Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- Metaliteracy in Practice ed. by Trudi E. Jacobson and Thomas P. Mackey
Trudi Jacobson and Thomas Mackey’s Metaliteracy in Practice is a follow-up to Metaliteracy: Reinventing Information Literacy to Empower Learners (Chicago: ALA Neal-Schuman, 2014), which they wrote, and makes a valuable contribution to the ongoing discussion about information literacy. In the 2014 book, Mackey and Jacobson explained the concept of metaliteracy, which expanded the scope of traditional information skills to encompass the collaborative production and sharing of information with digital technology and supplemented then-current definitions of information literacy. Metaliteracy included metacognition, or awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes; information creation; and participation in the digital age. As authors, Mackey, interim vice provost for academic programs at State University of New York (SUNY) Empire State College in Saratoga Springs, and Jacobson, head of the Information Literacy Department at the University at Albany, SUNY, used examples from their own experiences to illustrate this approach. In Metaliteracy in Practice, as editors, they have gathered examples of metaliteracy in teaching and learning from faculty and librarians in a variety of institutional contexts.
As noted in the book’s preface, there are strong similarities between metaliteracy and the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, formally adopted by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Board of Directors in January 2016. Both the concept and the document helped to transform information literacy. The authors are cited [End Page 846] within the Framework itself, and Jacobson served as cochair of the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education Task Force, whose work resulted in the Framework. The two authors’ 2011 article, “Reframing Information Literacy as a Metaliteracy” (College & Research Libraries 72, 1 [January 2011]: 62–78), introduced this new concept, and they continue to develop it in writings, keynote presentations, and collaborative learning projects.
Metaliteracy in Practice demonstrates current innovations in information literacy instruction. Notably, all chapters focus on faculty collaboration and instruction that go well beyond the one-shot library session—a reflection of how information literacy instruction has evolved. Chapter topics include the revision of a course on rhetoric and social media, the development of a research and writing course for nursing students, a semester-long digital humanities project for a Renaissance drama course, and for-credit courses on information literacy. Librarians participating in these courses are not one-time consultants but collaborators in curriculum design who help to foster critical thinking and partners in teaching who shift the focus away from acquiring discrete skills to understanding concepts and gaining generalizable skills.
Self-empowerment is an important aspect of both metaliteracy and the Framework, and it is a theme running throughout Metaliteracy in Practice. An interesting example of this is Irene McGarrity’s chapter, “Developing Agency in Metaliterate Learners: Empowerment through Digital Identity and Participation.” McGarrity, the academic technology librarian at Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire, describes a learner-centered approach to a course on digital identity and online cultures. Her methods include students presenting content and creating assignments. While this particular approach may seem daunting, it should inspire readers to consider more manageable ways they might incorporate self-directed learning into their practice.
In addition to examples of extensive and, in some cases, unique teaching experiences, there are also chapters of more general interest. One is Amanda Scull’s “Where Collections and Metaliteracy Meet: Incorporating Library-Owned Platforms into Open and Collaborative Library Instruction,” which describes using library platforms and library-curated content to teach the research process. Scull, the collection development librarian at Keene State College, uses metaliteracy learning objectives to reconceptualize library collections as teaching tools. She makes compelling cases for institutional repositories as participatory, scholarly communities and for the platform LibGuides as a collaborative learning space.
Metaliteracy in Practice is a timely book that will help librarians integrate the Framework and metaliteracy into their instruction. With real examples from professional colleagues, it can serve as a jumping-off point from which we can explore, experiment, and innovate to...
