Catherine L. Crohan

I  am the Coordinator of LIbrary Instrruction at Siena College.  I was originally hired in 1987 as Serials Librarian at Siena's Jerome Dawson Memorial Library.   Prior to coming to Siena, I worked at Boston College. I received my B.A. in English from Framingham State College (now University) in Massachusetts; a M.L.I.S. (Master of Library & Information Studies) from the University of Rhode Island, and a M.A. in Liberal Studies from the University at Albany.  The focus of my work is the embedding of information literacy within the currioculum. 

My Siena Experience

My Teaching Philosophy

Standish Library Philosophy of Information Literacy

We believe that information literacy is a requireed element of an undergraduate education for all majors.  Siena College graduates must have the essential information literacy competencies to succeed as independent, lifelong learners in their careeers, in civic leadership, and in all aspects of their personal lives.  The Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the Association of college & research Libraries (ACRL) emphasize the collaborative nature of information literacy: librarians and classroom faculty working together on teaching research and information literacy skills to students.  We recommend an integrated approach to learning throughout the four-year undergraduate experience.  We encourage the setting of information literacy goals as a part of the further refinement of the College's general education program (Core Curriculum and First Year Seminar), as well as departmental learning goals.

What I Love About Siena

• Siena's students
• The opportunity to work across disciplines
• The encouragement for librarians as teachers
• Great  librarian colleagues
• The other cool people who work at Siena
• The Franciscan tradition

My Favorite Courses to Teach

I am more than a little eclectic by nature, so naturally I enjoy working with students taking the First Year Seminar.  Working with English classes from Literary Perspectives through upper-level courses is essential to my well-being.  But I admit a special regard for Great Books, Survey of English Literature, Latino/a Literature, and Sexuality in Literature. My parents encouraged my love of liteature as a child, and I majored in English as an undergraduate.  Makes sense, doesn't it?  I practically insist on doing the library research sessions for Women and Religion.  And I wouldn't completely feel a part of Siena if I didn't teach research sessions for marketing and management classes.

My Professional Experience

Current Research

My primary area of professional interest is the embedding of information literacy within the undergraduate curriculum. 

Articles & Book Reviews

• Review of Traces, Codes, and Clues: Reading Race in Crime Fiction, by Maureen T. Reddy
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 12
  June, 2003
• Review of The Parcel Express Murders, by Bernadette Y. Connor
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 12
  March, 2003
• Review of Shaman or Sherlock? The Native American Detective, by Gina Macdonald and Andrew Macdonald with MaryAnn Sheridan
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 11
  September, 2002
• Review of Bitter Sugar, by Carolina Garcia-Aguilera
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 11
  June, 2002
• Review of Hit Time, by Yolanda Joe, writing as Ardella Garland
  MultiCultural Review
  2002
• Review of Home Killings, by Marcos McPeek Villatoro
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 10
  December, 2001
• Review of Paradise Interrupted, by Penny Mickelbury
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 10
  September, 2001
• Review of High Hand: A Martha Chainey Mystery, by Gary Phillips
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 10
  June, 2001
• Review of Black Widow's Wardrobe, by Lucha Corpi
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 9
  September, 2000
• Review of Hidden in Plain View, by Blair S. Walker
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 8
  December, 1999
• Review of White Sky, Black Ice, by Stan Jones
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 8
  December, 1999
• Review of The Black Press: New Literary and Historical Essays, edited by Todd Vogel
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 8
  September, 1999
• Review of The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords (video and CD-ROM)
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 8
  September, 1999
• Think Globally, Collect Locally!: An Interview with James P. Dankey, Editor of African-American Newspapers and Periodicals
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 8
  September, 1999
• Review of The Intuitionist, by Colson Whitehead
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 8
  June, 1999
• Review of Where to Choose, by Penny Micklebury
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 8
  June, 1999
• Review of A Toast Before Dying, by Grace F. Edwards
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 7
  December, 1998
• Review of Blanche Cleans Up, by Barbara Neely
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 7
  December, 1998
• Review of 23 Shades of Black, by K. j. a. Wishnia
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 7
  September, 1998
• Review of A Darker Shade of Crimson, by Pamela Thomas-Graham
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 7
  September, 1998
• Review of Mama Saves a Victim and Mama Stands Alone, by Nora DeLoach
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 7
  March, 1998
• Review of Up Jumped the Devil by Blair S. Walker
  MultiCultural Review
  1998
• Review of Bloody Shame, by Carolina Garcia- Aquilera
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 6
  December, 1997
• Review of Tell Me a Tale: A Book About Storytelling, by Joseph Bruchac
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 6
  December, 1997
• Review of Don't Go Along With the Get Along (audiocassette), by Kala Jo Jo (The Tall Story Teller)
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 6
  September, 1997
• Review of Who Says? Essays on Pivotal Issues in Contemporary Storytelling, edited by Carol L. Birch and Melissa A. Heckler
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 6
  June, 1997
• Review of Bloody Waters, by Carolina Garcia-Aquileraq
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 5
  December, 1996
• On Poetry, War, Language, and Baseball: An Interview with Martin Espada
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 13
  Spring, 2004
• Review of A Phat Death: Or, The Last Days of Noir Soul, by Norman Kelley
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 13
  Summer, 2004
• Review of A Prayer for the Night: An Ohio Amish Mystery, by P. L. Gaus
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 16
  Spring, 2007
• Review of Autumn of the Phantoms, by Yasmina Khadra
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 15
  Fall, 2006
• Review of Black Silk Handkerchief: A Hom-Astubby Mystery, by D.L. Birchfield
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 15
  Fall, 2006
• Review of Cold Havana Ground, by Arnaldo Correa
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 13
  Summer, 2004
• Review of Desert Blood: The Juarez Murders, by Alicia Gasper de Alba
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 14
  Winter, 2005
• Review of Encyclopedia of Multiwthnic American Literature, edited by Emmanuel S. Nelson
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 15
  Summer, 2006
• Review of Garden of Hell, by Nick Wilgus
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 16
  Summer, 2007
• Review of Inspecting Jews: American Jewish Detective Stories, by Laurence Roth
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 13
  Fall, 2004
• Review of Jemez Spring, by Rudolfo Anaya
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 14
  Winter, 2005
• Review of Mindfulness and Murder, by Nick Wilgus
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 15
  Fall, 2006
• Review of Murder on the Reservation: American Indian Crime Fiction, by Ray B. Browne
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 14
  Spring, 2005
• Review of Mythology for Storytellers, by Josepha Sherman
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 14
  Spring, 2005
• Review of Orange Crushed, by Pamela Thomas-Graham
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 13
  Winter, 2004
• Review of The Door to Bitterness, by Martin Limon
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 14
  Winter, 2005
• Review of The Long Song, by Andrea Levy
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 19
  Fall, 2010
• Review of Tick Tock, by Gail Ramsey
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 15
  Summer, 2006
• Review of Under a Crimson Moon, by Lucha Corpi
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 13
  Winter, 2004
• Review of We Happy Few, by Rolando Hinojosa
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 15
  Winter, 2006
• Review of Writing African American Women: An Encyclopedia of Literature by and about Women of Color, edited by Elizabeth Ann Beaulieu
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 15
  Winter, 2006
• Review of the Hunter, by Asa Nonami
  MultiCultural Review, vol. 16
  Fall, 2007
• The Confidentiality of Library Circulation Records
  CSIL: Current Studies in Librarianship, vol. 9
  Spring/Fall, 1985

