Thomas G. Kirk

Speaker biography

Thomas G. Kirk is the Library Director and Coordinator of Information Services at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. He is currently Chair of ACRL’s Best Practices in Information Literacy Programming Project and a member of ACRL’s Advisory Committee for the Institute for Information Literacy. He is a past recipient of ACRL’s Miriam Dudley Bibliographic Instruction Librarian Award, past President of ACRL, and served on ACRL’s Task Force on Academic Library Outcomes Assessment. In addition to being listed in Who’s Who in America, as well as Who’s Who in Education, he is a member of the editorial boards of many professional journals such as College and Research Libraries. He has published in many professional journals and has presented at numerous conferences, conducting two sessions at ACRL’s National Conference in 1999. Those presentations were entitled Academic Library Assessment and Academic Library Best Practices in Delivering Instruction: Report on the Activity of the Institute for Information Literacy.

Presentation abstract

"Information Literacy - What's All the Fuss About?"

This talk will provide an overview of information literacy and an analysis of recent professional activities, especially the work of various Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) groups. The role of information literacy in regard to library assessment and accreditation will be explored, as well as the importance of collaboration between faculty, librarians, and other educators on campus. The speaker will conclude with a critique of the current status of information literacy and its possible future.