Librarianship Trends

Amy Hubschman

IL - 21st Century Skills

Resource:

Partridge, H., Lee, J., & Munro, C. (2010). Becoming "Librarian 2.0": The Skills, Knowledge, and Attributes Required by Library and Information Science Professionals in a Web 2.0 World (and Beyond). Library Trends, 59 (1-2), 315-335. doi: 10.1353/lib.2010.0029

Summary:

This article mainly focuses on the specific skill set that will be necessary for librarians to obtain if they want to be successful in our highly digital society.  The Librarian 2.0 Professional is discussed and the author details how the 2.0 Professional has an entirely different skill set than that of the librarian of 1990 or even those of 2000.  In comparing librarianship of past to present the author focuses on key skills that most employers are interested in.  Some of the key points covered in the article are librarian collaboration skills, adaptability, teaching skills, and technology based skills.

Evaluation:

One thing this article does well is focusing on the 21st century skill set that is necessary for librarians to obtain.  The author discusses how the role of the library and librarian is constantly changing to meet our consumer or patrons demands.  Most of which are highly dependent on technology based tools and/or skills.   

Information Literacy and Twenty-First Century Skills

Reece, Madison

IL

Robin, B. R. (2008). Digital storytelling: A powerful technology tool for the 21st century classroom. Theory into Practice, 47(3), 220-228. doi: 10.1080/00405840802153916

Robin (2008) defines information literacy as “the ability to find, evaluate, and synthesize information” (p. 224). Information literacy requires a specific set of abilities to effectively locate, evaluate, and utilize information. The author addresses digital storytelling and it's place in the world of twenty-first century technologies. 

The author provides an interesting perspective on twenty-first century skills and information literacy. Twenty-first century skills can be obtained when students learn to conduct research on their own, ask critical questions, think critically, and organize ideas in meaningful ways. Librarians and educators should exhibit strong leadership in the fields of technology in order to provide meaningful learning experiences for students. 

21st Century Skills

"In Defense of School Librarians Fostering 21st Century Skills in Our Students"

KYLE, T. (2014). In defense of school librarians Fostering 21st century skills in our   

  students. Canadian Children's Book News, 37(1), 4-5.

Summary:

This article talks about the importance of “fostering some of the most essential 21st century skills — critical evaluation, synthesis, empathy, communication” (Kyle 2014).  It also discusses how learners can gain and improve these skills such as reading and information seeking.  I also learned that 21st century skills help learners find and analyze information.

It discusses how libraries are important in helping learners achieve success in learning and using 21st century skills.  More and more schools are doing away with full time school librarians.  

I would recommend this article because it helped me understand the negative effects of this shift when he writes, “The search for information — that complex, often frustrating, but ultimately satisfying process that is essential to real learning from elementary to graduate education — is left to teachers on their own to guide, with few resources, another demand added to the myriad challenges they face.” (Kyle 2014).

Collaboration and Coteaching

Posted by Karen Kotchka

CO

Loertscher, D. (2014). Collaboration and Coteaching. Teacher Librarian, 42 (2), 8-19.

Summary

In this article the author reviews some of the reasons why the library and librarians have been pushed aside as not being central to a school's needs and then relates the results of a research study designed to see how much added value to student success would be yielded by a true collaboration and coteaching between a classroom teacher and a teacher librarian.  Results of the study showed a much greater impact on student success for the cotaught lessons.  The author includes some tips and ideas for a teacher librarian to get started on the practice of coteaching with other classroom teachers

Evaluation

I thought the article was valuable to stimulate thinking and action towards making the library a more central part of the school academic culture and it also clarified some of the meanings and interpretations of what types of teachig are now going on in the library and how technology and virtual learning can extend the reach and impact of the library.

Components and Factors in Integrating Information Literacy Instruction in Elementary Education Using a Virtual Learning Environment

Posted by Karen Kotchka

IL

Kingsawat, K, Kwicien, K. & Tuamsuk, K. (2015). Components and Factors in Integrating Information Literacy Instruction in Elementary Education Using a Virtual Learning Environment. Libres: Library & Information Science Research Electronic Journal, 25 (1), 50-77.

Summary

This research article relates the results of a study in Thailand that implemented a Virtual Learning Environment to give all students access to information literacy skills.  The authors review both the standards and indicators that are important for students to learn in information literacy and the factors that influence the success of an online instructional environment.

Evaluation

The article did not give a lot of detail about how the Virtual Learning Environment worked or what the specific units of instruction were.  One point I did find valuable was that the authors said the virtual learning environment could support synchronous or asynchronous learning but the most important point was the quality of the teacher and learner reflection.

Beyond Mechanics: Reframing the Pedagogy and Development of Information Literacy Teaching Tools

Posted by Karen Kotchka

IL

Margolin, S. & Hayden, W. (2015). Beyond Mechanics: Reframing the Pedagogy and Development of Information Literacy Teaching Tools. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 41 (5), 602-612, doi: 10.10161.j.acalib.2015.07.001.

Summary

This article focused on the debate around whether the internet has made research papers an obsolete assignment as information is so readily available that students just look it up, gather it ad post it without doing any deep thinking about it.  The authors proposed writing from sources as a replacement for the research paper.  They advocate the process of research rather than the mechanics being taught to learners.  They have created an online Research Toolkit at Hunter College where they work that takes learners through various skills and processes of conducting research.

Evaluation

I thought the article was useful to proposing a new idea to repace the tired research paper but I wish they had included a link to their Research Toolkit.  I was able to do a search and find it through Hunter College and it was a good example of online tutorials

Graduating Students Who Are Not Only Learned But Also Learners

Posted by Karen Kotchka

IL

Donham, J. (2007) Graduating Students Who Are Not Only Learned, But Learners. Teacher Librarian, 35 (1), 8-12.

Summary

This article provides a lot of statistics on the increasing pace of knowledge generation as a way of demonstrating that students must be taught how to learn rather than just taught content that will be outdated.  It also talks a lot about how dispositions and habits of mind towards inquiry and investigation are most important in developing the learner's mindset and how the ibrary media program can tie into this goal.

Evaluation

I thought the article was a good read and provided a lot of good arguments for librarians looking to advocate for a fuller instructional program as well as providing a good review of what kind of criteria should be followed for authentic, inquiry type learning.