness and organizations in the 21st century, it is reasonable to assume that only certain el­ ements of many benchmarks w ould transfer and translate to other interested possible part­ ners. With these issues in mind, the members of a l a ’s Committee on Information Literacy Partnerships began to work together to cre­ ate a num ber of ways to identify, gather, and disseminate information on partnerships in general and information literacy partnerships. While it is easy to offer programs and round up “the usual suspects” or those al­ tiers eady committed to all or part of the process, the challenge was to offer information and process to as broad an arena of individuals as possible in as many formats as possible. Although future articles will focus in depth on specific partnerships, background read­ ing, and national and regional programs, this article will focus on the Web-based Commu­ nity Partnerships Toolkit that offers individu­ als both content and process. As with any toolkit or “how to” informa­ tion, there are a variety of ways to organize information for the greatest possible use and understanding. In observing the earliest work­ ing groups of ACRL’s Institute for Informa­ tion Literacy (three years ago) and initial ALA programs, it became clear that w hen infor­ mation literacy, information literacy partner­ ships, an d especially those p artnerships among different types of libraries arose for discussion, a pattern emerged—more ques­ tions than answers. It is obvious that new information and ideas always bring questions, but where con­ tent and projects bring together seemingly disparate issues and beliefs, however, there About the author Julie Todaro is dean o f Library Services a t Austin Community College, e-mail:jtodaro@austin.cc.tx.us mailto:jtodaro@austin.cc.tx.us 906 / C&RL News ■ N ovem ber 2000 The too lkit Web site. always seems to be more questions then an­ swers. Given the realization that partnership is­ sues were “out there" but in vastly different situations and for vastly different reasons, toolkit designers choose to create a Web en­ vironment that first answered general ques­ tions. Using the “frequently asked questions” or FAQ design, content designers also cre­ ated questions and answers that peak curios­ ity, lead to the basic tools to learn about the benefits of partnerships, determine how part­ nerships might work for them, “observe” part­ nerships in general and in similar environ­ ments, and then determine if partnerships will work for them. The nature o f Web-based information and toolkits in general is a dynamic process, there­ fore those using the Community Partnerships Toolkit to investigate and design should also join the electronic list for ongoing announce­ ments as well as revisit the site periodically to note changes or visit “New.” Com m unity p artnership s toolkit The toolkit now offers basic information on partnerships, partnership benefits, forming partnerships, links to partnerships (both con­ tent summaries and Web links), links to in­ formation literacy Web sites, basic definitions o f issues, a description of a toolkit and how it can be used, scenarios to illustrate both process and success, links to basic back­ ground reading, feedback from participants at ALA programs and toolkit users, an intro­ duction to assessment, and press releases on the initiative. Specific FAQs include: • What is information literacy? • What is a toolkit? • What are community partnerships? • What are community part­ nerships for information lit­ eracy? • How do we form com­ munity partnerships? • How do we get partners involved? • How do partnerships work? • How do we know it is working? • How does one advocate for information literacy? • What are the benefits of information literacy partnerships? Future to o lk it content The New section of the toolkit outlines fu­ ture wants and needs identified by the di­ verse audiences in partnership discussions to date. Specific plans call for updates in the areas of assessment techniques, assessment data/results o f partnerships, sample budget information for a variety of partnership sce­ narios, additional scenarios indicating ben­ efits of partnerships, scenarios of successes and failures, specific attention to consumer h ealth / h ealth issu es p artn ersh ip s, and benchmarking partnerships that have been formed based on this initiative (both successes and failures) including projects designed based on the toolkit. Content from ongoing ALA programs will be included in the toolkit, as well as publicity and marketing informa- Besides future toolkit idwinterMdiscussion Attendactivities, a number o f programs are being planned for ALA Midwinter 