The 2004 SCIL Open House will be held at California State University Fullerton's Pollak Library Room PL 130 from 9:00 am - 1:15 pm on January 30, 2004. The theme for this year's Open House is "Setting the Stage for Effective Library Instruction". This will be a forum for learning how to maximize learning opportunities before the instruction session begins. Registration is now closed; a registrants list is available.

We are excited to have four excellent sessions. The abstracts are below. We'll see you in January!

1. Developing Effective Library Assignments
   Christina Woo, UC Irvine
   
   This session will focus on workshops for faculty on developing effective library assignments. Ms. Woo will discuss tailoring the workshop to the campus environment, incorporating the ACRL Information Literacy Standards, and developing stronger partnerships between the library and the targeted department(s).
   
   
2. Setting the Stage for Effective Library Instruction with Writing
   Yvonne Nalani Meulemans, CSU San Marcos Judith Downie, CSU San Marcos
   
   This presentation will illustrate various methods used in library instruction that utilize student writing to facilitate the instruction, improve student learning, and provide assessment of our teaching and student learning. Examples of student writing about their research project will be shown to demonstrate how such information can inform the librarian and student. One method involves asking students to briefly write about their research project or list 3 questions they have about research at the beginning of the session. This can easily and quickly be integrated into a lesson plan, as well as be used when teaching in an environment that does not have computers for hands-on experience (as in a lecture hall or auditorium.) It is especially useful when students have not given much thought to their research topic before the librarian visits their class. Other methods that will be discussed can be used at the start of a session as quick, yet in-depth devices to provide feedback to students after the session has completed and give students a head-start on their research.
   
   
3. Dissecting a Database
   Cinthya Ippoliti, UCLA Biomedical Library Dominique Turnbow, UCLA Biomedical Library
   
   Dissecting a Database is a tool that was developed by the librarians in the Reference Division of the UCLA Biomedical Library to assist students in navigating new databases. This resource, and the subsequent in-class activity, arose out of a need to teach the constantly changing California Digital Library database interfaces. It was originally formatted as a print handout, but has been increasingly used as an in-class activity in many of our courses to foster student engagement and retention of general database concepts. We have used the exercise in various classes, one of which is Organismic Biology, Ecology, and Evolution, an upper-division life sciences course. In this session, students are challenged with identifying key elements, which range from default search features to truncation symbols, across a variety of databases. The goal of this activity is to provide students with the tools to utilize any kind of database, rather than to focus on the specific features of each database they encounter. In the future, we plan on creating an online tutorial to guide students in researching their topic in any type of database. We hope to incorporate this resource into our larger goals of promoting an information literate community on our campus.
   
   
4. Reinvigorating Library Instruction; Responding to the Curriculum
   Elizabeth Parang, Pepperdine University Melinda Raine, Pepperdine University
   
   Here at Pepperdine we spent years perfecting instruction goals, identifying suitable databases, constructing a virtual tour, creating a catalog tutorial, fine tuning ten-question quizzes, and writing appropriate exercises, only to find that database interfaces changed, interior architects rearranged, and required courses were exchanged. Librarians must constantly respond to faculty initiatives and mold library instruction to changing curriculum. Our proactive librarians seek out this information by initiating dialogue with faculty individually as well as in groups. We integrate new pedagogy and teaching tips from workshops and colleagues in order to more effectively engage students in the learning process. Pepperdine's instruction team meets over the summer to strategize the fall instruction program, incorporating new techniques and adjusting existing print and web-based materials. Our presentation will focus on working with faculty, including information on meetings with faculty groups and handouts prepared for them. We will also feature examples of instruction materials showing their 'evolution' over time, techniques we have tried to engage students at the start of a session, and examples of how we have adapted as first-year student options have expanded.