For many years, library instructors have emphasised the teaching of information literacy skills in the library environment, and library staff are becoming confident in knowing what they are doing when they ‘teach’ these skills. They are showing students how to search for and find the information they will need to answer a question posed by a lecturer, thereby obtaining a pass, credit or distinction in the current assignment. Since the question is the subject of the assignment, the students’ focus may simply be on correctly gaining the location of existing information to answer the specific question. Increasingly students are simply going through a set process of finding simple answers to simple questions without becoming involved in the topic or finding any meaning or relevance of information to their own lives.
Michelle Reale has proposed that students be encouraged to become engaged in the process of enquiry into a research topic, building on the original question and developing their own questions. This is curiosity, the foundation of true learning, the desire to learn more. Rather than simply knowing how to use a database, students are encouraged to think about the topic, about what they already know about it (or believe they know), what they need to discover and why. Research is not a product but a process and Reale’s slim book guides us easily through the process.
Each of the ten chapters begins with a discussion of the topic and ends with a summary conclusion entitled ‘Strategies to Encourage … ’ whatever is discussed. After an introduction on ‘Igniting a Spark of Inquiry, Chapters include ’Inquiry is the First Step’, ‘Curiosity as a Process’, ‘Inquiry and the I-Search’, “Inquiry and Learner-Centred Learning’, Inquiry and Reflective Journals’, ‘Inquiry and the One-on-One Consultation’ and ‘Inquiry and the Classroom Workshop’, while the conclusion steers us to ‘Wide Open Wonder’. The book is clearly laid out and well indexed but there is no list of references. These are included as notes at the end of each chapter.
This book is a wonderful source for teachers to consult when they realise that students are becoming anxious about an assignment, anxious about what they don’t know and anxious about where to find the answers. It guides them through the concept that enquiry is about thinking fuelled by questioning rather than certainty. It encourages reflective thinking by both students and staff and will be welcomed in both libraries and classrooms leading to inquiry and research in a fascinating world of curiosity in the place of just learning how to use a search engine.