information landscape – From dust jackets to digital horizons

School Library Futures

Posted on May 28, 2022

I’m excited to think about the future of school libraries, as they become more inclusive and relevant to user needs. This could include more accessible resources for students with specific learning needs, multilingual materials, and blended learning resources or information that students can access from home.

I sincerely hope that increasing digital integration and e-resource offerings will further cement the importance of school libraries as learning hubs and integral components for the school teaching and learning landscape. Like Wade’s (2005) phoenix analogy indicates, school libraries need to continuously evolve to keep pace with user needs and information trends. School libraries that become, like dodos, extinct, not utilised or not fit for purpose are such a wasted opportunity for positive impact. As the International Federation of Library Association and Institutions’ (2018) updated Trends Report suggests that: “Libraries can adapt and respond through sharing skills, tools and ideas that empower their users” (p. 5).

Despite expanding digital collections, I think that physical resources will continue to have a place in school libraries as they serve educational purposes. In the future, there will continue to be changes to what physical library environments look like and feature too. Some examples are more flexible furniture, collaborative working areas, shelving on wheels and different zones (Curtis, 2018).

There is a lot of fearmongering that digital shifts will threaten the place of libraries and, by extension, Teacher Librarians (TLs), but this is not the case. School libraries of the future may look different, but their purpose will not waver: to equip users with the skills they need to navigate information environments, read widely and access resources from a variety of different perspectives. Teacher librarians, like wayfarers guiding users through diverse terrain (digital and physical), will always be needed, if not more than ever as information needs keep proliferating.

References

Curtis, N. (2018). School library staff share: Our wish list for the future. Access, 32(3), 32-38.

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. (2018). IFLA Trend Report Update. https://trends.ifla.org/files/trends/assets/documents/ifla_trend_report_2018.pdf

Wade, C. (2005). The school library: phoenix or dodo bird? Educational Horizons, 8(5), 12-14.

Image Credit: Photo by Hadija Saidi on Unsplash

The Information Society

Posted on March 15, 2022

“Information Society is a term for a society in which the creation, distribution, and manipulation of information has become the most significant economic and cultural activity. An Information Society may be contrasted with societies in which the economic underpinning is primarily Industrial or Agrarian. The machine tools of the Information Society are computers and telecommunications, rather than lathes or ploughs” (Rouse, 2005).

What do you think the term ‘information society’ means?

I think that information society is where we find ourselves and how we define ourselves right now, as part of the digital revolution. All around the world we, as a very broad group of humans, are living in the information environment (both analog and digital). Floridi calls this ever-evolving environment the “infosphere” which covers “all informational entities…their properties, interactions, processes, and mutual relations” (Floridi, 2007, p. 59). The information society is global and connected and driven by the galloping pace of digital innovation and development.

Why is it important for teacher librarians to understand the information landscape?

As Teacher Librarians, we must understand this information landscape because we live in it! More importantly, our students inhabit it too. Understanding this vast landscape is important because a significant part of our role is sifting through for quality information and resources for others to access. It is, however, also modelling best practice and scaffolding of skills so students can navigate this landscape for themselves. There is so much information that we can all easily access now online and in our physical environment, with more information being created and disseminated every second. This is an overwhelming thought – so, it is imperative we learn how to scope the landscape (and develop strategies to cope with information overload)!

Understanding the information landscape is also important because we are preparing students for futures, such as careers, that will only become more involved in this advancing, digitally driven information landscape. This website https://100jobsofthefuture.com/ is a joint project by Ford Australia, Deakin University and Griffith University, and gives an idea of what future jobs over the next few decades might look like! As David Ramadge comments in the report, “the level of technological understanding will increase for all jobs of the future, but jobs will open up for people who can successfully stand between people and machines, and who can understand people” (Tytler et al., 2019, p. 30).

References:

Floridi, L. (2007). A Look into the Future Impact of ICT on Our Lives. Information Society, 23(1), 59–64.

Rouse, M. (2005). Information Society. WhatIs.com. https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Information-Society

Tytler, R., Bridgstock, R., White, P., Mather, D., Mccandless, T., Grant-Iramu, M. (2019). 100 jobs of the future. Deakin University, Australia. Retrieved from https://100jobsofthefuture.com/report/100jobsofthefuturereport-SCREEN.pdf

Image Credit: Photo by Juliana Kozoski on Unsplash

Conceptualising Information

Posted on March 15, 2022

“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”

(T.S Eliot, 1934, p. 7)

This week in ETL401, we have been exploring the information environment. I hadn’t really ever considered how complex even just defining ‘information’ could be, let alone variations or different ways to categorise. Theorist Donald Case explains that even just defining ‘information’ is fraught, highly contentious and can have different subject-specific meanings/interpretations. Further, if the definition is too narrow, then it is too limited for application, but if it is too broad then it “poses problems for operalization and measurement of concepts” (Case, 2006, p. 66). I imagine this could make research investigations very challenging! For the purposes of his book, Case opts for broad definitions finally concluding that information is such a base, “primitive concept” it doesn’t really need a fine-tuned definition anyway!

It helped me to better understand the concept of information through the data-knowledge continuum or the DIKW pyramid (data-information-knowledge-wisdom). This theory is a way of categorising information in a hierarchy that progresses based on meaning and understanding. Here is a short video lecture, presented by Kay Oddone, that helped me to better understand this theory:

I think it’s important for us as budding Teacher Librarians to get a grasp on ‘information’ as it is to become our dialect and is such an integral part of helping students/staff manage the ever-growing world of information. Personally I find the conceptualisation of defining ‘information’ a bit too philosophical and am far more interested in the meaning we attach to it and practical application!

Reference:

Case, D. O. (2006). Looking for information: A survey of research on information seeking, needs, and behavior: a survey of research on information seeking, needs, and behavior. Emerald Publishing Limited.

Eliot, T. (1934). Choruses, The Rock: A Pageant Play. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company.

Oddone, K. (2022). Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/9i3_soqoC00

Image Credit: Photo by Philip Strong on Unsplash

Teacher Librarians and the Information Landscape

Posted on March 10, 2022

“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