Johnson, Anna Marie. “Library instruction and information literacy.” Reference Services Review. Vol. 31, Issue 4. Date: 2003 Pages: 385-418.
This article is a list, then a minuscule review of each, of all articles the author found that discuss information literacy. Her article is a singularly useful tool that categorizes articles and scholarly discourse by the type of library the work discussed. I chose to read about public libraries in New Zealand and then chose an article about special libraries, discovering that this article was about Australia. Apparently my post will have a very "Down Under" feel to it--unintentionally so, I promise.
Koning, A. (2001), “Information Literacy in New Zealand public libraries”, New Zealand Libraries, Vol.49 No.5, pp 174-9.
O’Sullivan, Carmel. “Is Information Literacy relevant in the real world?” Reference Services Review; 2002; 30, 1.
Both of these articles were written in 2001 and clearly, in the beginning of the new century, these librarians noted libraries were focused on information literacy (IL): how to define it, how to teach it, and to whom to teach it. Koning discusses the results of a survey of the majority of New Zealand public libraries that queried them about their IL practices. O'Sullivan takes the topic to a very practical place: outside the library's hallowed stacks. When the articles are read together, I discovered that the larger libraries have more programs in place to teach IL (big shock, right?) and that they were much more likely to have formed some kind of partnership with outside businesses. O'Sullivan firmly preaches that businesses could greatly benefit teaching their workers how to manage information effectively and search for it quickly; he contends that he and his fellow librarians should be the teachers because they are the most well-equipped resource in the public sphere to do so.
I was quite glad to see an article about learner or user education that took the context outside of libraries. My goal, as a public librarian, is not to teach the high school student how to navigate a database simply so he can get that dreadful term paper written. No, I think all of us, whether academic librarians, school media specialists or special librarians are to teach our patrons skills that contribute to their "life-long learning," a term used by both Koning and O'Sullivan.
Its great that you found an article that moved beyond the library or the classroom, it seems like that doesn't always get spoken to enough. Life long learning is such a critical idea and something that we as librarians can really help be a part of thanks to our place in communities.
ReplyDeleteExcellent uncovering of an article that showed how librarians could partner with businesses. There is a lot of cool stuff happening with libraries and learning Down Under. It's a gross exaggeration, but I rarely read anything from Oceania that isn't interesting.
ReplyDeletePS - Don't forget to reflect about class!
ReplyDeleteI think that considering Information Literacy in a context outside of the library is really interesting and also very important. One of the major points of one of the readings I had looked at, the Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report, stressed repeatedly that information literacy skills are essential in the workplace, and that having information literate employees will give businesses a competitive edge. I like the idea of libraries forming partnerships with businesses-- I think it is probably a very good way to demonstrate the library's usefulness to members of the community who might not encounter it in other contexts.
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