Hannelore B. Rader

A silver anniversary: 25 years of reviewing the literature related to user instruction

Presents a summary review of 25 years of the literature on user instruction and information literacy. Notes how developments in education and technology during the last ten years have affected user instruction and have led to the emergence of information literacy. Demonstrates how the field of user instruction has expanded. A total of 28 publications were reviewed in 1973, and 286 publications were reviewed in 1998 – 25 years later. The title of the literature review changed over the same period from “Library Orientation and Instruction” to “Library Instruction and Information Literacy”.

Educating Students for the Information Age: The Role of the Librarian

Most countries are facing major challenges in educating students from kindergarten through the university for productive lives in the information age. Governments and business leaders are challenging educators to provide students with skills to live and work effectively in the information age. Cooperative ventures between teachers and librarians in the area of information literacy may provide a solution to these educational challenges. Changing teaching methodology to prepare students for life‐long learning may be another solution. In this article, Rader defines various concepts. She offers suggestions and guidelines to help teacher‐librarian collaborations effectively educate students for the twenty‐first century.

Fundraising in academic libraries: the United States experience

Funding in academic libraries has become increasingly problematic and competitive during the last part of the twentieth century. Academic libraries manage, collect and provide access to an ever‐growing arsenal of information for an increasing number of users in an environment of growing financial constraints. Libraries employ highly trained and educated staff, need complex facilities and sophisticated electronic technologies in order to operate successfully. The economic issues facing libraries in the 1990s and beyond are complex. Today, new approaches are needed to address financial dilemmas of the academic library. Thus, major efforts are underway to increase budgets for academic libraries through fundraising. Different types of fundraising for academic libraries are examined here and creative methods are detailed, as examples, from different institutions. Some statistics are included to provide illustrations. Related issues of resource sharing, contracts and fee‐based services are offered as part of an entrepreneurial approach to library management.

Managing academic and research libraries partnerships

USA academic libraries are rethinking their activities and repositioning themselves to take advantage of new opportunities to build partnerships with faculty members and campus related entities to support teaching, learning, and research endeavours.

The learning environment – then, now and later: 30 years of teaching information skills

This article traces 30 years of library instruction innovation, including the creation of the first conference on Library Orientation at Eastern Michigan University in 1971 and the LOEX (Library Orientation Exchange) Clearinghouse, both of which continue to this day. Particular attention is paid to information literacy project activities in the national and international environments.

Library instruction and information literacy – 2001

Presents a bibliography of literature published during 2001 on library instruction and information literacy. States that the majority of articles dealt with the implementation of the Association of College and Research Libraries standards for information literacy in higher education. Reveals that another theme is that students are increasingly turning to the Web for their information needs to the exclusion of other sources which has implications for those who teach those resources. Also reveals the theme in the literature of collaboration and partnerships between faculty, information technology staff, other librarians, students and administrators.

Library instruction and information literacy – 1999

Since 1973, Reference Services Review has published an annual annotated bibliography of materials focused on library instruction and, most recently, information literacy. Publications addressing academic library activities continue to be represented in the largest numbers. The continuing growth of electronic information has made librarians, in all types of libraries, more aware of the need to provide ongoing instruction to library users.

Academic library user education in China

The role of academic libraries is changing and expanding in China. Education reform in higher education has initiated many changes in the universities. Developing information technology has enabled academic libraries to move from traditional paper‐based environments toward networked‐electronic ones. A great number of global information resources are available to libraries now. Tsinghua University’s library, for example, has built an integrated library information system including CD‐ROM online searching. In 1998, the university was the first one to be connected to the Internet in China. In the same year, it began its leadership of the China Education and Research Network (CERNET). These accomplishments, as discussed here, have provided new and great challenges for faculty, students, and staff, especially librarians.

Library Instruction and Information Literacy–1997

This annotated bibliography lists materials dealing with information literacy including instruction in the use of information resources, research, and electronic skills related to retrieving, using, and evaluating information. This review, the twenty‐fourth to be published in Reference Services Review, includes items in English published in 1997. A few items are not annotated because the compiler could not obtain copies of them for this review.

Intellectual freedom: 2000 and beyond

For more than 200 years, intellectual freedom has been a constitutional right of US citizens and the world’s oldest democracy. Librarians in particular have helped to protect this important right by ensuring that all citizens have access to whatever information they need. In her introductory article, Hannelore B. Rader enumerates the many examples of people in other countries who have not had or do not have access to all types of information. A good example is the former German Democratic Republic and the Berlin Wall. There are also examples in the USA where groups of people or individuals have tried and still try to censor information and to limit access to information. In the present electronic environment, intellectual freedom has become an even more complex issue by allowing individuals a forum to easily state their opinions, whether truth or propaganda. Librarians are experiencing a growth in “banned books” and controversies surrounding filtering software in public libraries. However, the ultimate question remains: should intellectual freedom be restricted? Contains an extensive bibliography of intellectual freedom resources compiled and annotated by Terri L. Holtze.