Weekly Reading #5 Between a Rock and a Hard Place

1. What does the term "discursive practices" mean?

• Simply put conversational practices [Encarta Dictionary: English (North America)]

2. What does "discourse" mean?  

• Dialogue [Encarta Dictionary: English ( North America)]

3. What is the "rock" and what is the "hard place"?

• The ‘rock’ is the current conception  that represents information literacy as a skill or a competency. To be used for information access and use , and associated with tools such as text or technology. The ‘hard place’ refers to the attempts to translate this conception from the formal learning regimes of education and academic libraries to less structured or systemized sectors but just as important( Lloyd ,2011) 

4. What are the differences between the skills prescribed for information searching in academic and workplace settings?

• Academia has a particular set of rules, regulations and curriculum that are strengthened by an influential logic. Academia knowledge is based on knowledge that is unquestioned, objective and explicit measured against formalized set of criteria.

• Work places, on the other hand, offer a less restricted environment.  Information is distributed through a range of practices that contribute to the collective performance of work. Their knowledge is shaped through unrecognized sources such as experience, which is reflective of the ongoing process of collaboration.

5. How do academic notions of information literacy undermine workplace notions information literacy?

• Academia attempts to translate librarians’ ideas of the operational skill list and standards identified in the education sector. Also academia focuses on individual information use rather than information used as a collective activity. Academia tends to dislike the concepts of teamwork and group problem solving to build collective knowledge spread across a team rather than an individual.

6. How are information needs identified in work place setting like nursing and emergency workers?

• In most health care fields problem solving is group activity. Health care professionals work as a team to discuss the problem or issue at hand and draw on a range of experiences and expertise within the group.  In hospitals and other health care facilities the teams are made up of EMTs, nurses, respiratory therapists and nutritionists to name just a few. Then decide the best course of action based on the rules and regulations of the medical profession.

7. Why do issues of plagiarism not resonate in workplace settings?

• The type of knowledge shared in the work place is considered to be a collective possession, distributed and circulated throughout the work place, by story- telling, and accepted through the networks of professional practice.  As such plagiarism is not an issue.

8. Are information literacy skills transferable across contexts and settings? Why or Why not?

•  I had a very hard time translating what our author was trying to emphasize here. I believe that these skills are transferrable; however, our author does not. I believe once you have the basics it does not matter where the information comes from. It is important and needs to be stressed to students that not all information is equal. It is our job as educators to teach the students “...application and operationalization of information skills (i.e., the ability to effectively search for information and evaluate results)…” ( Lloyd, 2011).

9. What is "practice theory"?

• Practice theory emphasizes the analytical way of engaging with world. Practice theories have the ability to produce accounts of how different types of information and knowledge are produced and how information literacy happens.

10. How does the author of this article define information literacy?

• Lloyd (2011) states “Knowledge of information sources within an environment and an understanding of how these sources and the activities used to access them are constructed through discourse. Information literacy is constituted through the connections that exist between people, artifacts, texts and bodily experiments that enable individuals to develop both subjective and intersubjective positions. Information literacy is a way of knowing many environments that constitute an individual being in the world. (Lloyd, 2010 , page 26)”

11.How do educators need to change their understanding of information literacy in order to prepare student for the information literacy practices they will encounter in workplace settings?

• I, as an example, need to loosen up a little. Not all information on the web is taboo. Wikipedia is okay and a good starting point. We need to learn that not all research is empirical and collaboration and teamwork shape some of our health care protocols. 

12. What do the terms "ontological" and "epistemological" mean?

• Onto- is the prefix meaning being       –ology means the study of.
• Ontology is the study a particular theory of being [Encarta Dictionary: English (North America)]
• I believe this means that “…organizations, institutions and settings, and the people in them, create practice architecture with prefigured practices, enabling them and constraining particular kinds of sayings, doings, and relationships among people  within them and in relation to others  outside them…” (Lloyd, 2011)
 
• Epi- means within    –stem – means genealogical time   -ology means the study of.
• Epistemology is the study of the nature of knowledge, it’s foundation, scope and validity. [Encarta Dictionary: English (North America)]
• It also means within the system of the information landscape. In medical workplaces the health care professional is situated in balance with other medical professions and other areas of expertise based on the knowledge of patient care, policy and procedure.

13. After reading this article, how useful is the traditional research paper we expect students to produce in school in preparing them for workplace settings? What are traditional research papers useful for? Should we still assign traditional research papers?

• I think the traditional research paper is still useful. The students still need to learn the basics.
• They need the ability to know when there is a need for information, to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively use that information for the issue or problem at hand. Since we all don’t know where our students are headed in their future endeavors, a traditional research paper would be a good starting point.
• Tradition research papers are the foundation with which to build information literacy. This will never change. The student’s learn fair use and guidelines. Such as web site validity. The building blocks are communication, collaboration and teamwork and can these be moved around to meet their research needs.
• Yes traditional research still needs to be assigned. But not as rigid doctoral desertation.

14. What is one of the biggest challenges to changing the way information literacy is conceptualized in school settings?

• That sharing is not a bad thing. Collaboration is okay, but as stated above , the students need to now the basics first. My idea of research is still old fashioned in the sense one person, one paper. It’s hard to break from old traditions. 

15. What attributes of the 21st century make it essential that educators change their approaches toward information literacy?

• Information is arriving on the web fast and furious. Anyone can type anything and it might be considered a standard. It is our job as educators to lay the foundation so that our students aren’t saying “if it’s on the web it has to be true”. 

16. What changes can teachers make to their classroom activities to engage students in the information literacy practices they will encounter in 21st century workplace settings?

• I will start assigning more activities that will engage the student in researching information from early in our program, such as, just look up a site and do a web evaluation. Get the students comfortable with what to look for. I’m also assigning group projects that will involve researching our libraries resources.

References:

Lloyd, A. (2011). Trapped between a rock and a hard place: what counts as information . Library  

     Trends, 60(2), 277-296.

Microsoft Encarta Dictionary: Retrieved from  http://books.google.com/books/about/