Awards & Distinctions

• Teaching Award (Siena College) Disabilities Services Office, 2001
  Category: Teaching
  Siena College, 2001

Books & Book Chapters

• Magazines for Libraries,12th ed.
  Bowker
  2003
• Magazines for Libraries,11th ed.
  Bowker
  2002
• Creative Strategies for Library Instruction in the Arts, Literature, and Music
  Library Instruction Publications
  2001
• Magazines for Libraries,10th ed.
  Bowker
  2000

Presentations

• Siena College's Information Literacy Faculty Development Grant Program: Facilitating Collaboration and Creating Community
  October, 2013
  Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries Annual Conference for New England Librarians, Hanover, New Hampshire
• From Information Literacy in the Core Curriculum to Information Fluency in the Major: What Does a Successful Program Look Like?
  March, 2011
  Information Fluency in the Disciplines Workshop in History, San Antonio, Texas
• Witches, Wicca, and the Contemporary Amateur Detective
  November, 2009
  Mid-Atlantic Popular/American Culture Association 20th Annual Conference, Boston, Massachusetts
• Testing a New Approach to Assessing the Information Literacy Skills of College Freshmen (Poster Session)
  November, 2006
  NYLINK Information Showcase, New York, New York
• Information Literacy: Secondary Information Sources
  January, 2006
  Applied Business Research and College Teaching & Learning Conference, Orlando, Florida
• Creating an Information Literacy Plan for First Year Students: Librarians and Faculty Collaborate
  October, 2005
  Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries Annual Conference for New England Librarians, Hanover, New Hampshire
• Information Literacy Faculty Development Grants: The Siena College Experience
  April, 2005
  Association of College and Research Libraries 12th National Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Assessing Information Literacy Skill Levels And Student Progress Using a Skills Inventory (Poster Session)
  December, 2003
  Middle States Commission on Higher Education Annual Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Information Literacy in Business Communications Courses
  April, 2003
  ABC (Association for Business Communication) Spring Conference, Toronto, Canada
• Gale Gallagher: The Forgotten 1940s Detective
  November, 2000
  Mid-Atlantic Popular/American Culture Association Annual Conference, Albany, New York