Listserv Lemmings and Fly-brarians on the Wall: A Librarian–Instructor Team Taming the Cyberbeast in the Large Classroom

Abstract

Computer technologies, in both the library and the classroom, have the potential to serve the aims of liberatory pedagogies, especially when used creatively to empower students in the shared construction of knowl edge. However, such empowerment can happen only if students are given the tools to find their way through the ever-increasing complexity of print and online resources. This article shows how a reference librar ian and a faculty member can team up effectively to teach research strategies and critical thinking skills (including analysis and evaluation of resources, so necessary for the Internet) in a large classroom through careful use of a list (e-mail forum) and focused research assignments. Such strategies revolutionize the ways that reference librarians do their work, greatly increasing their interaction with students by overcoming students' reluctance to seek help and their fear of computerized re sources. Librarian, instructor, and student become partners in the cre ation, evaluation, and dissemination of scholarly information. t now is a commonplace that technology is changing forever the way we educate students and, thus, altering our jobs as university librarians and teachers. Library reference rooms do not resemble those of even a decade ago, and classrooms too are defined increasingly by cables and video screens rather than by books and chalk. Many educators are scrambling to assess the significance of these profound changes in education, questioning what we accomplish with our commitment (or, some would say, servitude) to computer technology in the classroom.