Scott Lanning

Meant as a text for high school and early college students, this boring book is guaranteed to be a shelf sitter. While the guide does cover the basics of finding and evaluating information in a wide variety of formats, it is not, in my opinion something that this generation of social media navigators would use unless required to do so. The problem, of course is that this generation thinks they are already information literate so why would they want to pick up a book that is not really talking their language or interests or useful when confronted with questions that really need professional help to answer? There are many books aimed at the older teen audience out there that speak their language and there just might be some value if written in that style. However, to be really useful, info lit needs to be embedded into real projects and real questions. When I am doing a science research paper and can’t find what I need, that is the time to insert finding skills beyond the normal Googling. Having said that, this book might be of value to the teacher librarian for a few ideas on what to teach and some exercises that could be adapted locally whiled coteaching. But, there are plenty of other guides to info lit that would me more helpful to the professional. I wish there was something that was really aimed at the teens themselves. Pass this one up.… (més)

No book gets to a third edition without excellent sales and our author here has evidently done this. Lanning’s thesis is that information literacy instruction is an extension of reference services. The reference service is targeted at individuals and information literacy is taught to groups. Lanning takes the position that is popular with a number of school librarians that there is and ought to be a curriculum for information that should be taught to every student whether or not it is done collaboratively alongside a teacher. Thus, many teacher librarians have a set list of things to teach grade level by grade level and this is done in elementary school during prescribed library times and usually without a classroom teacher being present. Such an approach does not depend on collaboration and in the opinion of the reviewer, it does little to advance teaching and learning across the school precisely because it is not integrated. Many teacher librarians in this teaching role do make efforts to link what they are teaching in the library to what is being learning in the classroom but it is still done alone. Many have argued that the library curriculum is one of the major reasons elementary librarians hold their jobs. The other argument is that by contract, teachers must have a planning period and thus a librarian is essential to fill the obligations of the contract. Since about 2006, we have been loosing elementary professional positions at an alarming rate and so the arguments have not been persuasive enough to hold jobs. The Lanning book is a bit more theoretical than practical so it is best used in introductory courses to the idea of information literacy. If you like this approach, then this is a legitimate read. However, if the idea of co-teaching alongside a teacher and integrating both content and process at the same time, then skip this book. The reviewer’s recent research study about the power of co-teaching to transform teaching and learning across the schools would argue that if an information skill is not taught just in time and when it will be used, then it need not have a formal mandate to be addressed. But, that is a whole topic to be discussed at length by the profession as a whole. It appears that the volume has been updated with new ideas and references, so if you have enjoyed the pas volumes this might be a good addition to your collection.… (més)

Lanning teaches information literacy courses in a small college and this book is designed as a textbook for such courses. We find traditional topics here that follow the ALA guidelines but you will not find any expanded definition of information literacy in terms of media literacy, ICT literacy or lots of the soft skills such as critical thinking, project based learning, or multimedia creativity. Traditional? It’s here. Visionary? Go elsewhere. 21st Century? Too limited. Collaborative with college faculty? Not really. Long lasting with students? Hardly. This approach needs to be rethought from the ground up. Skip this one.… (més)

What is it about information literacy that gets so many professionals fired up? This text reviews the American Library Association definition of information literacy, and tries to define what tools and abilities are needed to fulfill this definition. It uses the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education as its framework and sets out the basics of what students need to be able to do to be wise users of information. A strong kudo to this text is its approach to technology and electronic information resources, something not often addressed as well as it is in this text. This is a back to the basics of information literacy for most professionals, but serves as a good reminder of how to approach this critical skill with students.

Bottom line: This is a good text to remind us of what we should be doing, assuming nothing and going for something in information literacy. It is simple and graphical; a way to remind us of how to excel in our reference and advisory services. Recommended.… (més)