ACRL seeks applicants for Institute for Information Literacy Immersion '06 Program

Contact: Margot Sutton Conahan


312-280-2522


msutton@ala.org
For Immediate Release


October 4, 2005

ACRL seeks applicants for Institute for Information Literacy Immersion '06 Program

CHICAGO - The Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) Institute for Information Literacy (IIIL) seeks applicants for its national Immersion Program to be held at Simmons College in Boston, July 28 - August 2, 2006. Acceptance to the Immersion Program is competitive; participation is limited to 90 individuals.
The
deadline for application is December 2, 2005.

Immersion '06 will be four-and-one-half days of intensive training and education for academic librarians. Immersion '06 will provide academic librarians with the intellectual tools and practical techniques to help build or enhance institutional instruction programs. A faculty of nationally recognized librarians will offer the program. Program sessions fall into two separate tracks:

Teacher Track: This track focuses on individual development for those who are interested in enhancing, refreshing, or extending their individual instruction skills. Curriculum includes classroom techniques, learning theory, leadership, and assessment, framed in the context of information literacy. Participants selected for the Teacher Track will prepare a description of an instructional situation and a related presentation in advance of the Immersion program. During Immersion, participants will revise the presentation based on feedback from colleagues and faculty.

Program Track: This track focuses on developing, integrating, and managing institutional and programmatic information literacy programs. Participants selected for the Program Track will develop individual case studies in advance of the Immersion program. Change dynamics, systems thinking, institutional outcomes assessment, scalability, and the integration of teaching, learning, and technology will be used to analyze the various programmatic challenges presented in the case studies. Immersion participants will be expected to develop the case studies into action plans for implementation at the home institution, and possible inclusion in a "best practices" report six months after the program.

Complete details about the program as well as the online application form and instructions can be found at
www.ala.org/acrl/events (Click "Immersion '06").

A limited number of partial scholarships are available for Teacher Track applicants only who are new librarians who have been in librarianship for two years or less; minority librarians with five years or less of academic librarianship experience; or librarians employed at an institution serving under-represented minorities.

Questions concerning the program or application process should be directed to Margot Sutton Conahan at 312-280-2522;
msutton@ala.org.

ACRL is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), representing more than 13,000 academic and research librarians and interested individuals. ACRL is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products and services to meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand the role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning and research environments.