In my previous blogs, I wrote that multicultural/bilingual/ESL first-year college students are my information community (IC). This week’s blog is about the articles in our “Global Information Communities” module. I must add this was a difficult writing task for me because I experienced a combination of misunderstanding and an overload of sensitivity on how to address the questions/statements composed for this particular blog assignment. However, in an effort to provide a response, and based on my narrowed-down perspective, I paraphrased the following for this blog: Indicate any issues that my IC might face on an international level. How can or do similar information communities seek and create information in the context of their culture? Do my IC’s international counterparts bring social, gender, environmental and economic justice to light? And, try to share discoveries and observations in hopes that this experience can prepare and even educate fellow information professionals.
Many librarians, and myself, frequently encounter members of my IC who are from other countries, international students, and Americans who were not privy to global networks or connected learning (Holmquist, 2015). Such encounters are students who have experienced situations similar to those of the “A Million Stories” project (Lauersen, 2019), or students including their parents who have come from what Sciabica (2014) described as chauvinistic, gender-biased, unsafe cultural and social environments. The stories from these and other projects are reflections of members in my IC. For example, there are members of my IC who have never been inside of a library before coming to an American university. I imagine the lack of exposure to any library is among the issues some members of my IC must meet, especially if they are from international countries, remote areas and environments, or rural areas within the U.S. Naturally, these are the students who require more attention and guidance, particularly in seeking and creating information within the context of their culture.
On the other hand, upon attending an American university – there are members of my IC who have had the opportunity to visit libraries in or near their hometowns within the U.S., or in different areas/countries outside of the U.S. For instance, I have met African, Afro-Latin, Arabic, Asian, and Persian students who have visited libraries similar to what Stephens (2019) and Morehart (2016, 2019) described in each of their articles. These are the types of libraries that have changed the lives of certain members in my IC – in ways that have influenced their academic concentrations, the selection of their majors or educational programs, and their motivation for learning including language learning. For example, the piece by Fairbairn (2014) explained how folks from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin American countries have benefited from the collaborative work via the development of numerous and various types of libraries. The pilot programs and innovation programs via libraries are what enables, encourages, and in some cases, supports college students and their parents.
I found it incredible how Sciabica’s (2014) exposition of libraries empowering women in Asia actually demonstrated the value of discovery through social, gender, environmental, and economic means, which brought these women out of the dark-ages and into the light.
As I indicated earlier, this was a difficult blog assignment for me to address because I could barely touch on the ways of discoveries or observations in comparison to the experiences written in this week’s articles. I think I experienced an overload of cultural competence. Nevertheless, there are extensive, substantial, special and unique libraries, programming and services being implemented in connection with various global learning networks (Holmquist, 2015) – that are making remarkable impacts on the lives of so many people, world-wide. So in an effort to develop cultural competence – these articles present a bit to digest in preparing or even educating fellow information professionals.
References
Fairbairn, J. (2014). Connecting farmers in Uganda – Why empowering public libraries with technology is so important. EIFL. Retrieved from www.impatientoptimists.org/Posts/2014/05/Connecting-Farmers-in-Uganda–Why-Empowering-Public-Libraries-with-Technology-is-So-Important
Holmquist, J. (2015). Chapter 38: Global learning networks. In S. Hirsh, Information Services Today. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/lib/sjsu/reader.action?docID=2032756&ppg=407
Lauersen, C. (2019). A million stories – How libraries can foster integration of refugees through culture and storytelling. The Library Lab. Retrieved from https://christianlauersen.net/2019/08/07/a-million-stories-how-libraries-foster-integration-of-refugees-through-culture-and-storytelling
Morehart, P. (2016). Moving beyond the ‘third place’. Retrieved from https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/library-design-moving-beyond-third-place/
Morehart, P. (2019). International innovators. Retrieved from https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2019/07/17/international-innovators/
Sciabica, T. (2014). The case for a safe space: Libraries empower women in Asia. Impatient Optimists. Retrieved from http://www.impatientoptimists.org/Posts/2014/12/The-Case-for-a-Safe-Space-Libraries-Empower-Women-In-Asia
Stephens, M. (2019). The world spins. People. Retrieved from https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=The-World-Spins-Office-Hours
Stephens, M. (2019). With a little twist: Office hours. People. Retrieved from https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=With-a-Little-Twist-Office-Hours
Bravo! The aspect of education, and specifically the women in cultures where females are seen as not worthy of education, has helped to bring the poverty level up in many countries. When I read the book Factfulness: Ten reasons we’re wrong about the world and why things are better than you think for this class, my eyes were opened to the impact that education had on women specifically and the domino effect it had on the country as a whole. Your information community research seems to support this implication while also giving others insight into the cause and effect of the interconnectedness of poverty and education. So inspiring!