The Library Science course… Time to reflect!
As a senior at Wake Forest University, it never ceases to surprise me just how engaging and stimulating classes are and have always been, regardless of the field of study. Every single course that I have taken over the past four years has taught me something valuable, or something that I will utilize in one way or another in the near future. Over the past seven weeks or so, taking an online library science course for the very first time was most definitely a unique and knowledge filled experience.
Overall, the course turned out to be rather interesting and was not at all what I expected it to be from the very beginning. Not only were all students taking the course (professor included) very much engaged in regards to topics and issues discussed in the form of blogs, forums, voice threads and other activities, but knowledge, ideas and information were constantly being expanded and shared. This sharing and expansion of information and knowledge brings me to the biggest take-away and one particular topic that I found to be my favorite in terms of discussion and research in this course- access to information.
Access to information is an issue and concern that we as a class thoroughly discussed weekly, as it was interrelated and intertwined to other topics. There were a variety of concepts and issues that surprised me regarding accessing information in our Western world, but there were also certain issues that enlightened me as well. Access to information should be a human right, but as we as a class have investigated and learned, it sadly is not. As a student I questioned this because I have always had access to books, journals, scholarly articles, and magazines my entire life. It never crossed my mind that not everyone had this ‘privilege” of accessing information whenever and wherever they pleased. The fact that having access to information is seen as a privilege in our society is an issue itself. I became frustrated with the way that accessing information was structured so that only certain groups and individuals could have access and really feel this should change. Information and the access to it should not be a privilege but should be a human right! All individuals should be given the equal opportunity to gain more knowledge and to not feel limited or confined.
This course entailed more than just research and papers, but it really enabled me to become more aware of a huge dilemma taking place within our society. Ultimately, some sort of library science course is surely something that everyone should experience. Library science is not just about how to find reliable sources, but it is about the knowledge, information, and resources that are out there.
