The New Information Literacy Instruction : Best Practices

Ragains and Wood's elegant treatment of information literacy instruction (ILI) is saturated with the new (2015) framework from the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL). According to the editors, this book has been designed for use by instructional librarians in academia (middle school to postdoctoral level), library administrators, and public librarians to assist them in instructing and supporting their patrons in research. Organized in three parts, this volume reflects these themes: “Supporting Specific Academic Programs,” “Innovative Models for Information Literacy Instruction,” and “Branching Out: Teaching Special Literacies.” Underlying these themes is the core strength of the book: the six ACRL frames (“Authority Is Constructed and Contextual”; “Information Creation as a Process”; “Information Has Value, Research as Inquiry”; “Scholarship as Conversation”; and “Searching as Strategic Exploration”). The editors have chosen wisely in providing a variety of academic library settings that demonstrate these frames, but they have also included time-related examples, such as modifying current ILI in an already popular offering, and the groundwork necessary in developing a wholly new ILI program in a brand new school.

or further exploration of issues relating to women's mental health.
Professors Castle and Abel have arranged the book, written by various specialists in the field, into twenty-five chapters that are organized in five sections.The first section covers the social, genetic, and environmental aspects.Chapters one through seven form this section and cover issues such as the effects of ethnic and cultural differences on mental health care, women as caregivers (an important distinction given that ''Throughout the world, women are the primary providers of care and support to the chronically ill' ' [p. 28]), maternal caregiving, and developmental disorders in girls.
Hormonal and reproductive effects are the focus of the second section.Issues considered are the effects of hormones on the female brain; sexual, reproductive, and antenatal care of women with mental illness; mood; anxiety; and compulsive disorders in pregnancy and how to treat them.This section strongly asserts a need for change in the organizational response by mental health service providers and policy makers: ''Sexual and reproductive health must be addressed within policies and training; sexual safety needs to be considered alongside physical safety'' (p.92).
The third section explores the sex differences in borderline personality disorder (BPD), women offenders and mental health, and women and addiction.Chapter 13 is the most engaging chapter in this section because it thoroughly covers the characteristics of women offenders: what distinguishes them from men and ways of understanding their needs.The chapter authors also discuss treatment interventions, both in and out of prison, and how to gain a greater understanding of this special population.
The fourth section talks about depression, anxiety and related disorders, and psychotic disorders in women.One of the more interesting chapters in this section discusses the cultural impact on body image in women.Although there has been an oversaturation of this subject in much of the media, this chapter digs deep and has given me a rooted understanding of the psychological underpinnings of body dysmorphic disorder.Chapter 17 reveals surprising statistics about how many women are afflicted with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): ''One of the most influential of these studies, the National Comorbidity Study (NCS), estimated that the lifetime prevalence of trauma exposure was 51% and 61% for men; however, lifetime rates of PTSD were estimated at 10% for women and 5% for men'' (p.209).
The fifth and last section examines psychotic disorders in women, focusing two chapters on schizophrenia and one on the special issues associated with BPD.The BPD chapter looks at reproductive health for patients with BPD, management of BPD in pregnancy, and management of BPD in the postpartum period.Chapter 22 deals with how prevalent schizophrenia is in women, how it presents itself to clinicians, and what the broader issues are for mothers with schizophrenia.The next chapter explores the various treatments available to women with schizophrenia.The book concludes with an exhaustive chapter on dementia in women, asserting that more women than men develop dementia, but they also are ''disproportionately affected by virtue of being caregivers to others with dementia.In the United States, 65-75% of caregivers are women'' (p.342).
The reader who is eager to learn more about each topic and the collection development librarian will delight in the fact that all chapters conclude with an exhaustive list of cited works.But what I appreciate most about this book is that it pays attention to special populations like lesbian women, women of color, aging and elderly women, and incarcerated women, which exemplifies to me its status as comprehensive.This book would be a trusted addition to any library collection as a textbook about mental health issues or as a reference resource.Ragains and Wood's elegant treatment of information literacy instruction (ILI) is saturated with the new (2015) framework from the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL).According to the editors, this book has been designed for use by instructional librarians in academia (middle school to postdoctoral level), library administrators, and public librarians to assist them in instructing and supporting their patrons in research.Organized in three parts, this volume reflects these themes: ''Supporting Specif-ic Academic Programs,'' ''Innovative Models for Information Literacy Instruction,'' and ''Branching Out: Teaching Special Literacies.''Underlying these themes is the core strength of the book: the six ACRL frames (''Authority Is Constructed and Contextual''; ''Information Creation as a Process''; ''Information Has Value, Research as Inquiry''; ''Scholarship as Conversation''; and ''Searching as Strategic Exploration'').The editors have chosen wisely in providing a variety of academic library settings that demonstrate these frames, but they have also included time-related examples, such as modifying current ILI in an already popular offering, and the groundwork necessary in developing a wholly new ILI program in a brand new school.

Danielle
The cohesive vision of both the ACRL's framework and the book's editors can be fully appreciated as the reader progresses through the book.Each chapter provides a different perspective on the framework, as the librarians describe how they applied this new approach to their unique academic situations, but each chapter also relates back to the theme it falls under, which might sound confusing, but it is not.Undergirded by the six frames and under the umbrella of one of the three themes, each disparate situation reveals the conceptual commonalities shared with the others.It becomes clear to readers fairly quickly how the interconnected core concepts provide both stability to the pedagogy and flexibility for the instructor, the students, and their situations.The result is a cohesive manual for instructional librarians that can either be read as a book or used as needed, chapter by chapter.
ILI manuals, guides, and books abound in library science and in academia.One I am familiar with is The Library Instruction Cookbook (ISBN: 978-0-8389-8511-3; Chicago, IL: ACRL; 2009), edited by Sittler and Cook.While similar in essentials, it more closely resembles a recipe book but with little meat on the bone.This work by Ragains and Wood is more thorough and allows each contributor to explore and explain their situations' requirements and the ways in which ACRL's framework has helped synthesize their lesson plans.Questionnaires, workflow templates, and workshop agendas are included or appended in the appropriate chapters, thereby aiding readers by making the abstract concrete.Teaching approaches such as the ''flipped classroom'' and ''one and done'' are expounded upon using contemporary situations in a variety of settings.Collaboration with faculty, coworkers, and other departments (such as information technology) is stressed, but the book is also well grounded in the realities of time, staff, and budget for academic librarianship and librarians today.I found the inclusion of the instructional needs of librarians, so that they can effectively teach their patrons, both helpful and reassuring.
Lest the reader think that this book sounds very academic and abstract, rest assured, it is not.While there is some unevenness in tone and prose, given that each chapter has a different author; overall, the book is quite cohesive.Readers can easily extrapolate from the individual examples what portions of the presented pedagogy can be used in their own situations.I found myself admiring the painstaking dedication of the librarians who have developed and presented these programs, while also being able to imagine myself doing much the same in my own library.It is a volume I am sure to refer to in the future as my patrons' ILI needs change.Showing ACRL's 2015 Framework through real-life examples not only provides readers an opportunity to reflect on the status of their current programs, but also provides information on the ways in which they might incorporate the six frames for patrons and staff alike.This book is recommended for any library that supports any level of research.
Stem Cell Battles: Proposition 71 and Beyond tells the story of the efforts both to pass a law and earn sustained financial and political support for stem cell research in California, in particular for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).Reed, whose son became paralyzed in a football accident, is a passionate advocate for patient rights and stem cell research.Reed's personal involvement with the events chronicled in Stem Cell Battles imbues the narrative