School Librarians Dinah Warren (Waimea College) and Senga White (Southland Boys’ High School) will visit tomorrow as part of a proposal to develop a pilot information literacy programme to support transition to university.

There are a number of drivers for this pilot –

1. Recent NZ research by Emerson, L, et al (2014) identified information literacy as a critical success factor in transition from high school to university. They highlighted a gap in the  skills of high school students and the levels of information literacy required for success at university.
2. Student recruitment and retention, and community engagement are  strategic priorities for the UC in 2016.
3. A desire from high school librarians for closer working with tertiary libraries

Following on from a suggestion from the Library Committee and conversations with school librarians, the meeting tomorrow will introduce potential collaborators and be the start of planning for a pilot to deliver an Information Literacy programme for transition to university. Other UC collaborators included in the discussions are the School of Humanities, UCPathways and Academic Skills.

• Emerson, L, Kilpin, K and Feekery, A. (2014) Starting the conversation: student transition from secondary to academic literacy. Curriculum Matters, 10, pp. 94-112