University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Synoptic reference: Introducing a polymathic approach to Reference Services

Scimeca, Ross; Labaree, Robert V.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/89827

Description

Title
Synoptic reference: Introducing a polymathic approach to Reference Services
Author(s)
  • Scimeca, Ross
  • Labaree, Robert V.
Issue Date
2015
Keyword(s)
  • Philosophies of Information
  • Information Science
  • Librarianship
  • Libraries
Abstract
Studies show that reaching beyond disciplinary boundaries can be an effective method for understanding complex research problems and enriching student learning. However, despite the increased attention given to interdisciplinary thinking in higher education, there is much that remains to be understood about the growing centrality of interdisciplinary practice and its assessment. This paper argues that a new, more robust conceptualization of nonsingular disciplinary thinking must be formulated around the philosophical foundation of synoptics. A critical point when this type of learning can take place is in reference services. The paper begins by outlining the emergence of interdisciplinary inquiry in higher education. After reviewing the literature on interdisciplinarity and noting the lack of scholarship concerning applied synoptics in current library literature, it discusses the ways is which synoptics establishes the foundation for a broader based understanding of knowledge that cultivates and encourages a polymathic perspective for the patron. The study concludes by describing how the concept of critical and integrative interdisciplinary thinking, rooted in the worldview philosophy of synoptics, can apply to the practice of reference services and inquiry-based transactions between the librarian and the learner.
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
ISSN
0024-2594
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/89827
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2015.0005
Copyright and License Information
Copyright (2014) Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Owning Collections

Library Trends 63 (3) Winter 2015: Exploring Philosophies of Information PRIMARY
Library Trends 63 (3) Winter 2015: Exploring Philosophies of Information. Edited by Ken Herold