Critical Information Literacy in the College Classroom: Exploring Scholarly Knowledge Production through the Digital Humanities

As a growing number of librarians and educators argue for a more critical praxis for information literacy instruction (ILI), one which encourages students to critically evaluate all information and to consider it in relation to social, political, and rhetorical contexts, ILI must go beyond making general distinctions between scholarly and non-scholarly sources which often elide the complexities of knowledge production. Instead, a strong critical and socially-conscious ILI praxis emphasizes the inherently biased nature of all information, and invites students to explore information as reflective of the specific rhetorical and sociopolitical situations in which it is created, shared, and responded to. While many librarians and educators agree in principle with the idea of a critical praxis for ILI, knowing how to implement such an approach remains a difficult question. Drawing on Elmborg’s conception of academic information literacy, I argue in this chapter that the digital humanities (DH) – understood perhaps most simply as the intersection between humanities scholarship and digital technologies – offers rich possibilities for fostering critical information literacy more broadly and academic information literacy more specifically through a critical pedagogical praxis. Because much of DH engages in alternative scholarly practices (such as the use of digital media, recognition of alternative forms of scholarship such as digital tools and experiments, and new models of publishing and peer review), DH presents numerous openings for exploring with student traditional and emerging scholarly practices, as well as ways that academic discourse and scholarship are influenced and shaped by social, political, institutional, and structural contexts. After considering ILI in relation to academic information literacy, I will discuss what DH in particular can contribute to ILI. Finally, I close with ideas for the classroom which address the sociopolitical dimensions of scholarly discourse and practices through the lens of DH

Exploring Librarians’ Teaching Roles through Metaphor

As librarians’ instructional roles continue to evolve, metaphor can be a powerful tool through which to reflect on and at times to reframe librarians’ evolving educational roles and pedagogical approaches, as they consider beliefs and assumptions about teaching and learning and about their unfolding work and identities. This article explores this potential by examining professional documents on librarians’ teaching, discussing empirical research on metaphor as a tool for teacher development, examining metaphors that librarians have sometimes used to describe their pedagogical work, and sharing the author’s experiences facilitating a librarian workshop on metaphor and librarians’ teaching roles

The Instructional Consultation: A Model for Fostering Teaching Partnerships beyond the One-Shot

Many librarians currently engage in instructional consulting as a means for supporting information literacy integration (e.g. instruction request, reference desk interactions, faculty workshops) and report significant success with this approach. In light of the traditional service model of librarianship, however, playing a consulting role can feel uncomfortable and often raises concerns about potentially overstepping territorial lines. In this interactive workshop, participants will discuss the concept of an “equal partners” consulting approach and their related experiences; will explore questions, concerns, challenges, and successes related to implementing instructional consulting; and will develop concrete strategies for engaging in instructional consulting in their specific work environments. Workshop Structure: Workshop facilitator introduces workshop topic and structure (5 minutes) Participants share their experiences with and approaches to various forms of “instructional consulting” (discussion first in small groups, then as a large group) (10 minutes) Workshop facilitator outlines key concepts and approaches related to an “equal partners” consulting approach (10 minutes) Participants discuss initial responses to and experiences with the described approach to consulting (discussion first in small groups, then as a large group) (10 minutes) Participants share scenarios in which instructional consulting might be relevant; workshop facilitator provides examples of specific scenarios in which consulting might be used (5 minutes) Small groups develop potential strategies and responses to a chosen consulting scenario; followed by large group discussion (20 minutes) Participants discuss potential barriers to an “equal partners” consulting approach and ways to address such challenges (10 minutes) Participants share key takeaways and remaining questions (5 minutes

