Information Literacy Initiative

Digital technology has made much of our academic work faster and easier and has provided tools for delivering information to students more efficiently, conveniently, and engagingly. It has also presented new challenges, however, that most of us have only begun to recognize and address. The sheer volume of information now available and the unevenness of its quality and reliability present strategic and critical challenges that today's student must learn how to manage. A metaphor to describe the ability to manage such challenges that has gained currency in recent years is information literacy.

Article by Douglas L. Gragg, "Information Literacy in Theological Education,"

in Theological Education 40/1 (2004): 99-111, posted here with permission of the editor.

Powerpoint Presentations by John Weaver from 2006 ATLA Conference:

Databases and Search Engines for Lifelong Learning

Special Collections and the Seeds of Knowledge and Virtue

Information literacy instruction aims to upgrade students' proficiency in finding, evaluating, and using information in the digital age. In most cases this aim is best achieved through the collaborative efforts of teaching faculty and librarians. With this in mind, an information literacy initiative was launched at the Candler School of Theology at the beginning of the 2004-2005 academic year, involving the collaboration of reference librarians at the Pitts Theology Library and Candler faculty teaching core courses.

For each of the courses in this program, a member of the reference staff of the library serves as a "course librarian" and offers instruction and other forms of assistance geared specifically toward course content and assignments. In collaboration with professors, course librarians have also created websites for some of the courses, identifying both print and electronic resources useful for finding, evaluating, and using pertinent information. A list of courses for which such pages have been developed is maintained on the library's website.

For more information about this program, contact Dr. John B Weaver, Head of Public Services, Pitts Theology Library, Emory University, 505 Kilgo Circle, Atlanta GA 30322.