Attendees: Gwen Dobbs (UCO), Lori Mardis (ECU), Bev Joyce (OU), Pat Williams (ODL), David Oberhelman (OSU), Carolyn Torrence (SWOSU), Nancy Draper (Hillsdale), Cheryl McCain (OU), Ona Lou Britton (UCO), Abbey Warner (UCO), Jason Dupree (OBU), Rachel Butler (OKCCC), Joshua Achipa (SNU), Deborah Thompson (OU), Jay Ramanjulu (OKCCC), Linda Bollenbacher (MBC), Anna Schick (MBC), Gerald Hickman (Seminole State College)

Minutes Taken by: Lori Mardis

Topic: Using the Library for Academic Success-An Elective Library Instruction Credit Course
Presenter: Beverly Joyce, Ph.D., Instruction Coordinator/Professor at the University of Oklahoma

OBIC President Gwen Dobbs called the meeting to order and minutes of the 12/3/99 meeting were approved.

A tentative course syllabus was passed out for the Elective Library Instruction Credit course. Efforts to improve retention started the “Gateway to College Learning” course. The retention rate went up 20% with this program. This program tried to provide freshman bridges from high school to college. The course was not mandatory unless a student was accepted to the university on probation. This course provided an orientation to college life (study skills, financial aid, writing center, campus police, lecture on sex in college, five hours of community service, health center, and attendance of two cultural events). The class also came to the library for a mandatory one-hour session. When the 52 sections of the Gateway course came to the library for the one-hour session, all of the reference librarians needed to become involved with the instruction. “Find It Now”, a separate class from "Gateway to College Learning", was offered the following year. Both were offered through University College, but Dr. Joyce taught the only section of "Find it Now." To aid in the study skills section of the library seminar, the book Toolkit for College Success, was used. The instructor also took the students to the Writing Center and a few cultural events. The book, Information Skills for Academic Research, was used for the library skills section of the class. Examples of assignments and activities included:finding a book in the library, call number discussion, sending journal articles/citations through email, finding articles on reserve, occasional reading tests on the textbook, writing about the textbook in the journal, and at least one office visit with the instructor. Beverly Joyce did not need to promote the class because of her University contacts with advisors. An informal evaluation of the class was conducted during the last class period. This class period was a pizza party at Dr. Joyce’s house. The feedback from the evaluation stated that students did not like the journal entry assignments and wanted more time spent on where to look for specific research questions. Students also really liked the money and time management section of the class. The time the course was offered was managed around Dr. Joyce’s schedule.

The meeting adjourned at 2:05 p.m.