Accreditation - Hartnell College!!

Institutional Self Evaluation – 12-05-12
Library staff will continue to evaluate its collections, deselecting older materials, and
purchasing updated items that meet the curricular needs of students. Electronic publications
that can be accessed by distance learning students and students at the other campuses will be
given a high priority. Support for faculty requesting technical assistance will be provided.
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II.C.1.b
The institution provides ongoing instruction for users of library and other learning support
services so that students are able to develop skills in information competency.
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Descriptive Summary
Information skills are a college core competency, and the library‘s credit Library Instruction
courses emphasize development of the important research and evaluation skills needed by
successful college students. These courses build on students‘ research skills, aid in preparing
transfer students for academic university research, and facilitate life-long learning. During
the fall and spring semesters, the library offers five credit courses that teach students
information competency skills. The number of students completing information competency
credit courses has increased in recent years. (II.C.7)
The library also offers faculty-requested orientations that emphasize specific discipline
resources and/or search techniques. These orientations teach basic information competency
skills to students. While the number of presentations has decreased slightly, the number of
students attending these presentations has increased. (II.C.8)
The library typically offers drop-in workshops every semester. With the retirement of the
Student Services Librarian in spring 2011, the workshop schedule has been reduced.
The faculty librarians have worked for years to institute an information competency
graduation requirement for students. In 2003 the Academic Senate adopted a definition and
proposal relating to information competency. In 2007 the Academic Senate passed a
resolution establishing an information competency graduation requirement. Also in 2007 the
Academic Senate passed a resolution approving General Education/Institutional Outcomes,
including information skills. In 2010 a subcommittee of the Academic Senate recommended
a path to implementing information competency. The recommendation included the best
practice that students enroll in information competency classes early in their college careers
so as to gain the most value from the classes and so that they might build on the skills learned
and developed in their Library Instruction classes, and use them in their other courses. The
information competency recommendation has not been implemented, and quite often
enrollment in information competency classes has not been at the beginning of a student‘s
college education. (II.C.9, II.C.10)
Self Evaluation
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