Conceptions of information literacy: new perspectives and implications

TLDR

The study notes that a skills‑only view of information literacy is limited, highlights alternative conceptions, and points out a lack of research on students’ own definitions and experiences. The authors aim to clarify key definitions of information literacy, examine initiatives to teach it, and discuss pedagogic methods and the discipline’s status. They evaluate business students’ responses to a one‑semester credit‑bearing information‑literacy course and relate these outcomes to two established models of the concept. The authors conclude that information scientists should lead the definition of the field and identify further research areas.

Abstract

The authors identify some key definitions of ‘information literacy’ and initiatives concerned with imparting information literacy skills. They identify limitations in taking an approach to information literacy which assumes that it can be boiled down to a list of skills. Alternative conceptions of information literacy are described. Previous research has identified a lack of information on how students experience and define information literacy. The authors describe the student response to a one-semester credit-bearing class in information literacy, taken by business students at the University of Strathclyde, and relate it to two models of information literacy. They go on to discuss two issues in the light of previous developments and their own research: appropriate pedagogic methods for educating for information literacy and information literacy as a discipline in its own right. They conclude by identifying further areas for research and by recommending that information scientists should lead the way in defining this growing area.