Librarianship and Service-Learning: Selected Resources

Becker, N. J. (2000). Service learning in the curriculum: Preparing LIS students for the next millennium. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 41(4), 267- 361, 285-293.
Abstract: Service learning promotes student mastery of conceptual material through active and problem-based experiences within a community service setting. The model has emerged across educational sectors as a powerful pedagogy that facilitates the development of highly integrated understandings of complex theoretical constructs. With structured faculty support, students are encouraged to develop meaningful and lasting connections between their experiences in the community and the theory presented in the classroom. This dynamic interplay typically promotes higher achievement and deeper learning and is especially conducive to the learning patterns characteristic of adult students. The model allows LIS educators, who are often criticized for their remote understanding of the practitioner's world, to bridge theory and practice within a construct that is fully congruent with the profession's value system. Service learning also has the power to create meaningful and visible roles for LIS programs within the community and their parent institutions. This paper considers the role of service learning in LIS education. An overview of the paradigm and its rationale is presented, as well as a description of a demonstration class that fully incorporated technology and service learning. The paper concludes with a synthesis of the implications for LIS education of linking theory and practice through service learning.

Bell, F. (2002). Service learning in action: Research opportunities for library and information science (LIS) students to address the lack of library and information services in Inadi, KwaZulu-Natal. Paper presented at the 2nd International Conference on Service Learning Research, Nashville, Tennessee, October 20-22, 2002.

Bharat M. (2004). Service Learning in Library and Information Science (LIS) Education: Connecting Research and Practice to Community. InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies, 1(1), Article 3.
Abstract: This paper documents existing trends in service learning activities practiced in Library and Information Science (LIS) schools across the United States through the findings from two studies. The first study shares highlights from a question-based survey that elicited responses from faculty at a major LIS school in the United States about service learning activities incorporated in the courses they taught during the year 2002. The second study presents key aspects from content analysis of websites of the top 10 ranked LIS schools in the United States. This analysis identifies potential areas where service learning activities can be incorporated or strengthened in LIS education. Based on findings from the two studies, this paper calls for conscious efforts by LIS schools to train future students to engage in participatory action research (PAR) related activities in service learning and to establish a community informatics (CI) track in their master's programs. Efforts to tie the three constructs in LIS education will help support social equity and empowerment of marginalized populations.

Cuban, S., & Hayes, E. (Spring 2001). Perspectives of five library and information studies students involved in service learning at a community-based literacy program. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 42(2), 86-95.
Abstract: A study investigated the beliefs and experiences of library and information science students regarding an adult literacy community service course. Participants were five library and information science students enrolled in an adult literacy community service course. Findings related to four thematic categories, including the relationship between librarianship and teaching and learning, low literacy definitions and factors, views about adult basic education students, and work in a community agency. These findings and other results of the study are discussed, and the implications of the study for library educators are outlined.

de la Pena McCook, K. (2000). Reconnecting Library Education and the Mission of Community. Library Journal, 125(14), 164-65.
Abstract: Discusses the commitment of universities to developing and using knowledge for the improvement of society, highlighting efforts in library and information science. Describes service learning that includes community service; community-building initiatives by librarians; and four examples of service learning in programs of library and information science education.

Elmborg, J. K., Leighton, H., Huffman, H., Bradbury, J., et al. (Winter 2001). Service learning in the library and information science curriculum – The perspectives and experiences of one Multimedia/User Education class. Research Strategies, 18(4), 265-281.
Abstract: A course in multimedia/user education based around a service learning model was developed for students at the University of Iowa's School of Library and Information Science. It was intended that the class would develop effective and practical strategies for developing multimedia, while maintaining the appropriate focus on user education as at least one-half of the topic for the course. Partnerships were established between the school and several public libraries, and the class developed library Web sites from scratch for a number of these libraries and developed substantial instructional sections for the libraries that already had Web sites. The learning community created through the course's service learning approach empowered the students and made the class the site of genuine exploration and inquiry. The reflections of several students who participated in the course are presented.

Gerrish, B. (Summer 2006). Service Learning: A Great Experience for LIS Students. Colorado Libraries, 32(3), 32-25.

Kazmer, M. M. (2005). Community-Embedded Learning. The Library Quarterly, 75, 190– 212.
Abstract: Online learners often stay located in, and tied to, their communities, kinship networks, households, and workplaces. Institutions providing online education can thus create ties to communities as students draw their learning into networks in which they are already embedded. Frequent interactions across multiple media that are afforded by information and communication technologies (ICT) allow students to create strong ties with their fellow students and instructors. Those relationships provide a network of weak ties that is indirectly available to friends, coworkers, and community members who live and work near the students. Community-embedded learning that takes advantage of these strong and weak ties and is appropriate to ICT modes of delivery is important for two reasons. The various clienteles served by students while they earn their degrees will affect library and information science (LIS) education and outcomes, and LIS distance education offered via interactive ICT can directly affect the clienteles served.

