California Academic & Research Libraries

SCIL's Guide to Effective Library Assignments

Visit the SCIL Works homepage to access materials from past events.

2024 Events

SCIL Works 2024
Listen and Empower: Enhancing Empathetic Communication in Library Instruction

Friday, February 2, 2024
Online

This annual mini-conference offers librarians the opportunity to hear about interventions, both small and large, best practices, innovative pedagogy, creative solutions, successes, and failures in incorporating DEI and anti-racist strategies into instruction and other related areas of librarianship.

Visit the SCIL Works 2024 page for details about the past event, along with presentation materials and collaborative notes.

2023 Events

SCIL Works 2023
More than a checkbox: Moving beyond DEI into justice

Friday, Febraury 10, 2023
Online

This annual mini-conference offers librarians the opportunity to hear about interventions, both small and large, best practices, innovative pedagogy, creative solutions, successes, and failures in incorporating DEI and anti-racist strategies into instruction and other related areas of librarianship.

Visit the SCIL Works 2023 page for details about the past event, along with presentation materials and collaborative notes.

2022 Events

SCIL Showcase: CARL Conference
From Beginner to Inherent Practice: A Panel on Incorporating Critical Theory in Library Instruction

Friday, April 1, 2022
Online

SCIL sponsored an Interest group session at the 2022 CARL Conference.

SCIL Works 2022 Instructional Mix-Tape: Mixing tracts from In-person and Online Instruction

Friday, January 28, 2022
Online

This annual mini-conference offers librarians the opportunity to share their best practices, innovative pedagogy, and creative solutions with colleagues. SCIL Works 2022 focused on the many ways librarians have combined their skills built during the pandemic in online instruction with our new in-person services.

Visit the SCIL Works 2022 page for details about the past event.

2021 Events

SCIL Spring Program 2021
Academic Librarian Burnout: Preventions - Re-entry - Interventions

Friday, May 7, 2021
Online

The SCIL Spring Program is a bi-annual program that offers librarians the opportunity to engage in a discussion and workshop centered on a topic of interest. The 2021 SCIL Spring Program allowed librarians to hear about interventions and preventions, and engage in discussions regarding academic librarian burnout. The program was lead by Ana Guimaraes and Christina Holm, where they presented their research: "Academic Librarian Burnout: Analysis of a Survey Using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory".

Visit the SCIL Spring Program 2021 page for greater details about this past event.

SCIL Works 2021
Unmute Your Mic: Student Engagement and Outreach in a Virtual World

Friday, January 15, 2021
Online

This annual mini-conference offers librarians the opportunity to share their best practices, innovative pedagogy, and creative solutions with colleagues. SCIL Works 2021 focused on the many ways in which instruction librarians have shifted their instruction and outreach to an online realm while maintaining a similar amount of connection and engagement.

Visit the SCIL Works 2021 page for details about the past event.

2020 Events

Summer 2020 Meetup
It's 5:00 somewhere!

Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Online

SCIL sponsored a "Zappy Hour" (Zoom Happy Hour) virtual game night where participants played several rounds of online games, including "Drawful" where everyone received a chance to draw and guess!

SCIL Showcase: CARL Conference
Authentic encounters of the instructional kind: From Practitioner Pedagogue to Interstellar Intersectionalist

Thursday, June 4, 2020
Online

SCIL sponsored an Interest group session at the 2020 CARL Conference.

SCIL Works 2020
Disaster Planning: Bouncing Back From Instructional Fails

Friday, January 17, 2020
California State University, Long Beach

This annual mini-conference offers librarians the opportunity to share their best practices, innovative pedagogy, and creative solutions with colleagues. SCIL Works 2020 focused on the many ways in which instruction librarians have adapted and bounced back from lesson plans that didn't quite work as expected.

2019 Events

SCIL Spring Program 2019
Becoming a Teacher: Identity, Agency, and Collaborating with Faculty

Friday, April 26, 2019
California State University, San Marcos

The SCIL Spring Program is a bi-annual program that offers librarians the opportunity to engage in a discussion and workshop centered on a topic of interest. Co-Sponsored by CSUSM University Library, the 2019 SCIL Spring Program focused on the many ways in which instruction librarians help students from a variety of backgrounds overcome library anxiety. The program was lead by Allison Carr, Academic Transitions Librarian in the Teaching and Learning Department at CSUSM.

SCIL Meetup at ACRL

Thursday, April 11, 2019
Cleveland, OH

SCIL hosted a meetup at Pizza 216 during the 2019 ACRL Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. Several people gathered for some slices, pints, and good conference talk.

