Winter reading

While the weather has not been particularly frightful (at least here in New Jersey), I am certain we will have a few days in the months ahead when the weather is too nasty to venture outdoors. What better time then, to catch up on some reading? Of course, it would be great to snuggle up with a bestseller. Alas my fellow librarians, we also need to feed, nourish and improve our professional lives.

Because of your busy schedules, you may have missed the July 2006 article by Dane Wood (Assoc. Dean for Public Services, Milner Library, Illinois State University) titled Revisioning Information Literacy for Lifelong Meaning. According to Wood, “information literacy includes information processes that explicitly address meaning, motivation and quality of life. A more robust notion of the concept delivers significant opportunities for libraries and instructional programs.”

Wood gives voice to many of the concerns librarians have expressed about information literacy. Search out a copy of this six-page article. Some of it will reinforce what many of you may already know and feel, and some of it will challenge your thinking, which is of course, a good thing.