The WVU Libraries’ Information Literacy Course Enhancement Program is focused on integrating information literacy into the classroom to enrich student learning. The program began as a response to the 2010 Plan and now addresses “engaging undergraduates in a challenging academic environment,” the first goal of WVU’s 2020 Strategic Plan.

Each of the selected participants will receive a summer stipend, or other relevant professional remuneration if 12-month faculty apply, and will work with the WVU Libraries’ Director of Instruction and Information Literacy and a teaching librarian to create discipline-specific active learning assignments that address information literacy concepts. The existing course syllabus will be revised to include several information literacy learning outcomes. The revised courses will be co-taught during the fall 2011 or spring 2012 semester.

Participants will also take part in a “Showcase of Information Literacy Learning Progress” forum during the academic year to share results and encourage similar initiatives across the disciplines. Visit http://libguides.wvu.edu/infolit and go to the Faculty Academy box to click on the posters of 2010 participants.

To apply for the program, visit http://wvufaculty.wvu.edu/r/download/85841. The deadline is 5 p.m. March 11. For more information, contact Carroll Wilkinson, Director of Instruction and Information Literacy, at 293-0308 or carroll.wilkinson@mail.wvu.edu.

“We’re trying to reach users,” said David Roth, Library Associate at the Evansdale Library. “They’re excited about mobile devices, so QR codes are a great way for them to access resources. Increasingly, information is mobile.”

QR codes look like a square version of the barcode. When scanned by a mobile device’s camera and decoder app, the digital link takes the user to a mobile website. The page can offer a coupon, a video, or information about a product.

Miriam Newman, a graphic design junior, uses her iPhone to reserve a study room at the Evansdale Library.

QR codes have been popular in Japan and other countries for years but are finally gaining in popularity in the United States. They’re showing up in magazines, catalogs, and on the doors of restaurants and other business.

Last March, during the Big East Tournament in New York, WVU used a QR code to direct people to a video promoting the University.

The WVU Libraries are using them to direct users to services available on the Libraries’ mobile webpage.

This semester, Evansdale Library began posting QR codes that enable students to reserve a study room, find materials on eReserve, find an available computer, and connect to the mobile webpage. The Downtown Campus Library has posted QR codes for finding a computer.

“QR codes bridge the gap between our physical services and the digital environment,” said Martha Yancey, Access Services Coordinator for the Evansdale Library. “We hope they will help our users.”

Once a student visits a page, it will remain on their phone until it’s deleted. Roth recommends students bookmark the mobile pages that they expect to use often. He expects students to especially appreciate the one dedicated to locating a computer.

“This is a great way to see what computers are open while you are on the PRT heading to the Library,” Roth said.