Teaching Information Literacy Threshold Concepts: Lesson Plans for Librarians

by Patricia Bravender (Editor), Hazel McClure (Editor), Gayle Schaub (Editor)

Teaching Information Literacy Threshold Concepts: Lesson Plans for Librarians is a collection designed by instruction librarians to promote critical thinking and engaged learning. It provides teaching librarians detailed, ready-to-use, and easily adaptable lesson ideas to help students understand and be transformed by information literacy threshold concepts. The lessons in this book, created by teaching librarians across the country, are categorized according to the six information literacy frames identified in the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education (2015). This volume offers concrete and specific ways of teaching the threshold concepts that are central to the ACRL Framework and is suitable for all types of academic libraries, high school libraries, as well as a pedagogical tool for library and information schools.

Genres: Nonfiction, Library Science, Librarianship, Professional Development, Teaching, Education

251 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2015

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has detailed lesson plans for librarians on a variety of information literacy concepts, but most of the activities require 50 to 60 minutes, which isn't feasible for those of us planning one-shot sessions. The book did have some good sample scripts and assignments, but most of the book was too impractical to be applied to my everyday work.

[Mary Havens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good marriage of theory and practical application. I liked all the different lesson plans and would like to incorporate them in their various formats whenever I get the opportunity.
Downside: this book is $70. Really ACRL? Do you have a discount somewhere?
Thank goodness my library has a copy!

[Kaia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. There are many good lesson ideas, but almost every lessson's anticipatory set involves only a question and answer session, and the assessments for most lessons could be strengthened. The book could also use some more editing - several paragraphs from one section's introduction are randomly repeated at the end of a lesson's independent practice segment, for instance.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very practical lesson plans to adapt and use in my information literacy sessions. Great ideas and resources.

[Walt · Rating 4 out of 5]

In terms of library science, this is an excellent book. I rarely give 4 stars to any book; but in this case, it is actually informative and useful. Nevertheless, it still does not compare to books written for entertainment. Bravender and her co-authors were clearly writing a book to help other librarians with practical examples from the mind-boggling complex new ALA Information Literacy Framework. Bravender is mercifully cognizant of the fact that many librarians are confused about the framework, frames, threshold concepts, and other obscure words and concepts.

The new Framework was designed to simplify and update the older information literacy standards. Well, they certainly updated them; but made them far more complex. The authors of the Framework developed a...a framework for credit-bearing courses rather than the traditional one-shot instruction sessions. The result is that the Framework is seemingly not applicable for thousands of librarians. There are way too many components to bring into a one-shot, or even a two-part session.

Bravender's co-authors have put together practical examples that can help both credit-bearing instructors and one-shot classes. I am in the latter category, and I found several activities that can update and improve my outreach with librarians in upper-level courses. It does not give me much to work with regarding my bread n' butter composition courses. But, I suppose it is designed for the possibility of multi-session instruction or credit bearing. My university is slowly opening to the idea of a credit-bearing libsci course. Who knows?

Functionality is also great in this book. Each chapter is organized the same way with the same space allocated for each chapter. Only one or two chapters are longer than 5 pages. The structure of each chapter introduces the concepts, the frames, and the theoretical background. This is useful for developing information literacy objectives. Then, comes the practical part of the chapter demonstrating how to incorporate the threshold concepts into instruction.

Overall, a very informative and useful book.

[Liz De Coster · Rating 4 out of 5]

The strength of this book is the detailed and practical nature of the lesson plans, which include handouts and specific examples to kick-start the sessions. However, many of the lessons were close to an hour in length, with all but a few taking longer than 30 minutes. As a librarian in an environment where the "one shot" session still reigns, a range of interchangeable, bite-sized lessons would make the book more useful in the day-to-day. Still, I used quite a few sticky notes to mark passages in the book to come back to.

[Gabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't say enough how wonderful this book is at explaining active learning techniques that can be applied directly to library instruction. Whether it's a one-shot or a series of classes, this book has practical, real-world, and relevant (sometimes pop-culture) examples that are engaging for students. The authors also provide a packet of pdf worksheets on the ACRL website for use in the classroom.

[Tyff · Rating 5 out of 5]

very practical title. I would recommend it for any librarian who wants to see how the Framework can be incorporated in a practical way. A few of my favorite activities included the role of blogs in scholarly conversation, flawed questions as tools for inquiry and tracing information over time. Check it out and use it!!!!

[Ashley (Bound to Love YA) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some very helpful tips for librarians navigating how to use the Framework in their instruction. As an early career info lit librarian, I often find the framework more theoretical than practical - but this book links threshold concepts with specific lesson plans and tools to use in the classroom. This title is one that I will refer back to for ideas again and again.

[May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great ideas but wish there were more examples of what can be done in very large one shot class settings.

[Mills College Library]

028.70711 T2535 2015

[ACRL]

Read by ACRL Member of the Week Joelle Pitts. Learn more about Joelle on the ACRL Insider Blog.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for work. Love the lesson plans presented even tried some adapted ones and they went really well!