At CSUSM our objective has been to infuse information literacy into the courses through library-use assignments. To begin assessment we have collected the syllabi and the assignments from all the lower-division GE courses since the program began in Fall 1995. This will be continued each year for on-going assessment.  We have developed a checklist based on the CSU core competencies.   We have evaluated assignments using this checklist highlighting all skills and learning outcomes. Faculty have been asked for permission to post these assignments on the web and also to serve as contacts for faculty from other campuses.  Moreover we have designed and will maintain this website as part of the on-going assessment and as a resource for all who are interested in information competency instruction.

We have met with the GE faculty to discuss information competencies and the assignments.  This has helped us better understand their objectives for the assignment and also help clarify skills and competencies attained.   This has also informed us on possible collaboration for the future. These interviews are strengthening Librarian/Faculty collaboration in the GE. It also allowed us to discuss the characteristics of an information competency assignment.

We have conducted focus groups comprised of  students who began as First Year students in 1995 and who   graduated in May 1999. The focus group allowed us to interview these students and develop a better understanding of their attitudes toward the General Education in general and towards the information literacy components of these courses. We have developed a test to measure the core competencies of these students and used this as a pilot for future assessment.   Because of the complexity of information competencies in a real-world situation another aspect of the test for the students included a hands-on problem-solving activity.  Informed by the faculty interviews, we developed a test where students will be given a set time to solve a problem designed to show their use of competencies and information skills in a real-life situation. Not just the "right" answer but the process they use for this test will form part of our analysis.