Papers on Participatory Librarianship

This paper examines lifelong learning and digital libraries through an exploration of the role that open learning resources play in serving the needs of lifelong learners. In the process, the paper provides an historical overview of lifelong learning in the United States and seeks to situate the online open learning movement within that context. This paper also examines seven open learning programs: Carnegie Mellon’s Open Learning Initiative, MIT OpenCourseWare, Open University's OpenLearn, Rice University's Connexions, Tufts OpenCourseWare, Utah State University’s OpenCourseWare, and Yale University’s Open Yale. In addition, this paper discusses a well-documented weakness in many e-learning systems: the lack of contact and interaction with experts and other learners. Public libraries have the opportunity to bridge this lack of interaction between online students and open learning courses by creating programs and services that build upon these courses. In much the same way that they have promoted reading and the public discussion of fiction and non-fiction though book discussion groups and One Book programs, public libraries could also host One Course, One Community series. This paper ends with a series of suggestions on how this might be accomplished using the public library's physical location, collection and catalog, and by using Web 2.0 elements such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, and webcasts.

More papers to come...