SCIL Works 2019
Instruction RX: Prescriptions for Helping Students Overcome Library Anxiety

Friday, February 9, 2019
California State University, Dominguez Hills

This annual mini-conference offers librarians the opportunity to share their best practices, innovative pedagogy, and creative solutions with colleagues. SCIL Works 2019 focused on the many ways in which instruction librarians help students from a variety of backgrounds overcome library anxiety.

2018 Events

SCIL Summer LitWalk

Thursday, August 9, 2018
Downtown Los Angeles

SCIL hosted a meetup in downtown Los Angeles, which included a visit to the LAPL Central Library.

SCIL Showcase: CARL Conference
The Diplomat, the Showman, the Advocate, and Other Hats: Instruction Librarian Roles in Times of Change

Saturday, April 14, 2018
Pullman San Francisco Bay Hotel

SCIL sponsored an Interest group panel at the 2018 CARL Conference.

SCIL Works 2018
Where Virtual Meets Reality: the Intersection Between Instruction and Our Virtual Campus Communities

Friday, February 23, 2018
West Los Angeles College

This annual mini-conference offered librarians the opportunity to share their best practices, innovative pedagogy, and creative solutions with colleagues. SCIL Works 2018 focused on the intersection between instruction and our virtual campus communities.

2017 Events

SCIL Summer Field Trip
Comic Conference for Educators and Librarians: Library Panels.

Thursday, July 20, 2017
San Diego, CA

SCIL Librarians teamed up with the San Diego Public Library (SDPL) to discover ways comics can play a role in education and literacy. Comic Conference for Educators and Librarians offered free Library Panels. After the event, SCIL hosted an informal discussion and networking mixer.

SCIL Spring Program 2017
Designing Information Literacy Instruction: The Teaching Tripod Approach.

Friday, May 12, 2017
University of California, San Diego

Co-Sponsored by UC San Diego Library, Learning Services Program, SCIL's Spring Program featured Dr. Joan Kaplowitz who helped attendees discover the interconnectedness of learning outcomes, learning activities, and assessment, and how these elements fit together in her Teaching Tripod Approach along with other insights to provide engaged learning for both face-to-face and online learners.

SCIL Works 2017
Let's Get Together: Collaborating with Our Academic Communities Beyond the One-Shot

Friday, February 10, 2017
California State University, Dominguez Hills

This annual mini-conference, offered librarians the opportunity to share their best practices, innovative pedagogy, and creative solutions with colleagues. SCIL Works 2017 focused around the theme of collaborating on instruction within our learning communities of faculty, staff, student support units and academic administration. SCIL Works 2017 offered an opportunity for instruction librarians to highlight successes and challenges related to engaging with faculty and other campus groups beyond just the one-shot.

2016 Events

SCIL/LAUC-I Day Conference Experi(m)ent(i)al: Developing Process-oriented, User-focused Methodologies in the Library

Friday, August 19, 2016
UC Irvine

A half-day event at UC Irvine, “Experi(m)ent(i)al: Developing Process-oriented, User-focused Methodologies in the Library” was sponsored by LAUC-I and SCIL.

This free professional development event included a keynote speaker, breakout sessions, and lightning rounds.

Library Tours

Friday, July 15, 2016
Glendale, CA

SCIL hosted tours of two unique libraries in Glendale, CA: The Disney Consumer Products Creative Resource Center and the Brand Library and Art Center.

SCIL Works 2016
Crossing the Threshold: Engaging with the ACRL Framework

Friday, February 19, 2016
California State University, Fullerton

This annual mini-conference offers librarians the opportunity to share their best practices, innovative pedagogy, and creative solutions with colleagues. SCIL Works 2016 focused on the Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. SCIL Works 2016 offered an opportunity for instruction librarians to highlight how they have engaged with the ACRL Framework.

2015 Events

Southern California Library Tour and Lunch

Friday, August 14
Southern California Library

Read more about the Southern California Library, which contains resources on local social justice struggles. We have requested to look at materials on blacklisted L.A. teachers during the McCarthy era. Lunch will follow at a nearby pupusería.

SCIL Networking Lunch

Friday, July 17
Oceanside, CA

SCIL hosted a networking lunch on July 17th at Bagby Beer Company in Oceanside.

SCIL Spring Program 2015

Friday, May 8
University of Southern California

Featuring a workshop run by Dr. James Elmborg on Critical Information Literacy and its context in today’s college setting.

SCIL Works 2015
Let me take you higher: How libraries use High Impact Practices to engage students

Friday, February 20, 2015
West Los Angeles College

This annual mini-conference offers librarians the opportunity to share their best practices, innovative pedagogy, and creative solutions with colleagues.

