Orange Coast College

Library Instruction and Information Literacy

Thursday, November 05, 2009

By Vinta M. Oviatt
Instructional Services Librarian

Did you know that I’ve written for a library column in the “Coast to Coast” for the past twelve+ years? Did you know that I may not be writing regularly for this library column after this week?

I wrote about the library’s new media materials every week of each semester for nine years (1997 to 2006), continuing something that Carl Morgan had done as media librarian before me and joining Debbie Webb who has written about our new library books for more years than anyone can count. When I became the Instruction Librarian in 2006, I started a weekly column about the library’s instructional services. It has been a joy of mine to write these articles--to reach out to the campus community and to share and publicize all the exciting and important things going on in the library that support student success here at Orange Coast College.

But as you may have heard, starting this week I am the Student Learning Outcomes and Assessment Coordinator (SLOAC). Though I will continue to be the library’s Instructional Services Librarian and will continue to teach the Library 100 online class, most of the other instruction duties will be done by Seth Daugherty, one of our great part-time librarians. So, I feel that it is best to discontinue writing this column for now since I may not know all that is going on with the library’s instructional services. In addition, I think I will be very busy with other duties.

Faculty who want to request a library lecture, instead of emailing me, use the online lecture request available on the library’s web page under Instruction. It allows you to fill out all the important information such as the date and time(s) you prefer, type of lecture, topic(s), the room you prefer (the Lecture Room where the students pay more attention or the Lecture Lab with computers to give them hands-on experience), and the assignment (which can be attached). This form will automatically go to Seth and he will email you to confirm that the lecture is scheduled. You may also reach Seth Daugherty by telephone at (714) 432-5885, ext. 22345 for information on the lectures and workshops or contact the library reference desk at (714) 432-5900.

Knowing how to do library and information research effectively and efficiently in this Information Age is vital to student success. The OCC Library is here to help. In all our library lectures, workshops, reference desk sessions, and in our library course, Library 100, the librarians teach students to be aware of the wealth of resources available from the library, both in print and in our electronic resources, along with how to access, search, evaluate, and cite these resources, which are also the major goals of Information Competency.

Information about all the library's instructional services can be obtained from our web page at:
http://www.orangecoastcollege.edu/academics/library/Instruction+and+Help.htm