Week 7: Argue a Point

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    • #1586
      Deborah Fuller
      Participant

      Librarians in public libraries have a responsibility to teach information literacy.

      We are living in an information orientated society where increasingly this information is being disseminated digitally. However a significant proportion of the population do not have access to the internet, either through choice or lack of resources or knowledge. This can put them at increasing disadvantage and disempower them. Whose responsibility is it to educate these people so that they can partake within the digital society with confidence? I would argue that public librarians have a role in information literacy education. UNESCO and IFLA partnered to suggest governments provide public libraries with funding to support information access and use.

      Information literacy can be defined as being able to find and critically evaluate information and in order to do this it needs to be repeated in a way which the learner understands and is relevant to them. It is a set of skills learnt in response to the customer needs, so it is essential to know what these are. For example one customer may want to learn to use Facebook to keep in contact with grandchildren overseas, whereas another may want to do banking online.

      Librarians in public libraries are in a position where they regularly interact with the public and can respond to these needs. Sobel argued that one of the roles of the librarian was to teach people real skills to meet real needs, which I would argue now involves teaching them how to access the internet confidently and safely and use it to meet whatever their day to day or learning needs are. Librarians as the traditional experts at managing, retrieving and evaluating information are in a position to enable this, particularly in public libraries where they are accessible to the public. Librarians are the advocates of lifelong learning and as such can utilise every interaction with a user as an opportunity for teaching.

      Many of those who need assistance with information literacy do not have access to non-public libraries. These groups include the elderly, immigrants with limited English language skills and the unemployed. These are the people the librarian is best placed to assist, especially as public libraries usually offer free access to computers and the internet, they are likely to be the customer’s first port of call when needing assistance. Many public libraries do offer programs to teach information literacy skills. For example Brisbane City Council Libraries offer free courses using tablets, smartphones and various computer programs in English and other languages.

      However does the librarian have the skills do perform this education. I would argue that they do. As mentioned before librarians are the experts at information management, evaluation and retrieval and if they don’t know the answer will often know where to find it or where to refer the customer. They can use these skills to educate the user how to access and evaluate the information that is relevant to them, including knowing what information is needed, where to find it and if the information is credible.

      Therefore to conclude my argument, public library librarians, as the public face of knowledge and information are in an ideal position to educate and empower the public to utilise emerging technology effectively.

       

       

    • #1601
      Ruth McConchie
      Participant

      Thanks Debbie, I really enjoyed your post. I agree. I think, as you write, public librarians are in the ideal position to educate and empower the public. How do you think this translates into school, academic and even the State libraries? What are they responsible for individually? Many libraries make commitments to lifelong learning, but the reality of which literacy classes they actually provide seems very different.

    • #1603
      Deborah Fuller
      Participant

      Thanks for your feedback Ruth and I’m glad you enjoyed it. I think all librarians do have a role to play in information literacy. My generation did not learn it in school,  so are relying on academic and public librarians to assist us when needed. As  more generations learn it at school, there will probably be a reduced need in academic and public libraries, although I feel it will always be necessary in public libraries, as like with basic literacy there will always be some who fall through the gaps.

    • #1723
      Katherine Lee
      Participant

      Great post Debbie! I definitely agree that librarians are the best placed to teach digital literacy skills to the public. I’m curious, do you think public libraries are currently doing enough to encourage digital literacy, or can we do more?

      (Also, just a heads up, in your first sentence I think you mean disseminate, not decimate. Probably auto-correct’s fault 🙂 )

    • #1731
      Deborah Fuller
      Participant

      Hi Katherine, thanks for your feedback and giving me the heads up on my typo. In answer to your question, when I looked at Brisbane City Council’s website, every other program they offered was on information or digital literacy, including some in Cantonese and Vietnamese. However the client would either need to access the library to find out about these, or look on the website which implies some degree of information literacy. I may be wrong, but I feel that the people who really need the assistance are still not being reached. I don’t really know what the answer is, except for taking it out into the streets.

    • #1798
      Kate McKelliget
      Participant

      I agree that public librarians are in a great position to educate and empower the people. When I was reading your post, I kept thinking, ‘If not the librarians, then who?’ Well, I think there are a number of others who can and do also help. But as you stated, librarians are also positioned well for this task. What I find upsetting, then, is the lack of funding that they receive to deliver these services as this week’s readings suggested.

    • #1862
      Deborah Fuller
      Participant

      Thanks for your feedback Kate. After writing this post, it did confirm to me that I see public librarians as ideal professionals to teach information literacy, but as you say they need support  with financial and time resources and knowledge in order to do this effectively. We are lucky as future librarians, that our course is heavily based on ensuring that we have this knowledge. However some of more experienced librarians, who trained before the widespread of digital resources, will be at a disadvantage, unless they receive the support with training.

    • #1869
      Saurav Khadka
      Participant

      Hi Debbie, your posts are always well managed and goes along with a flow. I too agree with the point that public librarians should take at least some responsibility to educate those who lack of basic literacy. However, in a public library, if the librarian has been working there since ages, and he himself is not aware of such new technologies, how will be able to impart knowledge to other people? Also, some elderly people do not wish to adopt with new technologies, what could be a better solution is such cases?

      Cheers!!
      Saurav

    • #1870
      Deborah Fuller
      Participant

      Thanks for  your comments Saurav. I agree it could be a problem for librarians who have been in the field for a while to keep up with all the advances in technology, but as professionals, I feel that they have a duty to say up to date professionally. My current career is in healthcare and this is also constantly, and I am obliged to keep myself updated with these changes. However, with regards to the elderly, we can only offer them the chance and opportunity to learn new things, we can’t force them, but we can be available to assist them  with online forms particularly those on the MyGov site.

       

    • #1992
      Samantha Maddox
      Participant

      Hi! I absolutely agree with you that librarians have a responsibility to educate IL. We are studying information science and what has become so evident is that librarianship is not about the books, its about the information and getting it to the public or having the resources and ability to show patrons how to use such technologies. Librarians can help bridge the gap that some people feel they have fallen into in regards to I, particularly older patrons but essentially everyone. Great post, really enjoyed it!

    • #2025
      Deborah Fuller
      Participant

      Thanks for your feedback Samantha. I think its something we’re all coming to appreciate more and more as we progress through the course, just what a large role librarians have in the provision of information within the community in which they work.

       

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