Creating a Directory of Information Literacy Mapping in Health Sciences Disciplines

Background: Information literacy (IL) instruction permeates health sciences education. There have been numerous attempts to map IL concepts to each professional academic discipline to improve IL instruction and advocate for librarian involvement in the curriculum. The Medical Library Association (MLA) recently formed the Education Domain Hub. One of the Hub's first projects focused on creating resources for mapping IL concepts to program-specific educational standards and objectives, thus forming the IL Mapping Workgroup. The group decided to conduct an inventory of IL mapping efforts already in place, to encourage collaboration and reduce redundant efforts through a directory on the MLA website.

Description: The group’s first task was to inventory existing IL mapping efforts, whether they may be small scale, such as at a single institution, or larger scale, such as of an entire discipline. To create a list of IL mapping efforts, the group designed a survey to be completed by the contact person on each mapping project. The survey was designed by collaborative input from workgroup members and was approved by consensus before being tested in the Education Domain Hub. Following additional refinements, the survey progressed to the development of the prototype. The prototype will be tested by volunteers outside of the Education Domain Hub. The subgroup also devised a workflow to be implemented when creating and updating the directory of IL mapping efforts, which will be housed on the MLA website.

Conclusion: Once finalized, the prototype will be tested by volunteers who have undertaken mapping efforts to ensure the survey is both clear and functional. Following revisions, the survey will be widely distributed. It will remain available on the MLA website so future IL mapping efforts can be included in the directory. Ultimately the directory will serve as a resource for all information professionals involved in IL curriculum development and integration, whether by identifying potential collaborators, or by adapting existing IL mapping efforts to additional disciplines. The survey and directory will be accessible to MLA members as well as non-MLA members with a free MLAnet login. The Education Domain Hub will ensure the directory is marketed and kept up-to-date.