Using the Web constructively : web based training in library and information skills education : an extended essay

Abstract

The information age has brought a shift in emphasis for many user education programs in libraries. The traditional "bibliographic paradigm" focuses on "collecting and classifying texts and devising strategies for their retrieval." (Kuhlthau, 1991,361). McLaren (1999, para 1) describes traditional library education as focussed on access skills and bibliographic tools. Both these practitioners describe these skills as valuable, but insufficient to stand alone as an adequate training for learners to become proficient information consumers. There is widespread recognition that effective users of information are able not only to access information but also to identify their information need, analyse and locate relevant information and create knowledge based on the outcome of that process. This process is commonly known as information literacy. The implementation of information literacy training has both complicated and enriched the role of the information educator.