LIS 312_SIM_Week 1.pdf

Big Picture Week 1-3: Unit Learning Outcomes (ULO): At the end of the unit, you are expected to a. explain the various theories related to learning and teaching that support exemplary practices in information literacy instruction. b. contextualize the relationship betwee...

Big Picture Week 1-3: Unit Learning Outcomes (ULO): At the end of the unit, you are expected to a. explain the various theories related to learning and teaching that support exemplary practices in information literacy instruction. b. contextualize the relationship between reference service and information literacy. Big Picture in Focus: ULOa. Explain the various theories related to learning and teaching that support exemplary practices in information literacy instruction Metalanguage In this section, the most essential terms relevant to the study of information literacy and retrieval demonstrate ULOa will be operationally defined to establish a common frame of reference as in pursuing librarianship as a career. You will encounter these terms as we go through this course. Please refer to these definitions in case you will encounter difficulty in the in understanding educational concepts. 1. Information Literacy. This is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information. Skill in finding the information one needs, including an understanding of how libraries are organized, familiarity with the resources they provide (including information formats and search tools), and knowledge of commonly used research techniques. The concept also includes the skills required to critically evaluate information content and employ it effectively. 2. Information Retrieval. This refers to the activity of obtaining information system resources that are relevant to an information need from a collection of those resources. 3. Information Fluency. This means the ability to unconsciously and intuitively interpret information in all forms and formats in order to extract the essential knowledge, perceive its meaning and significance, and use it to complete real-world tasks” (Crockett, Jukes, and Churches 2011). 4. Reference Service. The main goal of this is to help our customers utilize library resources and services to their fullest potential. To reach this goal,  we provide answers to questions from our collection of reliable sources. We direct our customers to library resources or services that will answer their information needs, and we instruct them in the effective, efficient, and ethical use of library resources. 5. Information Literacy Instruction. This refers to a planned instruction session for multiple recipients in a formal setting with the goal of imparting IL skills. 6. Bibliometric. The use of mathematical and statistical methodology to study and identify patterns in the usage of materials and services within a library or to analyze the historical development of a specific body of literature, especially its authorship, publication, and use 7. Critical thinking. In research and scholarship, the skill required to develop effective and efficient search strategies, assess the relevance and accuracy of information retrieved, evaluate the authority of the person(s) or organization responsible for producing information content, and analyze the assumptions, evidence, and logical arguments presented in relevant sources. Please proceed immediately to the “Essential Knowledge” part which is an introductory lesson about information literacy and retrieval. Essential Knowledge To perform the aforesaid big picture (unit learning outcomes) for the first three (3) weeks of the course, you need to fully understand the following essential knowledge that will be laid down in the succeeding pages. It is just fitting that we have to begin with the introductory knowledge about information literacy and retrieval. Please note that you are not limited to exclusively refer to these resources. Thus, you are expected to utilize other books, research articles and other resources that are available in the university’s library e.g. ebrary, search.proquest.com etc. What is Information? Everyone deals with information, more so with Library and Information Professionals. We all have an understanding of what information is. We use information every day of our lives, but can you define information? Here are a few definitions of information from A Dictionary of Media and Communication (Chandler and Munday 2011): Often used loosely as a synonym for data, facts, or knowledge. New or previously unknown knowledge or facts. Knowledge acquired by learning or research or knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction Information can come from many sources. Information comes from your coworkers. It come from a television news broadcast or an e-mail message. It can come from a book or a magazine. No matter what source the information comes from, there is always a producer of information Information Literacy According to the American Library Association (ALA), information literacy is ‘increasingly important in the contemporary environment of rapid technological change and proliferating information resources. Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information. Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning and is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. UNESCO defines Information Literacy as follows: "Information literacy empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals. It is a basic human right in a digital world and promotes social inclusion in all nations." Information literacy is the ability to recognize when information is needed and then locate, evaluate, manage, and use information efficiently, effectively, and ethically to answer the need while becoming information independent and a lifelong learner. That is our working definition, and parts of it come from the definition stated in Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report (2013) that is available at the American Library Association Web site and from the numerous definitions listed by Webber and Johnston (2006). These definitions are remarkably similar to each other, with only a few minor differences: Some may mention “ethics” while others do not; some may not mention “efficient” while others do. This basic agreement on what constitutes information literacy means that we can move on to the important work of teaching information literacy The International Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Literacy Panel has identified four major literacies: Access: the ability to retrieve information efficiently and effectively. Manage/Integrate: the ability to organize information in a logical and coherent manner and to interpret, summarize, paraphrase, and use information appropriately. Evaluate: the ability to access the quality of the information being presented and its relevance to one’s needs. Create: the ability to create new information based on the appropriate information resources previously retrieved.13 What does it mean to be Information Literate? How would we know that someone is information literate? What does it mean to being one? There are many different kinds of literacies that we need to know to get through our daily lives. Here is a partial list: visual literacy, digital literacy, financial literacy, geographic literacy, media literacy, scientific literacy, health literacy, computer literacy, spatial literacy, historical literacy, STEM literacy, transliteracy, meta literacy, information literacy. Are these all legitimate literacies? Or do these beg the question, what does it mean to be literate? With the rapid technological advances in society today and increased access to said technology by people around the world, becoming information literate is of the utmost importance. This is very timely at the moment where fake news are proliferating. Information Literacy therefore is the best tool against fake news. Nowadays, students share information without authentication, commenting without understanding, sharing without reading; such that speed is prioritize over accuracy. The role of librarians to promote critical thinking is very important; hence, information literacy should be inculcated. Also, another reason why information literacy is important is due to globalization. Thus, even though it has been traditionally associated with economics, globalization has become so much more. Brysk (2002) maintains that it is a combination of the following four elements:  Connection – increased amount of interaction and transactions of goods, services, and information from country to country.  Cosmopolitanism – increased number of centers of power and influence worldwide.  Communication – technological advances which have greatly increased international business ventures, economic opportunities, and the transaction of different ideas and values.  Commodification – the expansion of world markets and the increased opportunities to people worldwide. Also, Kutner & Armstrong (2012) reiterated that librarians have an important and unique role to play in higher education in producing information literate students equipped to be successful in a complex, twenty-first century global society. It is our contention that our guiding professional information literacy definitions and standards need to be reconsidered in order to remain relevant within the global learning context. Information Theories Practice Theory. This theory suggests that organizations like libraries are made and remade thanks to material and discursive work. “A practice is an organized nexus of human activities and it is through practice that understanding and intelligibility occur. All practices occur within a social field and in doing so reflect the knowledge claims that are embodied within that field” (Lloyd 2010). Practice theory is located within a social context that impacts information-seeking behavior, the interpretation of information, and sharing of information. Competency with information literacy skills is also defined by the social context in which it exists. What is competent information literacy practice at work or for a science class may not be competent for an information literacy class. Information Behavior Wheel. The model brings together formerly separate elements such as information creation, information avoidance, and exchange of information. Natalya Godbold (2013) based her theory of information behavior on a combination of theories from Thomas Wilson’s Information Behavior and Brenda Dervin’s Theory of Sensemaking. In this theory, an information need illuminates a gap in knowledge. That gap can be crossed, closed, or ignored depending on the seeker’s worldview and an understanding of what closing the gap means to that worldview. Godbold’s model is nonlinear. As she says, “The order of information seeking tasks may be reversed or convoluted, and includes dead ends, changes of direction, iteration, abandonment, and beginning again” (2013). Activity Theory. Activity theory (AT), or cultural–historical activity theory, uses the ideas of motivation, goal, activity, tools, object, outcome, rules, community, and division of labor to examine behavior. AT examines how we operate within a specific context (the cultural, historical, and social aspects of a given system or discipline), either