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Recommended Readings for Librarians New to Instruction
"If you could recommend just three readings of any
kind on information literacy to new instruction librarians, what would
they be?"
This question was posed to all current and former
members of the IIL Advisory Board and all IIL Immersion Program
faculty, in order to compile a list of personal recommendations. We
placed no format or subtopic limitations, which made it very difficult
to choose just three readings from among the wealth of information
literacy materials which have been published over the past 30 or more
years, but choose we did. The annotated list below is made up of our
personal responses to this challenge, and is directed at new
instruction librarians or those who would like a refresher. We hope you
find them both thought provoking and useful, and we wish all of you the
best in your future endeavors.
--IIL Advisory Board Members and Immersion
Program Faculty
Information Literacy: Introductory Readings
Arp, Lori. "Information literacy or bibliographic
instruction semantics or philosophy?" RQ 30(1) (Fall 1990):
46-49.
This is foundational for understanding both where we are in the
evolution of concepts of helping users become more effective
researchers and where we've been. Helps remember the lessons of the
past without being bound by old concepts. --Tom Kirk, College
Librarian, Earlham College
Bechtel, Joan L. "Conversation: A New Paradigm for
Librarianship." College & Research Libraries 47(3) (May
1986): 219-224.
An eloquent article on what should happen to students in libraries-
making the important distinction between students as passive gatherers
of information and students as participants in a conversation. I think
this paradigm sank in when I first read it and has been a part of my
thinking ever since.--Barbara Fister, College Librarian, Gustavus
Adolphus College
Bruce, Christine. The Seven Faces
of Information Literacy. Auslib Press, 1997.
Bruce offers a new research-based model for understanding information
literacy as a phenomenon rather than a finite set of attributes.
Bruce's work shows information literacy is far more fluid and complex
than American standards and guidelines might suggest.--Mary Jane
Petrowski, Head of Library Instruction, Colgate University
Chickering, Arthur W. and Ehrmann, Stephen. "Implementing
the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever."
Based on the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate
Education" published in March 1987 by the AAHE, this document
underscores the most appropriate ways to incorporate technology into
the classroom. --Susan Barnes Whyte, Library Director, Linfield College
Library
Cuban, Larry. Teachers
and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920 .
New York, NY: Teachers College Press, 1986.
A fascinating account of the intrusion of technology into the
classroom, but not necessarily into the teaching/learning process.
Required reading for all who think that computers are The Answer to
solving education's perpetual challenges.--Susan Barnes Whyte, Library
Director, Linfield College Library
Dudley, Miriam.(1983) "A Philosophy of Library
Instruction." Research Strategies 1(2):58-63.
An inspiring and quintessential description of what it is we do in the
way of instruction, why we do it, and why we should keep doing
it.--Esther Grassian, Instructional Services Coordinator, UCLA, College
Library
Eisenberg, Mike and Johnson, Doug. "Computer
Skills for Information Problem-Solving: Learning and Teaching
Technology in Context ". ERIC Digest, ERIC Clearinghouse on
Information & Technology, March 1996. ED392463.
Over the past 20 years, library media professionals have worked to move
from teaching isolated library skills to teaching integrated
information skills. Effective integration of information skills has two
requirements: (1) the skills must directly relate to the content area
curriculum and to classroom assignments; and (2) the skills themselves
need to be tied together in a logical and systematic information
process model. Schools seeking to move from isolated computer skills
instruction also need to focus on these requirements. The "Big Six
Skills Approach to Information Problem Solving" is an information
literacy curriculum, an information problem-solving process, and a set
of skills which provide a strategy for effectively and efficiently
meeting information needs. This model is transferable to school,
personal, and work applications, as well as all content areas and the
full range of grade levels. The Big Six Skills include: (1) task
definition; (2) information seeking st! rategies; (3) location and
access; (4) use of information; (5) synthesis; and (6)
evaluation.--Mike Eisenberg, Director, University of Washington,
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
Ewell, Peter T. "Organizing for Learning: A New
Imperative" AAHE Bulletin 50(4) (December 1997): 3-6.
A very short article that has a good overview of what we know about
learning, and what we know about promoting learning. --Loanne Snavely,
Pennsylvania State University Libraries
Hardesty, Larry. "Faculty Culture and Bibliographic
Instruction: An Exploratory Analysis," Library Trends 44
(Fall 1995): 339-67.
One of best-maybe the only--ethnography ever done by an academic
librarian of academic culture. This is an absolutely fundamental
article for librarians new to teaching within higher ed. --Mary Jane
Petrowski, Head of Library Instruction, Colgate University
Increasing the Teaching Role of Academic
Libraries , edited by Thomas G. Kirk. New
Directions for Teaching and Learning; no. 18 San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 1984.
