The Pathfinder Project

A pathfinder is a document that guides a person to resources on a particular topic. The resources usually include books, Web sites, helpful search terms for the Internet or OPAC and any other pertinent items.

With this definition in mind, representatives of multi-type libraries in Iowa formed a team to develop tools to assist librarians in their information literacy role in December 2003.  This Library Services and Technology Act grant project developed a model for "the ultimate pathfinder" and  a template for pathfinders from that model.  A series of "train the trainer" workshops showed librarians how to use the template to create their own pathfinders and then how to translate those pathfinders into short "classes" for their patrons, to model and practice information literacy skills.

The Pathfinder Project Web site was developed to share the pathfinders created from the template, provide a web-based template for creating new pathfinders, and a toolkit to assist in the creation of pathfinders.

The Pathfinder Project Team:

Karen Burns, Southwest Iowa Library Service Area--Project Coordinator
Ann Coulter, Southwestern Community College
Deanna Etherington, Area Education Agency 13
Roy Kenagy, Central Iowa Library Service Area
Bonnie McKewon, Northwest Library Service Area
David Netz, Dordt College
Beth Marie Quanbeck, Central Iowa Library Service Area
Carole Stanger, Atlantic Public Library
Gwen Vos, Dordt College
Marilyn Weber, Area Education Agency 13

Below, you will also find links to other pathfinders on the Internet.