Information studios: Integrating arts-based learning into the education of information professionals

Successful professionals in technical disciplines require abilities beyond technical competence—to interpret complex and ambiguous situations, interact with experts from other specialties and disciplines, and constructively evaluate their own work and the work of others. In this article, we argue that experiences and interactions with the arts should play an important role in the education of a specific group of technical workers—information professionals—and that such interactions provide a useful and necessary complement to the more familiar rational, scientific model that currently informs technical professional education. We discuss the principles inherent in an arts-based approach to learning and show how the work done by information professionals is similar to the work done by creative and performing artists as well as those in the design professions. Finally, we describe three examples of complementary learning opportunities built on arts-based practices.