The Emergent Information Commons: Philosophy, Models, and 21st Century Learning Paradigms

Abstract

ABSTRACT The learning support role of the Information Commons exhibits emergent properties characteristic of organizational learning theory. The literature review highlights four articles from the United States, one from Germany, and one from Japan to illustrate the issues involved. The philosophy of the commons extension across physical, virtual, and cultural domains and the development of the Learning Commons as a collaboration among multiple learning support units, including libraries, are traced from theoretical origins through real-world examples. “Integrative learning” is offered as one example of a 21st century learning paradigm being supported by such collaborations, as evidenced by the development of commons-based e-portfolio systems.