Authentic Learning and the Research Process of Gifted Students

This study utilizes qualitative research methods (observations, interviews, and analysis of written documents) to investigate the research processes of ten gifted students who participated in independent research projects. Research stages dealing with exploring and forming a focus presented the most difficulty for the students. The three students who were able to establish a clear focus were the only ones who demonstrated all aspects of authentic learning. An additional research question deals with the types of resources used by the students. Books and videocassettes were the primary sources used by the students. All students were highly dependent on the teacher as a source of information. The researcher points out the absence of collaboration between the teacher, the school librarian, and the public librarian. The researcher also calls for the examination of cooperative learning, intervention, required assignment deadlines, and the format of products as each of these relate to independent research projects.

The Public Librarian Low-Morale Experience: A Qualitative Study

Recent studies on low morale in academic libraries reveal impacts on workplace health and organizational culture and concerns about leadership training and development. Additionally, established research on library dysfunction and emotional labor in librarianship, along with emerging scholarship on incivility in librarian-patron interactions, highlight a growing area of practice concerns for information professionals. This qualitative study centers public librarians’ experience of low morale. Data validate the development and practice- and health-related outcomes of low morale and illuminate the realities of public library work, organizational culture and behaviours, impact of leadership practices, and the perceptions of the value and role of librarians and the public library in North America.

Critical Incidents and Librarian Professional Identity in LIS Pedagogy: Research Methodology as Pedagogical Tool Embedded in Reflexive Practice

Traditional conceptualisations of the library profession have been challenged due to persistent societal change, similarly affecting professional education. Challenges resulting from such change can be understood as uncertainty of definition and fit in society, and thus a questioning of professional identity. Examinations of professional identity offers potential in practice when introduced in the educational context. This paper outlines a pedagogical tool adapted from a method used in research investigating public librarian professional identity in New Zealand. The tool leverages the elicitation of critical incidents, along with guided questions, to prompt examination of professional identity. The tool is embedded within reflexive practice, creating a framework to understand and engage within increasingly interconnected and changing contexts.

Critical Incidents and Librarian Professional Identity in LIS Pedagogy: Research Methodology as Pedagogical Tool Embedded in Reflexive Practice

Traditional conceptualisations of the library profession have been challenged due to persistent societal change, similarly affecting professional education. Challenges resulting from such change can be understood as uncertainty of definition and fit in society, and thus a questioning of professional identity. Examinations of professional identity offers potential in practice when introduced in the educational context. This paper outlines a pedagogical tool adapted from a method used in research investigating public librarian professional identity in New Zealand. The tool leverages the elicitation of critical incidents, along with guided questions, to prompt examination of professional identity. The tool is embedded within reflexive practice, creating a framework to understand and engage within increasingly interconnected and changing contexts.

The Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness: An Empathy-Driven Approach to Solving Problems, Preventing Conflict, and Serving Everyone by Ryan J. Dowd

Every public librarian, or library staff member, has interacted with a patron suffering from homelessness. Some of the interactions are favorable, while others are less than savory, and some might even be down-right dangerous and involve the police. Dowd, as a lawyer and director of Hesed House, a shelter for the homeless, takes his experience and presents the reader with tools and suggestions to build a more amiable relationship with the homeless population who attend the library. The style of this book is more storytime-esque rather than being a dry how-to guide. At the beginning of each section Dowd gives the reader personal experience, or a story about a coworker, which shows his investment and dedication, making the book a more enjoyable, and credible, read.

Information Literacy and Instruction: For Your Information: Using Information Literacy in Public Libraries

ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education has made waves among academic librarians since it was filed by the ACRL Board in 2015. Although the ACRL Framework’s primary intended audience is academic librarians, librarians in all types of libraries engage in information literacy instruction with their patrons. Sonnet Ireland shares her perspective as a public librarian on the impact that the ACRL Framework has had on her view of information literacy and how it has impacted her hands-on work with patrons.—Sarah LeMire, Editor