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 In her article, Information Literacy and the
Engaged Campus, Patricia Senn Breivik
(2000) emphasizes that to help
students acquire competencies such as those identified in the
Association
of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Literacy Competency
Standards for Higher Education, partnerships must exist between
“faculty, who are subject experts, and librarians, who are information
experts.” As Information Literacy Librarian, Cris Prucha has fostered
these collaborations over the years to insure that students, during their
college experience and as lifelong learners, know how to find
information, critically evaluate and integrate it, and understand the
social, legal, and ethical implications related to its use. This April,
Cris will be honored at the Wisconsin Association of Academic
Librarians Conference as the first recipient of the annual WAAL
Information Literacy Award.
This award was established to recognize an academic librarian “who has
made innovative or significant contributions over the past year to
advance information literacy.” Cris collaborated with Emily Johnson,
Director of the General Education Program and Petra Roter, Dean of Students,
in planning UW-L 100 sessions where students are presented with problem
based learning library assignments that are provocative, timely, and
relevant. Students grapple with challenging issues, such as “Free
Speech” and “Islam and Terrorism.” Their exploratory journey requires
them to use key article databases, identify and evaluate web sites,
and find facts to support viewpoints. Using problem based learning
strategies, students are tuned in to the
process of finding, validating, and
using information, and they see
how powerful information can be.
The active learning in these classes falls within the context of
an overarching vision of how information literacy outcomes can be
built into the curriculum. Cris, in concert with library colleagues,
sketched out a plan identifying the stages at which students need to
acquire key information literacy skills. Consulting with the Faculty
Senate Library Committee, Cris refined the document, Recommendations
Regarding the Integration of Information Literacy into the General
Education Curriculum, which she and the Chair of the Faculty Senate
Library Committee presented to the General Education Committee. The
document serves as a foundational guidepost for planning and
implementing Murphy Library’s Information Literacy program.
Cris’s recent efforts have stemmed from a long history of working on
information literacy initiatives. She was a member of the WAAL
committee that drafted the Information
Literacy Competencies and Criteria for Academic Libraries in Wisconsin
(1998); this document served as a model for the ACRL Information
Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. In 2000, the
American Association of Higher Education (AAHE) Board voted to endorse
the ACRL standards. This is emblematic of an ever-growing recognition
of how central and essential information literacy instruction is to
insuring that students graduate with the skills they need to be
civically-engaged citizens. Cris’s instructional efforts, along with
those of her faculty collaborators and her colleagues in the library,
represent a significant contribution toward that end.
Anita Evans Library Director
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In 1986, Murphy Library, in cooperation
with the University of Wisconsin-La
Crosse Foundation, established an annual
award in recognition of notable
contributions to the library’s mission and
program. 
Named LibQUAL+, this survey was developed and
extensively tested by the Association of
Research Libraries (ARL); the survey
instrument has been used by over 700 libraries
since 2000.
The Grand Excursion 2004 will be coming to
La Crosse in June, and Murphy
Library-Special Collections is preparing
to meet it. The Grand Excursion 2004 is a
re-creation of an 1854 expedition from
Chicago to Rock Island, Illinois by
train and then by steamboat up the
Mississippi to St. Paul. The original
Grand Excursion focused national and
international attention on the upper Mississippi River
by showcasing development and immigration
opportunities. The Grand Excursion 2004
celebrates the renaissance of the upper
Mississippi River region; communities
all along the route from Rock Island to
St. Paul will host celebrations and
recreational, educational, and cultural
events.
August
Moon by Michael Blaser
