WILU History

The Workshop for Instruction in Library Use, commonly known as WILU, is an annual Canadian conference where delegates meet to discuss timely topics related to information literacy.

In May 1972, five Canadian participants at a conference on library instruction in Ypsilanti, Michigan met and discussed ways to share their experiences with other Canadian librarians.

Within a few months, the following members formed a steering committee:

  • Boris Chumakov (York University)
  • Richard Dewey (Sir George Williams University, now Concordia University)
  • Lucie Greene (University of Western Ontario)
  • Patricia Grieg (University of Western Ontario)
  • Sheila Laidlaw (University of Toronto)

Based on enthusiastic comments received from participants at an August workshop, a basic set of guidelines was established:

  • The target audience should be staff and librarians from both universities and colleges in Ontario and Quebec
  • The committee should be representative of several different institutions
  • The workshop should be independent of library organizations to facilitate “grass roots” participation at the cheapest possible cost
  • The workshop should emphasize experiences and learning
  • “Outside” speakers should be kept at a minimum and input sought from faculty members and students for whom library instruction is designed
  • The registration fees are to be set as low as possible with campus accommodation when possible

To this day, institutions hosting WILU aspire to meet most of these criteria.

Past Hosts:

2010 McMaster University – Design, Play, Learn

  • Dr. James Paul Gee (Arizona State University), “A New Paradigm for Learning in the 21st Century (And Where Libraries Fit In)”
  • Dr. Steven J. Bell (Temple University),  “Exploring the Instruction Mystery: Designing our way past a wicked problem”
2009 Concordia University – Reflections

  • Dr. John M. Budd (University of Missouri), “Where do we go now? Some research directions in information literacy”
  • Heidi LM Jacobs (University of Windsor) & Selinda Berg (University of Windsor), “Looking outward, looking within: Reflections on information literacy praxis”
2008 UBC Okanagan – Information Literacy Uncorked

  • John Willinsky (Stanford University), “La Culture de l’information”
  • Alane Wilson, “Their perceptions, our reality: The information-seeking habits and preferences of college and university students”
  • Judith Peacock (Queensland University of Technology) & Nancy Goebel (University of Alberta, Augustana), “Alice and the Carpenter present: ‘The Time Has Come to Talk of Many Things: Act 1 – Your Future Through The Looking Glass’”
2007 York University – Teach Every Angle

  • Rick Salutin, “Thinking versus knowing: Where does information come in?”
  • Patricia Iannuzzi (University of Nevada), “Changing learning, changing roles: Collaboration at every angle”
  • Fay Durrant (University of the West-Indies), “Culture, context and content: Vital issues in ensuring information literacy and effective e-citizenship”
2006 Acadia University – Charting a Course for Instruction

  • Dr. Patricia Senn-Breivik (Nehemiah Communications), “Information literacy and lifelong learning: The time is now!”
  • Dr. Jeremy Shapiro & Ms. Shelley Hughes (Fielding Graduate University), “If everything is information, is information literacy possible?”
  • Dr. Toni Samek (University of Alberta), “Information ethics on our global library streets”
2005 University of Guelph – A Kaleidoscope of Possibilities

  • Bill Johnston (University of Strathclyde)
  • Sheila Webber (University of Sheffield)
2004 University of Victoria – Theory Meets Reality

  • Dane Ward (Illinois State University), “The collaborative quest for compelling information literacy instruction”
  • Trudi Bellardo Hahn (University of Maryland), “Connecting information literacy to the research process”
2003 University of Windsor – Bridging the Gap: Teaching Across Boundaries

  • Dr. Clara Chu (University of California, Berkeley), “Information literacy within a multicultural critical framework”
2002 University of New Brunswick – River Runs: Trends in Library Instruction

  • Dr. Heidi Julien (University of Alberta), “Miles to go before we sleep…”
2001 Carleton Unversity – Teaching Using Learning in a Pluralist Setting

  • Dr. Tim Pychyl, Carleton University), “What’s our vision for teaching & learning?: Addressing systemic barriers to information literacy instruction”
2000 University of Western Ontario – Literacy for the Infollennium

