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”Just Do It”

Using Questions to Create Professional Development Opportunities

I worked in libraries part time throughout my education, starting in high school. When I announced to my then-employer that I was accepted to the Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) program at McGill University, she told ...

From Student Project to Research Agenda

How Libraries Facilitate GIS Education and Collaboration

Geographic information systems (GIS) have been a tool and methodology deeply intertwined with academic libraries since the initial efforts of ARL and ESRI to support the development of map librarians into geospatial data experts in the early 1990s. ...

From Subjects to Partners

Centering Participants in Library Assessment

Making Assessment Matter is a four-part C&RL News series focused on maximizing the impact of academic library assessment. This second article focuses on enabling librarians to use the results of their ...

What Is a “Real Librarian”?

Considering the Distinction

In a recent conversation with a former library colleague, she enthusiastically shared about her return to school to earn her MLIS so that she could be a “real librarian.” I was certainly excited and encouraged her, but the phrase she used caught my attention. I have heard “real librarian” used on multiple occasions, and although I understood the intended meaning, it bothered me and caused me to consider: What is a “real librarian”? ...

Consumers or Readers?

Exploring the Language of Information “Use”

n the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education,1 information is consumed, evaluated, synthesized, and created. Students question, reflect, articulate, and seek. But nowhere are they named as “readers,” nor is “reading” specifically used to describe information literacy skills or abilities. While others have noted this absence,2 it’s not hard to interpret many of the Framework’s knowledge practices as encompassing or referring to different types of reading. In this article, I would ...