Information Literacy and the Academic Library:

One Stop on a Life-Long Journey

Abstract

Information literacy is often linked to life-long learning, but few colleges and universities reach out to the institutions that supply their students or admit their graduates. For this reason, Ventura County (California) educational institutions organized a summit to examine the state of information literacy, identify information literacy gaps within and across educational institutions, identify potential information literacy collaborations within and across educational institutions, and identify needed educational opportunities in the area of information literacy for educational institutions. Summit participants included librarians, faculty, teachers, and administrators from high schools, community colleges, and universities. The article focuses on summit content, format, activities, and outcomes. The summit’s unique format to stimulate dialogue, rather than just show participants how to do information literacy, was extremely informative. It was clear that expectations did not match what was actually being taught, or even believed to be taught, at other institutions. It was also clear that particular participants were doing some great things, but had never stopped to talk about them with their colleagues let alone others outside their institution. As a result, the event has led to several successful collaborations as well as some unexpected benefits for the academic library that hosted it.