Musselman Library’s Reference & Instruction Department has an active and growing information literacy (IL) program based on faculty-librarian collaboration rather than institutional curriculum. While a few information literacy session sequences are taught within a specific course, the vast majority of instructional sessions are traditional “one-shots.”

Because formal instruction time with students is limited, instruction librarians take care to include active learning and other participatory pedagogies to improve learning and increase the likelihood that students will return to the library, the reference desk, and the library website. Incorporating personal response devices, or “clickers,” into IL sessions is another technique for engaging students during a very short window of opportunity. [excerpt]