Information Repositories and Learning Environments

Information repositories are collections of digital information which can be built in several different ways and with different purposes. They can be collaborative and with a soft control of the contents and authority of the documents, as well as directedto the general public (Wikipedia is an example of this). But they can also have a high degree of control and be conceived in order to promote literacy and responsible learning, as well as directed to special groups of users like, for instance, school students. In the new learning environments built upon digital technologies, the need to promote quality information resources that can support formal and informal e- learning emerges as one of the greatest challenges that school libraries have to face. It is now time that school libraries, namely through their regional and national school library networks, start creating their own information repositories, oriented for school pupils and directed to their specific needs of information and learning. The creation ofthese repositories implies a huge work of collaboration between librarians, school teachers, pupils, families and other social agents that interact within the school community, which is, in itself, a way to promote cooperative learning and social responsibility between all members of such communities. In our presentation, we will discuss the bases and principles that are behind the construction of the proposed information repositories and learning platforms as well as the need for a constant dialogue between technical and content issues.