ACRL announces Information Literacy Consultants

Contact: Meredith Parets


(312) 280-2515


mparets@ala.org

ALA News Release


For Immediate Release


November 2000

ACRL announces Information Literacy Consultants

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) has appointed a team of librarians from California State University—San Marcos to serve as ACRL Information Literacy Consultants. ACRL has defined the role of the consultants as one of providing infrastructure to leverage the efforts of librarians, faculty and others in higher education to advance the information literacy agenda. The consultants will work with existing ACRL information literacy projects, develop a framework for expanding programs in response to needs and create a core of baseline information. The ACRL board has appointed an Information Literacy Advisory Committee to work closely with the consultants, helping them set priorities and identify needs.

ACRL was awarded a two-year grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to conduct a pilot study addressing the assessment of student learning outcomes using ACRL’s
Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. The ACRL Information Literacy Consultants will also serve as project leaders for the grant.

“ACRL is committed to being the leader in providing information literacy resources and programs that will help students become discerning, thoughtful and productive information consumers,” Executive Director Althea Jenkins said. “The work of the ACRL Information Literacy Consultants will help us reach that goal.”

The consultant team is composed of Gabriela Sonntag, coordinator of the Information Literacy Program; Ann Fiegen, business librarian; Judith Downie, adjunct librarian; and Marion Reid, dean of library and information services at California State University – San Marcos.

ACRL, a division of the American Library Association, is a professional association of academic librarians and other interested individuals. It is dedicated to enhancing the ability of academic library and information professionals to serve the information needs of the higher education community and to improve learning, teaching and research.