cooperatively or alone using the tools, and rules of that context to find our answers. Context has significant impact on the tools available and the rules or social norms that guide the behavior. Wilson (2006) examines the major threads of AT and combines them into a model that can be used to examine information behavior. AT as expressed by Wilson includes feedback loops throughout the process that provide the ability to change course. Models of Information Literacy CILIP Information Literacy Model. CILIP have developed an information literacy model that contains eight competencies / understandings that a person requires to be information literate:  a need for information   the resources available  how to find information  need to evaluate results  how to work with or exploit results  ethics and responsibility of use  how to communicate or share your finding  how to manage your findings. Information Search Process. Developed by Carol Kuhlthau, the information search process includes seven steps that move the researcher through initiation, selection of a topic to presentation, assessment of the process, and outcome. As the researcher progresses through the process, he or she should gain confidence with his or her research and topic (MacDonald and Darrow 2013). Stripling and Pitts Research Process Model. Stripling and Pitts’ research process model has 10 steps from start to finish. Each step includes reflective questions that help students evaluate their work (“REACTS Stripling and Pitts Research Process Model” 2011). This is a feedback loop. Seven Pillars. The Seven Pillars model was developed by the Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) in the United Kingdom. The SCONUL model is often presented in a circular diagram to show that it is a nonlinear process (SCONUL Working Group on Information Literacy 2011). Pathways to Knowledge. Pathways to Knowledge was developed by Marjorie L. Pappas and Ann E. Tepe under the sponsorship of Follett. It was designed with K- 12 in mind. Students are encouraged to evaluate and reassess at each step along the way (“Pathways to Knowledge” 2013). This is one of the few models that mention information management. The Big6 Skills. The Big6 was developed by Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz, and like Pathways, it is aimed at K-12 students. According to its Web site, Big6 is the most popular information literacy model in the world (“Big6 Skills Overview” 2013). It is a linear model that takes you through the research process. Figure 2.1 shows the basic steps of each of the information literacy models mentioned here. Information Fluency Information Fluency is the ability to unconsciously and intuitively interpret information in all forms and formats in order to extract the essential knowledge, authenticate it, and perceive its meaning and significance. The information fluency supports blending information literacy, critical thinking, and technology into curriculum. The data can then be used to complete real-world tasks and solve real-world problems effectively. The process of Information Fluency is defined by the 5As.  Ask. This involves compiling a list of critical questions about what knowledge or data is being sought. The key here is to ask good questions, because that’s how you get good answers. Acquire. Accessing information isn’t as easy as it used to be. This stage involves accessing and collecting informational materials from the most appropriate digital and non-digital sources. Analyze. With all the raw data collected we must now authenticate, organize, and arrange it all. This stage also involves ascertaining whether information is true or not, and distinguishing the good from the bad. Apply. Once data is collected and verified, and a solution is finally created, the knowledge must then be practically applied within the context of the original purpose for the information quest. Assess. This involves open and lively discussions about how the problem- solving journey could have been made more efficient, and how the solution created could be applied to challenges of a similar nature. History of Information Literacy Instruction in Academic Libraries Before 1960 However, instruction in the use of information was slow to develop until the late twentieth century. A number of universities offered courses on library use in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These courses combined the history of books and libraries with basic library research strategies and the critical evaluation of materials. Courses were taught by Justin Winsor at Harvard, Otis Hall Robinson at the University of Rochester, Raymond C. Davis at the University of Michigan, Azariah Smith Root at Oberlin College and Case Western Reserve University, H.L. Koopman at Brown University, George T. Little at Bowdoin College and Joseph Schneider at Georgetown and Catholic Universities. However, in the early twentieth century, the quantity and quality of these courses declined. Full courses on evaluating library materials changed to more shallow instruction on library research techniques. By the 1920s, any kind of library instruction was rare. This would remain the case until the 1960s and beyond. There would be developments in the years between 1920-1960 that would be important to both the history and the future of teaching about information, but these developments had little effect on most libraries, at that time. Most of this period is regarded as a relatively stagnant one for teaching in higher education. Universities emphasized research and graduate education at the expense of teaching and undergraduate education. In spite of this, honor