Digital pedagogies for librarians in higher education: a systematic review of the literature
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IDD-06-2021-0066 |
| Published date | 01 April 2022 |
| Date | 01 April 2022 |
| Pages | 13-25 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Library & information services,Lending,Document delivery,Collection building & management,Stock revision,Consortia |
| Author | Mousin Omar Saib,Mogiveny Rajkoomar,Nalindren Naicker,Cecilia Temilola Olugbara |
Digital pedagogies for librarians in higher
education: a systematic review of the literature
Mousin Omar Saib, Mogiveny Rajkoomar and Nalindren Naicker
Department of Information Systems, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, and
Cecilia Temilola Olugbara
UNESCO Chair on ODL College of Education, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to identify and present a global perspective of digital pedagogies in relation to technologyand academic librarians.
Design/methodology/approach –The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) methodology was used in this
study.
Findings –Based on the data, academic librarians must develop a foundational understanding of 21st century pedagogies and digital skills to teach
in an online environment.
Originality/value –This review paper considers the emergent teaching role of the academic librarian within the digital environment. The themes in
the findings highlight the importance of digital pedagogical knowledge and digital fluency of academic librarians as a teacher wit hin the digital
environment in higher education.
Keywords Academic librarians, Pedagogies, Digital pedagogies, Digital skills, Digital literacy skills, Professional development
Paper type Research paper
Abbreviations
PRISMA = preferred reporting items for systematic reviews
and meta-analyses; and
RQ = research question.
1. Introduction
The teaching, learning and researchambits in higher education
is continuously adapting to progressive change (Sappington
and Bedford, 2017). The reasons for this change is
innumerable. There include political, social, financial and
technological; however, the internet through various
technologies has been central in shifting academia specifically
within the context of higher education institutions (Davidson-
Shivers et al.,2018). This is mainly because of the growth,
development and accessibility of the internet and technology.
Higher education institutionshave responded to this transition
by embracing the internet and technology throughmultimodal
methods of teaching,learning and research.
The importance of the internetand technologyalso resonates
beyond the walls of academic libraries at higher education
institutions. Worldwide, academic libraries are emerging as
progressive research environments for scholarship in digital
humanities, data curation, evolving integrated library systems,
learning analytics, open access, research data services, digital
pedagogies, machine learning and artificial intelligence within
the digital environment (Uzwyshyn, 2018;White, 2017).
Lewitzky (2020) posits that with the creation of the internet
and rapid growth of technology, academic libraries have
shifted from the provision of resources to a more active and
integrated role within higher education. Hence, the internet
and technology have equally been driversof innovative change
for academic librariesin the digital environment.
Academic libraries at higher education institutions have
rapidly evolved in the digital age, particularly in terms of
teaching and learning. Corralland Jolly (2019) supports this by
stating that academic libraries are making concerted efforts to
integrate their services into the broader teaching and learning
missions of their universities focusing on the role of the
“librarian as teacher.”This includes direct participation in
relation to online teaching and learning. Currently, academic
librarians are actively engaging as teachers, facilitators and
mediators in the onlineenvironments.
However, Davies-Hoffman (2013) states that despite
criticisms in the literature “for over 30 years”pointing towards
academic librarians and their lack of pedagogical knowledge,
they continue to teach.Globally, this has been a “grey area,”as
The current issue and full text archiveof this journal is available on Emerald
Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/2398-6247.htm
Information Discovery and Delivery
51/1 (2023) 13–25
Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 2398-6247]
[DOI 10.1108/IDD-06-2021-0066]
© Mousin Omar Saib, Mogiveny Rajkoomar, Nalindren Naicker and
Cecilia Temilola Olugbara. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited.
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC
BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create
derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial
purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and
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Received 27 June 2021
Revised 2 September 2021
5 October 2021
22 November 2021
Accepted 27 January 2022
13
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