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Reconfiguring Knowledge Ecosystems : Librarians and adult literacy educators in knowledge exchange work O'Brien, Heather, 1977-; De Forest, Heather; McCauley, Aleha; Sinnamon, Luanne; Smythe, Suzanne

Abstract

Knowledge exchange, also called knowledge translation, mobilization, or transfer, increasingly factors in university strategic plans and funding agency mandates. The growing emphasis on research that includes community engagement and making research knowledge more accessible and useful for nonacademic constituents often brings in knowledge brokers, whose activities promote sharing of research knowledge among different actors. In this article, we consider how librarians and adult literacy educators engage in this work as professionals uniquely positioned to advance knowledge exchange initiatives. Three initiatives in British Columbia, Canada, involve academic librarians and adult literacy educators engaging in knowledge exchange work in transformative ways. We describe how they are reconfiguring knowledge making, sharing, and use with constituents and bridging nonacademic and university communities. This approach disrupts traditional notions of who produces and consumes knowledge and who is an expert while acknowledging how place-based approaches are essential for advancing knowledge exchange initiatives.

Item Metadata

Title
Reconfiguring Knowledge Ecosystems : Librarians and adult literacy educators in knowledge exchange work
Creator
O'Brien, Heather, 1977-; De Forest, Heather; McCauley, Aleha; Sinnamon, Luanne; Smythe, Suzanne
Date Issued
2022-06
Description
Knowledge exchange, also called knowledge translation, mobilization, or transfer, increasingly factors in university strategic plans and funding agency mandates. The growing emphasis on research that includes community engagement and making research knowledge more accessible and useful for nonacademic constituents often brings in knowledge brokers, whose activities promote sharing of research knowledge among different actors. In this article, we consider how librarians and adult literacy educators engage in this work as professionals uniquely positioned to advance knowledge exchange initiatives. Three initiatives in British Columbia, Canada, involve academic librarians and adult literacy educators engaging in knowledge exchange work in transformative ways. We describe how they are reconfiguring knowledge making, sharing, and use with constituents and bridging nonacademic and university communities. This approach disrupts traditional notions of who produces and consumes knowledge and who is an expert while acknowledging how place-based approaches are essential for advancing knowledge exchange initiatives.
Subject
knowledge exchange; knowledge brokering; university-community-engagement; academic librarians; literacy educators
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2023-09-08
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0435831
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/85878
Affiliation
Arts, Faculty of; Library, UBC; Non UBC; Information, School of
Citation
O’Brien, H.L., Smythe, S., DeForest, H., McCauley, A. & Sinammon, L.S. (2022). Reconfiguring knowledge systems: Librarians and literacy educators in knowledge exchange work. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 26(2).
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International