The committee was formed in September of 2005 and charged to:

Provide leadership in maintaining a library-wide commitment to effective instruction.  Ensure that Library instruction is current and compatible with changing educational culture and information trends.  Promote unified Library instruction goals where appropriate.  Advise PSEC on appropriate instruction strategies and methods.  Facilitate or assist with providing educational opportunities for library instructors. Carry out specific planning tasks as assigned, such as supporting the work of allied initiatives (e.g. information fluency and assessment). Contribute to overall CUL public services priorities and planning as requested by PSEC.

During the first year the committee succeeding in carrying out the following activities:

Activities and Accomplishments

• Consulted with the CUL Priority Objective #3 Implementation Team on Information Fluency.
• Hosted a RefWorks training session, conducted by a RefWorks trainer.  Local RefWorks administrators met with the representative after the workshop for additional training.
• Met with Jesse Koennecke to learn about and provide feedback on WebBridge
• Coordinated CUL’s participation in Educator Professional Development Day, which had close to 1,500 registrants.  Olin, Uris, Adelson, and Mann libraries offered workshops that included approximately 70 participants.
• Tony has been serving on a CUL and CIT committee which has been working on the integration of library resources and services into Blackboard.  Links to the Library Gateway, Ask a Librarian, and RefWorks are now standard features of Blackboard as of Fall 2006.   The Instruction Committee members have provided feedback, suggestions and encouragement for these activities.
• Organized a panel during Professional Development Week entitled, “Instruction Construction,” focusing on credit-bearing library courses.
• Organized a meeting for CUL instruction coordinators to discuss activities that the committee can offer to enhance instruction throughout CUL.
• Organized a retreat titled Teaching with Technology.  The program included several presenters from CIT covering topics such as Use of Personal Response Devices - Polling (including a demo of their use), Tools for Assessment, Podcasting, and Use of Blogs and Wikis.
• Hosted the Library’s e-Services Fair in the Libe Café during orientation.
• Organized expanded use of instruction registration calendar by Management and Catherwood libraries.

These activities were accomplished in the 2005-2006 year by the following members:

Camille Andrews (2006 membership) 

Eleanor Brown (Liaison to PSEC)

Tony Cosgrave (Permanent Chair)

Thad Dickinson      

Deb Lamb-Deans                                        

Katherine Reagan                                         

Leah Solla

Kornelia Tancheva (2005 membership)               

Susanne Whitaker         

The committee now has several new members.  The first order of business is to plan our future activities.  A few ideas are listed below:

Future Activities:

• Plan brown bag lunch series on instruction issues for librarians.  Topics might include:
• • What to include and not include in a one-shot session
  • When and how to do assessment
  • Blackboard training
  • Marketing
• Organize another meeting of CUL instruction coordinators