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November 2001 Council on the Libraries minutes

Meeting Minutes: November 08, 2001

Present: Jim Aronson, Chair, Richard Lucier, Malcolm Brown, Teoby Gomez, Doug Irwin, Bill Hickey, Bill Garrity, Barry Scherr, Ehud Benor, Richard Callahan, Joy Kenseth, Robert Ditchfield, Cyndy Pawlek (rec), Larry Levine

Welcome to the newest member: Richard Callahan, class of '03.

New Business:

1) Proposal for Quiet Reading Area for faculty

The Council discussed the request from a number of faculty members for a separate quiet reading room/workspace in Baker/Berry Library. Many requests come to the library that deal with space and facilities, and Richard shared a number of examples with the group. He urged Council members not to think of this request in isolation, but to consider the full spectrum of needs from the Library's user populations. He also stressed that Baker/Berry is still a construction zone, and suggested it would be necessary to have the project completed before beginning to make decisions about changes in the building program. Council members agreed there may be a variety of solutions to the faculty's request, and were interested in better understanding the building layout. Richard will give tours to Council members before the December meeting, when this discussion will continue.

2) Response to request for feedback to the COP on the University report on "Distance Learning":
There is a new Ad Hoc committee on the teaching and learning center formed by the Provost which will address some of the issues and recommendations raised in this report.

Recommendations addressed to the COL:

• Recommendation that the Council on the Libraries and the Council on Computing merge to become a Council on Information Technology:

COL members were in agreement that the current move to two joint meetings between these two groups, as well as overlapping membership that already exists is sufficient for the time being. There are enough agenda items for each group that do not overlap to justify the existence of the two Councils.

• Recommendation: Dartmouth should develop an on-going University Seminar that deals with the topic of e learning.

Chris Jernstedt has established a group to implement this recommendation. Richard and Larry are both members, and a program for the year is under development. The first seminar will be held towards the end of November, and Council members will all receive invitations to participate.

Main Agenda:

Library Support for Teaching and Learning (Library's User Education Program)

Bill Garrity reviewed the definition and scope of a program in information literacy and digital competency. Dartmouth and the other Ivies are behind many other institutions in addressing the need to educate students to be effective in their information seeking behavior. Many libraries are actively partnering with faculty to teach students the ability to identify their information needs, learn how to locate and evaluate information that meets these needs, and how to appropriately use the information they find in their research. Libraries around the country have also developed programs in digital competency to help faculty keep up with changes in the information environment. These changes often require some level of technological skill for faculty to be effective in both the creation and management of information in their intellectual field.

The Library is doing a fairly broad range of activities in this area, but feels there is greater need for coordination and curricular development. Recruitment is underway for a Director of Education Programs to bring a new focus, and to initiate new programs. The library is looking for ways to partner with faculty in this area.

Discussion around the question of how best to teach these skills to students at Dartmouth raised the following points:

• Council members recognize a need for the library to do more in this area.

• the Freshman seminar program may not be the best time to teach this, since the program is focused on improving writing.

• the Sophomore summer, when students have identified their major and are often taking an introduction to the field may be a good time to link in teaching these skills tied into the discipline.

• one approach might be to establish a pre-requisite (not for credit) seminar as an entry into the discipline.

• refer students using Career Services to the library for "teachable moments" when they are researching careers, internships, and job opportunities

• tie into the FSP programs to help students with their research preparations before going overseas.

December Agenda:

Continuation of discussion on space in Baker/Berry