When you first think of a college library, a few images likely come to mind: the librarian sitting behind the desk stamping books, the young assistant pushing around a book cart, a group of students cramming for a big exam, and so on.
An Information Literacy Librarian is probably not the first thing on many people’s minds.
This is the position that John LaDue now holds with UT Martin. After growing up in western New York near Rochester, LaDue then lived in western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh specifically, for close to 18 years. After leaving Pittsburgh, LaDue relocated to Missouri, where he worked as a library director for a community college.
However, budget cuts led to the cutting of the librarian position, and LaDue was left without a job. After job searching for a while, LaDue found an opening that interested him and that led him to Martin, Tennessee.
“I grew up in a small town, so this was not out of the norm for me,” LaDue said.
This opening was for the Information Literacy Librarian position at UT Martin. The position interested LaDue primarily because of his experiences at his previous job.
“What I learned, from being the director and doing essentially all the different roles that a librarian does, is that what I enjoyed most was the teaching part of it,” LaDue said.
This kind of teaching entailed everything from helping students find information, evaluate sources, and overall helping students gain a greater understanding of how to weed out the credible sources from the less than credible sources. This, essentially, is at the heart of what information literacy is all about.
As LaDue said, his job is all about “trying to put text into context.”
This is something he believes is needed now, possibly more than ever, with the rise of the “fake news” phenomenon and the general distrust that has been given to the media in recent years. Distrust in the news is certainly not a newly discovered anomaly, but since the advent and now dominance of the internet, it has become much easier for seemingly anyone to put information out into the world faster and cheaper.
“It’s an old problem with a new face,” LaDue said.
This all contributes to a world of consumers much more prone to the spread of misinformation, as well as disinformation. This is why LaDue does what he does and why he believes it’s important.
Ultimately, LaDue’s goal is to “get everyone to just ask more questions about what they’re reading.”
LaDue recommends everyone take the time to really consider a few things when reading news articles and finding information.
“When you’re reading something, take a step back,” LaDue said. “Who’s putting it out there? What motivation do they have? Are they citing their sources?”
Another big thing to consider is that every website must be funded, so LaDue believes it is also vital to consider the motivation behind everyone involved with a website.
“What does this source and their source of funding have in relation to this topic?”
While teaching students about all these different things is what LaDue calls his favorite part of his job, it also comes with some difficult responsibilities.
“The most challenging part is that outreach,” LaDue said. “Everybody’s so overloaded with information at all times, so how do I both add to that and cut through it. It’s a challenge.”
All in all, LaDue said he is happy with his new position at UT Martin because he’s able to do something that truly interests him and something he truly enjoys.
“The interest kind of built over the years and then suddenly now that’s my entire job, which I’m happy about; that’s fantastic,” LaDue said.
Though it wasn’t offered in fall 2022, GENS 150, Information Literacy and Research Skills, is a two-credit, second-half-of-the-semester course that will be offered in spring 2023. The course, taught by LaDue, will cover all of the things he discussed regarding information literacy as well as general tips for how to better navigate the vast world of news and information.
“I think you will find that writing papers will get easier for you as a result of this and, hopefully, will result in better grades,” LaDue said. “And hopefully I can make it at least mildly entertaining, or at least not soul crushing. Come to the library, learn about this stuff.”
