There is much work to be done, and some notable efforts are already underway. I'd like to share with you a few of the many collaborative initiatives on our campus that seek to engender the information literacy of our students. UWired was created to provide resources and support to help find effective ways to use technology in teaching and learning at the University of Washington. Partners in the UWired collaboration now include Educational Outreach and the Office of Educational Partnerships. One of the UWired collaboration's primary goals is to develop strategies to promote information literacy.
Linked courses are one strategy that appears to work well.
Linked courses offer undergraduate students the opportunity to learn important skills in classes that are linked to courses in a disciplinary field. Let me take a moment to review four types of linked courses at the University. The first type of Linked Courses provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to take an information resources seminar in conjunction with a large lecture class. Librarians collaborate with faculty to develop and deliver instruction in locating, evaluating and using information in the context of a particular academic subject. Seminars may use such tools as online discussions and peer-reviews, and cover topics such as evaluation criteria, copyright issues, use of library databases and Web searches.