In 2003, Lambert's interest was kindled in plagiarism by students and its association with programs on information literacy.
Her latest book looks at the role of the librarian working within academic programs to develop information literacy programs to address the issue of student plagiarism. It builds on the author's joint authoring of Proven Strategies for Building an Information Literacy Program (Susan Carol Curzon and Lynne D. Lampert, 2006), which covered a number of experiences by practitioners in regard to information literacy programs. Lampert says “I often cite Lorna Peterson's (1988) research on the roles that academic librarians can play in promoting awareness about issues of academic integrity”.
This new book reminds us that plagiarism is all pervasive across society and the younger generation with their social networks and file sharing, along with movie and music downloads, do not see plagiarism in their academic written work as a big issue, if an issue at all. Their parents' generation have thrown up major cases of plagiarism and unethical behaviour across all sectors of society. It states “Today's society and the young people coming of age in it are truly facing a complex world where it is becoming increasingly difficult to discern where information originated and/or its authenticity”.
This book will be of interest to all education sectors from K1‐12 through to tertiary, with librarians having an integral part to play in combating student plagiarism.
Copyright and Intellectual Property infringements are happening every minute of every day. Internet plagiarism is rife and an ever increasing concern for all educational institutions. Lampert writes “I believe that the problem of plagiarism has become worse over the last decade”.
It asks “Why are 52,000 Scouts in the Los Angeles area being targeted to earn an anti‐piracy patch by participating in a curriculum produced by the MPAA?” (Motion Picture Association of America). The need for education in this area is being taken up by various groups. The book shows ways in which librarians can work on information literacy programs with faculty within their institutions, to work with students so they can understand what plagiarism is and the ways to cite and attribute material correctly.
The book is a most practical guide for readers, explaining and then showing how resources and staff can work together within an institution to combat the practice of student plagiarism. There are practical examples to follow for possible local implementation.
“Appendix 1: Discipline‐specific examples of anti‐plagiarism programming/pedagogy publications” is a valuable resource list for subject librarians and academics.
The “References” and “Further reading” sections provide sources for further information on plagiarism and educational programs.
Lampert in her Conclusion writes “Librarians, like other educators focused on process‐based learning (such as writing across the curriculum instructors and other faculty), are in a unique position to impact student learning in this area of applied information ethics”. “It is the author's hope that readers of this book, regardless of whether or not they work in libraries, find ideas and concepts that will propel them to act, both individually and collaboratively, to identify and create proactive educational solutions to combat the problem of student plagiarism”.
I believe readers, both librarians and faculty members, will gain new insight into ways in which their joint outreach programs can be part of addressing the academic plagiarism problem.
