The Internet and Information Skills: A Guide for Teachers and School Librarians

Citation

Ellis‐Barrett, L. (2005), "The Internet and Information Skills: A Guide for Teachers and School Librarians", Library Review, Vol. 54 No. 3, pp. 203-204. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530510588980

Do not be put off by the title of this book – it is different! In nine concise and well laid out chapters James Herring presents new approaches to teaching both internet and information skills in schools. He shows that this can be interesting and stimulating for both teacher and pupil, and that the results are worth the effort.

With this book, to coin a phrase, I feel that the author has been able to “teach an old dog new tricks”. Many teachers and librarians may feel that they have learnt all there is to know on the subject but the internet is a continually evolving arena. It is important that all those in education are clear about the most effective methods for keeping their skills up to date in the knowledge that there are always new ways in which to approach teaching.

Whether you are a teacher or a librarian and whether you are teaching younger or older students does not matter. This book is aimed at everyone and covers all aspects of the topic; from why it is important that effective information skills are taught, to how this can be done and what the likely future developments will be.

In the introduction Herring explains the purpose of the book, and describes the increased prevalence of the internet in schools. The book's purpose is to provide both a theoretical context and a practical guide to the exploitation of the internet for education. Herring also explains that in many schools it is not only teachers who are teaching students to learn. There are now more information resources than ever before and it is essential students understand how to use them well. The book is about finding relevant information and teaching others how to do the same. The introduction is clear about the aims of the book and the text that follows successfully achieves these aims.

The book begins, in Chapters 1 and 2, with the internet – using e‐mail and listservs, and search engines, how to keep up to date with these differing resources and knowing which to use for different purposes. Chapter 3 considers the way in which web sites should be evaluated covering different criteria that should be used. Chapter 4 looks at subject gateways and their evaluation. In Chapter 5 information skills and the PLUS model are covered. This is an excellent teaching method and one that many teachers and librarians are likely to consider using once they have read this book and looked at the case studies presented. Chapter 6 looks at this model in more detail and explains how it can be used when searching the web. Chapters 7 and 8 consider how to set‐up a school web site and an instructional website – both chapters contain case studies from schools with examples of good practice. The final chapter looks at future developments, not only with the internet but also in the school curriculum, and how this will impact on teaching and learning requirements.

Each chapter is self‐contained whilst linking into the text as a whole and the author makes good use of figures throughout the book. These include snap shots of web sites as well as the results of differing methods of teaching. There are also examples of questionnaires and work that has been set by librarians or teachers whose schools have been used as case studies. These are particularly useful additions and enhance the text by allowing the reader to see the context in which the models discussed can be used. The chapters are well laid out beginning with a summary of what you should have learnt by the time you have read each one. The headings throughout are clear and each has its own conclusion as well as a bibliography. A full bibliography can be found on pages 165‐168 though it does not make any reference to related chapters.

This is an excellent book that I would strongly recommend to all librarians and teachers.