“In this particular context, the term information landscape refers to textual knowledge mapping of individual cultural practices and experiences, which constitute a holistic and dynamic knowledge system.” (Savolainen, 2021).
Why it is important to have an understanding of the broader information landscape?
As a school-based teacher librarian, you are the resident expert for how to best navigate the information landscape (both digital and print). It can seem overwhelming, for both staff and students, because there is so much information out there to be filtered/appraised/sorted and so on, before it can be used for various education purposes. Not only do TLs need a good grasp on how it all works, but they need to be actively modelling how to navigate the landscape regularly, so they can keep informed. Effective TLs will always be the go-to people in school for staff and students who need help or have questions about sourcing or critiquing information.
How you think the information landscape will affect your role as a TL in a school?
I think the information landscape, particularly ever-evolving digital resources, will impact us as TLs daily! We need to make sure that we are accessing the best resources for our learning community and giving them up-to-date information to best navigate the information landscape themselves. The pace of change and vastness of digital resources means that we must keep up-to-date and be open-minded about trialling new platforms, emerging technologies, and diverse resources. It’s easy to focus on the digital information landscape, but this encompasses print information resources as well – we need to keep abreast of excellent print learning resources as well (from non-fiction resources to quality novels by local authors). The information landscape will remain a thrilling, slightly terrifying, essential part of our jobs!
References:
Savolainen, R. (2021). Information landscapes as contexts of information practices. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 53(4), 655–667.
Image Credit: Photo by Robynne Hu on Unsplash
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