When reading about the ‘information landscape’ and reflecting on what it will mean for me professionally as a future TL, I was most struck by Flodori’s (2007) concept of the ‘infosphere’ and his metaphysical take that the end point of the digital information revolution will be a dissolving of the distinctions between the material and digital spheres and a completely new worldview. His broad conception of the infosphere encompasses ‘information agents’, ‘processes’ and ‘interactions’, and while constantly evolving digitally, recognises the continuing place of material and offline sources (Flodori, 2007, 59). According to Flodori (p.61), increasingly the world is interpreted ‘informationally’ and eventually ‘the infosphere will have moved from being a way to refer to the space of information to being synonymous with Being’. What are the implications of these conceptions for the role of Teacher Librarians?

It is vital that TLs understand the ‘infosphere’ or ‘broader information landscape’ because it is fundamental to our roles as information specialists, as guides and assistants to other teachers, and as guides and teachers of students in how to crucially navigate, learn, and live in that landscape.

The ever increasing size and complexity of the information landscape means that TLs, as information agents, must support teaching and learning through providing the best tools to access information and selecting and curating resources.  TLs also play a key role in teaching students:

• how to safely, ethically and effectively locate and evaluate information in digital (and traditional) places;
• how to test and distinguish information from misinformation, and that truth is not always fixed;
• that there is a distinction between information and knowledge and that students need to undertake processes and actively interact with the information to learn and contribute new information and knowledge; and
• how students can manage and control their use of social and information technologies and in that way positively influence their sense of ‘Being’.

TLs crucially provide access to and encourage use of the slower-pace offline part of the infosphere. Libraries, through their design, hang-out spaces, tangible books and materials, face to face activities and displays are also places to switch off from the overwhelm and ubiquity of social and digital media – to be places where deep thinking can happen, and imaginations can take flight. Where students can just be.

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