MLA-EBSCO Collaboration for Information Literacy Prize
Thanks to a generous grant from EBSCO, the Modern Language Association confers up to two annual awards of $500 each for coursework developed in collaboration between department faculty members and academic librarians in literature, language, or related disciplines. The award recognizes successful integration of the disciplinary objectives of the course with learning objectives in information literacy, as defined in the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.
Prizewinners will be honored at the awards ceremony during the MLA convention, and the winning submissions will be deposited in CORE, the Open Access Repository for the Humanities, with the award money shared equally between the participating course instructor and librarian.
Submissions for the 2024 cycle are due by 15 June 2024 and should represent courses taught in the current or previous calendar year.
2023 Winners
John Venecek, University of Central Florida, and Barry Mauer, University of Central Florida, LIT3212: Research and Writing about Literature
Leah Knight, Brock University, and David Sharron, Brock University, MARS4P01: Sources and Methods in Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Submissions
Before submitting any materials, please consult the FAQs page. If you have questions about the prize that are not addressed on the FAQs page, please contact the MLA’s office of programs (awards@mla.org).
All submissions must include the following as a single PDF file:
- A completed cover sheet that includes a reflection (no more than 1,000 words) addressing the seven points of reflection listed on the cover sheet below.
- An overview of the course syllabus (no more than four single-spaced pages) that includes the course description, method of evaluation, and any other information relevant to information literacy instruction.
- An assignment (no more than four single-spaced pages) that best represents how information literacy was taught to students and assessed; a grading rubric may be included as part of the assignment.
Please name the single PDF file according to the following naming protocol: Institution_lastname_lastname
Note that “institution” may be an abbreviation and that last names for all submitters should be included, separated by underscores.
Submissions that do not adhere to these guidelines will not be considered.
Cover Sheet
Course designator and number
Course title
Course level (undergraduate or graduate)
Course dates
Institution
Department(s)
For each submitter (there should be at least two: an instructor and a librarian)
- Name
- Title
- Department, program, or library
Additional information (any other information about the course you think would be illuminating; e.g., was this a new course? a revised course? part of a newly implemented curriculum?)
Reflection (no more than 1,000 words) on the following:
- IL Objectives: How information literacy objectives, as defined in the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, were integrated into the course;
- Collaboration: How the librarian and course instructor worked together to integrate information literacy into the course; contributions and participation by both individuals should demonstrate an equal partnership in the building and delivery of the information literacy curriculum.
- Class Composition: Range of preparedness or prior knowledge among students in the class with regard to both the subject matter and information literacy skills.
- Content and Design: Learning goals for students, how disciplinary and information literacy instruction and practice were integrated to enhance student learning in both areas throughout the course, the knowledge and skills transferable to other disciplines, and information about specific teaching materials and strategies.
- Student Impact and Assessment: Disciplinary and information literacy outcomes and how progress toward them was assessed.
- Instructional Impact: How the experience of teaching this class will affect the collaborating partners’ instruction and curriculum practices going forward.
- Reusability: If the course required access to library resources specific to the institution or available only through an institutional subscription, how the course might be adapted.