Developing a College of Nursing and Allied Health Information Literacy Program: An Interdisciplinary Process
Deborah Moore, College of Nursing, Northwestern State University, Shreveport, LA, USA and Laura Aaron, PhD, MSRS, BS, College of Nursing, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Shreveport, LA, USA.
Increasing emphasis is being placed on the academic community by University Boards and other agencies to produce information literate graduates. Faced with state mandates on information literacy, the Director of the Nursing and Allied Health Library and five faculty from the various programs within a College of Nursing and Allied Health (CONAH) formed the Information Literacy (IL) Quality Circle. Identifying relationships between information literacy, evidence based practice, and the nursing process, the group established a goal to design a plan to (a) assess information literacy gaps and needs, (b) guide faculty development, and (c) guide curricula enhancement. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the process used by the Information Literacy Quality Circle to accomplish the goals. An exhaustive literature review assured that the project was evidence-based and identified supporting resources. The literature search provided information to • clarify conceptual definitions of IL and EBP • identify other models for IL • identify standards for IL • define competencies required for IL and EBP Based on the literature review, the group’s collective professional knowledge and expertise related to both the contemporary teaching/learning and the health care environments, and a national needs assessment of nurses, the group synthesized a conceptual framework to guide the development of the IL plan. The result was the CONAH IL Plan for developing information literate individuals able to influence practice. To operationalize the framework, the Quality Circle integrated one model (Verhey), standards (The Association of Colleges & Research Libraries, NLNAC, CCNE), and competencies into the curriculum. Five standards were formulated and used to develop a matrix format to visually demonstrate how the standards and performance indicators were operationalized in core courses for the nursing and radiology technology programs. The Information Literacy Matrix will be presented with examples of outcomes, teaching content, and learning activities.