Areas of Common Practice in LAMs - Education

There are many areas of common practice shared between libraries, archives and museums (LAMs). They each gather information, organize and classify information, preserve information and make information accessible and available for research and reuse. Of course the manner in which these activities are carried out varies between institutions, as do the sources of the information, the materials in the collections and the way that the materials are made accessible and available for reuse.

I would like to examine the way that LAMs use their collections and make their knowledge available for educational purposes. Libraries and archives have long been associated with education. They are places where information is organized, preserved and shared. Commonly, libraries and archives are components of educational institutions of all levels. Research, an activity integral to education, is a common practice in libraries and archives.

There are three common types of libraries: public, academic and special. The American Library Association’s mission states that one function of a library is to enhance learning. Public libraries accomplish this through the use of the information and knowledge in their collections and with services, such as the reference desk, all of which aim to inform the communities they serve. Academic libraries are tightly integrated in facilitating the educational process at colleges and universities. They provide instruction in locating relevant information and providing the informational resources that professors use in their instruction. Special or subject libraries are created to further the knowledge and understanding of specific industries, vocations or groups, such as corporate, medical, law or professional associations. In all these cases, library patrons are using the resources of the library to further their knowledge or understanding of an area of interest.

Archival institutions serve educational purposes as well. There are numerous types of archives holding a variety of collections. The main differentiator among repositories is the content of their collections. Whether an archive maintains government or corporate records, personal letters and papers or historical records, a primary purpose is to preserve their information and knowledge for reuse by specific stakeholder communities. The reuse of these collections involves research and a transfer of knowledge, otherwise known as education and learning.

Of all LAMs, museums might be the least often associated with education in the most common use of the term. However, David Carr, author of The Promise of Cultural Institutions, would take great exception to this categorization. According to Carr, the promise of cultural institutions is that they are educative institutions that foster an environment that nurtures life-long learning and inquiry outside of the structure of traditional learning provided by schools. According to Carr, “the educative museum nurtures and engages the museum user with authoritative information, alternative interpretations, and direct experiences” (Carr, 2003, p. 18).

As we discovered in the readings from weeks three and four about objects as vessels of knowledge, the rise of museums in the late 19th century and of curatorial pioneers such as John Cotton Dana and George Brown Goode, museums were once recognized as the sources of knowledge and education in society. Dana and Goode used the classification, organization and display of objects in glass cases, to create a narrative that helped visitors learn about and understand their world and surroundings. During the Victorian era, great importance was attached to objects as containers of knowledge. Museums, as the collectors of these objects, were therefore institutions of knowledge and centers of learning. Institutions like the Philadelphia Commercial Museum were created for instructional purposes, to promote American industry by providing the resources businessmen need to succeed in a competitive world economy (Conn, 1998, p. 27).

Alas, in the early 20th century, research and education began to focus less on the examination of collections and objects and more on theoretical, conceptual and scientific disciplines that required specific academic training. This shift elevated universities above museums as the educational centers in society (Conn, 1998, p. 26). Today, many museums are perceived to be educational facilities directed more towards children. They are also perceived to be more recreational than educational.

However, with advocates like David Carr and the assistance of technology, the modern perception of museums as educational centers is changing. By digitizing collections and making them accessible online, objects are achieving equality with the text-based resources of libraries and archives. Presenting museum objects online makes them more accessible to researchers and users of information. As we have seen with the California Online Archive, the physical location of the information becomes less important, blurring the line between libraries, archives and museums.

A quick look around the Internet reveals a number of recent and current educational projects provided by cultural heritage institutions at home and abroad. The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) had a recent project promoting the role of public libraries in lifelong learning and information literacy. UNESCO, a cultural organization and promoter of public libraries worldwide has many lifelong learning and information literacy projects. The National Archives and Records Administration hosts a number of information literacy and educational programs. The Institute for Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS) is funding a Project Information Literacy study (another class reading) that will investigate lifelong learning habits of college graduates. IMLS has a total of 92 current projects promoting literacy, education and cultural development across the country, benefitting a variety of communities and constituents. The Learning Museum (LEM) is a European lifelong learning project undertaken by a network of museums and cultural heritage organizations.

Although Carr’s book is concerned primarily with museums, he frequently mentions libraries and archives and often refers simply to cultural heritage institutions. The point is that Carr does not propose that museums hold a monopoly on providing educative opportunities and experiences for self-motivated and lifelong learners. These are benefits that all cultural institutions are capable of contributing to society. As the preceding list of learning and literacy projects can attest, LAMs seem to be united in their enthusiasm for education and learning.


References

Carr, D. (2003). The promise of cultural institutions. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press.

Conn, S. (1998). Museums and American intellectual life, 1876-1926. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Genoways, H. H.,  Andrei, M. A. (Eds.). (2008). Museum origins: readings in early museum history and philosophy. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

Institute of Museum and Library Services. (n.d.). News & events: Project profiles. Retrieved on 10/13/13 from http://www.imls.gov/news/project_profiles.aspx

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. (10/5/2012). The role of public libraries in lifelong learning – a project under the section of public libraries, IFLA. Retrieved on 10/13/13 from http://www.ifla.org/node/1025

National Archives and Records Administration. (n.d.). Teacher’s resources. Retrieved on 10/13/13 from http://www.archives.gov/education

Project Information Literacy (PIL) and the University of Washington's Information School. (10/10/2013). Project Information Literacy: A large-scale study about early adults and their research habits. Retrieved on 10/13/13 from http://projectinfolit.org.

The Learning Museum. (n.d.). LEM - The Learning Museum Network Project. Retrieved on 10/13/13 from http://www.lemproject.eu

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (n.d.). Literacy for all. Retrieved on 10/13/13 from http://en.unesco.org/themes/literacy-all

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (n.d.). Lifelong learning systems. Retrieved on 10/13/13 from http://en.unesco.org/themes/lifelong-learning-systems