LOEX-of-the-West 2010: Crossing Borders to Calgary … continued

Citation

Bowler, M. and MacMillan, M. (2011), "LOEX-of-the-West 2010: Crossing Borders to Calgary … continued", Reference Services Review, Vol. 39 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/rsr.2011.24039aaa.003

LOEX-of-the-West 2010: Crossing Borders to Calgary … continued

Article Type: Guest editorial From: Reference Services Review, Volume 39, Issue 1

In June 2010, Mount Royal University hosted librarians from across the continent for the ninth LOEX of the West Conference on Information Literacy Instruction. A complete description of the conference can be found in RSR 38(4) (Bowler and Macmillan, 2010), and conference materials and information are available on the LOTW 2010 web site (http://blogs.mtroyal.ca/lotw/). It was an exciting three days of presentations, conversations, and collaborations marked by the generosity of all participants with their time and ideas. Based on communications and requests for information since the conference, the work presented in the Spring, is being put to great use in the Fall, as librarians incorporate new ideas, GIFTS (Great Ideas for Teaching Students) and methods into their instruction.

A number of papers based on conference presentations were submitted for publication, and after undergoing double blind peer review, many have been accepted for publication by RSR. In the previous issue you will find ten articles covering topics in information literacy from innovation to assessment. In this issue, you will find papers that further explore the range of work in the field today. From using technology today’s students are already plugged into, to exploiting technology to overcome space and time, from the content of sessions to their delivery, and from traditional locations to new environments for IL instruction, these papers provide a sampling of an exciting, ever-evolving discipline, and a flavor of the rich discussions at LOEX of the West (If you missed 2010, be sure to watch for information about the next conference, LOTW 2012, June 6-8 at Woodbury University.)

Jennifer Hoyer’s paper “Information is social: information literacy in context” describes IL outside of the traditional educational environment. Her program is embedded within student projects in social justice issues based out of a non-profit agency.

Andrea Stanfield and Anne Barnhart describe ways of exploiting web conferencing software for instructional delivery in their paper “When coming to campus is not an option: using web conferencing to deliver library instruction”. Their session was an active hands-on exploration of the technology. Their paper describes projects using Wimba, which allows instructors to set up a sophisticated online classroom that allows for synchronous text, audio and video communication.

In another technology-based paper, “Inside the iPod, outside the classroom”, Susan Mikkelsen and Sara Davidson describe instruction that uses the technology most students are plugged into – literally. Developing a session that could be delivered through an iPod transformed a static class into an active, asynchronous, engaging learning experience. The article describes the implementation of the project and its assessment from faculty, library and student points of view.

Focusing more on the content of what we teach, “I’ve lost my identity – oh, there it is … in a style manual” by Sarah Park, Lorrie Mardis and Connie Ury explores a common phenomenon in current IL: the need for instruction about citation. This article provides a clear and comprehensive overview of the growth of citation concerns and questions among university students, and what librarians can do to address those concerns and questions. It describes the excellent work being done at Northwest Missouri State University that serves librarians, faculty and students through providing learning resources and experiences that can be integrated in classes and course web sites.

Michael Orblych and Michelle Dunaway describe the benefits of using assessment formatively to increase students’ awareness of their own learning and to improve instruction. “Formative assessment: transforming information literacy instruction” describes their work with MBA students that used both a pre-class exercise and in-class clicker surveys to gauge student understanding of particular concepts. The information from both assessments fed into the design of the session, and helped students understand and reduce gaps in their understanding of IL concepts.

We hope you enjoy these articles as much as we enjoyed hosting our colleagues for LOTW 2010 in Calgary.

Meagan Bowler, Margy MacMillanMount Royal University, Calgary, Canada