Reading in information behaviour and information literacy frameworks

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the placement of the skill of reading in models devoted to information behaviour and information literacy process frameworks, with particular attention to children and young people.Design/methodology/approachThe work is based on an analysis of pertinent literature that has been published over a period of some 80 years. The sources include monographs, essays in books, academic journal papers, conference proceedings and articles in professional periodicals.FindingsMuch thinking on information behaviour tends to assume that reading takes place either for leisure purposes or to support study, whilst information literacy (IL) frameworks typically either emphasise higher-order reading skills or present generic stages in which reading is subsumed within a category of more abstract action. Many IL models implicitly assume that the individual has already mastered the fundamentals of reading.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough extensive, the author’s literature review is by no means exhaustive. It does not refer to all models of either information behaviour or information literacy.Practical implicationsInformation professionals need to acknowledge the true variety of motivations that prompt young people to read, and those responsible for information literacy instruction must determine how far they view their role as providing teaching in basic reading skills.Originality/valueThe paper is unusual in examining reading from two quite different perspectives - those of information behaviour and information literacy - and, despite its academic orientation, concludes with a range of suggestions intended to be of use to practising librarians.