Category Archives: ACRL Framework

Sneak Peak #2 into Metaliteracy in Practice

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As promised, we are posting chapter previews, written by the authors, for the forthcoming book Metaliteracy in Practice, due out in late 2015 or early 2016 from ALA Neal-Schuman.

Chapter 2:

The Politics of Information: Students as Creators in a Metaliteracy Context

Lauren Wallis, Christopher Newport University

Andrew Battista, New York University

The recent revision of the Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education opens a space for students to reflect on their position within an inherently political imbroglio of information, both in traditional scholarly formats and in open online spaces. When students visit the library, it is often at the behest of their professors, who expect that librarians will tell them how to find peer-reviewed journals. Meanwhile, the Framework, with its grounding in metaliteracy, encourages knowledge practices and dispositions in which students see their own encounters with information as opportunities to question authority, challenge expertise, and recognize the merit of nontraditional forms of evidence.

As the Framework was being revised, and as discussions of metaliteracy as a guiding principle for information literacy pedagogy emerged, we taught a one-credit class called The Politics of Information. In this class, we asked several questions: Who creates information? What information gets produced and circulated, and what information does not?  Who has access to information, and how can the dissemination of information be an instrument of social control, inside and outside of the academy? As we taught, we realized that our core teaching moves—to destabilize authority and to encourage students to create digital products and reflect metacognitively on their learning experience—dovetail with the goals of metaliteracy.

We are excited that our chapter, “The Politics of Information: Students as Creators in a Metaliteracy Context,” is included in the forthcoming Metaliteracy in Practice volume. Our chapter makes the connections between the learning outcomes in The Politics of Information course and metaliteracy explicit. We began with the idea that information is a social construct, not a static, amorphous entity that reifies academic authority. We hope that this chapter, along with the others in the volume, offers concrete ways to adopt the goals of metaliteracy into the information literacy classroom.

Sneak Peaks into the Forthcoming Book Metaliteracy in Practice

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As we mentioned in our post of June 14, the manuscript of Metaliteracy in Practice has been delivered to our editors, ALA Neal-Schuman, with publication expected in late 2015 or early 2016. The volume includes nine chapters, whose authors explore a wide range of teaching situations and opportunities where metaliteracy provides a structural and pedagogical framework.

We thought that brief overviews of some of the content might interest you.  Over the next month or two we will feature these sneak peaks, written by chapter authors, as blog posts. We hope they will whet your appetite!

Chapter 4:

Where Collections and Metaliteracy Meet: Incorporating Library-Owned Platforms into Open and Collaborative Library Instruction

Amanda Scull

Keene State College, New Hampshire

Many of the ways in which librarians provide instruction are dependent upon libraries’ subscription content, namely databases and online journals. Yet in a time when our budgets are decreasing and the cost of those resources increases annually, librarians should consider shifting their focus to library-owned platforms that support local content creation. This focus on institutionally created content housed on library platforms requires a shift in the way we define “collections.” However, this approach allows librarians to innovate and adapt their instruction in ways that engage students with collaboration, varied content, and the literacies demanded of today’s scholars and workforce.

This chapter focuses on the use of institutional repositories and LibGuides as two platforms through which librarians can both teach and develop content. There are many ways to connect the metaliteracy objectives to instruction through these platforms, as they are ideal places for encouraging students to collaborate and participate in the scholarly conversation. Practical examples of how librarians are already using these platforms at colleges and universities are provided, as well as suggestions for assessment and mapping to the metaliteracy goals and objectives and ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.

Finished Manuscript of Metaliteracy in Practice

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We have spent the last year editing a book that we just sent to our publishers, ALA Editions, at the beginning of July. Entitled Metaliteracy in Practice, the chapter authors explore a wide range of teaching situations and opportunities where metaliteracy provides a structural and pedagogical framework. It is highly exciting and inspirational to learn about the numerous ways the authors have found metaliteracy to be meaningful to them and their students.

The authors also examine issues relevant to the ACRL Framework in relation to metaliteracy. Both are having a transformative effect on the field of information literacy. The chapter authors show why we need to reframe and reinvent information literacy as a metaliteracy and why a new definition of information literacy was required at this pivotal time in higher education.

In addition to our wonderful chapter authors, we are thrilled that the book’s Foreword has been written by Alison J. Head, Ph.D., Executive Director, Project Information Literacy (PIL), Principal Research Scientist, The Information School, University of Washington, and Faculty Associate, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University. Alison provides the ideal context for the book that connects to her innovative work with Project Information Literacy (PIL).

We expect the book will be published in late 2015 or early 2016. As soon as the publisher finalizes the copy for their catalog, we’ll add it here.

In the meantime, look for upcoming posts by chapter authors that provide a glimpse into the book’s contents!