2014 Events

When OA Meets IL: Bridging Open Access and Information Literacy to Enhance Student Learning

November 7th, 2014
11 AM to Noon, Pacific Time

This joint SCIL/SCORE (Scholarly Communications and Open Resources for Education) online meeting explored the pedagogical intersections between information literacy (IL) and Open Access (OA). For more information regarding the event and the link to the archived presentation, go to the event page.

Beers, Cheers, & Tears!

SCIL hosted two networking events in July. Beer & Networking on July 16th in Santa Monica, and Coffee & Networking on July 25th in San Diego.

JPL Library and Archives Tour

June 20, 2014

SCIL arranged for a tour of the library and archives at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

SCIL Works 2014
All Things Digital: Instruction Tools and Services in the Virtual World

Friday, April 25, 2014
West Los Angeles College

This half-day workshop offered an opportunity to learn from your colleagues who have discovered and developed innovated ways to incorporate technology into their instruction practices.

2013 Events

San Diego Mini-Maker Faire

Join SCIL in attending the San Diego Mini Maker Faire!

Saturday, December 7, 2013
Del Mar Fairgrounds

SCIL/IE LEADS Workshop: Instruction 101

What You (Probably) Didn't Learn in Library School
November 22, 2013
University of California, Riverside

Networking Lunch

SCIL hosted a networking lunch at Pizza Port (San Clemente location) on Friday, July 26, 2013.

SCIL Works 2013
Hack your library!

Friday, February 1, 2013
Kellogg Library,  CSU San Marcos

2012 Events

Tour of Getty Research Library

SCIL organized a tour of the Getty’s Research Library on Friday, July 20.

Interest Group Lunch

CARL hosted an Interest Group Lunch at the 2012 CARL Conference.
Saturday, April 7th
San Diego Mission Valley Marriott

SCIL Works 2012
Back to Basics: The Ubiquitous One-Shot

February 3, 2012
The Claremont Colleges, Claremont, CA

2011 Events

Summer Social

On July 15, 2011, SCIL hosted a social at the San Diego Zoo Library, followed by a lunch at nearby BJ's Restaurant and Brewery.

The event included:

• a tour of the San Diego Zoo Library and the Beckman Center, which houses the Institute for Conservation Research
• about an hour of wandering around the Safari Park, followed by a short animal presentation by a zoo keeper 
• lunch at BJ's Restaurant and Brewery

Spring Program 2011
Bringing Design Online: A Hands-On Workshop Applying Instructional Design Principles to Digital Spaces

May 13, 2011
CSU Fullerton

SCIL Works 2011
Keeping it Real, Keeping it New: Pushing Boundaries in Challenging Times

January 7, 2011
National University, San Diego, CA

Presentation and Lightning Round Abstracts

Handouts and other conference materials

2010 Events

CARL Conference, April 8-10 in Sacramento

• Thursday, April 8, 1:30-5:00 p.m.: SCIL presented Disturbing the Sediment: Dusting off the Information Literacy Competency Standards at the CARL Preconference. View the Presentation and Proceedings online.

• Saturday, April 10, 12:00 - 2:00 p.m.: SCIL Dutch Treat Interest Group Luncheon at Kabul Kabob Cuisine.

SCIL Works 2010 - Practice, Practice, Practice (P3): Reinvigorating ILI Pedagogy was held February 5, 2010 at the CSU Chancellor's office in Long Beach.

Presentation and poster abstracts

Presentations

• Reinventing "Sessions" I: “Designers – Make it Work!” – Brett Bodemer, Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian, CalPoly, San Luis Obispo
  • PPT presentation
• Reinventing "Sessions" II: “They’re Never Too Old: Developing Child’s Play into College Content” - Christina Sheldon, Instruction and Reference Librarian, CSU Los Angeles
• Rethinking Relationships: “Strengthening Information Literacy Instruction Through New Campus Partnerships" – Pamela Jackson, Information Literacy Librarian, SDSU
• Reinterpreting/Reframing the Standards: “The Best of Both: Blending Information Literacy Standards from Two Disciplines” - Carol Perruso, Senior Assistant Librarian and Barbara Kingsley, Journalism Instructor, CSU Long Beach
  

Posters

• Reinventing "Sessions" I: "Concentric Circles: Using a Holistic Approach to Refocus ILI Initiatives" - Julie Artman, Chair, Collection Management Division; Doug Dechow, Coordinator of Reference and Instruction Services; Annie Knight, Coordinator of Brandman Library Services; Stacy Russo, Chair, Public Services Division, Chapman University 
• PDF of poster (This PDF is an image of the actual poster. Please use zoom options, if needed, to view the text.)
• Reinventing "Sessions" II: “Using Action Research to Reinvent Your Practice” - Stephanie Rosenblatt, Education Librarian, CSU Fullerton
• Rethinking Relationships: “Writing and citing: the relationship of student portfolios to library instruction” – Sally Bryant, Head of Access Services; MaryAnn Naumann, Reference Assistant; Elizabeth Parang, Coordinator of Serials; Melinda Raine, Associate University Librarian for Public Services and Programs, Pepperdine University

2009 Events

The SCIL Summer Retreat: Food for Thought (and Action) was held at Occidental College on June 19. Reports and information available online.