Although this publication predates the computer revolution, the
discussions which relate to use of print resources apply equally to
electronic resources. This sources introduces all the major tenets of
program development. --Tom Kirk, College Librarian, Earlham College
Jiao, Qun G. "Identifying Library Anxiety Through
Students' Learning-Modality Preferences." Library Quarterly
69(2): 202-216. (April 1999)
Good overview of the question of student emotional reactions to library
and information use. Taking students' emotional state into account is a
critical aspect of developing a successful program. --Tom Kirk, College
Librarian, Earlham College
Keresztesi, Michael. "The Science of Bibliography:
Theoretical Implications for Bibliographic Instruction," in Theories
of Bibliographic Education: Designs for Teaching , by
Cerise Oberman & Katina Strauch Bowker, 1982, pp. 1-26.
[Annotation to be provided.]-- Cerise Oberman, Feinberg Library, SUNY
Plattsburgh
Klein, Michael. "What is it we do when we write
articles like this one--and how can we get the students to join us?"
The Writing Instructor 6 (Spring/Summer 1987):
151-161.
Not out of our literature, but an interesting view from a composition
teacher. Introduces a nice distinction between hunting and gathering
(looking for something you know is out there v. looking to see what
might be out there) and a very funny dystopian view of students at work
in the library. --Barbara Fister, College Librarian, Gustavus Adolphus
College
Kuhlthau, Carol Collier. "Developing a model of the
library search process: cognitive and affective aspects." RQ
v. 28 (Winter '88) p. 232-42.
Kuhlthau's theoretical approach to information seeking as a process of
construction with stages of increasing and decreasing uncertainty has
had a tremendous influence on the field. She has written many other
fine works (SEEKING MEANING, TEACHING THE LIBRARY RESEARCH PROCESS),
but this is an easy place to start if you only want to include
articles.-- Mary Jane Petrowski, Head of Library Instruction, Colgate
University
Levine, Arthur and Cureton, Jeanette S. When Hope
and Fear Collide: A Portrait of Today's College Student .
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1998.
Required reading for all who teach in higher education. Paints an
intriguing portrait of the students today and for the next decade.
Solid research accompanied by inspirational interpretation. --Susan
Barnes Whyte, Library Director, Linfield College Library
Novak, Joseph Donald. Learning,
Creating, and Using Knowledge: Concept Maps as Facilitative Tools in
Schools and Corporations . Hillsdale, NJ, Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, 1998.
See especially chapters 3,4 and 5 on the difference between what Novak
calls rote learning and meaningful learning. He discusses the
advantages and disadvantages of each, and points out that while
meaningful learning takes more effort, it is retained longer, learning
improves because learners develop more complex and organized conceptual
structures making subsequent learning easier, and knowledge can be
applied to a variety of new problems. --Loanne Snavely, Pennsylvania
State University Libraries
Shapiro, Jeremy J. & Hughes, Shelley K. "Information Literacy as a Liberal Art: Enlightenment
Proposals for a New Curriculum." Educom Review
31(2)(March/April 1996)
This key article provides a historical and technological context to
information literacy efforts. In outlining an information literacy
curriculum, it focuses mainly on technological aspects, yet manages to
bridge the gap between librarians' information literacy goals and those
of computer literacy. --Esther Grassian, Instructional Services
Coordinator, UCLA, College Library
Snavely, Loanne & Cooper, Natasha. "The
Information Literacy Debate." Journal of Academic Librarianship
23 (January 1997):9-14.
A review article which does an excellent job of outlining the issues
regarding the use of various terms describing what we do, particularly
"information literacy." In the process it helps us understand our
current role in an information society. --Esther Grassian,
Instructional Services Coordinator, UCLA, College Library
Spitzer, Kathleen L., Eisenberg, Michael B., and
Lowe, Carrie A. "Information Literacy: Essential Skills for the
Information Age ". ERIC Clearinghouse on Information &
Technology, 1998. ED427780
This monograph traces the history and development of the term
"information literacy." It examines the economic necessity of being
information literate, and explores the research related to the concept.
Included are reports on the National Educational Goals (1991) and on
the report of the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills
(SCANS, 1991). Also examined are recent revisions in national subject
matter standards that imply a recognition of the process skills
included in information literacy. The book outlines the impact
information literacy has on K-12 and higher education, and provides
examples of information literacy in various contexts. --Mike Eisenberg,
Director, University of Washington, Graduate School of Library and
Information Science
Valentine, Barbara. "Undergraduate Research Behavior:
Using Focus Groups to Generate Theory." Journal of Academic
Librarianship 19(5) (Nov 1993): 300-304.
Depressing but true: students follow the path of least resistance, tend
to return to the same tools whether or not they are appropriate, and
would rather ask their friends for help than librarians. A good reality
check for the unbridled optimist. --Barbara Fister, College Librarian,
Gustavus Adolphus College |
