Reflection: LIBE 437

When looking back and reflecting on the past three months, I recall Anne's comment in her fist announcement: "First, I'd like to take a moment to emphasize that LIBE 467 is probably not the most "sexy" of the required Diploma courses. But it is truly essential, and will really represent a lot of the "meat and potatoes" of your practice as Teacher-Librarian" (May 5, 2011). I would have to agree that the reference section is not necessarily the most exciting section; students do not normally congregate around it, pouring over it's books for fun. However, it is a necessary part of the library, as students require it for research and learning of those critical information literacy skills.

Not knowing a lot about reference resources before this course, other than the general usage through my years as a student and teacher, I have come to appreciate how much the world of reference has changed and is still evolving more and more from print to electronic resources. Prior to this course I did not see the value in libraries purchasing printed materials when the resources are, for the most part, readily available in electronic form or online. However, through the lessons, readings, and assignments I can now see I was biased towards electronic resources. Now I see the importance of maintaining a balance and availability of the two in the library, as well as, teaching students the necessary information literacy skills using the both. One of my favourite citations that I used during this course dealing with the situation of print vs non print, was when Susie Allen quotes Andrew Abbott in her article as saying “the key thing to understand is that good researchers use more of both" (p.1). As TLs we need to emphasize this!

Another important piece of knowledge I acquired from this course was the introduction to the various research models. Being a TOC I have not had the opportunity to construct and teach a research project. All of the models were all new to me, with the exception of Focus on Inquiry which I was exposed to during my BEd degree at the UofA. I must say I was most intrigued by the Big Six because of the language used and the fact that there is also a similar model, the Big Three, which can be used with the primary students. I have been teaching for four years and one may find it surprising that I was unaware of any of these models. I think the lack of exposure has to do with the fact that schools are not necessarily using a research model with their students. When I obtain a TL position, this is something I am definitely going to try and establish, as I am now a firm believer that students must be taught information literacy skills directly and a research model is a natural and productive way of doing this.

Overall, this course's content may not have been as "sexy" as others, but it was informative, practical and well valued.


Works Cited:

Allen, Susie. "Mansueto Library Celebrates Books in Digital Era." The University of Chicago 
                     Library News. 16 May 2011. Web. 01 June 2011. <http://news.lib.uchicago.edu
                     /blog/2011/05/16/mansueto-library-celebrates-books-in-digital-era/>.