 Who was Kurt Lewin and why are his theories important?  What is action research?  Analysis of a qualitative exploratory study of information literacy in the workplace

 Born in Prussia (now Poland)  From a Jewish family  Concerned with equality and democracy  Taught psychology and philosophy  University of Iowa 1935 (Smith 2001)

 Influenced by the war  Social processes  Minorities  Inter-group relations  Field theory (Lewin 1951, ) (Smith 2001)

 Cassier’s Philosophy of Science and the Social Sciences (1949)  What is considered “unscientific” or “illogical” is important for progress  Quantitative versus qualitative (Lewin 1951, xv-30)

 Importance of group problems  Experimenter does not determine policy, but rather investigate and secure data  Data is important for policy determination (Lewin 1951, 68)

 Applied to modern culture  Experiment outside the lab  Integrate social science  Focus on problems of group life instead of description of group  New techniques of social research (Lewin 1951, 188)

 Social management  Research of social action  Effects of social action  Research that leads to social action  Collecting data just to collect data is not enough  Create change (Smith 2001)

 Identify idea  Find information  Plan  First action phase  Evaluate  Adjust plan if needed  Second action phase (Smith 2001)

 A Qualitative Exploratory Study  Scottish Information Literacy Project  Adult Literacies  Interview based  Need for information literacy training programs through the public library (Crawford et al. 2009)

 Lave and Wenger  Community of practice  Social dimension  Social interaction (Crawford et al. 2009)

 1. Learn from mistakes  2. Self education  3. Personal values  4. Theory and skill  5. Problem solving  6. Interaction  7. Planning  8. Advocate

 9. Leadership  10. Training  11. Practice (Crawford et al. 2009)

 Social learning and information literacy  Pedagogic authorities  Professional qualifications a factor  Training programs can be important  Multiple Learner Model  Changing nature of work from manual to literate (Crawford et al. 2009)

 Interviews with Adult Literacy trainers  Interviews with Tribunal Services staff  Interviews with Scottish Government Civil Service Staff  Interviews with social work/health staff (Crawford et al. 2009)

 Pedagogical implications  People learn together in the workplace through social interaction  Need for information literacy  Knowledge management systems  Role of the public library (Crawford et al. 2009)

 Traditional view of information and people as a source of information  Human relationships important  Information Literacy training opportunities  Change public library image  Skills audits (Crawford et al. 2009)

 Contact chamber of commerce  Information policy  Assess staff information literacy skills  Viability of developing IL programmes  Private sector should be researched further  Provision of IL programmes by public libraries  Developmental work with Adult Literacy agencies

 Further research is planned  Health literacy  Develop or utilize existing IL training programs (Crawford et al. 2009)

 Crawford, John, and Christine Irving. “Information Literacy in the Workplace: A qualitative Exploratory Study.” Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 41, no. 1(March 2009),  Lewin, Kurt. Field Theory in Social Science Selected Theoretical Papers. Edited by Dorwin Cartwright. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers,  Smith, Mark K. “ Kurt Lewin: groups, experimental learning, and action research.” Infed. lewin.htm (accessed October 13, 2009). lewin.htm