I concur with Dr. Vellucci's statement below - I too use (without apology) supermarket and other retail stores as examples in a required Org of Info class and have had many students react as hers did. Too, I agree completely with Dr. Taylor's comments about using the familiar to illustrate basic principles of organization, particularly since the students in the class will go into a wide variety of information settings, and not necessarily as librarians.
>I am one of those faculty guilty of using the "supermarket" (& other
retail stores) example in the Information Organization class. Students
said it changed their entire outlook on the importance of organization
when they realized it is pervasive in society. After that they took the
entire course much more seriously! It was not a gimmick; they learned
about high level categories, subcategories, classes, etc., and it was a
perfect lead-in to the theory of classification. There is nothing wrong
with showing students that our field can be relevant to them, as well as
interesting, and yes, even fun!
Rhonda Harris Taylor, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
School of Library and Information Studies
University of Oklahoma
401 West Brooks, Room 120
Norman, OK 73019-6032
PHONE: 405 325-3921
FAX: 405 325-7648
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
|