ACRL seeks applicants for Institute for Information Literacy Immersion '07 Program
Contact: Margot Sutton Conahan
Manager of Professional Development
312-280-2522
For Immediate Release
September 28, 2006
ACRL seeks applicants for Institute for Information Literacy Immersion '07 Program
ACRL's first international Immersion program
hosted by the University of Manitoba
in Winnipeg, Canada; scholarships available
CHICAGO - The Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) Institute for Information Literacy (IIIL) seeks applicants for its first
international Immersion Program, August 5-10, 2007. The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada will host the program, along with contributions and support from the University of Winnipeg and Brandon University.
The Immersion '07 will provide four-and-one-half days of intensive training and education for academic librarians that will provide intellectual tools and practical techniques to help build or enhance institutional instruction programs.
Acceptance to the Immersion Program is competitive; participation is limited to 90 individuals.
The online application form and instructions can be found at
www.ala.org/acrl/events(Click "Immersion '07").
The deadline for application is
Friday, December 1, 2006.
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.
A limited number of partial scholarships are available for Teacher Track applicants only. Eligible applicants include new librarians who have been in librarianship for two years or less; minority librarians with five years or less of academic librarianship experience; and librarians employed at an institution serving under-represented minorities.
Betty Braaksma, information literacy coordinator, the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg states that the institution is, "thrilled to host ACRL's first international Immersion program and cannot wait to share the city's rich prairie heritage and a various cultural offerings." Winnipeg, located in the heart of Canada, is the capital city of the province of Manitoba. It is described as the "cultural cradle of Canada" and its central location makes it easy to get to with direct flights from many major U.S. cities. The Immersion '07 program coincides with Winnipeg's two-week long Folklorama festival, the largest and longest running multicultural event of its kind in the world.
Questions concerning the program or application process should be directed to Margot 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.
