SL Models

I just read this article about a University of Cincinnati Clermont College service-learning class that successfully obtained $4,500 through grants to give to area agencies who help at-risk youth.  Read more:  http://www.uc.edu/News/NR.aspx?id=13767 The composition class served their community through research and writing, so it was of particular interest to me.  I hope to find out more about their research.  Stay tuned for more information on this project (I hope!).

In October, Jennifer Nutefall & I will lead an ACRL Webcast, Service Learning and Information Literacy: Models for Engagement. Details are available here: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/events/elearning/courses/servicel...

I am in Indianapolis at a Service-Learning Research Academy hosted by IUPUI & Indiana Campus Compact. The goal is to gather together faculty and staff interested in furthering the research in service-learning - in particular, "high quality" research. It's been a whirlwind few days - a lot of it is over my head, honestly. Quantitative and qualitative research methods, etc. At any rate, it's been highly stimulating. It's also non-stop - we even have homework at night.

I've been digging in the literature trying to find someone who had tried incorporating service learning and information literacy in upper-division subject specific courses. I'm not sure how this article escaped my attention for the last year - perhaps it's because it is outside of the library literature. "Reinventing the box: Faculty-librarian collaborative efforts to foster service learning for political engagement," was published in the Journal for Civic Commitment in January 2010 by Marcia Hernandez and Lorrie A. Knight at University of the Pacific.

Last week in class, our students spent time working in groups to revise their citations and annotations for the annotated bibliography and also begin to compile some recommendations based on their research.  We met with each team separately to check on their progress and make some suggestions about how to improve their citations and annotations and how to start writing recommendations.  Since our goal is for the students to experience all stages of information literacy, the recommendations they will write will be a way for them to synthesize the information they have found.