TOK knowledge framework and the library

Linking libraries to the TOK knowledge framework

Several other DP subject guides refer to the knowledge framework in their links to TOK sections and teachers are encouraged to use the terminology, i.e. scope, perspectives, methods and tools, and ethics, with students. 

How a library organises knowledge seems a clear connection to make, so that is one approach. We've also a strand to look at library resources and functions, together with that of the librarian more broadly.  

So, let's see if we can make connections with libraries by linking to the four aspects named in the framework: scope, perspectives, methods and tools, and ethics - but first let's start with some definitions (and assumptions that people might make) about libraries, knowledge and library classification systems. 

Definitions or assumptions

Definition of a library

• IB definition from Ideal Libraries: “The combination of people, places, collections and services that aid and extend learning and teaching”. (p.20)
• Technical definition: “A library is a collection of sources of information and similar resources, made accessible to a defined community for reference or borrowing. It provides physical or digital access to material, and may be a physical building or room, or a virtual space, or both.” (Librarianship Studies & Information Technology)
• Or a more general or stereotypical assumption that a library is a place where books are kept and where a person needs to be silent. 

Definition of knowledge

TOK approach to knowledge: “TOK is a course that is fundamentally about critical thinking and inquiry into the process of knowing rather than about learning a specific body of knowledge. The TOK course examines the nature of knowledge and how we know what we claim to know … encouraging students to analyse knowledge claims and explore questions about the construction of knowledge. The task of TOK is to emphasize connections between areas of shared knowledge and link them to personal knowledge.” (Diploma Programme: From principles into practice, 2015, p. 62)

Library world definition: “Knowledge is a familiarity, awareness, or understanding of someone or something, such as facts, information, descriptions, or skills, which is acquired through experience or education by perceiving, discovering, or learning. Knowledge can refer to a theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. It can be implicit (as with practical skill or expertise) or explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a subject); it can be more or less formal or systematic.” (Librarianship Studies & Information Technology) 

Library classification systems

There may be an assumption that the Dewey Decimal Classification is the only library classification system in operation.  There are others:

• General systems - the Universal Decimal Classification, Library of Congress Classification, Colon Classification (i.e. the system developed by and sometimes known as the Ranganathan system), Bliss Bibliographic Classification.
• Classification systems for specific disciplines, e.g. BCM (British catalogue of music) classification.
• National classification systems, e.g. Sweden's SAB - short for Sveriges Allmänna Biblioteksförening. 

Scope

Library classification system

• The scope of information/knowledge in a library is organised systematically through a system of classification of disciplines and subjects, thus acknowledging a relationship between major areas of knowledge.
• A system structures, organises and enables inquirers to find information in printed (physical) form in a relational way in the library. For instance, if an inquirer wants to look broadly at sciences and then follow up individual inquiry strands within a specific science, then (in a small library such as one in a school) they can do so probably within the same shelf unit.
• The librarian manages and monitors where physical resources are located in a library, even where services (e.g. from a book or library vendor) are used, which outsource classification and cataloging input on a purchased item for the library collection. So, a librarian can amend or choose a classification mark (shelf or call number) so determining where a print item in the collection is physically placed. They do this through knowledge of the classification system and how it works, plus the needs of the library they manage. A library classification scheme does not exist independently of the people who run the library but is operated by them. 

Library/ian resources and functions

• Resources are added to the library collection over time, in an organised manner, using finance (budget) agreed by the school
• Digital resources hosted by the library enable inquirers to access information sources beyond the physical library, thus the scope of access to information is wider than that which the user can physically see.
• A catalog exists to record details about resources held by the library and which helps users to access information/knowledge. 

Perspectives

Library classification system

• Library systems seen as flexible and enable the system to remain relevant and current, as the system can accommodate new knowledge and new ways of looking at or perspectives on knowledge/information, e.g. awareness of colonialism. (Where that isn't the case, the system becomes rigid and not hospitable to new knowledge and perspectives.) 
• Other perspectives focus on how knowledge is made available, and how terms such as information, data and collective memory are used in relation to libraries, rather than the word knowledge per se. 

Library/ian resources and functions

Taking library/ian functions more widely, there may be user (and non-user) perceptions of:

• Libraries as silent spaces
• Libraries purely as collections in physical format
• Libraries as social, community, flexible spaces
• Libraries as media-rich spaces
• Librarians as people with specific skills and education and that it is a career choice to become a librarian
• The book as a technology, succeeding a previous format, i.e. manuscripts
• and acknowledging that the library catalog is now online, even if people still refer to the ‘card catalog’. 
• Peoples' enthusiasm and belief in libraries as a good (Many lives of libraries. JSTOR)

Methods

Library classification system

• A system updates periodically, perhaps through an editorial board or similar mechanism or method.
• An individual librarian makes changes, which are recorded locally, so the change becomes relevant to that user or place only. For instance, a librarian may make choices about location of resources through revising the classification and/or adding to it, to reflect new knowledge/information. 
• Librarian looks at alternative methods, e.g. Genrefication - genrefying the library collection 

Library/ian resources and functions

The library is an organised facility. Systems, procedures and documentation inform the organisation of the library, through the existence of:

• Policy for a school library 
• Collection Selection criteria 
• Staff manual
• External documents, such as the IFLA school library guidelines, provide guidance 
• Evaluation, including IB evaluation and authorization, can contribute to helpful methods to guide a school library

Ethics

Library classification system

An editorial board or process ensures that the system remains relevant and/or updated. For instance, revisions may be needed for contemporary understandings, eg. colonialism. 

Library/ian resources and functions

• Librarian provides support, tuition and support in accessing digital information sources
• Librarian teaches about appropriate citing and referencing of digital and print resources
• The library program supports Ethical use of information 
• There is a Challenged books procedure for the library collection
• A Policy for a school library informs and guides the library and the library program