Guest Editors of this issue: Emily M. Okada and the Steering Committee of the Bibliographic Instruction/User Education Section, Indiana Library Federation.
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Browsing Volume 16, Number 1 (1997) by Subject "Information literacy -- Study and teaching"
No doubt about it, library users are feeling the weight and stress of
information overload. In addition to the sheer enormity of the amount of
information "out there," the tools used to archive, categorize, and access .
information are becoming increasingly complex. No group understands this
overload better than those of us who work in libraries. Like our users, we
struggle daily to keep up with our reading, wade through all our e-mail, and
identify and learn to use new sources of information, and new access tools.
Unlike our users, however, we are obligated by dejinition, to provide what I
call "information guidance" - the best access to quality information. Library
staff members must proactively rise to the challenge and must provide
guidance through the infomation glut. I watch the users in our library. What
do they state that they need? What do they need that they do not know they
need? How can we use new technologies to improve their access to information?
How can we best point them toward the most accurate, timely, and
useful information? As the complexity of the tools increases, the need for
training in the use of the tools increases. If we are to guide, we must educate.
In the case of the library where I work, the Clarian Health Partners Medical
Library, we are part of the Educational Services Department, and so, specifically
charged with educating users.