Syracuse iSchool assistant professor awarded IMLS grant to assess information literacy

Megan Oakleaf, assistant professor at the School of Information Studies (iSchool), received a $280,550 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to measure information literacy skills of college students during three years of research starting in July 2010. Syracuse University will match the grant with an additional $126,815.

The research project, "Rubric Assessment of Information Literacy Skills," is designed to develop and test rubrics that evaluate student learning and information literacy, as well as faculty and librarian assessment skills, rather than relying solely on tests, with their inherent limitations.

Over the three-year grant period, Oakleaf will travel to 10 different universities to meet with 10 librarians or faculty members at each school. More than 100 samples of student work will be evaluated at each institution to evaluate the students themselves and how well librarians and faculty members assess student work. Part of the study's overall goal is to normalize evaluation of student information literacy and establish rubrics to measure teaching effectiveness in libraries.

The issue of library effectiveness is important, according to Oakleaf, because libraries need to demonstrate evidence their programs and resources are being put to good use and are contributing to the overall mission of the university.

Oakleaf will issue a call for participation to universities in September and will select five schools for the first year of research and an additional five for the second year. She said she hopes to have a diverse pool of schools and librarians with which to work.

Oakleaf joined the iSchool at Syracuse after completing her dissertation entitled "Assessing Information Literacy Skills: A Rubric Approach" at the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from which she holds a Ph.D. in information and library science. She also holds a B.A. in English education and a B.S. in Spanish education from Miami University, an M.L.S. from Kent State University. Previously, she was the librarian for instruction and undergraduate research at North Carolina State University, where she designed, implemented, coordinated and assessed the library instruction program.