Peterson, L. (2003). Using a homeless shelter as a library education learning laboratory: Incorporating service-learning in a graduate-level information sources and services in the social sciences course. Reference and User Services Quarterly, 42(4), 307-310.
Abstract: Professional education frequently employs practica and internships to provide students with practical, pre-professional experiences. Another way to blend practice with theory is service-learning--an activity that several library and information science educators incorporate in their teaching. This column provides a description of one service-learning activity performed by University at Buffalo library and information science students as they helped a homeless shelter set up a library for use by the clients and social workers of the agency, Homespace.

Pierce, J. B. (November 2006). Service Learning Sustains Hope. American Libraries, 37(10), 45.
Abstract: The Jail Library Group is a service learning project at the University of Wisconsin in Madison's School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) that provides 1,000 Dane County Jail inmates with reading materials. The all-volunteer initiative, which celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2006, currently has about 20 volunteers and recently involved 40 SLIS students in selecting, sorting, and preparing materials for distribution.

Riddle, J. S. (March 2003). Where's the Library in Service Learning?: Models for Engaged Library Instruction. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 29(2), 71-81.
Abstract: Discusses service learning and presents models of instruction that academic libraries might offer to service learning pedagogy. Highlights include the role of information literacy; reflection; affective and cognitive learning outcomes of service learning; impact of service learning on libraries; learning process model; course objectives model; subject content model; and engaged library instruction. This theoretical article argues that information literacy can play a vital role in service learning pedagogy by advancing three models of library instruction. Such an "engaged" library instruction will further position libraries in academic pedagogy, help foster civic education, and encourage critical re-examination of the library's mission in higher education.

Roy, Loriene. (2001). Diversity in the classroom: Incorporating service-learning experiences in the Library and information science curriculum. In Journal of Library Administration, 33(4), 213-228.
Abstract: Graduate schools of library and information science (LIS) are rediscovering civic engagement. Examples illustrate how LIS students further diversity efforts through servicebased learning experiences. LIS students involved in the American Library Association's Spectrum Initiative helped plan the leadership institute and the longitudinal study of scholars. Students prepared pathfinders for faculty at tribal community colleges and tribal schools. LIS students helped develop and operate If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything, a national reading program for schools serving Native children. LIS students helped create a virtual tour of the National Museum of the American Indian.

Roy, L., Jensen, K., and Meyers, A.H. (2009). Service-Learning: Linking Library Education and Practice. American Library Association, Chicago.
Abstract: As concern grows over the relevance of a master's degree to the professional work of librarianship, more and more schools will be looking to incorporate service-learning into the student experience. Roy brings together authors from the top-tier schools to outline their programs and surrounding efforts and: provides examples of how to incorporate service-learning into library and information science education; gives an overview of the history of service-learning; and outlines student, faculty, and field supervisor roles.

Taracuk, K. (2002). Educating future librarians through service-learning. Ohio Media Spectrum, 54(2), 5-6.

Witbodi, S. L. (2004). Service Learning in the Library and Information Studies Curriculum at the University of the Western Cape: An Exploratory Study. Mousaion, 22(1), 89-102.
Abstract: Service learning is a relatively new form of community-based learning. It creates opportunities for students at higher education institutions to gain hands-on experience whilst serving the community with their professional skills acquired thus far. In this article service learning is defined and compared with other forms of experiential learning such as fieldwork, volunteerism, internship, and community work (also known as community outreach). This article reports on an analysis of the current forms of community service within the Department of Library and Information Science at the University of the Western Cape. The current professional requirement, namely fieldwork, is reviewed. The results of the interaction of a focus group of public librarians and thematic interviews conducted with office-bearers, administrators, academic personnel and members of various higher educational institutions, organizations and librarians were used to determine the criteria for the analysis. The findings of this study show that there is a place for service learning in the curriculum and that service learning should not replace other experiential learning practices, but should continue to co-exist with them within a curriculum.

Yontz, E., & de la Pena McCook, K. (2003). Service-Learning and LIS Education. Journal of Education for Library & Information Science, 44(1), 58.
Abstract: Service-learning, which engages students and universities in community building, has strong potential for advancing library and information science (LIS) education. Advantages include increased student learning, extended collaboration, decreased isolation, and promotion of the common good. Examples of service learning projects in LIS education offer models for imitation. Fieldwork offers opportunities for integrating service learning into the curriculum. LIS professors engaged in teaching which qualifies as service-learning should forge alliances with others involved in service-learning on their own and other campuses.