Team Participants:

David M. Rodriguez Library Department Chair GCC 53125
Dianna Dwyer Collection Manager GCC 53108
Russ Sears Reference Librarian GCC 53110
Charlotte Cohen Instructional Services Librarian GCC 53106
Frank Gonzalez Media Services Librarian GCC 53120
Cate McNamara Reference Librarian GCC 53122
Debbie Gilsdorf Floor Coordinator GCC 53124
Scott Kozakiewicz Office Coordinator, Media Services GCC 53119
Judy Kiefer Access Services, Library Assistant GCC 53117
Johnnie May English Department Faculty (Adjunct) GCC 53625
Mike Aragon Information Services Computer Technician GCC 53462
Heidi Lee Information Services Computer Technician GCC 53309
June Krafft Lead Computer Operator GCC 53519

Quality:

By responding to the dynamic and shifting needs of the students within our community, the Go! Gauchos (http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/lmc/instruct2/instruct.htm) project ensures accessibility to library resources regardless of the physical location of the student. Utilizing the Internet, the Go! Gauchos project brings library information to the student. Because information literacy is necessary for a student’s success, Go! Gauchos is strongly encouraged throughout English 101 curriculum. As such, students incorporate library resources into their papers and projects, thus increasing their reading, writing, cognitive and research skills.

Efficiency:

The Go! Gauchos on-line library tutorial resides on the Internet. As such, this provides a high level of flexibility for the student. We recognize our students’ diverse obligations to family, work, community and school. Therefore, the effective utilization of time is an important element of a student’s success. Viewing Go! Gauchos through the Internet enables our students to learn how to effectively use information resources at their convenience.

Effectiveness:

The Go! Gauchos project adds value to Glendale Community College while reducing costs. Part of the on-line tutorial requires the student to test their knowledge on information literacy. Using Perception software, each quiz is unique with a variety of questions. No two quizzes are alike. The Perception software grades each quiz for the student and the student is provided with immediate feedback concerning the results of the quiz. Immediate feedback to the student increases the effectiveness of the learning process. Automating these tasks has reduced the over all cost of the instructional and testing process.

Learning:

Go! Gauchos through the Internet is accessible to all students within MCCD as well as the community at large who want to enhance their information literacy skills. However, the primary audience of this tutorial is our student body, and the testing portion of the tutorial is limited to students enrolled in ENG101 or ENG102 at Glendale Community College. Using the Go! Gauchos tutorial helps facilitate the achievement of information literacy goals for our students. The Go! Gauchos tutorial has been discussed primarily with the English Department faculty at Glendale Community College. However, Go! Gauchos has been discussed at several MCCD committee meetings. The attendants at those meetings were highly encouraged to provide information regarding the project to their respective colleagues.

Creativity:

Part of the creative process for Go! Gauchos was to incorporate and meet the guidelines and standards of information literacy established by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL.) The Go! Gauchos tutorial is successful in meeting these standards. (http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilstandardlo.html)

Go! Gauchos is an effort to continuously improve information literacy throughout our community. This creative endeavor facilitates the integration of technology into the curriculum through a friendly non-threatening environment.

Timeliness

Go! Gauchos is a recent innovation at the Library Media Center, but it has been used sufficiently to demonstrate its effectiveness and potential as a feature in our information literacy program. The flexible design of the tutorial will allow modifications and improvements as the information environment changes.

Collaboration

Staff from the Library Media Center, the English Department and the Innovation Center collaborated in the creation of this tutorial project. This cooperative effort promoted a deeper understanding of the respective educational goals, philosophies, and technical competencies required to bring the tutorial to fruition. Close and constant inter-departmental communication was an integral feature in the development of the tutorial, and this will continue as it is modified in the future.

Replication

Numerous academic institutions have developed on-line information literacy tutorials, and we relied heavily on the program developed by the Cornell University as well as concepts used at the University of Texas at Austin (TILT), James Madison University, Arizona State University West and the University of Arizona. The uniqueness of the GCC tutorial is its focus on the needs of the community college student.

The tutorial is adaptable for use by other institutions in that the instructional modules reflect common information literacy skills required by college students. The Library Media Center willingly allows other colleges or libraries to replicate the program; however, Perception is a proprietary testing software for which the license must be purchased.

Executive Summary

Go! Gauchos (http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/lmc/instruct2/instruct.htm) is an on-line information literacy tutorial that combines instructional modules and a quiz to improve student research skills. This collaborative effort of several departments addresses the information literacy needs of students on campus as well as by distance learners.