Reference Services Review

Purpose – The paper aims to describe the process of redesigning the American Cultural Studies 499 course in order to integrate information literacy (IL) and critical thinking outcomes into specific assignments. Since this research and writing proficiency course at Western Washington University have traditionally been taught by a librarian with background in the discipline, the paper also considers the challenges in communication between librarians and discipline instructors about the concepts of IL and critical thinking.

Design/methodology/approach – Reviews of the literature on IL across the curriculum and on partnerships between librarians and discipline instructors will be combined with an analysis of the structure of the 499 course and the relevance of various sets of learning outcomes to the course.

Findings – With more pressure on higher education to demonstrate the relevance and benefits of educational programs, this paper has the potential of enhancing communication among librarians and discipline instructors by considering the continuum between IL and critical thinking and the advantages of embedding IL or library research training into writing intensive courses.

Originality/value – Several proponents of IL across the curriculum have considered the challenges in communicating the importance of IL to discipline course instructors who usually emphasize “critical thinking” rather than IL. Since this 499 course has always been taught by a librarian, this paper can view this issue from the perspective of a librarian who is also the discipline instructor for this writing proficiency course.