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Introduction: changes in educational policy and practice demand that we examine school library programmes from a new perspective. As a model that takes a developmental view of minds in context, Cultural Historical Activity Theory is particularly well suited to the study of school libraries and the learning that occurs therein. This paper focuses on the activity theoretic concepts of "contradictions" and "expansive learning" as they relate to the development of best practices. Method: Developmental Work Research was applied as a guiding methodology in an intervention study of six high school libraries in Washington State, USA. Library activity is illustrated from multiple perspectives using a triangulated, qualitative approach. Analysis: contradictions and tensions in the general school library activity system are identified, and an intervention was designed to facilitate the development of expansive instruments. A case example illustrates a second level of analysis and specific points of intervention. Results: analysis reveals that the tensions and contradictions provide opportunities for expansive learning on the part of the teacher-Librarians. The research team can use practitioners' zones of proximal development to guide the alignment of library programme goals and practices. Conclusions: some limitations and future promise of the framework and its application are discussed. The proposed activity theory toolkit suggest a new way of exploring the practices of teacher-librarians, incorporating research evidence, professional expertise and reflective decision making.

New technologies and developments in media are transforming the way that individuals, groups and societies communicate, learn, work and govern. This new socio-technical reality requires participants to possess not only skills and abilities related to the use of technological tools, but also knowledge regarding the norms and practices of appropriate usage. To be "digitally literate" in this way encompasses issues of cognitive authority, safety and privacy, creative, ethical, and responsible use and reuse of digital media, among other topics. A lack of digital literacy increasingly implicates one's full potential of being a competent student, an empowered employee or an engaged citizen. Digital literacy is often considered a school-based competency, but it is introduced and developed in informal learning contexts such as libraries, museums, social groups, affinity spaces online, not to mention the home environment. This article recognizes and connects the ways and places we might conceptualize and realize an expanded view of digital literacy that fits today's changing reality.

The very nature of information seeking in today's world suggests that credibility is an important factor in how one goes about seeking and using information. The proliferation of Web-based resources and the ability for nearly anyone to publish on the Web force individuals to make judgments of quality and authority as they flow on- and offline in the search process. Studies of everyday-life information behavior suggest that preteens and teens use a variety of print, electronic, and interpersonal sources as they answer everyday questions. What still merits further exploration is how young people judge information, and how their personal theories of knowing interact with sources and questions. Epistemic thinking, as a form of metacognition, is a foundational capacity of the information-literate student in a digital age. In this article, the author discusses some recent findings in which preteens (ages nine to thirteen) discuss issues of authority and trust in everyday-life situations. The author also suggests how new immersive online spaces for young children are pressing issues of cognitive authority on younger children, as well.

This article presents an empirically-grounded framework for mediating the everyday-life information worlds of youth aged 9-13. "Tweens" are a sandwiched population with behaviors, circumstances, and needs distinct from children and young adults. Little research has addressed their information-seeking, especially regarding nonschool contexts. Thus, empirically-based conceptual tools are needed to help professionals in mediating the complex information worlds of tweens. Guided by multiple frameworks (Dervin's sense-making, Fisher's information grounds, and Chatman's normative behavior), data were collected using the "Tween Day" technique, involving scenario-based focus groups and interviews with thirty-four youth in three distinct settings. The study aimed at understanding the situations for which tweens seek everyday information; which sources they use, and why; what social settings foster information-sharing, and how; and what factors (especially affective) promote or hinder information-seeking. Using these findings, the proposed professional service framework contains five descriptive principles for mediating everyday-life information-seeking and information use by tweens.