Mary M. Somerville and Anita Mirijamdotter
Informed learning can be enlivened through explicit and persistent attention to using information to learn during collaborative design activities. The resulting information…
Abstract
Informed learning can be enlivened through explicit and persistent attention to using information to learn during collaborative design activities. The resulting information experiences and accompanying information practices in the workplace, when combined with systems principles, can produce transferable individual and group (and, ultimately, organizational) capacity to advance knowledge in ever expanding professional contexts.
In development in North America since 2003, the Informed Systems Approach incorporates principles of systems thinking and informed learning though an inclusive, participatory design process that fosters information exchange, reflective dialogue, knowledge creation, and conceptual change in workplace organizations. It also furthers expression of collaborative information practices that enrich information experiences by simultaneously advancing both situated domain knowledge and transferable learning capacity. Integrated design activities support participants’ developing awareness of the conceptions of information experience and informed learning, in a cyclical and iterative fashion that promotes and sustains continuous learning.
A shared learning focus evolves through intentional use of information to learn, including collective reflection on information sources, collaborative practices, and systems functionalities, which further participants’ topical understandings and enrich their information experiences. In addition, an action-oriented intention and inclusive participatory disposition ensures improvements of real world situations.
Details
Keywords
Mary M. Somerville and Margaret Brown‐Sica
Libraries required to accommodate new services within existing facilities can benefit from an inclusive planning approach which produces a design concept and project phases for…
Abstract
Purpose
Libraries required to accommodate new services within existing facilities can benefit from an inclusive planning approach which produces a design concept and project phases for repurposing space. In the process, organizational decision making can move from print‐centered to program‐driven through intention use of information to learn. This paper seeks to explore this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
Participatory action research (PAR) offers an action‐oriented and learning‐centered approach to (re)design of library facilities through an iterative plan‐act‐observe‐reflect cycle. Auraria Library's culminating charette illustrates the efficacy of PAR principles and practices for repurposing library facilities in response to changing user demands.
Findings
Over an 18‐month period, participatory action research activities fostered data collection and interpretation activities, preparatory to a two‐day design charette conducted with and for members of campus constituencies. In addition to clarifying design elements for project phases with estimated budgets, the inclusive inquiry processes initiated campus relationships essential to successful project implementation.
Research limitations/implications
This research study reports the latest findings in a series of North American implementation projects begun in 2003. The most ambitious to date, it involves library staff and campus stakeholders in inclusive library redesign processes.
Practical implications
Amidst dynamically changing internal and external circumstances, libraries can employ participatory action research principles and practices to use information to learn. The Auraria Library example illustrates the transferability of using inclusive information‐centered and learning‐focused approaches for organizational direction setting.
Social implications
The purpose of the action‐oriented and learning‐focused approach is to engage participants in using information to learn. Participatory action research is therefore intrinsically emancipatory.
Originality/value
A paucity of professional literature on participatory action research exists in the library and information science field. Therefore, this contribution both offers a promising approach for collaborative decision making and fills a gap in the professional knowledge base.
Details
Keywords
Mary M. Somerville and Lydia Collins
Information commons were introduced into libraries in the early 1990s. Now universities are building library learning commons and campus learning spaces. This paper sets out to…
Abstract
Purpose
Information commons were introduced into libraries in the early 1990s. Now universities are building library learning commons and campus learning spaces. This paper sets out to present a participatory library (re)design approach for collaborative planning “for and with” faculty teachers, student learners, and campus stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
Collaborative design (co‐design) employs user‐centric investigations to produce products, applications, and environments aimed at advancing learning, sustaining communication, and building relationships. Examples from California Polytechnic State University and San José State University in California, USA, suggest the efficacy of this inclusive, learner‐centered (re)design approach for library facilities, services, and systems.
Findings
Inviting and enabling user input from the start offers a fruitful planning approach in which campus librarians, stakeholders, and beneficiaries “learn their way” to appropriate library (re)design decisions. Also, user involvement in information gathering and interpretation activities initiates the interactive relationships necessary for continuous improvement.
Practical implications
Collaborative design (co‐design) yields sustained interaction with user beneficiaries and campus stakeholders. It changes how library staff members think and what they think about, concurrent with enhancing libraries' appeal and value.
Originality/value
In development since 2002, the highly participatory design approach reflects theoretical and applied insights from researchers in Europe, Australia, and North America who have worked with US library practitioners to develop user‐centric processes for advancing organizational learning and enhancing user efficacy. Its practical application to planning for library learning commons and learning spaces contributes to the small but important literature on user‐centered library (re)design.
