LBCC’s Proficiency

In 2007, twenty-one California community colleges had adopted local information competency graduation requirements. Of those, sixteen colleges (including Long Beach City College) offer a stand-alone library course to fulfill the requirement.

Why is this significant?

It should be applauded that LBCC adhered to the ASCCC recommendations despite the unfunded mandate, ensuring that students graduating with a local degree master an important 21^st Century skill.

Second, research in the field of library science indicates that stand-alone courses are one of the best methods to impart the knowledge practices related to information competency. At LBCC, the librarians have designed a suite of credit and noncredit courses that are designed to impart students with information competency skills.

• LIB1 & LIB601 Information & Media Literacy
• LIB2 & LIB602 Searching Databases
• LIB3 & LIB603 Academic Research Strategies

Student Testimonials

Asked how they felt about being required to take a course to satisfy the local graduation proficiency, students throughout LIB1 have expressed themselves as such:

“From what I have seen from these databases, I have been doing research all wrong. My entire student career has been based on skimming the surface and providing shallow papers to my teachers, explaining why the remarks on these papers have been, dare I say, very unremarkable.”  — LIB1 Student Winter 2018                                    

“I’ve been information competent my adult life, but not academically. Since I’ve began this class I have realized that there are a lot of resources I should have been using since I arrived at LBCC, many classes ago–this makes me wonder how much better I would have done had my academic information competency been stronger.” — LIB1 Student Winter 2017                                              

“I think LBCC requiring information competency is beneficial to all students. Knowing how to locate information is extremely important not only in school but in the working world. The ability to locate information is basically required in society today to be successful.”  — LIB 1 Student Fall 2015

“I definitely think it’s beneficial that we have Information Competency as graduation requirement to better guide us to our success in any area of our study. Even after reading the first chapter and viewing some of the videos, I thought to myself ‘I wish I could’ve seen this earlier in my college years, it would have helped me a lot and relieved some stress.’ I think it’s great that LBCC requires information competency, because it helps us students to excel in our work and better prepare us to be a university level type students.”   — LIB 1 Student Fall 2015

Resources

LBCC Catalog. Catalog of Courses, (2006-2007) Long Beach City College

Resolution. Information Competency, (Fall 1996 Resolution 16.2). Academic Senate for California Community Colleges

Paper. Standards of Practice for California Community College Library Faculty and Programs. (2010). Academic Senate for California Community Colleges

Paper: Information Competency: Challenges and Strategies for Development. (2002). Academic Senate for California Community Colleges

Paper. Information Competency in the California Community Colleges. (Spring 1998). The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges Counseling and Library Faculty Issues Committee

Paper. “Information Competency Graduation Requirement Programs: A Survey of Methods.” (2007). Shawna Hellenius, Consumnes River College. Academic Senate for California Community Colleges.

Paper. Information Competency in the California Community Colleges, (1998). Academic Senate for California Community Colleges 

Paper. Zurkowski, Paul. (1974). The Information Service Environment Relationships and Priorities. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. National Program on Library and Information Services.

Position. American Association of Community Colleges’ Board. (2002). Position Statement on Library and Learning Resource Center Programs.

Conference. High-Level Colloquium on Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning. (2005). Sponsored by the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), National Forum on Information Literacy (NFIL) and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)