programs were created during this time and John Dewey and Robert Hutchins proposed major changes in education. Four of the most important developments related to library instruction during this period were the bibliographic instruction program carried out by B. Lamar Johnson at Stephens College, the publication of Louis Shores’ article about “library colleges”, the publication of Teaching With Books by Harvie Branscomb, and two early studies of student knowledge and use of library resources. B. Lamar Johnson organized an instruction program at Stephens College, a small Missouri women’s college in the years 1931-1950. He prefigured the bibliographic instruction movement of the 1970s and 1980s by offering orientations, instruction in the use of basic reference tools, point-of-use instruction, individualized instruction, course-related instruction, and full courses. Louis Shores’ “library college” idea did not begin or end with him. He believed that libraries should be the center of colleges, that students should be educated by doing independent studies in libraries, and that the professors should be “librarian- teachers”. Some of these ideas go all the way back to Dewey and Winsor, and they would also directly influence people and programs in the 1960s. In some ways, many of these ideas have also been incorporated into the idea of information literacy, except here, information, not institutional libraries, is the center. But Shores’ ideas in his 1935 publication “The Library Arts College, A Possibility in 1954?” (29) were the most influential. Harvey Branscomb’s 1940 book Teaching With Books (30) had ideas that were very similar to Shores’ but he had a slightly different approach to the roles of teachers and librarians. Two important early studies of student knowledge and use of the library were done by Peyton Hurt and by C.M. Loutt and James R. Patrick in the 1930s. Hurt’s study was from the field of library science while Loutt and Patrick’s work was an early study in applied psychology. The Bibliographic Instruction (BI) Movement in Academic Libraries: 1960-1989 Most of the 1960s would not be much livelier in the development of instructional services for college students than the decades preceding it. However, there were two programs influenced by Shores’ “library college” concept that would be major catalysts to the development of a full-scale bibliographic instruction movement in academic libraries in the 1970s. One was the unsuccessful Monteith Experiment, lead at Wayne State University by Patricia Knapp in 1960-1962. This was the most important attempt up to that time to integrate bibliographic instruction into a college curriculum. The program lasted a short time because of resistance from students and faculty, but Evan Farber was inspired to try something similar at Earlham College, a small Quaker college in Indiana that is managed by administration, faculty, and student consensus. The program proved so successful there that Farber made a presentation at the American Library Association in 1969, that helped to spark a full-scale national movement for bibliographic instruction (BI). This author believes and firmly states that the idea of bibliographic instruction caught fire in 1969 because of all of the events of the 1960s, and because there was a major generational shift in the American Library Association (ALA), at that time. The social upheavals and other events of the 1960s would have many effects on libraries. The Civil Rights and Black Power movements, the war in Viet Nam, U.S. government funding and programs for a War Against Poverty, and later feminist and other ethnic movements of the 1960s and early 1970s affected different types of libraries in different ways. It was a golden age for school libraries to build collections, and to start libraries in poor school systems that never had them before. Public libraries created a variety of programming, outreach, and other new services to reach people who had not been traditional patrons. And the idea to build a national movement to encourage instruction in library and information use in academic libraries finally took root – and took off! Student restlessness on campus was a factor. Students leading protests on campus (half of whom were of color) demanded a bigger role in campus governance, more relevance in their courses, and ethnic studies and gender studies courses and programs relevant to them. Colleges and universities had democratized for a second time, right after World War II, as veterans took advantage of the G.I. Bill. Colleges became even more diverse in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a result, both of Martin Luther King’s assassination and of protests, especially by students of color. These students demanded the recruitment of more students, as well as the recruitment of faculty of color, whose presence on most white campuses had been very rare, until then. Colleges were also recruiting older continuing education students and other nontraditional students. All of these students and their more traditional counterparts were making heavier use of libraries. All of these factors could and eventually did lead to some creative possibilities in developing instructional programs on information use. Bibliographic instruction, and later information literacy would be a way of answering students’ call for “relevance”. It also helped faculty and students in area studies, ethnic studies, gender studies, and other interdisciplinary “new disciplines” to weave together into a coherent whole many academic and intellectual strands and threads. Librarian involved in BI and information literacy would later