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SLO 8, ARTIFACT 1:
Information Literacy Presentation (Reflection Paper excerpt) Link: Paper excerpt This is an excerpt from a reflection paper in which I discuss how I and two other classmates developed a group presentation on information literacy. I included this excerpt in the Capstone to illustrate one way in which I practiced collaboration in the MLIS program and what I learned from the experience. The presentation required that we delve into the topic of information literacy among younger generations. After reading a research article found by one of the presentation team members, I learned that an assumption that library scholars Lua Gregory and Shanna Higgins had made about the information literacy skills of younger people was, in fact, not supported by Pew Research Center data. Lua and Gregory (2013) suggested that college students have been seduced by neoliberalist and capitalist ideologies that encourage an embracing of a free-market philosophy (p. 191); however, Pew found that, far from being unquestionably accepting of free-market ideologies, the majority of people in the younger demographic known as “Generation Z” actually support increased government involvement in the solving of social problems (Parker, K., Graf, N., Igielnik, R., Parker, K., Graf, N., & Igielnik, R., 2019). While doing my own research, I came across an article titled “Realizing Critical Business Information Literacy: Opportunities, Definitions, and Best Practices,” which addresses how business school librarians can teach critical information literacy to students. From this article, I learned about strategies librarians can use to teach critical business information literacy, such as discussing the relationship between capitalism and homelessness and encouraging students to use their business education to address social problems (Stonebraker, Maxwell, Garcia, & Jerrit, 2017). These teaching strategies are ones that I could see myself using in an information literacy or social justice discussion group setting when doing outreach in underserved communities. I believe that constructive collaboration leads to social progress. No matter what our backgrounds, we can all learn something when we work together. The group presentation reinforced these ideas for me. Because of the group project, I did research I would not have done otherwise and learned some teaching strategies that might encourage reflection on how to use one's education to bring about social change. The project collaboration experience I gained is something I will draw on when working with community partners on public library programming or on presentations for funding organizations and government officials. References
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