K. Kavita Rao

Promoting Information literacy in the Digital Library Environment: The

Collaborative Role of the Library and Information Science Professionals

 

Digital Libraries

"Digital libraries are organizations that provide the resources, including the specialized staff, to select, structure, offer intellectual access to, interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity, and ensure the persistence over time of collections of digital works so that they are readily and economically available for use by a defined community or set of communities”.

Digital libraries (cont..)

1. Preserve the valuable documents, rare and special collections of libraries, archives and museums.

2. Provide faster access to the holding of libraries world wide through automated catalogues.

3. Help to locate both physical and digitized versions of scholarly articles and books through single interface.  

4. Search optimization, simultaneous searches of the Internet make possible, preparing commercial databases and library collections.

Digital libraries (cont..)

5. Offering online learning environment.

6. Making short the chain from author to user.

7. Save preparation/ conservation cost, space and money.

8. Digital technology affords multiple, simultaneous user from a single original which are  not possible for materials stored in any other form.  

Information literacy

American Library Association (ALA)

"To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the needed information’’.

http: //www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/whitepapers/presidential.htm

Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professional (CILIP) (2005)Information literacy is knowing when and why you need information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner. This definition implies several skills that are required to be information literate require an understanding of: •  A need for information • The resources available • How to find information • The need to evaluate results • How to work with or exploit results • Ethics and responsibility of use • How to communicate or share your findings• How to manage your findings

Ref:http://www.cilip.org.uk/policyadvocacy/learning/informationliteracy/definition/

Information Literacy Education

.Information Literacy Education is a shared responsibility of all educators and information providers. It requires collaboration of faculty, administrators and library & information professionals.

. Information literacy must be integrated into courses at all levels to provide reinforcement of skills and best results.

. Different information literacy training courses/workshops and tutorials need to be designed, developed and implemented by information literacy experts, information literacy librarians, subject specialists and instructional collaborators for librarians, faculty and student learners separately in every college and university which is a major step in providing information literacy education.

Six Frames for Information Literacy Education

A series of SIX Frames for Information Literacy Education through which many elements of IL education might be experienced is given below:

(1) The Content Frame(2) The Competency Frame(3) The Learning to Learn Frame(4) The Personal Relevance Frame(5) The Social Impact Frame and(6) The Relational Frame

Ref: Six Frames for Information literacy Education http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/italics/vol51/pdf/sixframes_final%20_1_.pdfhttp://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/italics/vol51/pdf/sixframes_final%20_1_.pdf

The role of library & Information Science Professionals

.The role of librarian has changed from being a custodian of library to information scientist.

.When teaching information literacy the effectiveness of the learning activities needs to be determined, concepts should be emphasized, teaching the process rather than the tools is what is more needed in the paradigmatic shift from teaching to learning .

The librarians design digital resource guides, which includes ideas for article databases, search strategies for locating e-resources, a list of useful reference books, and some high-quality websites.

The role of library & Information Science Professionals (CONTD…)

. Librarians must collaborate with computer and information scientists in the design, organization, development, and maintenance of digital library repositories, interfaces, and networks.

. The librarian, therefore, has a critical role in the digital library of the future as educator and consultant.

. The librarian's duties will see a shift from Library management to an emphasis on teaching, consulting, researching, preserving intellectual and access freedom, and collaborating in the design, application, and maintenance of information access systems .

The need and importance of collaboration

Working together to break the information and institutional barriers is the need of the hour.

The Collaborative Partnership is a common storefront for individuals throughout academia, industry and state/federal government(s) to build relationships in the pursuit of conducting research, taking advantage of commercialization opportunities and sponsored funding. The partnership empowers individuals to know of and where expertise and resources exist.

Suggestions

. The library and information professionals from all sectors-academic, public and special should come together and take necessary collaborative steps to produce a generation of information literate and lifelong learners who can succeed in the information age.

. A framework for evaluating the digital library services and information literacy programmes is needed. Assessment and accreditation always help in measuring and enhancing the quality. Such a culture empowers libraries and librarians in initiating change based on research.

Suggestions (cont..).Digital libraries need to be open-access with flexible boundaries and effective services in order to quickly react to the demands of an ever-changing environment.

.In academic libraries, a set of best practices should be followed to help librarians and faculty work together to initiate new information literacy assessment efforts or to improve established programs in their own institutions. Collaboration need of the hour.

.Incorporate robust research experiences into classroom teaching strategies and also provide students and educators with free and equitable access to an essential academic core collection of online and physical library materials.

Suggestions (cont..)

. Design collaborative information literacy research projects between academic and research libraries.

.It is necessary to create more professional development opportunities for all library and information professionals and faculty.

.Determine all possible cross-meeting linkages and develop others that will create this collaborative partnership.

.Library associations must provide leadership in helping libraries and librarians make effective use of technology in supporting research and education.

.More conferences and seminars must be conducted on collaboration.

Conclusion The present day information users and learners are trying to navigate virtual environment without an essential set of skills to formulate new knowledge, to hone critical thinking skills, and to make decisions. This situation can be remedied through the collaborative efforts between library and information professionals to take necessary actions and provide information literacy training to the library users.

Today, Librarians have to play multiple evolving and expanding roles to face many new challenges in the dynamic technological environment. A library and information professional must be a professional expert, techno literate, web usability expert, knowledge manager, navigator, trainer, educator, marketer, service provider and many more. Collaboration is the key to success is yet to be realized by library and information science professionals.

QUESTIONS?

THANK YOU !