SCHOOL LIBRARIES WORLDWIDE

Volume 15, Number 1, January 2009

[Members / subscribers only access]

Research into Practice

A Grounded Analysis of Year 8 Students' Reflections on Information Literacy Skills and Techniques [Public access article]
James Herring
This research, undertaken in a high school in the United Kingdom, focuses on the views of year 8 students who were asked to reflect on their use of information literacy skills when completing an English assignment. Students completed a diary during the assignment, and a semi-structured interview was carried out with the class teacher. A grounded analysis approach was taken in analysing the student diaries and the teacher interview. Findings reveal a number of categories which illustrate the students’ views of and use of information literacy skills: Using information literacy skills and techniques; Making links; Being confident; Being reflective.

Developing Students’ Information Skills in Brazilian School Libraries: The Librarian’s Role
Bernadete Campello
This exploratory study examined how school librarians in Brazil understand their role in developing students’ information literacy and whether the notion of a formal program of information literacy informs their practice. The study data included published reports of librarians’ practices as well as interviews and group discussions with 28 librarians, 14 of them from government schools and 14 from private schools, from nine different states. A qualitative, interpretative approach was used to analyze the study data. The results of the study show that the concept of information literacy, as a set of skills and attitudes to be developed through a planned, continuous and sequential library program was not found in the practice of these librarians. However, a significant range of skills and attitudes which contribute to make the library a place for learning was found. The study confirms that there is movement toward the practice of information literacy in Brazilian school libraries, but librarians still need to move further toward collective and permanent actions that characterize the concept of information literacy.

Description and Evaluation of the Information Literacy Program in a Private School in Lebanon: A Case Study
Rola Sakr, Mona Nabhani, and Iman Osta
The purpose of this study was to describe the information literacy program offered through the library of a private elementary school in Beirut, to evaluate its effectiveness, and to formulate recommendations for improving library programs in similar schools. This was done through examining the components of the school library and the perceptions of librarians, teachers, students and parents related to the role of the school library. Study participants consisted of all students and teachers of second and fourth grades, 18 parents, and the librarian and assistant librarian. Data was collected through teacher questionnaires, semi-structured interviews with the librarian and assistant librarian, phone interviews with parents, and observations of student to librarian and teacher to librarian interactions during library class sessions. Results of the study showed the role of the school library in developing students’ information literacy skills and in motivating students to read. The librarian’s instruction as well as her positive attitudes towards students enhanced lessons and helped students learn information literacy skills. However, results from the observation sessions showed little interaction between teachers and librarian. Parents’ interviews revealed that most parents were not aware of the library program at their children’s school.

Using Digital Resources: Perceptions of First Nations University Students
Frances D. Luther and Phyllis Lerat
Canada’s indigenous peoples face many educational challenges, including the need to learn how to use digital resources. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of one group of indigenous students regarding their use of digital resources. The First Nations students who participated in the study were students at the First Nations University of Canada in the province of Saskatchewan. First Nations people are indigenous or Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis people. This collaborative research project was intended to provide recommendations for policy and practice to teachers, teacher-librarians and administrators working with First Nations students in Kindergarten to grade 12 schools as well as to administrators and librarians in universities serving First nations students. A community-based planning approach to the research emphasized listening to the voices of the First Nations students and developing recommendations based on their perceptions of their access to, use of and capacity to use digital databases.

Indexed in Bibliothek Forschung und Praxis, Children Literature Abstracts, Contents Pages in Education, Educational Resources Information Clearing house (ERIC), Library Literature, and Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA).

Last updated 5 May 2009 (KSB)