1002 College & Research Libraries November 2015

Demonstrating library impact and value is the theme of chapter 3. Graham Stone 
from the University of Huddersfield discusses another multi-institution Jisc-supported 
project called the Library Impact Data Project (LIPD). Although this project involved 
eight institutions, much of the case study focuses just on what happened with the 
University of Huddersfield. By linking library usage to demographic data, this project 
allowed the library to determine if usage impacted retention and academic attainment. 
The author outlines multiple challenges faced with this kind of data-driven project. 
The University of Minnesota Libraries is the setting for the second case study in this 
chapter, although student success, retention, and engagement were similar drivers 
of their project. Using more usage-focused data points, this project was able to show 
improved performance as usage went up. Importantly, the authors of this case study 
discussed what they did with the information to promote the library. A third case study 
in this chapter examines the Library Cube project at the University of Wollongong. 
The Library Cube is a database that links demographic and academic performance 
data to library usage data. A detailed description of the database is provided as well 
as results of their analysis. 

Chapter 4 steps away from quantitative data and provides case studies that use 
qualitative data. Additional information is given in the opening to explain qualitative 
research and user experience studies. The first case study comes out of OCLC Research 
and the work of Lynn Silipigni Connaway in collaboration with the University of North 
Carolina at Charlotte. The Visitors and Residents Project uses a number of qualitative 
research tools to understand how people use different technologies and resources to 
conduct research. This is the longest case study, providing in-depth detail on their 
methodology and findings. Uniquely different is the second case study, which looks 
at how the University of North Carolina at Charlotte undertook several observational 
studies to conduct space assessments.

Chapter 5 is the odd nonlibrary chapter in a book about library analytics. Cultural 
heritage institutions are the organization of choice, and the focus of the chapter is 
on web metrics. The British Library is included in the case studies in this chapter, al-
though museums, galleries, theatres, and other cultural sites make up the majority of 
focus. The first case study looks at how the web and social media can directly impact 
an institution and also maps out the web linkages between institutions and how they 
drive usage. The second examined digital engagement and how understanding user 
behavior can directly change an institution’s approach to web-based tools.

The book concludes with a chapter on the legal and ethical issues that surround 
analytics. This is slightly touched on in many of the preceding chapters and case stud-
ies, so dedicating a single chapter to this topic serves to pull all the previous work 
together. Although there is a case study in this chapter, it is more of a general discus-
sion in comparison to the project-based discussions in the other case studies. From a 
reader’s standpoint, this book does a very good job of covering a variety of different 
projects, and the unique format works very well. This is a title that all libraries should 
have and every library leader should read. It is highly recommended.—Mark E. Shelton, 
Harvard University

Not Just Where to Click: Teaching Students How to Think about Information (Publica-
tions in Librarianship No. 68). Eds. Troy A. Swanson and Heather Jagman. Chicago: 
American Library Association, 2015. 440p. $88.00 (ISBN 978-0-8389-8716-2).

I have worked in higher education for more than ten years, and I have seen the face of 
our student body change during that time. The student population is becoming more 
diverse overall, but most college students these days are referred to as digital natives 
or Millennials. They enjoy binge-watching their favorite television shows and get their 

doi:10.5860/crl.76.7.1002



Book Reviews 1003

news from The Daily Show. And their communication and information seeking is digital. 
I have talked to many colleagues who have struggled, as I have, with reaching out to 
this generation of students and instilling in them the benefits of information literacy. 
Addressing the needs of our students and developing their critical thinking skills are 
two of our most pressing concerns. 

Part I of the book, “Bridging the Gap between Librarians, Students, and Faculty: 
Conceptualizing Information,” addresses the divide between what librarians and fac-
ulty think students need and what students think they need. The first four chapters of 
part I address librarian and faculty epistemologies and beliefs. Chapter 1, written by 
Lane Wilkinson, examines theories of knowledge applied in library science. The second 
chapter tracks Beth McDonough’s journey from traditional information literacy instruc-
tion to critical information literacy instruction and explains why librarians should be 
open to critical pedagogical concepts. Mezaros and Lewis discuss “Librarianspeak” 
in chapter 3. Their “corpus analysis” of the metaphors used in the literature of librari-
anship revealed words and phrases related to military science, romance, guesthood, 
and gaps/bridges. The fourth chapter considers the faculty view of information and 
information literacy. Barbara Fister explains that, if we understand more about faculty 
epistemologies, we can work more effectively and collaboratively with them.

