September 8, 2008 Meeting of User Education Committee

Agenda not yet available.

Members Present: Melody Allison (10), Susan Avery (ex officio), Paula Carns (09), Bernice Harrington (09), Merinda Hensley (ex officio), Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe (ex officio) – Chair, Karen Hogenboom (09), Emily Love (ex officio), Lori Mestre (ex officio), Yoo-Seong Song (10), Ellen Swain (09), Nathan Yarasavage (10)

Members Absent: none

Additional Attendees: Melissa Bowles-Terry (Information Literacy GA)

1.  Welcome and Introductions – Lisa welcomed all of the new and returning committee members and provided an overview of the purpose of the group and her hopes for what might be accomplished in this coming year. Members each introduced themselves.

2.  Fall 2008 Meetings

• September 8, 10-11 (Library 428)
• October 13, 10-11 (Library 428)
• November 10, 10-11 (Library 428)
• December 8, 10-11 (Library 428)

3.  Committee Website – http://www.library.uiuc.edu/committee/usered/ – Lisa asked committee members to review the website. Minutes from user education committee meetings will be posted here and, when posted, members will receive an email letting them know. When you review minutes, please let Lisa know about changes you’d like to see made. Working groups are also expected to post their minutes to this website. Lisa will craft an agenda for the committee meetings in the week prior to the meeting. Please send Lisa any agenda items you would like to have listed.

4.  Instructional Spaces for the Long-Term – Lisa asked the committee to help her prepare for her discussion with Woolen-Molzen, the architectural firm creating a master plan for the Main and Undergraduate libraries. Lisa has scheduled a conversation with them for two hours on Friday to discuss our instructional space needs. For the purpose of the discussion, “long-term” should be understood as changes to the library space will be made over the next 5-10 years and that will persist for at least the next 40 years.

Main ideas that emerged from discussion:

• We need spaces that are technologically robust and flexible that can change over time as technologies change.
• Our instruction programs are growing and will continue to do so. We’re reaching a point that we’re unable to accommodate classes because we do not have enough space available. We’d like to have at least two classrooms in the Main Library and one more in the Undergraduate Library.
• In these classrooms, we’d like either to have a large and adaptable space with soundproof partitions OR two classrooms next to each other.
• One of the classrooms should be able to accommodate a class of 40-50 students. This space could also be used as a training space for library staff to be trained on new teaching technologies.
• The classrooms should be as flexible and reconfigurable as possible: separate temperature control systems for each room, reconfigurable spaces for plugging in computers, etc. Also, we’d like to have ID-based entry (rather than checking out a key).
• We would also like a space in which library faculty and staff could create high-quality instruction materials, with sound-proof walls, high-quality sound equipment, etc. Ideally, this would be part of an instructional unit suite where the information literacy coordinator and the digital learning librarian could have offices. It would also serve as a central place for other library staff (GAs and practica students) working on information literacy projects. There could be a resource center with books on teaching, library handouts, whiteboards, dry erase markers, etc. Would serve as a center for teaching in the library.
• Besides the large classrooms, we’d like group consultation spaces for groups of 5-10. These could serve multiple purposes: librarians meeting with groups working on projects, a practice presentation room, etc.
• We discussed the importance of creating a space for library staff to get instructional support – separate from the Scholarly Commons space that might provide instructional support for campus instructors. Librarians need their own space where they’re not in a support role for campus faculty.

Please send further feedback to Lisa.

5. Updates on Instructional Spaces Library 225 and 314

Slavic Seminar Room (225) – Everything is finished except the monitor, which is essentially a large television. It will not power up and so Library IT is waiting for a technician from the manufacturer to arrive and diagnose it.

314 – The Committee tentatively plans to visit the classroom during its October meeting. Computers were installed last week; however, the document camera has not yet arrived. The computer workstations still need to be imaged and then tested. The instructor desk will need to be replaced because of a number of problems (color, laminate, etc. are not what was specified). Issues that still need to be worked out are the scheduling authority and key checkout process. The room has 16 workstations and is designed to allow greater use of print materials complementary to electronic resources. Clickers will be purchased if there is sufficient money leftover from the 314 project.

5.  User Education Lunches – “Teaching Toss”  – In response to multiple requests for facilitated but informal opportunities to talk about teaching, Lisa is proposing a “Teaching Toss.” This event will be held twice a semester as a sort of modified pot-luck. Lisa will bring salad greens and utensils. Everyone who comes to the discussion will bring a topping for the salad. This will be an informal, community-building discussion space to talk about what people are doing with instruction. People could propose topics or ask someone to report on something they’ve been doing, but it will mostly be a very informal gathering. Lisa will set up some times.

6.  Goals for the Year – To prepare for a focused discussed at the October meeting, committee members are asked to identify what we need to accomplish this year – i.e., What does the library need us to do in order to move information literacy forward in the library as a whole? A complementary question is do we need to create different project groups? A review of 2007 working groups will also be on the agenda for the October meeting.

8.  Announcements/Discussion

• Eat and Talk forums – October 9 at Noon in Library 428: discussion/report on information literacy conferences and institutes (LOEX, LOEX of the West, anything else like it). Lisa, Merinda and Paula will be talking about conferences they have attended. Come if you can!
• ACRL National Conference registration opens today.

Respectfully submitted,

Melissa Bowles-Terry