Teaching Inclusive Citation through a Library Workshop

In response to calls for greater equity and inclusion in scholarly publishing and in academia in general, many academic instruction librarians are looking to ways to promote inclusive citation practices. Inclusive citation essentially involves citing sources that reflect a greater diversity of voices and perspectives, while being aware of how power and social structures have traditionally influenced what voices are amplified and which are often overlooked. Inclusive citation requires thinking creatively about how and where we search for information, since traditional scholarly practices and common structures and features of many search tools (e.g., citation metrics, relevance rankings) are part of the problem. Librarians have not typically been taught how to seek out voices and perspectives that have traditionally played less dominant roles in academic discourse. However, with our understandings of information systems and search strategies, we are well poised to build these skills and to support others in understanding and engaging in inclusive citation. In this presentation, the speaker will introduce the concept of inclusive citation and related strategies, share related teaching resources, and discuss an Inclusive Citation workshop that they have developed as part of their Libraries’ workshop series

Dominant COVID Narratives and Implications for Information and Media Literacy Education in the “Post-Pandemic” United States

Over the past three+ years that COVID-19 has changed everyday life across the globe, the entire world has been tasked with making sense of new, evolving, and often conflicting information, including public message that is often confusing and shaped by political agendas and interests. Dominant narratives about the COVID-19 pandemic illustrate of the complexities and importance of information literacy, and more specifically of critical information literacy, which asks us to interrogate the ways that power and social structure influence what information is created and circulated and how we interact with and respond to it as individuals and collectives. In this essay, I reflect on the evolution of information and narratives about the COVID-19 and ways that changing COVID narratives have influenced my thinking about and approaches to information literacy education

Flexible Pedagogies for Inclusive Learning: Balancing Pliancy and Structure and Cultivating Cultures of Care

In this essay, I reflect on flexibility as a concept and as a practice that has informed my teaching, in particular since adapting to online library instruction in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how flexible pedagogy principles and practices can be catalysts for reflective and inclusive teaching and a culture of care in all teaching contexts

The Conversational Nature of Sources

This lesson plan addresses the concept of research and information sources as reflections of larger conversations. The instruction plan is most relevant to undergraduate students, though it might be modified for other student audiences

Meaningful Work when Work Won\u27t Love You Back: Sociological Imagination and Reflective Teaching Practice (Reports From the Field)

This essay explores the tension between pursuing meaningful work in instruction librarianship and the realities of working in a society in which many jobs provide little fulfillment or pleasure, or, as the journalist Sarah Jaffe puts it, “Work won’t love you back.” Drawing on a recent conference keynote by Anne Helen Petersen, C. Wright Mills’s conception of sociological imagination, and an ecological model of teacher agency, I propose that one way librarians can sustain their teaching practices and preserve their well-being is by actively investigating how social structures and relationships influence their teaching roles

Academic Instruction Librarians’ Conceptions of Teacher Agency and Affective Orientations toward the Concept

This article reports on findings of an online survey on academic instruction librarians’ conceptions and experiences of teacher agency in the context of their instruction work and, more specifically, on their affective orientations (positive, ambivalent, or negative emotions and feelings) toward teacher agency. Two key dimensions of participants’ conceptions of teacher agency are evident throughout this analysis: 1) views of teacher agency as an individual experience of autonomy (individual agency) and/or views of it as more relational and interactive (and thus potentially collective), and 2) beliefs about the feasibility of librarians’ teacher agency, given librarians’ roles and positions as educators. Participants generally expressed positive affect when they felt they were independently in control of their teaching (individual agency), or when they described reciprocal and collaborative relationships with faculty (potentially collective agency). Participants expressed negative affect about experiences of lacking teacher agency. Almost all participants expressed 1) a desire to experience meaning and purpose in teaching and 2) a sensitivity to the highly relational nature of librarians’ instructional work. Finally, the author discusses potential implications for academic instruction librarians’ teaching practices, professional development, and work environments

A Review of: Schwegler, R. A., and Shamoon, L. K. (1982). The aims and process of the research paper. College English, 44(8), 817-824.

This classic article discusses research-based writing assignments. Schwegler and Shamoon sought to identify differences between college students’ and college instructors’ conceptions of research and research paper assignments, particularly in terms of their purpose and process. The authors also sought to identify common features of academic research writing that could inform writing instruction about research writing