Course Information
| Session |
|---|
| Credits | 2.25 CEUs or 22.5 PDHs |
|---|---|
| Registration dates | We accept registrations through the first week of classes, unless enrollment is full, and unless the class was canceled before it started due to low enrollment. |
Critical Information Literacy
$375.00
Dates: October 6 - November 16Credits: 2.25 CEUs or 22.5 PDHs
This this fun, informal course is for folks who are interested in developing instruction sessions through the lens of critical information literacy. Usually we only get one-shot at engaging students with research and oftentimes evaluation, knowledge production, and privilege in publishing simply do not get addressed. Together, we will discuss how information institutions such as libraries and library systems perpetuate systemic oppression and biases, and we will learn how to navigate these systems as librarians and educators. Over the six weeks of this course, we will examine core concepts of critical information literacy and critical pedagogy by discussing descriptive biases and controlled vocabulary, knowledge creation and scholarly communications, critical source evaluation and expertise, and using zines, archives, and cultural objects in instruction to highlight multiplicities of knowledge organization. We look to not only humanize and personalize the research process, but also address the narrow scope of library instruction practices and seek opportunities to engage with students and learners as conscious consumers and creators of information. Each week will consist of a discussion board question, readings, and an assignment that allow students to practice incorporating each week’s theme into an instruction session. All required readings will be provided.
This course can be taken as one of the courses in our eight-course Certificate in Library Instruction, but can be taken as a stand-alone course as well.
Course Description
This this fun, informal course is for folks who are interested in developing instruction sessions through the lens of critical information literacy. Usually we only get one-shot at engaging students with research and oftentimes evaluation, knowledge production, and privilege in publishing simply do not get addressed. Together, we will discuss how information institutions such as libraries and library systems perpetuate systemic oppression and biases, and we will learn how to navigate these systems as librarians and educators. Over the six weeks of this course, we will examine core concepts of critical information literacy and critical pedagogy by discussing descriptive biases and controlled vocabulary, knowledge creation and scholarly communications, critical source evaluation and expertise, and using zines, archives, and cultural objects in instruction to highlight multiplicities of knowledge organization. We look to not only humanize and personalize the research process, but also address the narrow scope of library instruction practices and seek opportunities to engage with students and learners as conscious consumers and creators of information. Each week will consist of a discussion board question, readings, and an assignment that allow students to practice incorporating each week’s theme into an instruction session. All required readings will be provided.
This course can be taken as one of the courses in our eight-course Certificate in Library Instruction, but can be taken as a stand-alone course as well.
Dawn Stahura
Dawn Stahura is a Research and Instruction Librarian for the Sciences and Health Sciences and the Zine Librarian at Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts as well as an adjunct instructor at Indiana University and Louisiana State University. She earned her M.L.S. from Indiana University in 2009, an A.A.S. in Business Management from Ivy Tech Community College in 2006, and a B.A. in Creative Writing from Purdue University in 2001. She is currently enrolled in the MA English (Poetry Writing Focus) program at Salem State. Her first book, Educating with Empathy: A Holistic Framework for Teaching the Research Process, was published in March 2025 through Litwin Books. She has written and published zines since 1992 and has helped public libraries start their own zine collections as well as how to host zine fests. She is the creator of the ACT UP evaluation method that has been globally adopted and adapted in all kinds of libraries and library instruction. To find out more about her work, please visit her website at www.dawnstahura.com.
Des Alaniz
Des Alaniz (they/them) is an educator, librarian and zinester who currently lives on occupied Chumash-Barbareno lands on the Central Coast of California. Des works at the University of California Santa Barbara in the Evolving Workforce Resident Librarian residency role. They have created and facilitated classes around zines, research justice, teaching with archives, and activist archives for academic and public audiences for over six years.
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