School Libraries and Information Literacy featured research
Full text of research papers with ongoing value for informing professional practice is featured on this page.
It includes significant research that provides conceptual frameworks and a sound research base. Emphasis is placed on an evidence based practice approach, action research, and ideas and strategies that may be adapted locally to provide evidence of the difference teacher-librarians and school libraries make to student learning in the contemporary educational environment.
This page is updated as research comes to hand and may change without notice.
Abstracts of research papers that have appeared in the latest issues of Scan are available on our Recent research abstracts page.
To find abstracts on research available from other past issues of Scan, as well as citations to general Scan articles, you may search our Resource reviews database using author, subject or title keyword access.
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Featured research
Below appear featured research papers and their annotation. Click on the appropriate citation heading to link to a full text pdf of these documents.
SCHEFFERS, Jenny and Bruce, Michelle and Nix, Bev (2006) ‘Teachers and teacher-librarians supporting higher-order thinking skills‘ in Scan 25 (1) February, pp. 28–34.
Jenny Scheffers, teacher-librarian working collaboratively with teachers, shares her action research results. Jenny focuses on Intellectual quality and the information process supporting meaningful learning, illustrating action at the heart of the school library and role of the teacher-librarian.
Todd, R.J. ‘Evidence based practice: the sustainable future for teacher-librarians’, Scan 21(1), 2002, pp 30-37.
Action and evidence based, learning centered practice, rather than position and advocacy, are key mindsets for the school library profession if it is be acknowledged as playing a central role in the learning goals of the school. It is sometimes difficult to convince school executive of the nature, scope and importance of the teacher-librarian's role if evidence is not local, or immediately derived from day by day teaching and learning. Principals, teachers, and parents want to hear of local successes, and local improvements. Two types of research evidence should underpin the practice of teacher-librarians. Macro-research focuses on large scale, broad based studies involving large samples. Micro-research seeks to identify and understand the specific dynamics of individuals' engagement with, and use of, information, both within and outside the classroom setting. The primary unit of analysis is the learner. Australasian research articles, as published in Scan's Research columns, are typical of these studies.
Todd, R.J. ‘Evidence based practice II: getting into the action’, Scan 21(2), 2002, pp 34-41.
Following from Part 1, evidence based practice in teacher-librarianship revolves around the key question "What differences do our teacher-librarians and their learning initiatives make to student learning?" Ross Todd explains that the gathering of the evidence to answer this question need not require formal quantitative and qualitative research methods. Using the information process provides the platform for evidence based practice and gives the teacher-librarian an opportunity to model the information process with teaching colleagues. Ross sums up the range of key research in this field.
Link to:
Recent research abstracts
Resource reviews database
Scan Research columns home
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