To bridge the gap between librarians, students, and faculty, it is important to ex-
amine student epistemologies and beliefs too. The second half of part 1 does just that. 
I referred previously to digital natives and millennials, also termed Generation Y. In 
chapter 5, Cole, Napier, and Marcum introduce us to their research on Generation Z 
and its information beliefs and assumptions. Generation Z differs from its predecessor 
in that students in this group have been “wired” since birth. Asher takes the discussion 
a step further in chapter 6, analyzing empirical data on student research habits. He 
proposes that, for librarians to best help their students to become effective researchers, 
we must first critically assess the search tools we employ. Patricia Brown, in chapter 7, 
writes a forceful argument for the evolution of information literacy instruction in light 
of the changing characteristics of information and the changing needs of students. In 
chapter 8, Morrison and Greenfield round off part I with a report on their research 
into student learning and experience. Using a constructivist lens, the authors of this 
chapter completed qualitative research that enabled them to remodel their for-credit 
library instruction course emphasizing student experience, reflective evaluation, and 
critical thinking.

After the chapters on librarian, faculty, and student epistemologies set the stage, part 
II of the book, “Making It Work: Teaching Students about Information,” continues the 
conversation about students’ acquisition of knowledge. The first third of part II focuses 
on expertise, authority, and credibility. Chapter 9, written by the esteemed William 
Badke, considers how the ways in which we think about expertise and authority have 
evolved over the years and how today’s student attempts to decipher authority and 
expertise. Badke offers several techniques to employ in teaching students about the 
complexities in the concepts of authority and expertise. Chapter 10, by Alison Hicks, 
addresses critical information literacy. She chronicles the design of two advanced 
Spanish writing classes using a critical IL framework focusing on preparing students 
for global knowledge societies. Chapter 11 revisits the topic of source authority. In 
this chapter, Young and Van Holten write about a collaboration between librarians 
and faculty, steeped in critical IL, to avoid the binary nature of information literacy 
instruction for a more balanced, meaningful approach. The first half of part II ends 
with chapter 12, written by Walls and Pajewski, who used an activity system model to 
view and review a collaborative effort between a composition faculty member and a 
librarian examining, among other things, the use of libguides, student research habits, 



1004 College & Research Libraries November 2015

and student/librarian instruction time. This half of part II illustrates the deficiencies in 
traditional authority instruction and offers a variety of solutions and ideological and 
epistemological models. 

The next 3 chapters of the book concentrate on point of view, belief, and source bias 
and also employ various ideological and epistemological models. Stephen Sanders 
writes in chapter 13 about LIS and postmodernism. He discussed thinking critically 
about breaking down barriers, such as the use of jargon, which may hinder our students 
from accessing information. He ends by emphasizing awareness—awareness of how 
we view the world and awareness that others view the same thing through different 
lenses. Chapter 14, written by Obst and Eshleman, returns to the subject of librarian/
student connection, encouraging librarians to get to know their students and to ac-
knowledge the diversity in the student body. In chapter 15, Willie Miller explains how 
he used real world examples from the news media to teach his students about informa-
tion evaluation. He includes details about his lecture and the accompanying activity. 

Building on the discussions of bias and point of view, the text finishes with a sec-
tion on “Interpreting the World.” Where Miller developed an instruction plan based 
on print media to teach bias, in chapter 16, Critten, Barnhart, and Shroer address the 
rhetoric and multimodal information literacy. Both the one-shot and credit-bearing 
classes successfully used an episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! to teach about logical 
fallacies; a useful appendix is included. On a hunch, Rebecca Halpern and Lisa Lepore 
conducted a citation analysis of their students’ work and found that, although the stu-
dents were competent in finding sources, they struggled to integrate those resources. 
In chapter 17, Halpern and Lepore demonstrate how they used critical pedagogy and 
storytelling as a means to develop their students’ information literacy skills in a creative 
way. Another creative approach to IL instruction is presented by Lucy Mulroney and 
Patrick Williams in chapter 18. Mulroney and Williams write about their collaboration 
with a writing instructor to design a course where students use Special Collections to 
create a DIY ’zine. The final chapter, written by Laura Saunders, returns to the timely 
topic of media literacy. In chapter 19, Saunders urges us to undertake media literacy 
instruction to assist students to become critical thinkers.

Developing critical thinking skills and addressing the needs of our students are 
two of the main concerns of library faculty at my institution. When I saw that Not Just 
Where to Click: Teaching Students How to Think about Information was being published, I 
very enthusiastically sought the book out. I had hoped to learn a few tricks and read 
a few tips to help us plan and teach more creatively. However, from the first chapter, I 
knew this book would be different. So many of the chapter authors delve into critical 
pedagogy and demonstrate how they thought outside the box to develop and deliver 
creative IL sessions to engage their students and teach string, interesting classes. If you 
are looking to raise the bar in your IL sessions, I highly recommend this book.—Kelli 
Johnson, Marshall University