Last week I attended the William Badke presentation at La Guardia Community College entitled “From Broker to Strategist: Notes of a Traveler in the Strange Land of Information 2.0.” William Badke is an associate librarian at Trinity Western University and the author of “Research Strategies : Finding Your Way Through the Information Fog.”
Mr. Badke’s began his presentation speaking about his own evolution as an educator and librarian and then presented ten informative and “sweeping but ultimately valid generalizations” about students ability to do research. These generalizations and the full notes of the presentation have been posted on the blog of the the Library at La Guardia Community College.
- With the advent of the Internet, gate keeping of information is gone or has become ambiguous. This creates confusion for those looking for information.
- We fail to provide appropriate context for new sources, ways of searching and thus what is academically acceptable. For more information on this, see Badke’s article: “How We Failed the Net Generation.” Online 33, no. 4 (July-August 2009): 47-49
- Tools for acquisition are complex. This does not just refer to subscription-based tools found in the library, but Google products are also complex.
- Information is cheap and ubiquitous.
Badke pointed out that because information is cheap, ubiquitous, dissemination of information is not as valued as it once was. And, with regards to teaching, a passive intake of freely available information is not as useful as engagement with the concepts or ideas. He says this is leading to a more engaged form of learning–constructivism or active learning. Librarians, he continued, have a role in this new learning environment since information literacy is an integral component. Information professionals are valuable because of their knowledge of research methodology and as collaborators in the learning process.