SCIL Works 2009 was held at California State University, San Marcos on February 6. It was entitled, "The Daily and the Visionary": Employing Reflective Practices to Increase Our Engagement and Success.

2008 Events

The SCIL Mid-Year Report, covering January 1-June 30, 2008

SCIL Works 2008 was held at the Claremont Colleges on January 25, 2008. The theme was "Putting Theory into Practice: The 'Why' Behind Instructional Strategies". Reports and presenter materials are available online. 

2007 Events

SCIL sponsored the 2007 LOEX (Library Orientation Exchange) conference in San Diego, May 3-5, 2007. For more information see our LOEX homepage. 

The theme of SCIL Works 2007 was "21st Century Librarianship: Classroom Management in Today's Information Age". It was held on Friday, February 2 at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Pictures and reports are available online.

2006 Events

The 2006 Spring Program, "Assessing the One-Shot", was held on May 19 at Scripps College (of the Claremont Colleges). It was a follow-up program to  2005's event by the same speaker, Dr. Jeff Liles. Dr. Liles's Powerpoint presentation, a bibliography, and photographs of the event are available on the program page. 

SCIL presented a CARL pre-conference on April 21, 2006: "Beyond Usage Statistics: WASC and Library Contributions to Educational Effectiveness and Student Learning." The presenters were Amy Wallace, CSU Channel Islands; Val Ontell, San Diego Mesa College; and Tom Carter, St. Mary's College of California. Val's talk on her college's accreditation experience is now available as an MP3 sound file, in three versions to suit your connection speed: CD-quality (30MB), IPod quality (12MB), and lower-quality (6 MB). Tom's talk is available as a transcript in Word format. 

The SCIL Works 2006 program is available in PDF format, and a report is available in MS Word.

2005 Events

In May 2005, SCIL presented our 2005 SCIL Spring Program: "It's NOT about Time: Making the Most of One-shots."

SCIL hosted a pre-conference at the 2005 ACRL Conference, entitled "Trading Spaces: Balancing Space, Technology, and Learning."  Click to view a PowerPoint slideshow on Technology, Space, & Learning, a Word document summarizing Activity 1, and a Word document that summarizes Activity 2.

See why our first annual SCIL Works (formerly SCIL Open House) was such a success!

2004 Events

Connecting with the Net Generation: Learning Styles & Technology. A CARL Annual Pre-Conference (PowerPoint presentation in HTML format).

The Angle of Repose: Balancing Physical Space, Technology, and Learning (CARL Preconference) -- Summary of the responses to Activity 1

SCIL hosted an ACRL/IIL Regional Immersion program on July 22-27, 2004.

Winter 2004 Open House:

• Open House report
• Dissecting a Database: Leading Students to Discovery-Based Learning
• • Powerpoint Presentation
  • Report
• Reinvigorating Library Instruction: Responding to the CurriculumDeveloping Effective Library Assignments
• • Detailed outline of the presentation
  • Narrative of the presentation

2003 Events

SEAL-South/CARLDIG/SCIL Program:

• Integrating Information Literacy into the Disciplines: Is Science Different?

Spring Program: Moving from Traditional BI to an Integrated Information Literacy Program

• PowerPoint presentation by Dr. Ilene Rockman, Keynote Speaker
• Report on the Program by Melanie Remy, USC

Winter 2003 Open House:

• A Best Practices Model for Integrating Information Literacy into the Curriculum
• Marketing IC to Community College Faculty
• Marketing/Teaching Information Literacy for Special Populations
• Marketing the Library to Remote Faculty
• Teaching the Teachers: Partnerships in Information Literacy

2002 Events

Spring Program, "Assessing Our Impact: Making the Transformation to Assessment"

Winter 2002 Open House, "Tidal Wave II and Library Instruction":

• Dealing with larger classes
• Effective Outreach to First Year Students
• Marketing to faculty
• Victims of our own success

2001 Events

Winter 2001 Open House:

• Active Learning, facilitated by Amy Wallace
• IIL Immersion 2000, facilitated by Deborah Moore
• Instructional Competencies Survey Project, presented by Judith Herschman
• Wireless Technologies, facilitated by Chad Kahl

2000 Events

• Summer 2000 Program: "The Low-Down on High-Tech Tutorials"