Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Learning the essential concepts and skills of information architecture (IA) has the potential to not only significantly extend the abilities of practicing library and information science (LIS) professionals, but also to evolve their professional identities and envisioned career opportunities. An online course on IA was designed around: the principles of threshold concepts, practical knowledge for the workplace, and professional ‘soft’ skills, such as collaboration and basic project management. The primary objective for the course was creating experiences for students in which they could discover and engage with critical concepts in IA and to collaborate with their peers to design content-rich and user-centred websites. The learning experiences of two sections of the course ( $n=$ 32) were studied, through questionnaires and reflective writings, and analysed thematically. The outcome was that, in learning information architecture concepts, and acquiring and applying the concepts and tools to do information architecture work, the students did more than acquire new professional skillsets; they also evolved in their professional identities.

Keywords

Identity shift information architects librarians professional identity threshold concepts

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Library Association (ALA). (n.d.). Knowledge and competencies statements developed by relevant professional organizationshttp://www.ala.org/educationcareers/careers/corecomp/corecompspecial/knowledgecompetencies.

Aparac-Jelušić

& Kurbanoglu

(2019). Innovative approaches to teaching and learning in LIS. Education for Information, 35(2), 53-63.

Appiah

K. A.

(2019). The lies that bind: Rethinking identity, creed, country, color, class, culture . Liveright Publishing/W.W.Norton.

Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE). (2020). Statistical Report. https://www.alise.org/statistical-reports-2.

Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). (2016). Framework for information literacy for higher education. http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework.

Atherton

M. C.

, & Meulemans

Y. N.

(2020). Threshold concepts theory as a pedagogical tool for articulating transformational learning: An initial exploration. Journal of Transformative Education, 19(2), 147-165.

Australian Library and Information Science Association (ALIA). (n.d.). Accredited courses and qualifications. https://www.alia.org.au/librarians-and-information-specialists.

Barradell

(2013). The identification of threshold concepts: A review of theoretical complexities and methodological challenges. Higher Education, 65(2), 265-276.

Barradell

& Peseta

(2016). Promise and challenge of identifying threshold concepts: A cautionary account of using transactional curriculum inquiry. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 40(2), 262-275.

10.

Bates

M. J.

(1999). The invisible substrate of information science. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 50(12), 1043-1050.

11.

Baumgartner

L. M.

(2019). Fostering transformative learning in educational settings. Adult Literacy Education, 1(1), 69-74.

12.

Bawden

, & Robinson

(2009). The dark side of information: Overload, anxiety, and other paradoxes and pathologies. Journal of Information Science, 35(2), 180-191.

13.

Boté-Vericad

J.-J.

(2021). Challenges for the educational system during lockdowns: A possible new framework for teaching and learning for the near future. Education for Information, 37(1), 149-153.

14.

Brown

M. E. L.

Whybrow

, & Finn

G. M.

(2021). Do we need to close the door on threshold concepts? Teaching and Learning in Medicine. OnlineFirst: doi: 10.1080/10401334.2021.1897598.

15.

Bruce

C. S.

(2008). Informed learning. Association of College and Research Libraries.

16.

Bruce

C. S.

Davis

Hughes

Partridge

, & Stoodley

. (2014). Information experience: Approaches to theory and practice. Emerald Group Publishing.

17.

Conrad

L. Y.

Bruce

C. S.

, & Tucker

V. M.

(2020). Constructing information experience: A grounded theory portrait of academic information management. Aslib Journal of Information Management, 72(4), 653-670.

18.

Cousin

(2006). Introduction to threshold concepts. Planet, 17, 4-5.

19.

Cousin

(2009). Qualitative data analysis. In Cousin

, Researching learning in higher education Routledge, pp. 31-50.

20.

Cousin

(2010). Neither teacher-centred nor student-centred: threshold concepts and research partnerships. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, 2, 1-9.

21.

De Meyst

& Grenier

(2021, March). Assigning roles to increase the effectiveness of group work. The Scholarly Teacher, March 2021. https://www.scholarlyteacher.com.

22.

Dweck

C. S.

(2019). The choice to make a difference. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(1), 21-25.

23.

Estrem

(2015). Disciplinary and professional identities are constructed through writing. In Adler-Kassner

, & Wardle

(Eds.), Naming what we know: Threshold concepts of writing studies, Utah State University Press, pp. 55-56.

24.

Eva

N. C.

Rocca

M. S.

, & MacKay

D. B.

(2021). Aha moments and continued confusion: An analysis of threshold concepts through student reflections in the ACRL framework. College and Research Libraries, 82(2), 199-218.

25.

Fink

L. D.

(2013). Creating significant learning experiences , (2nd ed.). John Wiley.

26.

Flanagan

M. T.

(2020, March). Threshold concepts: Undergraduate teaching, postgraduate training, professional development and school education . https://www.ee.ucl.ac.uk/∼mflanaga/thresholds.html.

27.

Flanagan

M. T.

& Smith

(2008), From playing to understanding: The transformative potential of discourse versus syntax in learning to program, In Land

Meyer

J.H.F.

, & Smith

(Eds.), Threshold concepts within the disciplines, Sense Publishers, pp. 91-103.

28.

Gracy

K. F.

(2018). Holistic competency development and the significance of learning domains in audiovisual archiving education. Education for Information, 34(1), 55-77.

29.

Gray

D. E.

(2013). Designing case studies. In Gray

D. E.

(Ed.), Doing research in the real world (chapter 11). SAGE Research.

30.

Hatt

(2018). Threshold concepts in entrepreneurship: The entrepreneurs’ perspective. Education + Training, 60(2), 155-167.

