Abstract

This study investigates how students learn to use information at a remote field station to prepare for roles as environmental researchers, climate advocates, and citizens. Using a semi-structured interview approach, the researchers examined the perceptions of twelve field station instructors on how their students engage with information to learn in a place-based educational context. Three interrelated themes emerged that demonstrate the varied ways in which students need to learn to use information: (1) Leveraging interdisciplinary lenses, where students integrate diverse perspectives to interpret environmental information; (2) Acculturating to field research practices, where students gain practical research and data skills through experiential learning; and (3) Experiencing immersive information, where students absorb and share information about their learning environment through informal engagement with the place and others in the learning community. These findings expose opportunities for librarians to reframe their roles as embedded collaborators, who can deepen and expand the ways in which students become aware of and capable of using information, in place-based contexts. The study contributes to the growing scholarship on information literacy in non-traditional educational settings and reinforces the importance of aligning information literacy education with disciplinary learning goals.

Keywords

Libraries, field station libraries, ecology librarianship, librarianship, Informed Learning

Date of this Version

11-2025

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