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Purpose: This paper aims to discuss the concept of "literacy" within the new literacy, new literacies and library and information science (LIS) discourses. It proposes widening the prevailing LIS conceptualization of adolescent literacy, which focuses largely on information literacy in academic settings, to a broader, information practice-based, sociocultural framing that encompasses the full range of adolescents' everyday life contexts. Design/methodology/approach: The author presents a literature review and personal reflection on a series of adolescent information activities to show the value of framing the LIS discourse on adolescent literacy within a broader sociocultural perspective. Findings: Based on the discussion, the author proposes a framework for future investigations of adolescents' literacy practices that views adolescent literacy as fundamentally social and communicative; multiformat; multicontextual; multigenerational; and culturally situated. Originality/value: A broader sociocultural approach to the LIS information literacy discourse can lead to deeper understanding of the co-constructed and collaborative nature of adolescents' new literacies practices. It can also enable stronger recognition of the impact of power and privilege on adolescent literacy practices. Finally, this essay shows the value of reflecting on adolescent information activities for challenging narrow views of literacy and highlights the social embeddedness of new literacies activities in adolescents' everyday lives.

In thinking about teens and online risks, school librarians need to know researchers generally agree that, despite the popular image of pedophiles and criminals lurking online waiting to harm innocent young people, in reality social media use is only about as risky as most everyday social interactions in the offline world (Agosto and Abbas 2013). Funded by a 2014 ALISE/OCLC Library and Information Science Research Grant, the authors worked with 98 seniors in 2 high schools to find out more about their social media use. Participants in the study completed questionnaires about their digital device ownership, Internet/Web access, and social media use and took part in hour-long focus group interviews. The findings showed that this was a highly connected group of students with high social media participation. Based on these results and guided by suggestions from the teens themselves, the authors created two sets of guidelines, that are shared herein, for helping librarians, teachers, and other concerned adults teach students how to become safer social media users. The first set of guidelines is called "Best Practices for Teaching Teens to Become Safer, Smarter Social Media Users." It presents eight educational strategies that school librarians, classroom teachers, and other educators can use to increase the effectiveness of online safety education. In the second set of guidelines, "10 Simple Tips for Safer Social Media Use," the authors offer easy recommendations for teens themselves to follow online.

Blended education, which mixes elements of face-to-face and online educational delivery, can occur at the activity, course, program, or administrative level. This study examined the use of student blogs to test the benefits of course-level blended educational delivery for LIS students enrolled in a face-to-face course. Data collected from students' blogs were also used to assess whether Zach and Agosto's (2009) framework for maximizing student collaboration and knowledge sharing in online courses can be applied to face-to-face courses. The study found that blogs successfully supported collaboration and community building because they were well-suited to sharing course-related knowledge and because students encountered few technical barriers. These findings support Zach and Agosto's proposed criteria for selecting technologies to foster increased collaboration and knowledge sharing, e.g., low learning curves and easily facilitated student interaction. The results suggest that blended education can bring many of the educational benefits of online learning to face-to-face students.

