Information Literacy for Young Adults

Here are three articles about young adult information literacy:

Gilton, Donna L.  "Information literacy as a department store: applications for public teen librarians."  Young Adult Library Services 6.2 (2008): 39+.  

Interesting Points:

• public libraries are the only libraries which attempt to fill all aspects of teen information literacy: information, instruction, and guidance
• the public library is open evenings, weekends, and in the summer, which makes it convenient for teaching information literacy skills
• information literacy includes orientations, tours, basic computer instruction, as well as instruction on finding and evaluating information
• example of teaching information literacy skills: the librarian works with the teacher at the school - this way, instruction can be done in the library or school, and librarians can gain more of a sense of homework assignments and books that teens may want/need by supplementing the school library
• OR the the teacher works with the librarian at the library - this way, teachers can learn about the public library outreach and culture programs, and joint knowledge of the community may be useful to both the school and library
• the most effective public library instruction is often a result of traditional programming, networking, and outreach

Gorman, Michelle.  "Wiring Teens to the Library."  Library Journal (Net Connect Supplement Summer 2002): 18-20.  

Interesting Points:

• WFY (Wired for Youth): a program in which 10 libraries in Austin, TX offer computer stations for young people to learn and practice information literacy skills
• WFY has proved beneficial because: it reaches many Austin kids, the WFY stations are geared for the specific population at which they are located, and thousands of new patrons have come into the libraries for WFY
• classes include web design, graphics manipulation, audiovisual production, Internet usage, word processing, and desktop publishing
• the Youth Advisory Committee is comprised of WFY users who meet to brainstorm ideas for events and the direction of WFY
• money and staffing are the biggest problems when considering a program such as WFY

Doshi, Ameet.  "How Gaming Could Improve Informational Literacy."  Computers in Libraries 26.5 (2006): 14-17.

Interesting Points:

• librarians and students both want more conversational, two-way learning lessons in library skills
• not solely computer gaming, but also other unique ways of gaming: for example:
• give students a mystery to solve requiring them to search through databases and talk to reference librarians
• use evidence-based games in which students must find the answers online through a database in order to determine how to fix a car
• play a Jeopardy-like game in which the author found that students were more interested in learning what the right answers were to questions, rather than keeping track of the score
• computer games: could possibly recruit computer science and engineering students to create graphics 

Thoughts:

After class this past week, I better understand the value in teaching skills that are (1) easily transferable and (2) relate to the student's prior experience.  In the three articles I found above, I have discovered that the goals and procedures of teaching young adults information literacy skills relate to providing these patrons with knowledge that is easily transferable, and that also relates to his or her prior experience.  

In providing young adults with knowledge that is transferable according to Gilton's article, the public library is the only library that is able to provide young adults with all three aspects of information literacy: information, instruction, and guidance.  In this way, the public library enables teens to find information not only at the public library, but also at academic and school libraries as well.  Also, if the teacher and librarian work together as Gilton suggests, the teen will understand that both people have helped in his learning process, and will feel more comfortable with approaching and acquiring more information from both people.  As Gorman discusses in her article, knowledge that teens learned while using the WFY program first enabled teens to participate in classes by simply playing around on the computers, and then in turn classes enabled teens to apply their new skills to schoolwork and entertainment.  In today's world, teaching teens transferable literacy skills will go a long ways in enabling them to navigate successfully through the wealth of online information.

Addressing teenagers' prior experience in teaching information literacy skills is useful in that according to Gorman's and Doshi's articles, learning these skills can be fun.  Young adults already play computer and video games as a source of entertainment.  Gorman makes a point of saying that the teens in WFY initially played games on their computers before becoming interested in classes and learning other skills.  Doshi says that students become much more interested in learning information literacy skills when there is some sort of game involved, whether or not it is a computer game.  The appeal of gaming may relate in part to being able to interact more with peers in the process of learning, or perhaps gaming just simply appeals to the teen's sense of adventure and desire to determine the outcome/answer to the game.  Through gaming, teens can also adopt a new role other than that of the student forced to learn.