develop a variety of instructional techniques for distance, adult, and other nontraditional students. Not only was there a major generational shift at colleges, universities, and elsewhere, but there was also a major one at ALA at that time. Young people entering the library field in the late 1960s and early 1970s were less conservative than their elders and not content with the status quo. While some of these librarians were nationally involved in promoting library and bibliographic instruction through ALA, some of their peers and counterparts were organizing the Social Responsibilities Round Table, the Black Caucus of ALA (BCALA), and REFORMA: National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos at the same conferences and at the same time! These were some revolutionary times! The BI movement of the 1970s was a “bottom-up” grass-roots movement lead by young and new librarians with little or no power in their own institutions. Hardesty and Tucker (37) also mention young faculty with Ph.Ds unable to get teaching positions or to get tenure during the difficult early 1970s. A number of them also became librarians, with strong backgrounds in their original fields, who really wanted to teach. In any case, young librarians trying to start instructional programs in information use had to convince their often skeptical bosses and administrators, first. This would prove to be an “up-hill battle”. Joining Farber as pioneers in this field were librarians like Hannelore Rader, Carla Stoffle, Sharon Hogan, and Miriam Drake. Another factor sparking this movement, in addition to democratization, curricular changes, and generational issues, was the increasing complexity of libraries because of technology and automation. This would definitely help to spark the birth of the BI movement, but it played a more defining role in the transition that libraries later made from BI to information literacy. All of that will be further described below. The most important events in the 1970s were the formation of the Library Orientation Exchange (LOEX)’s collections and conferences, and the establishment of both the Instruction Section (IS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and of the Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT) within ALA. There were many local, regional, and national workshops, conferences, papers, articles, and books. An important early title was Educating the Library User (38) by John Lubans. (39,40) Most instruction in academic libraries at this time consisted of tours and orientations. When it was discovered that this was not enough to really teach students how to use libraries, instructors in this field started to design more detailed instruction. At first, more formal instruction consisted of diluted versions of the reference classes that librarians themselves took in library school. Librarians would talk to students about one source after another. In the 1980s, the instruction would take more of a pathfinder approach with an emphasis on conceptual frameworks and research strategies. More recently, academic librarians have been using concept mapping, paper trails, and other approaches to help students plan, conduct, evaluate, and use their own research. The movement matured in the 1980s when instruction librarians were concerned not only with conceptual frameworks and research strategies, but with learning theories, as well. They used all of these approaches to improve their instruction. The periodical Research Strategies was also started in 1983. The librarians that had started this movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s were now moving into middle age, management, and more influential positions at their libraries and in the professional associations. Being able to teach about information became an important qualification for reference librarians entering the profession or changing jobs. Components of traditional BI in academic libraries included library tours and orientations, formal instruction in the form of course-related instruction, course- integrated instruction, and full courses; informal instruction for interested individuals or groups, point of use instructions, the creation of bibliographies, tracer bullets, and other guides, as well as the use of public relations to promote this. However, traditional bibliographic instruction was most successful in promoting immediate and specific information use in local libraries. The emphasis of much of this instruction was on how to find information. This movement matured in the 1980s and created a new specialized journal and other books, but the biggest event of the decade was the gradual growth and development of a distinct information literacy movement, which would absorh bibliographic instruction in the 1990s. The 1980s would turn out to be a very transitional decade. From Bibliographic Instruction to Information Literacy: 1980 – In some ways, information literacy continues and even completes library or bibliographic instruction. In other ways, it represents a different direction. Both movements exist to teach people how to find information. Practitioners in both movements are concerned with core competencies of information users, learning theories, conceptual frameworks, active learning, and critical thinking. Practitioners of both approaches use a variety of direct and indirect teaching methods. A number of librarians have personally made the shift from one movement to another. In some ways, information literacy completes and fulfills the potential and work of bibliographic instruction. It has more of a theoretical base, it promotes life-long learning, it deals with information