Joseph M. Yap's Prediction: Library 2.0 Tools' Role in Academic Service

Library 2.0 tools have helped the librarians by marketing the services and programs of the library and also by sharing and spreading knowledge even if the student or faculty member is off-campus. Libraries use these tools for communication, interactivity, sharing and storing information. The increasing use of social media sites particularly social networking services and microblogging sites such as Twitter, make information dissemination collaborative and flexible. The way university libraries deal with their users in this contemporary age and time is a sign that we are concerned with our users learning and knowledge acquisition as expressed in the online environment. Academic libraries exhaust this kind of service to promote interactivity and easy communication with their clients. It's been said that today's users are impatient when it comes to getting information rapidly. In order not to sacrifice the loss of misused and abused information and by preserving the students' information literacy skills, this paper discusses Library 2.0 tools, its principles and practical usage in the Philippine academic setting. There were three examples enumerated in this paper as to how they practically manage to conduct information-reference services and include information literacy. These academic libraries utilize social networking sites, blogs and instant messengers to communicate with their patrons. It all boils down that to be librarians, one should be user and service-centered and that one should implement ways on how to best communicate with their users. Lastly, these tools improve the interaction between the librarian and its users. It gives a way to provide an effective and efficient service that the library can offer. Librarians continue the knowledge sharing and extending e-learning services in the realm of online environment, thus, incorporating and enhancing media and digital literacy skills as well.

Lihong Zhou and Yiwei Wang's Research: Two Orientations of China Information Literacy Framework

Since the 1970s, Information Literacy (IL) has been an area of increasing interest to information professionals and researchers from various disciplines. However, in China, IL is still a relatively new topic and not very well developed.

Many researchers have attempted to establish nation-wide IL frameworks that are deemed to be compatible to Chinese specific social characteristics (Zhang 2008). However, these initial works have not yet been widely accepted or well implemented, not only because these frameworks are probably not very well established, but also these frameworks are established at a general level and are highly conceptualised. In fact, there is a lack of substantive theories targeted at substantive contexts. These two issues hinder IL implementation and cause inconsistencies in current research. Therefore, future IL research can be undertaken following two main orientations:

• Deductively test existing theories and identify insufficiencies. Future research studies can aim at testing existing frameworks, including those well-established in the West and those developed domestically, in the Chinese environment by using the deductive approach and quantitative methods. In this case, problems and insufficiencies in these frameworks can be identified and revised.

• Inductively generate concepts and frameworks for substantive research contexts. In this approach, existing frameworks can be adopted as theoretical foundations to generate substantive theories which are only applicable to specific contexts and which can be easily transformed into practical IL strategies.

Although great needs are needed for research in both orientations, the second orientation is probably more suited to the current needs of IL implementation in China, as demanded by Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning: Standards and Indicators: “The standards and indicators are written at a general level so that library media specialists and others in individual states, districts, and sites can tailor the statements to meet local needs” (AASL and AECT 1998, p. 1). Therefore, greater attention should be paid to tailoring or translating the high level IL frameworks into substantive theories according to specific social, economical, and political conditions, and the actual needs of people.