In conjunction with some of my research throughout graduate school, I realized that public librarians are often not associated with the task of instructing in the ways of information literacy. The bulk of the literature yields itself to the realms of the academic and school media librarians because these libraries house the sort of patrons that are actually completing research papers, reading scholarly articles, and exploring the resources available to them on the Internet. So, you may be thinking to yourself, why are public libraries even relevant? Because information literacy instruction is provided daily, though it may be evidenced in its varying forms. Everyday patrons, like you and me, want to know more about the news, what is going on in the world, why their backs hurt when they wake up in the morning, or maybe even how to map out their trips across the United States. And that is why we are here. Public librarians: I know you have all experienced these sorts of questions at the reference desk. And, being the curious, inquisitive librarian that you are at heart, you all want to provide these folks with the best resources possible. We all do. But how do we do this? When we are confronted with so many resources out there, especially on the Internet, how do we make sure that the websites we suggest are reliable, authoritative, accurate, and current? And, more importantly, how do we let our patrons know to look for these aspects of a source when they are searching on their own?
Through this blog, I hope to document my journey as a computer teacher to senior citizens. Not merely the computer classes themselves, but also how these classes cultivate the skills within the students to understand information literacy and assess resources as they come across them. While I will provide the concepts that I learn, as a teacher throughout these classes, I will also discuss how these classes apply to public library information literacy.
