Where Visual and Information Literacies Meet: Redesigning Research Skills Teaching and Assessment for Large Art History Survey Courses

Abstract

AbstractArt librarians who are responsible for information-literacy instruction programs face many of the same challenges librarians from other disciplines face, such as limited staffing to deal with increased requests for course-related library instruction, teaching large groups of students, and the assessment of instruction sessions. As subject specialists, art librarians are well positioned to collaborate with faculty in the design of research-based assignments that connect visual literacy to information literacy. This article explores how the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s Sloane Art Library took on these challenges and in the process improved its instructional program, increased assessment of student learning, and collaborated with faculty to transition from optional “library worksheets” to graded library-based research assignments.