Burkhardt, Joanna M. 1954-
(Joanna Marie Burkhardt)

PERSONAL:

Born July 16, 1954, in Worcester, MA; daughter of Edgar S. (a mechanical engineer) and Roberta (a teacher; maiden name, Miehlke) Burkhardt; married F. Michael Wakefield (a mechanic), October 3, 1992; children: Katherine Taft. Education: University of Wisconsin—Madison, B.A., 1975, M.A., 1981; University of Rhode Island, M.L.I.S., 1986.

ADDRESSES:

Office—College of Continuing Education Library, Providence Campus, University of Rhode Island, 80 Washington St., Providence, RI 02906. E-mail—jburkhardt@uri.edu.

CAREER:

Writer, educator, and librarian. University of Connecticut, library assistant at law library in Hartford, 1981-82, library assistant at Avery Point campus, Groton, 1983-92, library director in Torrington, 1987-92; University of Rhode Island, Providence Campus, director of College of Continuing Education Library and member of university faculty, 1992—, chair of Library Faculty Development Committee, 2000-01. Workshop presenter and participant for the Association of College and Research Libraries; Watch Hill Lighthouse Museum, docent; Watch Hill Library, affiliate.

MEMBER:

American Library Association (New Members Round Table, president, 1993-94), Association of College and Research Libraries, New EnglandLibrary Association, Rhode Island Library Association, Library Orientation/Instruction Exchange, Watch Hill Historic Preservation Association (board member at large).

AWARDS, HONORS:

MCB University Press Award for Excellence, 2001, for an article titled "Challenges in Building an Incremental Multi-Year Information Literacy Plan."

WRITINGS:

(With Mary C. MacDonald and Andree J. Rathemacher)Teaching Information Literacy: Thirty-five Practical, Standards-Based Exercises for College Students, American Library Association (Chicago, IL), 2003.

(With Mary C. MacDonald and Andree J. Rathemacher)Creating a Comprehensive Information Literacy Plan: A How-to-Do-It Manual and CD-ROM for Librarians, Neal-Schuman Publishers (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor to books. Contributor of articles and reviews to library journals.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Research on the assessment of learning outcomes.

SIDELIGHTS:

Joanna M. Burkhardt told CA: "As an avid reader from childhood on, I have always thought I wanted to write. The primary motivation that got me started was the need to ‘publish or perish’ when I joined the faculty at the University of Rhode Island libraries. In choosing my subject matter I was guided by the advice provided by almost every writer's guide ever published—write about what you know. I have written about planning a new library facility and moving into it, how to organize an event such as a workshop or seminar, creating a comprehensive plan for information literacy, creating a course in information literacy, the history of lighthouses, subject bibliographies on various topics, and so on. I used topics that were important to me and/or that I was dealing with at the time. In doing so, I hope to help others who might be doing the same task or dealing with the same topic some time in the future.

"While most of my writing to date has been professional and/or scholarly in nature, I hope to expand into the world of fiction and children's stories some time in the future."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Adolescence, fall, 2003, review of Teaching Information Literacy: Thirty-five Practical, Standards-Based Exercises for College Students, p. 582.