Susan Kane, Associate Professor of Art
Barbara Prior, Head, Clarence Ward Art Library
The project will be co-lead by the Art Librarian and a Faculty Coordinator chosen from among the Art History Faculty.
The goal of the project is for Art History majors to be able to locate, evaluate and use research tools. They will also learn the concepts and skills unique to Art Historical research. This will be accomplished by incorporating Information Literacy (IL) throughout the curriculum:
In order to achieve these goals a number of steps must be undertaken:
Competencies appropriate for Art courses at the 100 level (where no research paper is required) and the 200+ levels (where research papers are required) have been developed. The 100 level Art History competencies are appropriate for students at that level and general enough to be applicable in a variety of disciplines; they should be transferable to other courses and majors, an important point, since not all student taking 100 level Art History courses become majors.
Having majors take ART 301 (or some variant of it) will introduce them to the concepts and skills needed for Art Historical research at the point in their college career when they need it most. Our current thinking is to change this 1 credit course from a full-semester to a module 1 course, thereby allowing students to complete ART 301 before beginning their research papers. This will maximize the immediate benefits of the course and provide needed relief toward the end of the semester.
A note on the role of the Art Librarian in this grant:
Subject specialist librarians (e.g., Music Librarians, Law Librarians, Medical
Librarians) have a close relationship with the departments they support. By
and large they represent disciplines with unique research concerns. For this
reason subject specialist librarians often teach research methods classes
(i.e., ART 301), an appropriate place to focus part of our IL efforts.
Unfortunately, since IL concepts are not currently systematically integrated
into the Art History curriculum at Oberlin College, students in ART 301 are
often ill-prepared to learn important advanced concepts (see appendix 1), hence
our proposal involves the Art History curriculum at several levels.
Likewise, research is a process that is best absorbed by active learning. Hiring graduates of ART 301 to work in the Art Library on nights and weekends will hone their research skills while increasing the help available to all students using the Art Library. Helping others with their research will be a valuable learning experience for ART 301 graduates.
This proposal is ambitious. For this reason we may need to extend the period for the project's completion. (Items that may be postponed are indicated in the timelines below.)
Spring 2001
Meet with faculty to plan future of ART 301
Work with faculty to incorporate IL competencies into 100 level art courses.
Determine funding for Reference Assistants
Oversee student assistant putting handouts on the web
Summer 2001
Revise ART 301
Revise handouts as needed
Fall 2001
Teach ART 301
Selection of ART 301 graduates for Reference Assistantships*
Winter 2002
Develop training program for Reference Assistantships*
Revise handouts as needed
Spring 2002
Train and oversee Reference Assistants*
Teach ART 301*
Meet with Art faculty to incorporate IL concepts into 200+ level courses
Summer 2002
Revise handouts as needed
Revise ART 301 as needed
*This may be postponed until Fall 2002
Appendix 1
Research Skill/Information Literacy Goals For Art History
Background:
Overall goal is for students to be able to locate, evaluate and use research tools. All Art History
students will know how to do a visual analysis.
100 Level Courses
For courses at this level students will be taught:
200 Level Courses
For courses at this level students will be taught:
300/400 Level Courses
For courses at this level students will be taught: