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Information Literacy Grant

The information literacy grant from the Oberlin College Libraries supports innovative collaborations between librarians, archivists, and faculty to develop students’ information literacy and library-based research skills.

Information literacy refers to a set of integrated skills and practices focused on the discovery, evaluation, and interpretation of information; a critical understanding of how information is produced, valued, and distributed; and the ethical use of information to create new knowledge.

Purpose

At a time of information abundance and advances in technology, such as generative AI, as well as the rapid distribution of misinformation and disinformation, we see information literacy as essential to our educational mission at Oberlin and our students’ personal, academic, and professional lives.

Although Oberlin students may have been introduced to basic information literacy skills and concepts in their first-year seminar, students benefit from meaningful, repeated opportunities to practice and reinforce their understanding. 

This is especially important as students transition into their majors and upper-level courses in which they may learn about disciplinary information sources and search tools; how disciplinary information is produced and disseminated; and related economic, social, legal, and other issues.

To support the redesign of courses to include a focus on information literacy with librarian collaborators, the Oberlin College Libraries will award up to two grants in an academic year, available for fall or spring semesters. One grant will be reserved for a 100-level course; the other is open to 200-level courses and above.

Faculty grant recipients will receive a $1,000 stipend. The librarian/archivist collaborator will receive $1,000 in professional development funds.

Once the course has ended, grant recipients will be asked to submit a 1-2 page project summary before receiving the stipend.

Eligibility and Selection Criteria

  • Eligibility: Faculty interested in redesigning a 200-level and above course to focus on information literacy are encouraged to apply.

  • The course redesign must include: activities, assignments, or large projects in which students can develop their information literacy and research skills; a meaningful collaboration with a librarian, and an assessment of the redesign and its impact on student learning related to information literacy.

  • Criteria for selection include: depth of the information literacy integration into the course, level of collaboration between the faculty member and librarian, feasibility, and quality of learning outcomes and identified assessments.

Deadline 

  • Fall 2025 courses: April 20, 2025

  • Spring 2026 courses: November 3, 2025

Faculty should meet with their potential librarian or archivist collaborator before the application deadline. 

Application Process

To apply for the grant, please write a two to three-page description that addresses these areas:

  • Project Statement: A detailed description of the course; the anticipated number of students; when the course will run; how you plan to redesign the class with an information literacy component; and possible activities, assignments, or projects.

  • Collaboration: A plan that identifies a specific librarian collaborator, how you will work together, and your individual responsibilities.

  • Timeline: A timeline for the project’s implementation and completion.

  • Assessment: A set of learning objectives focused on integrating information literacy into the course/assignment and a description of a planned assessment of the redesign’s impact on students’ information literacy.

A single PDF developed by the faculty member and librarian should be submitted via email to Clinton Baugess (cbaugess@oberlin.edu), Information Literacy and Assessment Librarian.

Contact

For questions or additional information, please contact Clinton Baugess at cbaugess@oberlin.edu or (450) 776-5026.

Examples

FYS-100 level

Synthesizing information. Seeking to strengthen students’ ability to synthesize sources and create an annotated bibliography and literature review, students will complete a new sequence of scaffolded assignments in which they will need to analyze and evaluate sources closely. Students will develop a research question and design a study of their own. The course will include class sessions with a librarian and co-created rubrics for the annotated bibliography and literature review. The class will include a new focus on peer review and workshopping as students practice developing a research question.

200-300 level

Analyzing sources. Students will gain experience engaging with non-textual sources for their final paper. These will be identified in collaboration with a librarian/archivist. Students will complete a new series of assignments that will be designed in collaboration with the librarian/archivist, requiring close examination of different source types, such as photographs, posters, sketches, and art objects. Students will gain experience engaging with primary and secondary sources and writing for a public audience. They will create a new final project, a public-facing exhibition online catalog rather than a traditional research paper.

400 level

Research within the discipline. Students will expand their understanding of research within their discipline by exploring the methods and evidence researchers have used throughout the discipline’s history. They will do a close analysis of a key researcher in their disciplines, their work, and their impact on the field. Class sessions and individual research consultations with a librarian will be integrated into the class in order for students to gain experience using disciplinary research tools and engaging with research literature. Students will understand the ethical and legal principles that inform research and gain insight into citation practices as a dialogue in which some voices have been marginalized.