scholarly journals The Practice and Promise of Critical Information Literacy: Academic Librarians' Involvement in Critical Library Instruction

2018 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eamon Tewell
Author(s):  
Katherine Farmer ◽  
Jeff Henry ◽  
Dana Statton Thompson ◽  
Candace K. Vance ◽  
Megan Wilson

As more courses are offered online, many academic librarians need to determine how to teach information literacy in a virtual environment. Starting in the Summer of 2019, a team of five librarians embarked on transforming their instruction offerings through the use of Canvas Commons. The librarians wanted to deliver online information literacy content by creating downloadable library instructional modules based on curriculum mapping at the programmatic level. The need to reconsider these practices was further exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19 on higher education. When the university moved all courses online in the Spring of 2020 due to COVID-19, the team was able to quickly pivot and offer library instruction through Canvas Commons modules, replacing face-to-face instruction. In this chapter, the authors describe the implementation of information literacy modules on campus, lessons learned, and future plans for the project in light of the pandemic.


2018 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myra Waddell ◽  
Elena Clariza

Academic librarians have a demonstrated interest in digital tools for teaching and learning and often provide support for these tools to their wider campus communities. Additionally, many librarians incorporate these tools into their own teaching in the information literacy classroom. However, little has been written about how digital tools can support critical information literacy and critical pedagogy specifically in library instruction. Eamon Tewell defines critical information literacy as instruction that asks “students to engage with and act upon the power structures underpinning information’s production and dissemination.”1 According to Paulo Freire, critical pedagogy acknowledges that education is a political action that can have an adverse effect on certain students.2 We define critical as self-reflexive and intentionally engaged with power structures.


2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathia Ibacache ◽  
Amanda Rybin Koob ◽  
Eric Vance

During spring 2020, emergency remote teaching became the norm for hundreds of higher education institutions in the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Librarians were suddenly tasked with moving in-person services and resources online. For librarians with instruction responsibilities, this online mandate meant deciding between synchronous and asynchronous sessions, learning new technologies and tools for active learning, and vetting these same tools for security issues and ADA compliance. In an effort to understand our shared and unique experiences with emergency remote teaching, the authors surveyed 202 academic instruction librarians in order to answer the following questions: (1) What technology tools are academic librarians using to deliver content and engage student participation in emergency remote library sessions during COVID-19? (2) What do instruction librarians perceive as the strengths and weaknesses of these tools? (3) What digital literacy gaps are instruction librarians identifying right now that may prevent access to equitable information literacy instruction online? This study will deliver and discuss findings from the survey as well as make recommendations toward best practices for utilizing technology tools and assessing them for equity and student engagement.


2016 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 302-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda L. Folk

This article introduces psychologist Carol S. Dweck’s entity and incremental theories of intelligence and explores the prevalence of these theories in academic librarians who participate in reference and instruction activities. Based on existing research, it is possible that implicit theories of intelligence could affect the ways in which librarians conduct information literacy and library instruction, as well as reference interactions. This article intends to provide a foundation for understanding if further research concerning theories of intelligence, instructional design and pedagogy, and reference practice in academic libraries is warranted.


Author(s):  
Arthur Coelho Bezerra ◽  
Marco Schneider ◽  
Anna Brisola

A magnitude das informações circulantes nas sociedades contemporâneas faz com que seja cada vez mais urgente a aquisição de ferramentas necessárias para a absorção, avaliação e utilização dessas informações pelos indivíduos. Defenderemos, no presente artigo, que esse caminho passa pelo pensamento reflexivo e pelo gosto informacional, disposições que se apresentam como contribuições essenciais para o desenvolvimento de uma competência crítica em informação. Para tanto, recorreremos tanto às pesquisas de cientistas da informação sobre a chamada critical information literacy quanto à proposta pedagógica de Paulo Freire para o desenvolvimento do pensamento crítico, incorporando, também, apontamentos de filósofos e outros pensadores que dissertaram a respeito do gosto pelo conhecimento.Palavras-chave: Competência em informação. Competência crítica em informação. Pensamento reflexivo. Gosto. Paulo Freire.Link:http://www.ies.ufpb.br/ojs2/index.php/ies/article/view/31114


2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Bowles-Terry

Abstract Objectives – This study examines the connection between student academic success and information literacy instruction. Locally, it allowed librarians to ascertain the institution’s saturation rate for information literacy instruction and identify academic programs not utilizing library instruction services. In a broader application, it provides an argument for a tiered program of information literacy instruction and offers student perspectives on improving a library instruction program. Methods – Focus groups with 15 graduating seniors, all of whom had attended at least one library instruction session, discussed student experiences and preferences regarding library instruction. An analysis of 4,489 academic transcripts of graduating seniors identified differences in grade point average (GPA) between students with different levels of library instruction. Results – Students value library instruction for orientation purposes as beginning students, and specialized, discipline-specific library instruction in upper-level courses. There is a statistically significant difference in GPA between graduating seniors who had library instruction in upper-level courses (defined in this study as post-freshman-level) and those who did not. Conclusions – Library instruction seems to make the most difference to student success when it is repeated at different levels in the university curriculum, especially when it is offered in upper-level courses. Instruction librarians should differentiate between lower-division and upper-division learning objectives for students in order to create a more cohesive and non-repetitive information literacy curriculum.


2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lana Ivanitskaya ◽  
Susan DuFord ◽  
Monica Craig ◽  
Anne Marie Casey

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scottt Walter

The question of how best to incorporate information literacy instruction into the academic curriculum has long been a leading concern of academic librarians. In recent years, this issue has grown beyond the boundaries of professional ibrarianship and has become a general concern regularly addresssed by classroom faculty, educational administrators, and even regional accrediting organizations and state legislatures. This essay reports on the success of a pilot program in course-integrationi nformation literacy instruction in the field of medieval studies. The author's experience with the "Engelond" project provides a model for the ways in which information literacy instruction can be effectively integrated into the academic curriculum, and for the ways in which a successful pilot program can both lead the way for further development of the general instructional program in an academic library, and serve as a springboard for future collaborative projects between classroom faculty and academic librarians.


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