Details
Keywords
Mary M. Somerville and Mary Nino
This paper aims to describe the use of collaborative co‐design activities to advance strategic planning assessment efforts by staff members of the merged (city‐university) Dr…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe the use of collaborative co‐design activities to advance strategic planning assessment efforts by staff members of the merged (city‐university) Dr Martin Luther King, Jr Library in California's Silicon Valley.
Design/methodology/approach
The activities use action research approaches rather than traditional approaches which rely on gathering library‐centric data to assess organizational effectiveness. The paper also reports on staff members' application of Learning 2.0 competencies to co‐create physical places and virtual spaces which enable learning for and with users.
Findings
This conversation based approach encourages co‐defining “success” with user constituencies through sustained dialogue that, over time, builds relationships.
Practical implications
In the process, library staff invite, interpret, and apply user generated evidence and insights to co‐create sustainable relationships and concurrently advance systems thinking and workplace information literacy. This “research in practice” initiative extends action research on “thought leadership”.
Originality/value
In development since 2003, this inclusive co‐design approach reflects theoretical and applied insights from researchers in Europe, Australia, and North America, who have worked with US library practitioners to develop user‐centric processes for improving organizational effectiveness and enhancing user efficacy.
Details
Keywords
Christine Bruce, Mary M. Somerville, Ian Stoodley and Helen Partridge
This chapter uses the idea of informed learning, an interpretation of information literacy that focuses on people’s information experiences rather than their skills or attributes…
Abstract
This chapter uses the idea of informed learning, an interpretation of information literacy that focuses on people’s information experiences rather than their skills or attributes, to analyse the character of using information to learn in diverse communities and settings, including digital, faith, indigenous and ethnic communities. While researchers of information behaviour or information seeking and use have investigated people’s information worlds in diverse contexts, this work is still at its earliest stages in the information literacy domain. To date, information literacy research has largely occurred in what might be considered mainstream educational and workplace contexts, with some emerging work in community settings. These have been mostly in academic libraries, schools and government workplaces. What does information literacy look like beyond these environments? How might we understand the experience of effective information use in a range of community settings, from the perspective of empirical research and other sources? The chapter concludes by commenting on the significance of diversifying the range of information experience contexts, for information literacy research and professional practice.
Details
Keywords
Mary M. Somerville and Navjit Brar
Soft systems methodology processes fortified by collaborative evidence‐based librarianship (EBL) principles can guide end‐user involvement in digital library project design and…
Abstract
Purpose
Soft systems methodology processes fortified by collaborative evidence‐based librarianship (EBL) principles can guide end‐user involvement in digital library project design and development. This paper aims to reveal the efficacy of this inclusive human‐focused approach for building systems through user‐generated research examples.
Design/methodology/approach
From 2003 to 2006, user‐centered interaction design guided increasingly complex human‐computer interaction projects at California Polytechnic State University. Toward that end, project planners invite polytechnic students, supervised by computer science professors, to assess peers' information seeking needs. This student‐generated evidence informs creation of paper prototypes and implementation of usability tests. Sustained relationships between planners and beneficiaries permit iterative evaluation and continuous improvement of design concepts and product functionalities.
Findings
Purposeful conversations aimed at learning from user‐generated evidence enrich the planning process for digital library projects. Reflective of the “learn by doing” educational values of the organization, this approach advances learning among both users and planners throughout user‐centered (re)design experiences.
Practical implications
Collaborative design assumes that enabling interfaces, systems, and environments are best designed and developed inclusively, with and for beneficiaries. Toward that end, practical guidelines are offered to enable replication of this approach, which depends on user produced and interpreted evidence, in other organizational settings.
Originality/value
A paucity of literature exists on the relevance of EBL in the digital age. Similarly, too little applied research has adopted a human‐centered focus for design and development of information systems. Finally, too few digital library projects recognize the value of initiating positive user experiences at project inception.
Details
Keywords
Hiram L. Davis and Mary M. Somerville
At California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, USA, systems thinking practice guides strategic organizational change. A new Research and Information Service and…
Abstract
Purpose
At California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, USA, systems thinking practice guides strategic organizational change. A new Research and Information Service and education (RISE) initiative and an emerging professional knowledge management model illustrate participants' “deep learning” as leaders realign the organization within the broader context of the academic enterprise. This study aims to examine this initiative.
