Diario Reflexivo de 17 de febrero: Foro

In a joint class with the students of Professor Noraida Dominguez, we had the pleasure of receiving two guest speakers for the Forum on Information Literacy in Academic and School Libraries: Angelica Carrillo Toste and Marisol Gutierrez Rodriguez. Both speakers addressed the information literacy programs at their respective libraries and how the programs are designed to be integrated with the academic curricula they support. Also discussed were the challenges they face as innovators in a bureaucratic system. Implementing a new constructive style of learning within a closed behaviorist system is a serious challenge. Everyone involved has to be trained in the new technologies and the programs must be implemented in a way that necessarily modifies the existing power structure. In the University of Puerto Rico, although the University officially sanctions curricular integration of information literacy, it is not until the accrediting authorities require a commitment to information literacy projects that the decision makers feel motivated to support the efforts of innovative librarians. Nevertheless, the planning required to carry out these projects in a successful way gives us plenty to do until the rest of the system recognizes the importance of these projects.