Information Literacy
1. The Policy:
Information Literacy is the set of skills required to locate, retrieve, analyze, utilize, and communicate information. Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary intends to make wise learners and servants of Jesus Christ and the church by increasing the capacity of its faculty, staff, students, and other constituencies to: access and find information in its various forms, including electronic, print, and audiovisual media; employ appropriate forms of analysis of that information; effectively communicate and disseminate the information, insights, and conclusions that arise from the discoveries that result; put skills of information retrieval and the insights gained to wise use in service of Christ and the church.
2. Goals and Correspondence with Institutional Mission:
The Seminary seeks to encourage a commitment to lifelong learning and transformation, which means:
1. the awareness and readiness to use information to make wise decisions
2. preparedness to use tools to access information above and beyond simple search engines
3. commitment to use resources and tools requisite for particular major or specialized study
4. capability to evaluate information in order to serve specialized study, the church and community.
3. The Policy’s End:
Desired Outcomes of the Information Literacy Program:
i – Recognition that information exists in a variety of forms and is capable of being interpreted and understood through a variety of measures.
ii – Demonstrated ability on the part of students and faculty to evaluate, synthesize, and apply information in the various degree fields taught by seminary faculty.
iii – Awareness and use of information-based resources such as EBSCO, the ATLA databases, JSTOR, and others.
iv – Capability of disseminating and communicating new discoveries and insights, and the capacity to show others how these discoveries were arrived at.
v – Cognizance and use of discipline-specific information-based resources.
vi – Appropriate levels of information literacy for faculty, supporting staff, and administration. In other words, a comprehensive commitment by the entire seminary to education in information literacy.
B. Assessment: How will the seminary measure and assess its desired outcomes?
i – Faculty must take a leading role in reviewing the specialized areas in which they teach, and part of this review process should inquire into faculty effectiveness in communicating information literacy skills. The senior seminar paper/thesis will be the primary assessment measure.
ii – MBBS survey of all entering and graduating students.
iii – Commitment to use assessment tools such as the GSQ, course evaluations, and faculty surveys.
iv – WASC Accreditation. Self studies and external assessment such as those called for by for ATS (Association of Theological Schools), in combination with library efforts such as information literacy assessment tools.
v – Syllabus reviews. MBBS will review course syllabi to make information literacy an implicitly sought goal in all classes, and an explicitly sought goal in a few classes such as Mentoring 1 (IS 505) and Biblical Interpretation 1 (BI 505).
vi – Database usage and circulation reports run by Hiebert Library and regular reports to the seminary administration and Board of Trustees.