Why is Information Literacy Important?

The librarians at Bronx Community College are committed to building information literacy among our students and faculty. Information literacy brings together new and old concepts: critical thinking, research methods, technological insight, resource evaluation, active reading, and presentation styles and methods. Preparing students for lifelong learning in their discipline is a goal for the entire campus and requires collaboration among teaching faculty, librarians, and administrators. 

Information literacy is defined by the CUNY Council of Chief Librarians as being able to:

* Recognize when they have a need for information
* Identify the kinds of information needed to address a given problem or issue
* Develop a search strategy and find and evaluate the needed information
* Organize the information and use it effectively to address the problem at hand
* Use the information legally and ethically
Source : CUNY Council of Chief Librarians Information Literacy White Paper 4/16/2001

How the Resource Learning Center can help:

A one-period long Introduction to Library Resources by a member of the library faculty is available upon request. These classes can either follow the outline below or they can be tailored to meet your curriculum needs to help with research, book reports, term papers, speeches, etc.

• Description of the organization of the library and its services.
• Demonstration of the online catalog (CUNYPLUS) including keyword, title, and location search.
• Introduction to the World Wide Web including search engines and evaluation of Websites.
• Demonstration of how to search library databases (such as EBSCO Host) to find journal and magazine articles, how to access databases remotely, and how to retrieve results.
• The typical library research process will be described briefly including citation styles and academic honesty.
• An overview of RefWorks -- an online research management, writing and collaboration tool -- designed to help students and researchers easily gather, manage, store and share all types of information, as well as generate citations (MLA/APA) and bibliographies.

The Library Instruction Program includes several options. Faculty can choose one or another as they deem appropriate:

• Specialized subject lectures
• Research Strategies for CUNYPLUS and the World Wide Web

The Library Instruction Room is located in room 100 A in the G.S.L. Learning Resources Center, Sage Hall, first floor, and is equipped with 20 Internet-accessible computer workstations. Classes are limited to 30 students or divided into two sessions, if possible, as our classroom is limited to 20 workstations.

Scheduling Library Instruction Classes:

•  Faculty members wishing to schedule library instruction classes may complete the LibraryInstructionRequest.doc and fax it to (718) 289-6471, or call Katherine Parsons at (718) 289-5434 or LaRoi Lawton at (718) 289-5348.

•  Library instruction classes should be scheduled at least two weeks in advance.

2155 University Avenue Bronx, New York 10453 (718) 289-5346/5347/5429