India, Slumdog, and Prejudice

Slumdog Millionaire the movie swept the recent 2009 Oscars, but to get a more realistic view of life in India's infamous slums, try the novel Shantaram (which means "man of God's peace") by Gregory David Roberts, available at many public libraries in both print and CD-audio formats. This remarkable debut novel by the Australian author who actually lived in one of Bombay's slums is an engrossing read; the writing is honest, vividly descriptive, moving, and at times poetic. To know more about the author's background and philosophy, visit Shantaram.com. On this Website Roberts also conducted a thought-provoking Q&A on the terror attack on Mumbai in November 2008.

Another Website that's definitely worth a visit is Living-Library.org which has the following description on its homepage:

What is the Living Library?

The Living Library is an innovative project designed to promote dialogue, reduce prejudices and thereby encourage integration. The main characteristics of the project are to be found in its simplicity and positive approach. In it’s initial form the Living Library is a mobile library set up as a space for dialogue and interaction. Visitors to the Living Library are given the opportunity to speak informally with “people on loan”; this latter group being extremely varied in age, sex and cultural background. The Living Library enables groups to break stereotypes by challenging the most common prejudices in a positive and humorous manner. It is a concrete, easily transferable and affordable way of promoting tolerance and understanding.It is a “keep it simple”, “no-nonsense” contribution to social cohesion in multicultural societies.

Book Lust

Happy 2009! Let's start the new year with a treat: a good book :o) The famed Seattle public librarian and author Nancy Pearl has a website that lists her weekly book reviews and other reader advisory information/connections to help a reader pick that next delightful read! Go ahead, check it out here: http://booklust.wetpaint.com/?t=anon.

More helpful websites

Here are a few more helpful websites for lifelong learning and recreation. Check them out at your leisure and pleasure :o)

ALA Adult Learners Resource Center (http://www3.baylor.edu/LIRT/adultlearning.htm)

The Librarian's Weapon of Mass Instruction (http://www.libraryinstruction.com)

Elderhostel Adventures in Lifelong Learning (http://www.elderhostel.org)

Internet

A wonderful resource for adult learners is a website from The Teaching Company called The Great Courses (http://www.thegreatcourses.com/teach12.aspx?ai=29872). It offers courses taught by renowned university professors in everything from art & music to nuclear physics (for example, "Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists"). This website has been one of my favorites for years, made known to me through my community library (no Internet search engine involved here :o). As with my blog's topic, the joy of lifelong learning is the theme for this website, which states "The Teaching Company brings engaging professors into your home or car through courses on DVD, audio CD, and other formats. Since 1990, great teachers from the Ivy League, Stanford, Georgetown, and other leading colleges and universities have crafted over 250 courses for lifelong learners like you. It's the adventure of learning without the homework or exams." Look up the course offerings at this site but don't order anything until after checking with your local public libraries; chances are they already have your picks waiting for you there!

Through Google search engine I've found a another great website that supports my theme of lifelong learning called Ageless Learner: Curious For Life! (http://agelesslearner.com/). This is an educational website & advisory services firm which provides organizations with educational resources that appeal to learners of every generation. According to their introduction, "In this website we provide fresh resources and solid information. No mumbo jumbo here. Only proven practices you can put to use today. " Below is a sample menu from the website:

Multimedia

Through the search engine in YouTube I found an excellent video featuring a college professor inside a library talking about lifelong learning and creativity. She shares some interesting insights on how learning is forever ("When in our lives are we most creative? In our 50's, 60's and yes, our 70's...").
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzJDylq_UTQ

Also included below is a photograph* illustrating an approachable and user-friendly reference area in a busy public library. Both this image and above video support my theme of lifelong learning using library resources.

*Pitney, B. & Slote, N. (2007). Going mobile: The KCLS roving reference model. Public Libraries, 46(1), 54-68. Photo is from page 61. Past issues of Public Libraries may be accessed from http://www.ala.org/ala/pla/plapubs/publiclibraries/publiclibraries.cfm

Citation Pearl-Growing Search in ASC

Search topic: Lifelong learning resources in public libraries
Database: Academic Search Complete (ASC)
Strategy: From a previous search using "Lifelong Learning" and "Librar*" as my initial search terms I found an article that's particularly pertinent to my topic, so I use it as my "pearl" and look up its record to see what descriptors may be useful to to retrieve more articles like it.

