CHECK THESE OUT!

Feeling overwhelmed by the Internet? You are not alone. Watching the literature of library instruction makes one acutely aware that teaching the Internet is a major topic consuming librarians everywhere. If you have time to read only one article right now, take time for this one:

Oberman, Cerise. "Library Instruction: Concepts & Pedagogy in the Electronic Environment." RQ 35.3 (Spring 1996): 315-323.

Oberman argues that librarians must prepare users, in the context of the electronic library environment, to evaluate the information they find and to understand and use the power of information. She advocates a return to teaching critical thinking skills and concepts of information access, retrieval, and evaluation. At the same time, she asserts, librarians must be prepared to alter the existing concepts of information retrieval and to add new concepts.

Children and the Internet

Librarians who work with children in school and public libraries will find a wealth of recent articles.

Johnson, Doug and Mike Eisenberg. "Computer Literacy and Information Literacy: A Natural Combination." Emergency Librarian 23 (May/June1996): 12-16.

A must-read for school librarians! The authors argue that school librarians can provide a service to their students by combining computer literacy and information literacy curricula. They outline a curriculum of "Computer Skills for Information Problem-Solving," based on the Big Six information literacy model, developed by one of the authors. The curriculum includes Internet skills.

The July 1996 issue of School Library Journal includes two useful brief articles:

Caywood, Carolyn. "Guide and Seek." School Library Journal 42 (July 1996): 35.

Gold, Etta. "Do Spiders Live on the Web?" School Library Journal 42 (July 1996): 34.

Caywood argues that librarians should develop programs to help children, teens and parents evaluate material found on the World Wide Web. She provides a URL for a handout she created to assist parents. Gold describes a program she created at the Miami-Dade Public Library System to introduce the Web to a group of toddlers, middle school students, and parents.

Earlier in the spring, SLJ provided a series of two articles for school librarians:

Symonds, Ann K. "Intelligent Life on the Web & How to Find It: Part 1 of http://the.thinking. librarian's.web.guide." School Library Journal 42 (March 1996): 106-109.

Vandergrift, Kay E. "Build a Web Site with a Brain; Part 2 of http://the.thinking.librarian's.web.guide." School Library Journal 42 (April 1996): 26-29.

Symonds describes how she has used the Web in her high school library to support student projects and discusses the issue of evaluation. Vandergrift provides the beginner with tips on planning for a Web site, including defining a purpose, maintenance, and copyright. Both articles include many useful definitions and tips on keeping up-to-date.

Quick Notes

Burke, John J. "Using E-mail to Teach: Expanding the Reach of BI." Research Strategies 14 (Winter 1996): 36-43.

Lee, Catherine A. "Teaching Generation X." Research Strategies 14 (Winter 1996): 56-59.