Lesson 1 - Info Literacy

It is always nice to ease into a new course, getting the basic background to prepare for the new content.  This first lesson has been full of definitions - in particular related to reference and libraries.

I found it interesting to consider myself, as the T-L as part of the reference service of the library, in that I am able to assist students in finding the information that they require.  In addition to the "service" provided in the library, there is also the reference collection (sadly lacking in my library - in fact almost non-existent) and the reference sources which also include those online databases etc.  Of course, there are the many different definitions of reference - from looking at almost all materials as being reference (we can in fact use them to look up things!) to classifying the reference materials as actually sources of reference information (dictionaries, atlases, encyclopaedias, etc.) or directional sources that lead us in the direction of information (databases, bibliographies, etc.)

As I looked over the glossary in our textbook by Anne Riedling, I have found that I am familiar with most of the terms contained within it.  Some that I was unfamiliar with:

• Big6 Information Problem-Solving Model - 6 thinking steps to follow to solve an information problem; this looks very interesting; here is a link to the main page and one to a kid-friendly version that I will be passing onto the teachers at my school
• Ready-Reference Questions - question that usually require only a single, typically uncomplicated, straightforward answer; here are some internet ready reference tools
• RLIN - (Research Libraries Information Network); had never heard of this one, but discovered it no longer exists and has been integrated into OCLC

As always, it is interesting to learn these new terms and do some investigation into them - the Big6 is very intriguing, will definitely look into that some more.  I have also been thinking about the terms in that I already know and how they are tied into reference, in all its forms.  From the abridged dictionary to weeding of the school library - the uses of the items and their impact on student access to reference materials and how to find them; the ease of their use for students and for teachers and how I lead the various users of the materials to allow them to find the information they are searching for.