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Dr.
Ross Todd is a visiting Associate Professor in the School
of Communication, Information and Library Studies at Rutgers.
He is also Senior Lecturer in the Department of Media Arts,
Communication and Information in the Faculty of Humanities
and Social Sciences at the University of Technology, Sydney,
Australia. Prior to his university appointment, he was a secondary
school teacher and teacher-librarian in Australian and New
Zealand schools.
Dr.
Todd's primary teaching and research interests focus on adolescent
information seeking and use. He is the author of over 90 papers
and book chapters and has been an invited speaker at many
international conferences. At Rutgers Dr. Todd teaches courses
in the educational media specialist area and pursues research
regarding the information search process with his colleague,
Professor Carol Kuhlthau.
Biography
adapted from Dr.
Todd's Website
Recently
Dr. Todd was kind enough to respond to some questions posed
to him regarding his work and experiences at Rutgers. The
full transcript follows.
Personal
note: I would like to thank Dr. Todd for taking time out of
his busy schedule and allowing us to get to know him better!
........Sincerely, "The Ghost"
Ross
Todd Interview Transcript
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Question:
You are currently on leave from the University of
Technology in Sydney, where you are a senior lecturer
in the Department of Media Arts, Communication and Information.
What made you decide to come to Rutgers as a visiting
professor? How long will you be here with us?
Dr.
Todd: I was originally invited to come to Rutgers
as a visiting scholar in 2001. Having been involved
in Library and Information science education in Australia
for many years, I was very familiar with the work of
many scholars from the USA. The work of Professors Nick
Belkin, Tefko Saracevic, Carol Kuhlthau and Paul Kantor
have for many years been very familiar to me, and to
our students. Their names consistently appeared on many
of the bibliographies for our courses, both graduate
and undergraduate, that we taught in Australia. So there
was recognition over a long time of the international
reputation and scholarship that comes from the School
here at Rutgers. Consequently the invitation to come
here and work with them was a wonderful opportunity
for me. During my first year here, I was asked to consider
staying on permanently, and so I am now here for some
time!!
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Question:
Before you began working full-time at the University
of Technology in 1990, you were a secondary school teacher
and teacher-librarian. What led you to pursue a university
career?
Dr.
Todd: It is amazing how your life is orchestrated!
In the early 1980s, the principal of the secondary school
I was working in simply came and told me that I was
now appointed to run the school library. I had no idea
how to do that, so I said to the Principal that I would
do it on the condition that the school paid for me to
get graduate education in school librarianship because
I was not prepared to do the job without any formal
knowledge and skills. I thought that would convince
him not to have me do the job, but he agreed, and so
I went off as a part-time student to undertake study.
When I graduated, I actually felt disappointed with
the study I had done - it told me how to do many things,
but it really never addressed many of the complex questions
as to "why". So I enrolled in a research Master's
degree in Sydney Australia to learn how to investigate
some of the more complex questions that interested -
and troubled - me. While I was undertaking that study,
I was invited to do some part time teaching at what
is now the University of Technology in Sydney.
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Question:
One of your research concerns revolves around the
professional education of library and information professionals.
What do you consider to be an "effective university
learning environment for the information and library
profession and industry"?
Dr.
Todd: The university environment, for educating
library and information professionals, has to provide
learners with foundation knowledge for them to undertake
their professional roles. To me, this centers on understanding
people's engagement with and utilization of information,
and the human, organizational and system infrastructures
for enabling this to take place. This is complex, and
a central dimension of the education has to center on
providing a range of conceptual, technical and evaluative
processes that enable learners to critically and reflectively
analyze their dynamically changing information environment
and to be able to see how this impacts on the professional
provision of information services and products. This
is the lifelong learning dimension that I think is so
important in the university learning environment.
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Question:
Do
you find that there are any significant differences in
the educational environment for information professionals
in the United States, as represented by Rutgers, compared
with that of Australia, as represented by the University
of Technology?
Dr.
Todd: Yes, there is. One of the most distinctive
differences is that education for library and information
professions also can be undertaken as an undergraduate
degree. At UTS, we provided a Bachelor of Arts in Communication
(Information). This was a formal qualification, certified
by the Australian Library and Information Association,
and on completion, graduates could apply for any beginning
level librarian or information professional position.
This has long been established in Australia. At UTS
we have been providing an undergraduate program for
about 25 years!!! And graduates from UTS are well sought
after.
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Question:
You are an acknowledged expert in the field of adolescent
information-seeking behavior. What key features of this
behavior do you feel it would be important for a school
librarian to understand?
Dr. Todd: It
is important to acknowledge that the mere provision
of information does not mean that students actually
take it up, understand it and are able to do something
with it in constructing their own understanding! As
part of their learning, students do need to have the
information scaffolds developed that enable them to
effectively connect with, interact with, and utilize
the information in meaningful ways, so that they can
make use and sense of the vast amounts of information
that surrounds them. The research evidence particularly
in relation to information seeking on the World Wide
Web suggests that students are not quite the gurus in
the digital environment we think they are, and that
they face quite a range of dilemmas in searching and
using this information. Central to the school librarian's
role is providing and cultivating the learning environment
that facilitates students' active and motivated engagement
with information to learn!
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Question:
What words of advice would you have for someone beginning
their career as an educational media specialist today?
Dr.
Todd: Focus on students and their learning! Every
decision made should revolve around that. A school library
exists to enable students to learn meaningfully and
effectively with information, so all energies need to
center on how the instructional role of the librarian
can best facilitate this; and how all decisions about
resources, technologies, day-to-day practices enhance
effective learning.
Thank
you, Dr. Todd!
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