Library programming is one of the most important elements through which public libraries offer support for parents and families. Well-designed programming focused on implementing research findings can provide structured opportunities for socialization, education, and emotional support within families and among communities. Although family storytimes and book programs are fairly common in U.S. public libraries, fewer libraries offer programming to assist families in navigating the changing landscapes of digital media. In this article, we connect a research-based framework to the development of library programming based on projected social and learning outcomes. We recommend several types of programming models based on the framework for the development of a more intentional design of libraries and programming to support families and children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely recognized that the current and projected shortage of adequately-educated IT professionals could be greatly reduced if more female and minority students would major in IT disciplines, yet the dramatic under-representation of these populations appears to be worsening. This under-representation is reflected in Drexel University's College of Information Science & Technology's undergraduate IT programs, which currently average just 9.7% female enrollment and just 9.7% non-Asian minority (Black, Hispanic, and Native American) enrollment. As an initial step in working toward redressing this under-representation, the authors present a theoretical framework for increasing marginalized students' (women and minorities) participation in the study of IT. The Changing Mental Models Framework builds on existing gender and IT research, applying research findings to the practical realm of students' everyday lives. Most studies of why women avoid IT have demonstrated that females who are making career choices care a lot about "solving problems" and much less about "technology." Studies of minority students' career decision-making have developed similar conclusions. The Framework proposes that universities partner with local schools and business organizations to demonstrate that IT careers are directly tied to solving real-life problems and to show female and minority students real IT professionals at work, solving real problems that affect "real people like them". The Framework includes four distinct components: "mentoring", "social cohesion and peer support", "role modeling", "and curriculum redesign". The article includes a detailed literature review of research relating to each of these four areas. The Framework focuses on fostering positive and diverse mental models of IT careers and IT professionals. This goal is significant because female and minority students tend to view IT careers and the people who work in computing-related jobs as overridingly white, male, and technology-focused. Consequently, these student populations require active and ongoing mentoring, social support, role modeling, and curriculum redesign to help them understand that they possess similar qualities to IT professionals and managers, and that these career paths are open to them and to others like them. The next step in this process of working to increase female and minority IT enrollment and academic success will be to implement the proposed Framework and to monitor its effects on IT recruitment and retention. It is only through proactive social support measures such as the Framework proposed here that we can bring under-represented female and minority populations more equally into the IT world. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

This study considered the utility of gender schema theory in examining girls' website design preferences. It built on a previous study which identified eight website evaluation criteria related to biological sex: collaboration, social connectivity, flexibility, motility, contextuality, personal identification, inclusion, and graphic/multimedia concentration. Eleven fourteen-, fifteen-, and sixteen-year-old girls participated in the study. The participants completed the short form of the Children's Sex-Role Inventory (CSRI). Following 50-minute Web searching sessions, they were divided into a feminine-high group and a masculine-high group based on their CSRI scores. Each group then participated in interviews concerning their website evaluation and design preferences. Data analysis identified relationships between gender schema and five of the proposed criteria: social connectivity, flexibility, motility, inclusion, and graphic/multimedia concentration. More generally, members of the feminine-high group favored evaluation criteria relating to graphic and multimedia design, whereas members of the masculine-high group favored evaluation criteria relating to subject content. These results indicate that gender schema theory can indeed serve as a framework for making website design more appealing to female adolescent users.

Public library programs and services offer opportunities to help immigrants navigate daily life in unfamiliar surroundings and a new language. For example, language classes address the social determinants of health as they encourage social participation and community ties and help develop friendships. The purpose of this research was to conduct a narrative literature review to understand how immigrants use public libraries and how public library services influence the social determinants of health for immigrant populations. Keyword searches were conducted on five databases to identify research papers that met the inclusion criteria: empirical studies published in English between 2000 and 2020 related to immigrants' use of public libraries. Thirty-one articles were included in the analysis. Thematic coding identified cross-cutting themes within the sample using the framework of the social-ecological model. Immigrants commonly use public libraries for programs (e.g., language learning), collections (e.g., borrowing books), and services (e.g., asking librarians questions). Immigrant patrons often reported satisfaction with library programs, services, and collections in the language of the host country. A frequent criticism was the relevance and accessibility of collections in their heritage language. In addition, library staff demographics often did not reflect those of immigrant patrons. Health-enhancing benefits associated with library use included increased confidence and self-esteem, cultural integration and preservation, trust and relationships (e.g., making friends), community awareness and engagement, and political integration. Future research and practice areas include collaboration between public health and library professionals to develop library programming that maximizes health and well-being among immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigated behavioral decision-making theories of bounded rationality and satisficing in relation to young people's decision making in the World Wide Web and considered the role of personal preferences. Results of this study of ninth- and tenth-grade females consider time constraints, information overload, physical constraints, reduction methods, and termination. (Author/LRW)

Presents ten steps toward a more multicultural youth library to help bridge cultural and linguistic gaps in public and school libraries. Topics include mission statements; physical environment; collection diversity; collaboration; bilingual materials; multicultural materials; community involvement; and appreciating diversity. (LRW)

Presents major research related to cultural background as a framework for textual meaning-making, bilingualism, and literacy development. Discusses bilingualism, literacy, and social context; considers why these issues are important to school librarians; and offers suggestions for making multicultural materials central aspects of school library collections and curricula. (Author/LRW)