Making Information
Literacy Stick:
Finding SUCCESs in Library Instruction
Dunstan McNutt - Resnick Library, SUNY Delhi
Wells Library is Sinking!
Photo courtesy of Indiana University Libraries
imple
nexpected
oncrete
redible
motional
tories
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C
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The Villain: The Curse of Knowledge
"Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it" (Heath & Heath, 20).
Image Source: USDA Forestry Service, via WikiMedia Commons
How are you not getting this?
Simple
Simple=core+compact.
Photo: Dylan Ashe, via Wikimedia Commons
Southwest Airlines:
THE low-fare airline.
Unexpected
Break a pattern...
...and create a mystery!
The Gap Theory of Curiosity: Highlight a knowledge gap.
Concrete
Avoid abstraction...make it real!
"Don't accept a drink from a stranger"
v.
The Kidney Heist
The Velcro Theory of Memory
Credible
External credibility (authorities & anti-authorities)
Internal credibility (details,
statistics on a human scale, and anecdotes)
Emotional
Make people care & use the power of association.
3 million children affected by food shortage
vs.
1 child's story
...WIIFY & appeals to a sense of identity.
(what's in it for you)
Stories
Stories as simulation (tell people how to act)...
"Flight simulators for the brain"
...And stories as inspiration
(give people energy to act).
Some sticky ideas from Critical Information Literacy
Group Work!
Simple: How can you hook the students at the beginning of a session? How can you get your learning objective reduced to its core? Is their a simple explanation for the goals of information literacy? (Remember: core+compact)
Unexpected: What might students not expect from their library? Are there skills they don't even know they need? (Remember: create a knowledge gap)
Concrete: Can we take the abstraction out of our learning objectives? How do we illustrate key information skills? (Remember: the more hooks the better)
Credible: We're no celebrities, but how can we bring our experience to the table? How do we build credibility into our message? (Remember: work on the students' scale)
Emotional: How do we get students invested in information literacy? (Remember: What's in it for them, but also, what kind of people do they consider themselves to be?
Stories: Can we put our students in the researcher's shoes? Do we have stories with which students could connect? (Remember: stories as simulation and stories as inspiration)
Recommended Reading
Doherty, John J. & Kevin Ketchner. "Empowering the Intentional Learner: A Critical Theory for Information Literacy and Instruction." Library Philosophy and Practice. Vol. 8, no. 1 (Fall 2005). 1-10.
Elmborg, James. "Critical Information Literacy: Implications for Instructional Practice." The Journal of Academic Librarianship. Vol. 32, no. 2 (March 2006). 192-199.
Heath, Chip & Dan Heath. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. New York: Random House, 2007.
Swanson, Troy. "A Radical Step: Implementing a Critical Information Literacy Model." Portal: Libraries and the Academy. Vol. 4, no. 2 (2004). 259-273.
Swanson, Troy. "Applying a Critical Pedagogical Perspective to Information Literacy Standards." Community & Junior College Libraries, Vol. 12, no. 4 (2004). 65-77.