wherever it is, and it emphasizes determining information needs and evaluating and using information as well as finding it. While traditional BI was somewhat book and library-based, information literacy is tied more to electronic information and computers. There are some real differences in the way that these movements were organized. If the 1960s and early 1970s represent the revolution, in some ways the 1980s and early 1990s represent the counter revolution. The young people who emerged in the 1980s were more conservative than their elders and the times were also more conservative. In many ways, information literacy is tied in with and promotes aspects of the information industry, a very conservative development. But in the desire to help people define, find, evaluate, and use information, some of the liberal spirit of the old BI movement still lives! Unlike the BI movement of the 1960s and 1970s, information literacy is not a “bottom up” grass-roots movement lead by young librarians in their twenties and thirties with relatively little power. It is a “top down” movement lead by education, library, and other leaders from a wide range and variety of organizations, including accrediting agencies and state legislatures. Many of the librarians involved in information literacy either represent the second or third generation of instructors, or they were there from the beginning of the BI movement, but are now at or near the end of their careers, often as administrators. All of this may give this movement more power and protection than the old BI movement ever had. One more difference between the two movements – BI is a late, modern movement to teach people about information, while information literacy is an early post-modern movement which fulfills the same purpose. Information literacy is a more complicated movement for more complicated realities. Several events lead to the foundation of information literacy instruction. A Nation At Risk was published in 1983. This work identified the management of information in electronic and digital forms as an important skill in a “learning society” without mentioning libraries or information resources in K-12 education. Several researchers from the school media field published important research on this topic important to all. Jacqueline Mancall, Shirley Aaron, and Sue A. Walker, members of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) wrote a concept paper “Educating Students to Think” that defined information skills. In 1987, Carol Kuhlthau published Information Skills For an Information Society: A Review of Research. That same year, Libraries and the Search For Academic Excellence (43) was also published. This report was co-sponsored by Columbia University and the University of Colorado. It stressed the importance of information literacy and laid the foundation for this in higher education. In addition, the ALA Presidential Committee on Information Literacy was established at the same time. This precipitated the formation of the National Forum on Information Literacy in 1990, which includes 75 professional associations, including ACRL, the National Education Association (NEA), American Newspaper Publishers Association, etc. This organization examines the role of information in libraries; integrates information literacy into their programs; supports initiates, and monitors information literacy programs in the U.S. and abroad; encourages the creation and adoption of information literacy guidelines; and works with teacher education programs to make sure new teachers incorporate information literacy into their teaching. Another organization that has emerged as a result of the information literacy movement has been the Institute of Information Literacy, a part of ACRL. This was created by Cerise Oberman who noted articles on the subject by non-librarians and also noted that library science faculty and academic librarians were reluctant to embrace it as a core competency. Twice a year, the Institute offers an immersion program for academic librarians on how to teach about information. This training includes history, basic concepts, and the role of information literacy in higher education, pedagogical techniques, evaluation and assessment, trends and projects in higher education, politics of the field, support structures, and practice teaching. The Immersion program is held in different locations and instructs new librarians as well as librarians in mid-career. The Institute also maintains a website, keeps track of best practices, and promotes the following: partnerships between librarians and others, the integration of information literacy into the college curriculum and requirements, the use of outcome assessments, and the shift of instruction and materials from print to electronic. Self-Help: You can also refer to the sources below to help you further understand the lesson: Allner, I. B. (2010). Teaching of information literacy: Collaboration between teaching faculty and librarians (Order No. 1487052). Available from ProQuest Central. (808425865). Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/808425865?accountid=31259 Pierce, D. L. (2009). Influencing the now and future faculty: retooling information literacy. Music Library Association.Notes, 66(2), 233-248. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/196719954?accountid=31259 Singh, R., & Kumar, S. (2019). Information literacy competency level of social science researchers with respect to information use ethics A study. DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology, 39(2), 101-108. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/djlit.39.2.13507