Information Literacy Reviews for 2008

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•  Web literacy for educators by Alan November (Corwin Press, 2008, 109p. $_____, ISBN: 9781412958424)

  November is a popular speaker about educational technology has lectured across the continent and beyond. In his latest book, November gives teachers a system to help both them and their learners ascertain the quality of information being encountered on the Internet. These are skills that teacher librarians constantly stress whenever they are  teaching research, but November is trying to reach a wider audience. He teaches the obvious technique of watching the extensions .org, .edu, etc. What we have discovered is that for many of the extensions, anyone can purchase almost any extension they wish. November provides many other criteria such as investigating who is behind the content of the website. He provides teachers with forms and extensive recommendations for teaching these ideas. We are not certain that every user would take the time to thoroughly evaluate every source of information taken from the web, although this would be wonderful. Do we require learners to go through the same extensive evaluation process of the books they use, the articles from databases, the interviewees? Certainly for every research project, some of this needs to go on so that it becomes a routine in the learner’s head of asking who is saying what to me for what reason and when was it said. If your teachers are struggling with the idea of quality information, perhaps they would listen to Alan. We always hate to say, “I told you so,” but any help you can get to further the quality information agenda, the better. Recommended.

• The back of the napkin : solving problems and selling ideas with pictures by Dan Roam (Portfolio (Penguin Group), 2008, 278p. $_____, ISBN: 9781591841999)

  I like graphic organizers – that invention to represent ideas in picture form. Most teacher librarians know and use Inspriation or Kidspiration and teach young people how to organize their thought and ideas from what they read. But if you don’t know about those packages or cannot afford them, then Roam’s system is interesting. Essentially, Roam shows how the created a system of pictures that represented ideas – a picture shorthand of sorts.  For example, a rectangle represents a what  problem to solve. Two arrows pointing the same way with a question mark means a when problem. So, his scribbles help him attack who, how, when, where, and how problems. And, the more he uses them, the more complex they become as thinks through the symbols. So, what does this have to do with teacher librarians? I think the discovery here, is that we give a gift to learners who embrace graphic organizers. It is a gift of thinking, analysis, synthesis, and seeing the big picture. While a computer program may be quite helpful to a novice learner, we can encourage leaner’s to go beyond what a computer is doing for them to invent systems that stimulate their own thinking. It is the push a piano teacher gives the student at the point where it is time to take flight. “You don’t need me as your teacher any more.” You are a performer (an information literate). Perhaps that is why this book appeals to me – it represents a challenge every teacher librarian faces. How many of our students become independent learners because of us? Read a bit in this book. It may stimulate your own thinking about problem solving through graphic organizers. I’m talking about personal and professional ones as well as what we can do for our students.

• Stop the copying with wild and wacky research projects by Nancy Polette (Teacher Ideas Press, 2008, 167 pp. $_____ ISBN: 9781591586968)

  Nancy, the clever, provides a plethora of quickie projects kids can do in the library during their library time that are just a half-step up from the typical cut/paste worksheet. However, we would recommend that for the short time periods kids have in the library if scheduled there, better to engage them in reading and build those avid and capable readers than to do low-level information activities disconnected from the curriculum. In other words, try to compensate for the boredom of the reading skill/drill/kill program to build interest and life-long fascination with books. So, this is a book to pass by. Check out Polette’s other books connected to reading to discover the fun stuff she does so well.

• Information literacy assessment in K-12 settings by Lesley S. J. Farmer and James Henri (Scarcrow, 2008, 201p. $_____, ISBN: 9780810856950)

  As the school children in North America become more and more diverse and the global connections become more and more central to our society, it is valuable to try to get an international perspective on  problems faced far beyond our own schools. Farmer and Henri represent perspectives of the United States, Asia, and Australia. Putting their ideas together, they look at a more global view of assessment than has been done in the recent past. A theoretical work, the authors look at the culture, education across borders, various types of assessments used globally, and a variety of other factors that would lead the reader to consider as policies for information literacy are being considered for regional or national documents.  We found many helpful checklists throughout the volume that check our own personal knowledge as we formulate local policies. So, for advanced readers looking beyond boundaries, this is and essential tool. For the browser, look for the bulleted lists to compare your own perspective with those of the authors. The bibliography at the end is also an excellent source of articles about information literacy from around the world. Recommended.

   

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  Intellectual property : everything the digital-age librarian needs to know by Timothy Lee Wherry (ALA, 2008, 141p.  ISBN: 9780838909485) This book covers copyright, patents, and trademarks and is valuable to the librarian who deals with patrons interested in the topic. In particular, every librarian deals with copyright laws. There are a wide variety of books dealing with copyright and fair use. While this one does give good background, for school librarians, I recommend Carol Simpson's work.

   

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