Sheri Webber
Florida State University
Teaching Philosophy
Students of library and information science (LIS) should not only engage in the intellectual matter of the field, they should also gain exposure to a wide variety of practical experience. This combination develops the critical thinking skills required to succeed in the information-driven workplace. Through active learning and collaborative problem solving in the classroom, students prepare to enter the profession with a thorough theoretical grounding and technical competence.
Students in LIS are not a homogeneous demographic. The variation in their needs and expectations, their learning styles and abilities, requires patience and humor. However, this diversity is also a boon. Every student has special qualities, knowledge, or skill sets that contribute to the betterment of the overall teaching/learning experience. Teachers must discover and encourage these qualities. Acknowledging the strengths of each student fosters an atmosphere of confidence and respect.
The appropriate use of technology also enhances the teaching/learning experience. As a teaching tool, technology can facilitate classroom activities. While the classroom environment allows for a more immediate, personalized development of relationships, and offers opportunities for serendipitous discussion, the online asynchronous environment offers a more purposeful and thoughtful medium for participation. Technology can also provide hands-on practice in a lab setting. While applications will change, exposure to current practical work environments is valuable.
Disciplinary and societal influences, as well as personal experience, will always influence my teaching philosophy. I welcome these influences and hope that I may also contribute to the continued evolution of teaching and learning.
Research Interests
My research centers on the tensions between public and private interests with respect to information, particularly those revealed in the shifting models of scholarly communication. These tensions manifest at all levels of analysis from the individual to formal organizations to institutions to global alliances. Further, they may be analyzed through many lenses such as economics, political science, anthropology, ecology, philosophy, and engineering.
My theoretical framework is generally informed by cultural anthropology, systems theory and complexity theory. Recently, I have been working with particular models from organization studies that employ variations of institutionalism from a macro-organizational, field, or ecological perspective. However, while I highly regard the usefulness of the deductive approach and the testing of known theory when appropriate, I prefer inductive reasoning through grounded analysis whenever possible.
I favor a multiple method approach to research. Qualitative methods are particularly apt for the dynamic and complex environments as exist currently. I am an experienced participant observer and ethnographer, and I highly value the insights gained through these research techniques. It is essential that we be open to alternative perspectives and be willing to not only learn from each other, but also acknowledge the impact of our mutual action in our ever-shrinking habitat.