Debra Frampton | World Communities Instructor | 10 August 2007
SUVA, Fiji — On Tuesday, August 7, BYU-Hawaii librarians Riley Moffat, Becky Rathgeber and Angela Iela — who are traveling with the World Communities professional development tour through Fiji and New Zealand — conducted an information sharing workshop with more than 20 librarians and paraprofessionals here at the University of the South Pacific's (USP) main campus.
Rathgeber and Iela demonstrated the on-line information literacy tutorial developed in conjunction with BYUH's Center for Instructional Technology and Outreach (CITO), which will replace the currently offered 101 level library instruction in Laie.
"We thought it would be a good way to shift the focus from simply completing the tasks on the research worksheet to allowing students to absorb all the information at their own pace," said Iela. "We modeled our tutorial after the Cal State Long Beach Go Surf tutorial because it's interactive and uses fun graphics to teach."
"Instead of surfers we used six canoe paddlers: One to represent each of our components. That was Riley's idea because it takes six canoe paddlers working together to make a successful team."
Moffat explained that they began working with CITO instructional and technical designers in January, and completed their first beta-test over the summer. "The program got good reviews from students and we plan on having all the bugs worked out by fall semester," he said.
"The workshop was well received and the librarians had a lot of questions about how they could modify it to meet their needs," added Iela. "It was nice to know we share the same challenges in teaching students how to research effectively."
Following the workshop, Moffat — author of Pala Pala Aina, several volumes on the history of map making in Hawaii — made a presentation illustrating how the history of map making in Fiji has shaped the world's perceptions of their islands. For example, the first recorded maps label Fiji as The Cannibal Islands.
"Maps of the Pacific were made by outsiders for the use of outsiders," said Moffat. "They weren't meant for local people, because local people carried the maps in their heads." He also pointed out such maps are engineered to present a message, which often creates lies and misperceptions about a group of people. Knowing this can help one read a map more carefully and critically as they would read a book.
Deputy USP Librarian Elizabeth Reade Fong, who met Moffat at a Hidden Treasures conference last March, said, "It's wonderful to have librarians come to share information with us. We get lots of visiting academics, but rarely do we get librarians. That's why we've been so excited about BYUH coming."
"We have established some valuable connections here and learned a lot from each other," added Rathgeber. "That's what this trip is all about."
— Photo by Debra Frampton: USP head librarian Elizabeth Fong (left) and BYUH librarian and author Riley Moffat