2001. To hear more about how academic libraries are collaborating with their communities, please join us at the 2001 ACRL President’s Discussion Forum “Building Communities @ Your Library” on Monday, January 15 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in Washington D.C. Hear more about the benefits o f col­ laboration and partnerships in academic institutions and higher education, includ­ ing benefits, creating the infrastructure, specific examples of partnerships, and how to collaborate without new funding. C&RL N ews ■ N ovem ber 2000 / 907 tion librarians and community members can use locally. In addition, ALA's newest public relations initiative @ Your Library will be incorporated into sample PR for partnerships as well as a strong advocacy piece based on ALA’s LibraRy Advocacy program, i.e., “How to advocate for information literacy partnerships in your institution and in your community.” Help id entify partnerships Although a growing number of institutions have placed their partnerships on the Web, many more have outstanding programs that need to be spotlighted. Committee members need help in identi­ fying what partnerships are out there, includ­ ing those in the most rudimentary of plan­ ning stages, those farther along in the plan­ ning process, and those in progress. Send in fo rm atio n to Ju lie T od aro (jto d a r o @ austin.cc.tx.us) or Cerise Oberman (cerise. oberman@plattsburgh.edu). Toolkit users could benefit from learning about the most basic to the most advanced partnerships as well as from the volume of partnership activity and interest. Toolkit de­ signers will write summaries o f existing part­ nerships and will link to content summaries o f the partnerships with all types o f libraries. Toolkit address and location T h e to o lk it w ill b e h o u se d at http:// lib r a r y , au stin . c c .tx .u s / s ta ff/ ln a v a r ro / CommunityPartnerships/Toolkit.html during the next academic year to provide commit­ tee members the greatest and fastest access. Future plans for 2002 include moving it to the ALA site to increase visibility. Currently it is linked to Nancy Kranich’s ALA President’s page and to the ACRL Information Literacy Institute pages. ■ Letters to the editor Lone Ranger is not dead I take friendly umbrage at your killing off the Lone Ranger in the library sector of the intel­ lectual community (“The Lone Ranger is dead,” by Betsy Wilson, C&RL News, September 2000). Success demands collaboration? Collabora­ tion is what put McDonald’s between you and the local cuisine. Collaboration is what put your HMO between you and your doctor. Collabo­ ration has put the Disney version between your child and significant literature. Collaboration is what reduces writers and scholars to the role of “content providers.” Collaboration is what puts corporate values ahead of their effect on individuals. There may be problems that require col­ laboration (read politics) for their solution, but unless there is an individual to have the prob­ lem, it may be pretty destructive to claim that there is one. Think of how the church can col­ laborate on the problem of idolatry among the natives. OCLC may have required collaboration, but the books it helps you find that are worth read­ ing after a few years in the catalog are hardly ever collaborative works. The books worth reading after 50 years in the catalog, the books that are worth their shelf space in other than an archival sense , are the ones written by soli­ tary individuals. Literature, art, and, to a large extent, schol­ arship itself are created or conducted in exis­ tential solitude. A library that forgets the pri­ macy of the individual in its endeavors deserves to be merged quietly into the corporate knowl­ edge base.— Tony Wilson, H ighline Com m unity College, D es M oines, Iow a, tw ilson@ hcc.ctc.edu Ambiguity I was pleased to see “The Lone Ranger is dead” essay in C&RL News and look forward to future installments. I’m trying to develop a more col­ laborative view of the world here at the DeViy Columbus Library, and it’s great to know I'll have food for thought for the upcoming year! Your quotation regarding “ambiguity” was especially pleasing. As I read it, I looked to my whiteboard, one-third of which had recently been covered with an all-caps “AMBIGUITY,” and then to the wall above the whiteboard where a smaller, more decorative version of “Ambiguity!” now resides. I've now fulfilled a mission of which I’d been unaware: seeing a bit of the world as you do. Thanks for making my day!—B ruce Weaver, DeVry Columbus Libraiy bweaver@ deviycols.edu mailto:oberman@plattsburgh.edu mailto:twilson@hcc.ctc.edu 908 / C&RL News ■ N ovem ber 2000