Design/methodology/approach
This “thought leadership” approach uses soft systems methodology (SSM) to support collaborative learning focused on re‐examining organizational contexts and assumptions. Fortified by data‐driven dialogue, library faculty and staff learn how to think holistically about repurposing resources, redirecting programming, restructuring staff, and retooling expertise.
Findings
Rethinking activities guided by SSM build library staff capacity to improve systems and services through active learning experiences focused on interpreting results and applying insights from user research. Results to date also identify elements of and processes for transformational thought leadership in contemporary information and knowledge organizations.
Research limitations/implications
This promising line of inquiry suggests the efficacy of systems thinking for organizational change initiatives which seek to better align workplace outcomes with constituencies' needs. Results to‐date also suggest elements of, and processes for, thought leadership initiatives which seek to create sustainable workplace learning culture.
Practical implications
This applied systems thinking methodology can inform organizational decision making intended to improve institutional alignment and, concurrently, advance workplace learning.
Originality/value
SSM is typically used in an isolated intervention by external organizational development consultants. At California Polytechnic State University, organizational leaders seek to embed SSM in workplace culture to further evidence‐based information practice and workplace learning.
Details
Keywords
Mary M. Somerville and Navjit Brar
This paper seeks to highlight elements of and assumptions for an inclusive planning process which guided the transformation of an information commons into a learning commons over…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to highlight elements of and assumptions for an inclusive planning process which guided the transformation of an information commons into a learning commons over a six‐year period. It aims to present case study within the context of the North American higher education environment, in which this example illustrates the shift from a teaching to a learning orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
The report illustrates the efficacy of a highly participatory and inclusive planning process which integrates ideas generated by campus stakeholders and beneficiaries – students, professors, and administrators – to redirect campus library activities from service to learning outcomes. The culminating Science Café example suggests the potential of repurposing space, revitalizing relationships, and re‐energizing programming within an academic library.
Findings
The case study illustrates the impact of participatory (re)design of library priorities. It demonstrates the new insights produced through expanded campus decision‐making processes. Conference paper and journal article references provide detailed descriptions of consultation and research elements of this six‐year initiative.
Originality/value
The paper provides a campus planning framework for an inclusive learning commons initiative. References to detailed reports in conference presentations, book chapters, and journal papers published in Africa, Australia, Europe, and North America offer transferable guidance for convening campus conversations to repurpose library facilities. This topic is timely, as information and learning commons – originating over 15 years ago in North America – are of growing interest internationally.
Details
Keywords
Christine S. Bruce, Mary M. Somerville, Ian Stoodley and Helen Partridge
This article uses the idea of informed learning, an interpretation of information literacy that focuses on people’s information experiences rather than their skills or attributes…
Abstract
This article uses the idea of informed learning, an interpretation of information literacy that focuses on people’s information experiences rather than their skills or attributes, to analyse the character of using information to learn in diverse communities and settings, including digital, faith, indigenous and ethnic communities. While researchers of information behaviour or information seeking and use have investigated people’s information worlds in diverse contexts, this work is still at its earliest stages in the information literacy domain. To date, information literacy research has largely occurred in what might be considered mainstream educational and workplace contexts, with some emerging work in community settings. These have been mostly in academic libraries, schools and government workplaces. What does information literacy look like beyond these environments? How might we understand the experience of effective information use in a range of community settings, from the perspective of empirical research and other sources? The article concludes by commenting on the significance of diversifying the range of information experience contexts, for information literacy research and professional practice.
Details
Keywords
Christine Bruce, Kate Davis, Hilary Hughes, Helen Partridge and Ian Stoodley
The purpose of this book is to open a conversation on the idea of information experience, which we understand to be a complex, multidimensional engagement with information. In…
Abstract
The purpose of this book is to open a conversation on the idea of information experience, which we understand to be a complex, multidimensional engagement with information. In developing the book we invited colleagues to propose a chapter on any aspect of information experience, for example conceptual, methodological or empirical. We invited them to express their interpretation of information experience, to contribute to the development of this concept. The book has thus become a vehicle for interested researchers and practitioners to explore their thinking around information experience, including relationships between information experience, learning experience, user experience and similar constructs. It represents a collective awareness of information experience in contemporary research and practice. Through this sharing of multiple perspectives, our insights into possible ways of interpreting information experience, and its relationship to other concepts in information research and practice, is enhanced. In this chapter, we introduce the idea of information experience. We also outline the book and its chapters, and bring together some emerging alternative views and approaches to this important idea.