Library Instruction Program

Chemeketa employs an embedded approach for library instruction, rather than  offering stand-alone classes for credit.  The Library has a strong  commitment to reach students in all areas of the curriculum regardless of location or delivery mode. This  includes students that are more challenging to reach such as those enrolled in College Inside and College  Credit Now (CCN) classes.

• Reference and Instruction Librarians hold master’s degrees in Library and Information Science (MLIS) and are part of the college faculty
• The Library reference desk and online chat is staffed exclusively by faculty librarians
• Three full-time librarians and five part-time librarians provide reference and instruction services
  • Online
  • At the Salem and Yamhill Valley Campus libraries
  • At Chemeketa outreach centers and CCN locations

Program areas across the curriculum request  customized sessions on a variety of topics ranging from a brief orientation to sequenced, in-depth  instruction in research skills and tools.

• Writing and Social Science have specific Information Literacy (IL) outcomes and those are described in Appendix E - Outcomes and Criteria for Transferable General Education Courses in Oregon sections on Social Science, Writing, and Information Literacy
• For details about the relationships between library instruction and the writing program, please visit Information Literacy and Library Instruction in the Chemeketa Writing Program
• Some programs, such as Nursing, Psychology, Early Childhood  Education, History, Art, Electronics, Visual Communications, and ESOL, require specialized instruction to  meet program outcomes in critical thinking, evidence-based inquiry, career exploration, and discipline specific research skills.

Chemeketa librarians collaborate with classroom faculty to develop course-integrated, assignment-specific lesson plans. Librarians tailor instruction to integrate national and local information literacy outcomes, to support outcomes in other college programs, and to fit the needs of individual courses and assignments while supporting students in those classes. 

Librarians offer consultations and work with faculty on integrating research components into existing courses. Once a class has been scheduled, communication regarding the library instruction session(s) continues between the teaching librarian(s) and the classroom instructor. Library instruction sessions focus on

• Developing information literacy skills
• Navigating resources for research-based assignments

Our goal is to balance a collaborative, individualized approach with an awareness of program and course specific outcomes.

Chemeketa faculty librarians provide instruction aligned with national and regional Information Literacy core concepts and traditional standards, integrated within existing courses, customized to be assignment-specific, and designed to encourage transferable active learning. 

The Library Instruction Program uses the following Framework definition of Information Literacy from The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of The American Library Association:

Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning.

Details about the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy are provided here: Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. The following frames are interconnected and each is comprised of core concepts, knowledge practices, and dispositions:  

• Authority Is Constructed and Contextual
• Information Creation as a Process
• Information Has Value
• Research as Inquiry
• Scholarship as Conversation
• Searching as Strategic Exploration

For regional alignment purposes, library instruction is also influenced by the skills based descriptions of Information Literacy used in the Oregon Community Colleges Handbook and Planning Guide, Appendix E - Outcomes and Criteria for Transferable General Education Courses in Oregon. 

The definition of IL embedded and described in the Associate of Arts / Oregon Transfer Degree (AA/OT) is based on the American Library Association, Presidential Committee on Information Literacy Final Report definition from 1989: 

Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to 'recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.'

More detail on IL skills based standards and instruction is available here:  The ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. As noted on the ACRL website, these competency standards were originally approved in January 2000, but were rescinded by the ACRL Board of Directors on June 25, 2016, and they are no longer in force.

In addition to national and regional standards, library instruction is heavily informed by our ongoing articulation work with two and four year college and university partners. In implementing the ACRL standards in the transfer degree, drew upon articulation work such as the Oregon Information Literacy Proficiencies for College Students Who Are Ready To Begin Upper-Level Coursework from the Information Literacy Advisory Group of Oregon. Most recently we are participating with colleagues statewide to update the definition of Information Literacy in the AA/OT so that it more closely matches what we teach and acknowledges Information Literacy as a metaliteracy that is taught across the curriculum recursively, not just one or two specific moments.