theorywatch

So far, the folks on Library 2.0 Ning appear to be having a much more interesting and in-depth discussion on the topic than is the JESSE thread. I especially like the part where they share strategies for bringing this up in various classes where it seems relevant. Someone who’s an asst prof at UT-Knoxville has just made the point there (not on JESSE) that this bottom-up approach is probably the best one anyway, since top-down curricula changes tend to be very slow. As L2 should ideally involve a huge lifelong learning component (remember that the half-life of an MLS degree is only about five years, and the technology component may be even less), my suspicion is that people who become the L2 change agents in library school will continue to do so throughout their careers. (Hm, now that’s a long-term research project for someone!) It remains largely up to the individual librarian, as most libraries seem to have a particularly difficult time in becoming proactive learning organizations, perhaps because their own priorities are usually subordinate to those of some other organization (whether it be school, university, or local government) as well as to their ultimate service population (whether it be students, researchers, or general readers.)

diffusion, information, librariana, library school