Implementing Information Literacy through the Personal Librarian Model: Prospects and Challenges

Yıl 2015, Cilt: 3 Sayı: 2, 28 - 35, 30.11.2015

Christopher Owusu-ansah Vuyokazi Gontshi

Öz

The paper explores the concept of Personal Librarianship which is fairly a novel concept in the library and information science context in Africa. The Personal Librarian Programme encourages students to build relationships with their personal librarians who provide learning support, and introduce the library as an enabling environment that supports students’ learning needs. The ultimate goal of this concept is to make First Year Students Information Literate. The idea behind the programme is that the personal librarian becomes the student’s primary contact throughout his/her studies. The study reviews the two most widely used models of teaching and imparting Information Literacy by pointing out their strengths and weaknesses.  In the end, the research highlights the importance of complementing these existing efforts with the Personal Librarian concept. The research also demonstrates the feasibility of implementing the Personal Librarian Programme in a higher education context in Africa. Finally, the study elicits some challenges in using the Personal Librarian Programme to implement Information Literacy. Overall, the study contributes to efforts aimed at proactively engaging students to enhance their competencies in information usage.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Information literacy, Personal librarianship, Prospects, Challenges

Kaynakça

• Association of College and Research Libraries. (2001). Objectives for Information Literacy Instruction: A Model Statement for Academic Librarians. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.
• Association of College and Research Libraries. (2000). Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.
• Association of College and Research Libraries. (2011). Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.
• Aguilar, P., Keating, K., Schadl, S., & Van Reenen, J. (2011). Reference as outreach: meeting users where they are. Journal of Library Administration, 51(4), 343-58.
• Badke, W. (2010). Why information literacy is invisible. Communications in Information Literacy, 4(2), 129.
• Barnhart, A. C., Stanfield, A., Lei Hsieh, M., McManimon, S., & Yang, S. (2013). Faculty‐librarian collaboration in improving information literacy of educational opportunity program students. Reference Services Review, 41(2), 313-335.
• Baro, E. E., & Keboh, T. (2012). Teaching and Fostering Information Literacy Programmes: A Survey of Five University Libraries in Africa. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 38(5), 311-315.
• Bell, S. (2008). IL course credit does not equal credibility. Retrieved from http://acrlog.org/2008/11/25/il-course-credit-does-not-equal-credibility
• Breivik, P. S. (2005). 21st Century Learning and Information Literacy. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 37(2), 21-27.
• Davis, E. L., Lundstrom, K., & Martin, P. N. (2011). Librarian perceptions and information literacy instruction models. Reference Services Review, 39(4), 686-702.
• Dennis, N. (1990). .New technologies for information retrieval: a three‐credit course for undergraduates at Salem State College. Reference Services Review, 18(1), 39‐48.
• Doskatsch, I. (2003). Perceptions and perplexities of the faculty‐librarian partnership: an Australian perspective. Reference Services Review, 31(2), 111-121.
• Emmett, A., & Emde, J. (2007). Assessing information literacy skills using the ACRL standards as a guide. Reference Services Review, 35(2), 210-229.
• Farber, E. (1999). Faculty-librarian cooperation: a personal retrospective, Reference Services Review, 27(3), 229-234.
• Gontshi, V. (2011). Perceptions of the value of information literacy intervention in a class of Economics 1 student at Rhodes University. Unpublished research report.
• Gontshi, V. (2013). Towards an exceptional Undergraduate learning experience: The Personal Librarian Programme-a pilot project at Rhodes University Library. Unpublished research report.
• Hearn, M. R. (2005). Embedding a librarian in the classroom: an intensive information literacy model. Reference Services Review, 33(2), 219-227.
• Henry, C. L., Vardeman, K. K., & Syma, C. K. (2012). Reaching out: connecting students to their personal librarian. Reference Services Review, 40(3), 396-407.
• Hilton Smith, R. D. (1933). Personal Librarianship. Library Review, 4(4), 160-165.
• Mery, Y., Blakiston, R., Sult, L., Kline, E. and Brewer, M. (2012). Developing an online credit information literacy course into the Freshman Writing Program in a university setting. Best Practices For Teaching Credit‐Bearing Information Literacy Courses, Edited by Hollister, C. (Ed.), Chicago, IL: Association of College and Research Libraries.
• Nann, J. B. (2010) Personal Librarians: The answer to increasing patron contact may be simpler than we think. AALL Spectrum. Retrieved from http://www.aallnet.org/products/pub_sp1006/pub_sp1006_Personal.pdf
• Ndima, L. (2013). The library just got personal. Activate: Rhodes University’s Independent Student News source, Retrieved September 3, 2014, from http://activateonline.co.za/the-library-just-got-personal/
• Parker, J. (2003). Putting the pieces together: information literacy at The Open University. Library Management, 24 (4/5), 223-228.
• Primary Research Group. (2008). College information literacy efforts benchmarks. New York: Primary Research Group.
• Winner, M. C. (1998). Librarians as partners in the classroom: an increasing imperative, Reference Services Review, 26(1), 25‐30.