  • Hannelore Rader (University of Louisville), “If we teach them will they learn?”
  • Dr. Michael Atkinson (University of Western Ontario), Teaching and learning in the 21st century
1999 McGill Unversity – Process of Integrating Library Instruction into the Curriculum in Partnership with Our Teaching Colleagues

  • Carol Kuhlthau (Rutgers University), “Collaboration in the learning process”
  • Gloria Leckie (University of Western Ontario), “Fostering a pedagogy for information literacy
1998 Queen’s Unversity – Libraries at the Heart of Learning

  • Cerise Oberman (SUNY-NILI Hannelore Rader), “Library liaison program”
1997 University of Montreal – Gateways to the Information World

  • Thérèse Laferrière, “Learning to search and create co-operatively”
1996 Wilfrid Laurier University – Anticipation: Library Instruction for Changing Times

  • Roma Harris (University of Western Ontario), “Development of library instruction and its place in a changing learning environment”
1995 Université Laval
1994 University of Ottawa – Making Connections

  • Richard Rancourt (University of Ottawa), “Librarians can do it with style”
1993 University of Toronto – Library Instruction: Strategies for Success

  • Lorna Marsden (Wilfrid Laurier University)
1992 University of Windsor – Skills for Change

  • Patricia Breivik (Towson State University)
1991 Concordia University – From Yesterday to Tomorrow

  • Maureen Pastine (Southern Methodist University), “Library user education: Where have we been? Where are we going?”
1990 Brock University – The Challenge of the 90’s

  • Constance Mellon (East Carolina), “Library anxiety: Instruction librarian as therapist”
1989 Bishop’s University & Champlain Regional College – The Art of Library Instruction

  • Evan I. Farber (Earlham College), “How I became ‘Bibliographic Instructor of the Year’”
1988 University of Waterloo & Wilfrid Laurier University – Teaching and Learning in the Present Tense

  • Stanley Benson (University Centre, Tulsa) & Sheila Laidlaw (University of New Brunswick), “The library’s status in undergraduate instruction: Far from the heart of things”
1987 McMaster University & Mohawk College – Re-Creating the Image

  • Panel with Tom Eadie, Tanis Fink & Jacelyn Foster, “Immodest proposals: Alternative futures for instruction”
1986 John Abbott College – Connections Linking the Library Instruction Network

  • R. Smith (Concordia University) & L. Melamed (consultant), “Learning style theory: implications for helping others learn
1985 University of Western Ontario & Fanshawe College – Reaching Out: New Directions in Library Instruction

  • Moderator, George Robinson (University of Western Ontario), Panel on “Faculty communication and the role of library instruction
1984 Queen’s University & St. Lawrence College – Coping with Crisis: Strategies for Survival

  • Margot McBurney (Queen’s University)
1983 Carleton University & Algonquin College – Exploring the New Technology for Library Instruction

  • Fraser Taylor, “Videotex and related technologies”
1982 University of Toronto – A Learner-Centred Approach to Teaching

  • Liz Burge, “How adults learn”
1981 University of Guelph – Approaching Instruction Effectively

  • “Librarians in the 1980’s: Skills and Technologies”
1980 McGill University – Staff Development, Computerized Services, Part-time and Non-traditional User, Marketing

  • M. Scott (McGill University)
1979 University of Waterloo – Teaching the Use of the Library: Instructional Strategies That You Always Wanted to Know But Were Never Taught

  • Panel of 3 librarians from the University of Michigan, “Instructional strategy for teaching the use of the library”
1978 University of Ottawa – Approaches to Library Instruction: Do You Know What Your Colleagues Are Doing?

  • Anne McQuade (Carleton University), “Teaching Skills”
1977 York University – Marketing the Library, Selling the Library as Part of the Teaching Learning Process
1976 Queen’s University – The Librarian as Teacher: Planning, Teaching, and Evaluating Library Programs

  • Hugh Munby
1975 McMaster University – Printed Materials

  • Monika Jensen (Metro Toronto Library Board)
1974 University of Toronto – Audio-Visual Techniques

  • Panel with B. Squires, L. Wise, D. Todgham, I. Melanchuk, “Matching Media & Message”
1973 McGill University & Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) – Communication and Learning Theory
1972 University of Western Ontario – General Overview of Orientation

  • F. Eugene Gattinger, “Confessions of a Library Orientator”