Islam, Ramona L. and Lisa Anne Murno. "From Perceptions to Connections: Informing Information Literacy Program Planning in Academic Libraries through Examination of High School Library Media Center Curricula." College & Research Libraries, November 2006.
Notes
From abstract: "Avenues for collaboration between academic and school librarians are suggested as a means to closing the knowledge gap between high school and college."
--Many academic instruction librarians are frustrated at disparity of information literacy skills among college freshmen.
--Many students come to library instruction sessions unaware of differences between a library catalog and online indexes, encyclopedias, and other types of electronic resources.
--often come to college with "inefficient" or "misguided" methods of finding information
--do not know how to effectively evaluate information
--do not know how to effectively use the information they find.
--3 categories of students in terms of information literacy:
- small group able and experienced researchers, good knowledge of resources
- group with no library research experience, no knowledge base, little interest
- larger group that falls somewhere in middle of two extremes.
Article recommendations
Authors suggest several actions to be taken in order for:
--high school students to acquire info lit skills at a pace appropriate for the 21st century
--begin their college careers with a common set of information literacy competencies.
Actions:
- Colleges and universities should consider adopting the ETS ICT Literacy Core Academic Assessment to gauge incoming freshmen's info lit competencies. The authors argue that if secondary school administrators realize that a test exists, they are more likely to take info lit more seriously and offer greater suppport to school library media centers.
- More collaboration needs to occur among content-area teachers, SLMSs?, and academic librarians, to help students and teachers see the link between library research skills and college preparedness. See ACRL's Blueprint for Collaboration for examples of such activities.
- Information literacy education should be incorporated into pre-service teacher training curricula (various ways to do this). We need primary and secondary teachers of the future to be strong advocates for information literacy in their students. They have great power to effect change in the curriculum; even more so if they eventually become administrators.
- It is highly recommended that schools adopt a pedagogy rooted in authentic, inquiry-based learning. "Expectations for depth of thinking and intellectual engagement must be set much higher."
Ideal vision (AASL President Barbara Stripling):
A culture of learning in which librarians work iwth teachers to infuse info lit into every class and every lesson throughout the school, where students independently pursue intellectual questions, rather than regurgitating information fed to them for the primary purpose of passing achievement tests."
If this ideal vision achieved....
"more students will enter college with a basic grounding in information literacy skills, affording academic librarians the opportunity to introduce a greater number of students to advanced info lit concepts."
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Recommended actions from "Blueprint for Collaboration"
I. Collaboration A. Co-sponsor programming on model collaborations related to information literacy at the local, state, and national level, encouraging partnerships between different types of libraries in a community. ALA's Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT)
B. Formalize relationship with NCATE Standards Steering Committee to promote information literacy competency standards for higher education.
C. Advocate a seamless continuation of AASL's Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning with ACRL's Information Literacy Competencies for Higher Education. ALA's Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT) & ACRL's Instruction Section (IS)
D. Disseminate AASL's Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning and ACRL's Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education to appropriate groups to foster dialogue among those groups.
E. Develop specific information literacy performance indicators and measurable outcomes for education students. ACRL's Education & Behavioral Sciences Section (EBSS)
F. Include academic librarians as members of the instructional team in graduate and undergraduate teacher education programs. ACRL's Education & Behavioral Sciences Section (EBSS)
G. Include academic librarians as members of the instructional team in continuing professional teacher development programs. ACRL's Education & Behavioral Sciences Section (EBSS)
H. Encourage education faculty, library school faculty, and academic librarians and/or school media specialists to engage in research, co-publish, jointly present at conferences, and pursue other forms of professional collaboration. ACRL's Education & Behavioral Sciences Section (EBSS)
I. Work with ALISE to encourage an instructional component as part of the education of librarians and school media specialists. ACRL's Education & Behavioral Sciences Section (EBSS) & ALA's Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT)
J. Develop relationships with local school boards to create and promote information literacy programs for school librarians' continuing education. ACRL's Education & Behavioral Sciences Section (EBSS )& ALA's Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT)
Information Systems --Brian, Thu, 08 Mar 2007 10:25:08 -0500 reply
Can we talk about the perceived deficiencies of our students concerning the knowledge and use of information resources without thinking about the information delivery systems?