Thougts about a new role for the library.

1. University of the Book:
Reading, Libraries, and Inquiry Learning
James W. Marcum, Ph.D.
August 2010

2. A different (millennial) generation
• Technologically savvy (natives)
• Diverse; different learning styles
• Visually engaged
• Comfortable with multitasking
• Learn by doing
• Instinctively collaborative
• Smartest generation?
• D. Tapscott, Grown Up Digital (2008)
• Or…Dumbest generation?
• M. Bauerlein, The Dumbest Generation (2009)

3. DANGER: The Shallows
• Internet is rewiring our brain
• An ―ecosystem of
interruption technologies‖
• A permanent state of
distractedness and
forgetfulness
• … a far-reaching effect on
reading, writing, and
language itself…
– N. Carr, The Shallows (2010)

4. • So…what are we to
do?

5. Start: greater emphasis on reading
• Reading is the
essential skill upon
which other
intellectual powers
depend
– Jacques Barzun, (1991). Begin Here: The
Forgotten Conditions of Teaching and
Learning. U Chicago Press, 20-27.

6. VALUE of Reading
• Deep reading is the best
antidote for the distracted
(shallow) minds being
created by the internet
• Good books have
provided the means to
better understanding and
perspective (… i.e.
leadership) for generations

7. Challenge: Revive ―reading”
• Free voluntary (extended) reading
produces better
– vocabulary
– spelling
– writing
– with longer retention and
– more and better reading in
the future.
• …than formal instruction.
– S. Krashen, The Power of Reading, 2nd ed. 2004.

8. The Library College Idea
• Assumption: good book
collections provide a rich
―wherewithal‖ for learning
• Professional librarians can
guide reading inquiry.
• This is not a new idea
• Louis Shores. The Library-College.
Philadelphia: Drexel, 1966.
• Marie Schuster. The Library-Centered
Approach to Learning. Palm Springs,
CA: ETC, 1977.

9. Louis Shores‘ ―Case‖
• Culmination of independent study
movement
• Revolt against ―lockstep‖ classes
• Good reading compares with
classroom instruction for effect
• Learning mode: match the
resource to the individual
• Utilize the well selected and
‗presented‘ books in the library

10. New ‗Learning‘ Theories
• Multiple learning styles
• Self-directed learning
• Active learning
• Social learning
• Connectivism

11. New Education Practices
• Beyond Lifelong Learning
– Undergraduate research
– Inquiry learning
– Problem-based learning
– Discovery learning
– Communities of Learning
– Distance and Online
Learning

12. New Technologies Create
Opportunities
• Internet/web-based information
sharing and communication
• Learning management systems
• Collaborative knowledge
building
• Weblogs, wikis, social learning
tools
• Mobility and miniaturization
(wireless, cell phones laptops, PDAs)

13. And New Learning Resources
• Learning Management
Systems (Blackboard)
• Open academic content
exchanges (Merlot, MIT‘s OCW, etc.)
• Publisher databases, resources
(Elsevier, Emerald, ACS, etc.)
• Social Learning (blogs, wikis,
collaboration tools)

14. Consider: ―Library Based,
Learner-Centered Inquiry”
• Learner initiated reading &
learning (individual OR group)
• Resource (book) based
• Librarian guided
• Specialist advised
• Technology enabled
– Stakeholder engaging
– Revenue generating

15. Key methodology:
• Resource (research)-based
inquiry
– Puts learner at the center of the
process
– Uses clear objectives and a …
– Rich learning environment
• Multiple, varied resources
• Technology support
• Individual or social learning
– Incorporating face-to-face
knowledgeable guidance

16. And new methods:
• Engaging, constructivist self-identity
development via autobiography
- Antikainen, Living in a Learning Society (1996)
• Guided Inquiry:
– Rich learning environment
– Intervention, at critical moment
– Frequent feedback
– Assessment
– Connects learning to students‘ ―life,‖
interests, goals, questions
• C. Kuhlthau, et al. (2007) Guided Inquiry:
Learning in the 21st Century.

17. Discovery Learning
To break free of known facts
(dogma) requires:
• Allowing for initiative and self-
direction
• Encouraging work in teams
• Questioning authority
• Using constructivist, problem-
solving pedagogies
• Considering alternative
examples and scenarios
– Marcum, ―From Information Center to
Discovery System‖ (2001)

18. And DIY Learning
• Technology enabled
• Open Content (MIT, 2001)
• Open University/Education
• Personal Learning Networks
• Ex:
– School of Everything
– Omniuniversity
– Massive Open Course (CA)
– College Unbound
– Open Learning Initiative, etc.
• A. Kamenetz, DIY U (2010)

19. UNIVERSITY OF THE BOOK
• All of which sets the stage for a
renewed emphasis on
deep/extended reading (i.e.
books)
• Grounded at the 25,000 public
and academic libraries in the
U.S.
• With librarians and others
serving as F2F liaison/tutors
between learners and networks
of scholars and specialists

20. Facing the ―post Web‖ world
• ―Google: The Search Party is
Over,‖ Fortune (Aug 16, 2010)
• ―The Closing of the Digital
Frontier,‖ The Atlantic (July 2010)
• ―The Web is Dead,‖ Wired (Sept
2010)
* * *
– ―How we use the web—and how it looks—is going
to be completely different in five years than it is
today‖ - Mike McCue, founder, Flipboard

21. •What do YOU
think?