31.

Hicks

(2020). Clarifying identity in information behavior research: A conceptual analysis. Library and Information Science Research, 42(3). OnlineFirst: doi: 10.1016/j.lisr.2020.101035.

32.

Hodge

(2019). Transformative learning for knowledge: From meaning perspectives to threshold concepts. Journal of Transformative Education, 17(2), 133-153.

33.

Koenig

(2015). Knowledge management. In Bultrini

Sempéré

Newman

& McCallum

(Eds.), Knowledge management in libraries and organizations: Theory, techniques and case studies, IFLA, pp. 17-42.

34.

Land

Cousin

Meyer

J. H. F.

, & Davies

(2006). Implications for course design and evaluation. In Meyer

J. H. F.

and Land

(Eds.), Overcoming barriers to student understanding: Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge, Routledge, pp. 195-206.

35.

Land

Meyer

J. H. F.

, & Baillie

(2010). Preface: Threshold concepts and transformational learning. In Meyer

J. H. F.

Land

& Baillie

(Eds.), Threshold concepts and transformational learning, Sense, pp. ix-xlii.

36.

Marchionini

, & Moran

(2012). Information professionals 2050: Educational possibilities and pathways . School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://sils.unc.edu/sites/default/files/news/Information-Professionals-2050.pdf.

37.

Meulemans

Y. N.

Carr

, & Quiñonez

(2020). The student scholar identity: Using students’ reflective work to develop student-scholars, address liminality, and design curriculum. In Timmermans

J. A.

, & Land

(Eds.), Threshold concepts on the edge, Brill/Sense, pp. 143-155.

38.

Meyer

J. H. F.

, & Land

(2003). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge: Linkages to ways of thinking and practising within the disciplines. In Rust

(Ed.), Improving student learning: Ten years on, Oxford, UK: OCSLD, pp. 1-16.

39.

Mezirow

(2003). Transformative learning as discourse. Journal of Transformative Education, 1(1), 58-63.

40.

Moore

J. L.

, & Felten

(2020). Understanding writing transfer as a threshold concept across the disciplines. In Timmermans

J. A.

, & Land

(Eds.), Threshold concepts on the edge, Brill/Sense, pp. 341-352.

41.

Quinlan

K. M.

Male

S. A.

Baillie

C. A.

Stamboulis

Fill

, & Jaffer

(2013). Methodological challenges in researching threshold concepts. Higher Education, 66(5), 585-601.

42.

Rattray

(2016). Affective dimensions of liminality. In Land

Meyer

J. H. F.

& Flanagan

M. T.

(Eds.), Threshold concepts in practice, Sense, pp. 67-76.

43.

Raymundo

M. R. D. R.

(2020). Fostering creativity through online creative collaborative group projects. Asian Association of Open Universities Journal, 15(1), 97-113.

44.

Rosenfeld

Morville

, & Arango

(2015). Information architecture: For the Web and beyond (4th ed.) O’Reilly Media.

45.

Rowbottom

D. P.

(2007). Demystifying threshold concepts. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 41(2), 263-270.

46.

Saldaña

(2021). The coding manual for qualitative researcher (4th ed.). SAGE.

47.

Special Libraries Association (SLA). (2016). Competencies for information professionals . https://www.sla.org/about-sla/competencies/.

48.

Stokes

Bruce

, & Pawliuk

(2020). Threshold concepts and the ontology of professional identity in human services curriculum design: A case example. In Timmermans

J. A.

, & Land

(Eds.), Threshold concepts on the edge, Brill/Sense, pp. 175-188.

49.

Tight

(2014). Theory development and application in higher education research: The case of threshold concepts. Theory and Method in Higher Education Research, 1, 249-266.

50.

Timmermans

J. A.

& Meyer

J. H. F.

(2017). A framework for working with university teachers to create and embed ‘Integrated Threshold Concept Knowledge’ (ITCK) in their practice. International Journal for Academic Development, 24(4), 354-368.

51.

Timmermans

J. A.

, & Meyer

J. H. F.

(2020). Embedding affect in the threshold concepts framework. In Timmermans

J. A.

, & Land

(Eds.), Threshold concepts on the edge, Brill/Sense, pp. 51-67.

52.

Todd

(2008). The thing itself: On the search for authenticity . Riverhead Books.

53.

Todd

R. J.

(2014). Preface. In Bruce

C. S.

Davis

Hughes

Partridge

, & Stoodley

. (Eds.), Information experience: Approaches to theory and practice, Emerald Group Publishing, pp. xxi-xxiii.

54.

Tucker

V. M.

(2019). Ways of learning of information professionals: Concepts, roles, and strategies. Advances in Librarianship, 46, 51-65.

55.

Tucker

V. M.

(2020). Curriculum design on the edge. In Timmermans

J.A.

& Land

(Eds.), Threshold concepts on the edge, Brill/Sense, pp. 239-254.

56.

Tucker

V. M.

Bruce

, & Edwards

S. L.

(2016). Using grounded theory to discover threshold concepts in transformative learning experiences. Theory and Method in Higher Education, 2, 23-46.

57.

Tucker

V. M.

Weedman

Bruce

C. S.

, & Edwards

S. L.

(2014). Learning portals: Analyzing threshold concept theory for LIS education. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 55(2), 150-165.

58.

Turkle

(1984). Second self. Simon & Schuster.

59.

Turkle

(2011). Alone together. Basic Books.

60.

Yin

R. K.

(2017). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.

Becoming an information architect: The evolving librarian’s skillset,mindset,and professional identity

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References