Title: Public Policy as a Factor Influencing Adult Lifelong Learning, Adult literacy, and Public Libraries.
Authors: McCook, Kathleen de la Pena
Barber, Peggy
Source: Reference & User Services Quarterly; Fall2002, Vol. 42 Issue 1, p66, 10p
Subject Terms: *LIBRARY science*LEARNING*FUNCTIONAL literac*LITERACY programs
Abstract: Reviews the context for librarianship and adult lifelonglearning and literacy programs in light of federal legislation in the U.S. as of 2002. Details of the ethical dilemmas of the work first ideology; Capacity of the librarian to foster an attitude of creation and recreation; Role of education of librarianship in preparing graduates to understand the philosophical context of work with adult lifelong learners.

So I added "literacy" to my next search and retrieved 28 hits, with my "pearl" as hit #22:

Evaluation: This strategy greatly improves recall, and that's why it's also called the "snowballing approach." The search terms can be modified along the way depending on the retrieved results. For example from record #23 above there are subject terms that may be incorporated in the next search to retrieve more pertinent results in this particular database:

Subject Terms:

*PUBLIC libraries
*INFORMATION literacy

The search may be repeatedly modified until a satisfactory number of hits have been retrieved. As in previous search strategies, Boolean limiters (AND, WITH, NOT) and non-subject limiters (date, language, document type) are tools for refining the search to a manageable number of hits.

From doing these search excercises I find that each search strategy is best suited for a particular information need, and oftentimes a combination of strategies yields the best results. For instance if the search topic is fairly narrow, then one may start out with the most specific facet first, then if necessary modify the search by the citation pearl-growing approach to improve recall. If the search topic is broad, then either the successive fractions or the building block approach is a more appropriate starting point.

Successive Fractions Search in Project MUSE

Search topic: Lifelong learning /programs / in public libraries
Strategy: Start with the broadest concept, "programs"--> 17365 hits, then search "public libra*" within results ---> 4123 hits, then search "lifelong learning" within results ---> 237 hits

Below is the record of a good hit:

You searched for: programs in All Fields w/Text AND public AND librar* in All Fields w/Text AND lifelong AND learning in All Fields w/Text

Displaying: 1 to 10 of 237 results

Relevance Date, Latest First Date, Earliest First Journal, A-Z Journal, Z-A

10 25 50 75 100

	Search Within Results:
Modify Search OR		All Fields (w/text) All Fields except text Article Text Article Author Article Title Subject Headings Journal Title ----- Author Reviewed Title Reviewed

9. Gold, Helen E.
Engaging the Adult Learner: Creating Effective Library Instruction
portal: Libraries and the Academy - Volume 5, Number 4, October 2005, pp. 467-481 - Article
[View HTML] [View PDF]

Subject Headings:
Library orientation for college students -- Florida -- Saint Petersburg.
Eckerd College. Library.

Abstract Adult learners have unique developmental and social characteristics as compared to their traditional counterparts in higher education. Library instruction models used for traditional learners are not always effective when teaching adults. The author examines adult learner characteristics and adult learning theory and also uses personal professional experiences to suggest ways in which librarians can create more pedagogically effective and meaningful instruction. Eckerd College's Program for Experienced Learners serves as the model for this examination.


Evaluation: This strategy is similar to the building block search, except that one starts the search with the broadest concept, then narrows it down successively using Boolean limiters. For this particular topic and this database, it does not seem to matter what order the other concepts are searched within the results from the starting broadest concept. For instance, after getting 17365 hits for "program," I can search for "public libra*" within results and get 4123 hits as above, or I can search for "lifelong learning" within results and get a lot less, 481 hits; either way, when I search within results for the remaining concept, the outcome is exactly the same: 237 hits, same documents, same order of relevancy! Logically, even if there are a million concepts to search through successively, the order of the last two concepts can be switched and the end results would still be the same...neat!