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That said, I have begun building what I hope will be a beautiful relationship with the English Department on campus. I have been particularly interested in the relationship between Librarians and Composition Instructors in part because I have experience in both areas. For a brief two year stint, I taught basic composition to college freshman and have an understanding of the concepts and practices instructors try to instill in students through regular writing assignments that culminate in a large research paper.
Enter my librarian self. Having a past life as a composition instructor, I certainly feel more equipped to deal with some of the challenges of teaching the writing and research processes. As a composition instructor, I liked to think I had some knowledge about conducting sophisticated research inquiries (I had, after all, composed a Graduate Thesis). But I found that I didn’t know much more about finding information than my students did. I could suggest databases I had used, but I was in no position to articulate key difference between subject and general datatbases, subject searching versus key word searching, or expanding thesauri to determine the anguage being employed to classify information.
Long story short, I wanted to be able to find information. Good, reliable, and worthwhile information. But I’ve discovered that the research process, like the writing process, is tedious, laborious, and discursive. The reductivist approach to writing (”master your skills in a semester!) and research (”get certified in library skills in one visit!”) is just a bunch of malarchy that misguides and disillusions. Composition and Rhetoric Instructors and Librarians are in a unique position to support each other and to join forces for a common cause. We just need to decide on what that cause will be, and how we will “teach” research and writing. Is our cause responsbile citizenship? Critical, lifelong learning? Praxis? (Whoa….I said praxis. I never say praxis. And I think I got that from Paulo Freire)
In an article called “First Year Writing Teachers, Perceptions of Students’ Information Literacy Competencies, and a Call For A Collaborative Approach,” (availabe here )Elizabeth Birminham of North Dakota State University and Company address th opportunities that librarians and writing instructors have to form alliances. Really, after I read the piece, it just confirmed my suspicions that we are not getting together as much as we should–that there is a great disconnect between librarians and instructors of writing which I can certainly feel. Part of the problem is that we’re not seeing how we are striving toward common goals–to challenge students to enter into a larger conversation, to question actively, and to contribute to that conversation. And one solution would be that librarians and composition instructors go beyond their own disciplines and seek out pedagogical and theoretical underpinnings in each other’s field for a more wholistic understanding of the writing and research processes. To quote a poignant statement in the above named article, “the writing process does not begin where the research process ends” (19). Too often, I think we’ve unwittingly compartmentalized these two processes and presented them as skills to be obtained (they are….but you know, they’re not).
I’d be interested to hear how other librarians and composition instructors are collaborating to offer students opportunities for engaging the research & writing process(es). I’d like to hear, too, how other instructors from other disciplines are teaching research and writing which is not strictly limited to English Departments and Libraries….or at least should not be.
]]> http://biblioragazzi.wordpress.com/2008/11/20/edicola-school-library-journal-5311-2/ Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:31:40 +0000 biblioragazzi http://biblioragazzi.wordpress.com/2008/11/20/edicola-school-library-journal-5311-2/ http://lonewolflibrarian.wordpress.com/2008/11/19/free-online-training-opportunities111908/ Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:30:14 +0000 lonewolflibrarian http://lonewolflibrarian.wordpress.com/2008/11/19/free-online-training-opportunities111908/ http://heyjude.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/search-engine-optimization/ Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:15:30 +0000 Judy O'Connell http://heyjude.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/search-engine-optimization/ http://jherring.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/information-practice-and-tide-clock/ Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:16:47 +0000 jherring http://jherring.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/information-practice-and-tide-clock/ http://wmlinfospot.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/podcasts-for-aural-learners-and-cool-kids-now-available/ Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:49:03 +0000 George J. Aulisio http://wmlinfospot.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/podcasts-for-aural-learners-and-cool-kids-now-available/ http://technologicaltortoise.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/powerpoint-jeopardy/ Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:53:34 +0000 Sarah http://technologicaltortoise.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/powerpoint-jeopardy/Anyhoo, I didn’t realize that you could get that much interactivity with Powerpoint. I know there is an officially sanctioned version out there, but (a) it costs money and (b) I like multitaskers. I did a quick and dirty search, and it turns out some nice people at James Madison University have put a “Jeopardy like game” *cough* Powerpoint template up on the web for anyone to download (with instructions).
I can’t wait to try this out in a classroom setting! Or maybe I’ll just leave a copy up and running and quiz people that roam into my office.
]]> http://annewelsh.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/health-sector-information-skills-training/ Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:26:51 +0000 annewelsh http://annewelsh.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/health-sector-information-skills-training/ http://blackbeltlibrarian.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/learning-styles-library-instruction/ Sat, 15 Nov 2008 11:55:58 +0000 Brad http://blackbeltlibrarian.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/learning-styles-library-instruction/ http://bclaifc.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/talking-to-strangers/ Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:14:58 +0000 tara http://bclaifc.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/talking-to-strangers/ http://virtualnotes.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/training-information-literacy-for-life/ Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:50:34 +0000 virtualnotes http://virtualnotes.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/training-information-literacy-for-life/ http://professorjaszczerski.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/bias-objectivity-adverts-and-propaganda/ Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:02:39 +0000 Carla Jaszczerski http://professorjaszczerski.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/bias-objectivity-adverts-and-propaganda/ http://davidmeehan.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/introducing-lets-our-new-e-tutorial-for-students/ Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:05:38 +0000 davidmeehan http://davidmeehan.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/introducing-lets-our-new-e-tutorial-for-students/ http://librarycentraltafe.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/graphic-novels-for-information-literacy/ Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:07:12 +0000 maeverest http://librarycentraltafe.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/graphic-novels-for-information-literacy/ http://jherring.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/conferences-and-seamus-heaney/ Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:50:12 +0000 jherring http://jherring.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/conferences-and-seamus-heaney/ http://andrewey.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/information-literacy-in-further-education/ Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:51:04 +0000 andrewey http://andrewey.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/information-literacy-in-further-education/ http://academically.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/assessing-online-tutorials/ Tue, 11 Nov 2008 04:43:21 +0000 jessicahagman http://academically.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/assessing-online-tutorials/ http://biblioragazzi.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/che-tecnologie-usano-i-nativi-digitali/ Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:31:09 +0000 biblioragazzi http://biblioragazzi.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/che-tecnologie-usano-i-nativi-digitali/Open the original version of this page.
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