Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2013

Publication Title

Student Research Journal

Volume

2

Issue

2

First page number:

1

Last page number:

14

Abstract

The proliferation of electronic content and the development of new technologies are causing fundamental changes to the processes of reading and research, leaving many librarians curious and concerned about the future of the profession. In the midst of this transitional period, contemporary school librarians continue to face the challenges of limited funding and high expectations. Education and library funding continues to be cut, yet school librarians are tasked with coordinating efforts to educate children in information literacy so that they are educated consumers of information. Information literacy, the ability to “recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information,” (American Library Association, 1989) is among the highest priorities in education. This article addresses the research question of how school librarians can continue to provide effective information literacy instruction despite the challenges of limited funding and high expectations.

In recent years, various organizations, from business to education, have turned to collaboration as a way of increasing profits and creating new opportunities for growth. Collaboration is a process that takes many forms in many organizations. This paper focuses on collaborations among librarians in academic settings, arguing that secondary school librarians, who are preparing a higher number of students than ever for postsecondary education, must collaborate with academic librarians. A review of the literature reveals numerous articles describing collaborative partnerships and lamenting information literacy skills gaps among college students. This article intends to serve as a call to action to school and academic librarians by consolidating information on library collaborations already taking place and providing guidelines for successfully entering into a collaborative relationship. This paper reviews the context for collaboration in libraries, discusses examples of school library collaborations, and explores several implications of collaboration.

Keywords

Education--Library resources; Electronic information resources; Information literacy; Library administration

Disciplines

Educational Methods | Information Literacy | Library and Information Science

Language

English

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

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