Information Literacy Through Site-Specific Installation: The Library Project

Abstract

This article describes how a collaborative, multifaceted, site-specific installation helped to develop information literacy in studio art students. Through the process of planning, creating, and installing the project, students learned to find and evaluate many different kinds of information, from design ideas to historical precedents, site plans, and business plans. Working with a public installation within a library, students learned to consider the economic, social, and legal issues involved within the context of their audience and location. Finally, the conceptual framework of the installation encouraged students to think critically about the role of libraries in today's information and technology-saturated society. [This article is based on a poster session prepared for the Association of College and Research Libraries conference held in Seattle in March 2009.] society, as it related to the process of art-making

Crossing the Studio Art Threshold: Information Literacy and Creative Populations

“…In both of these examples, standards may have helped the librarians articulate claims to institutional resources, such as classroom time and legitimacy as teaching colleagues. Brinkman and Young (2010) used the Standards to implement a problem-based, collaborative multimedia art installation, the results of which showed students thought critically about the nature of information, utilized multiple research methods, and evaluated and synthesized new information into project plans. Students "explored the relationships between information, text, and technology, and how the digital/virtual environment has changed not only the nature of research, but also how we perceive reality and physical materials" (p. 63).…”

“…Librarians can participate in studio communities that value an open exchange of ideas, gain insight into students' creative journeys, and collaborate with faculty to articulate expectations and identify appropriate moments for feedback. Payne (2008), and Brinkman and Young (2010) provide foundational examples for this practice.…”

“…While the Standards focus in large part on the format of information, the Framework lends itself to conversations about disciplinary expectations and practices. This shift appears to be a welcome one for librarians who work with creative populations; the literature demonstrates a trend of adapting, tweaking, and resisting the prescriptive nature of the Standards (Bliss & Rockenbach, 2002;Brinkman & Young, 2010;Greer, 2015;Halverson, 2008;Payne, 2008;Vecchiola, 2011;Zanin-Yost, 2012;Zanin-Yost & Tapley, 2008). As the profession transitions from the Standards to the Framework, librarians immersed in the studio context offer instruction librarians from any discipline examples and experiences that model the importance of pedagogical context, including decentering traditional scholarship and drawing on disciplinary practices and methodologies that may be unique.…”