Information Literacy Research Research Articles

Using Positionality to Address Student Bias in Information Seeking

ABSTRACTWhile participating in the information search process, students are instructed to choose credible sources for their research. They often interpret this imperative as simply avoiding bias in the sources they choose. Unfortunately, students misunderstand bias and fail to recognize its significance in the scholarly conversation. One way librarians can help with this misunderstanding is by engaging with theoretical concepts such as positionality theory. Positionality theory offers librarians a way to examine bias's function in the research process in order to teach students about its complexity.While bias and positionality are concepts that have been explored in information literacy research, most research does not address them as related topics. This poster explores notions of bias, positionality theory, and strategies to employ that will help librarians use this theory to address student misunderstandings around questions of bias and credibility. This new understanding helps students determine their own positionality when approaching information searching.

Bibliometric Study and Visualization Analysis of Domestic and International Information Literacy Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

Bibliometric Study and Visualization Analysis of Domestic and International Information Literacy Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

Assessing a Customized, Interactive Online Information Literacy Tutorial: The Getting Started with Research Module

Following the creation of online information literacy tutorial in response to the shift to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a team of librarians developed a multi-pronged approach to assessing the module to determine how well it met the stated learning objectives. This article describes the assessment of the Getting Started with Research information literacy module, a learning experience developed using RISE software and accompanied by a Google Forms research log for students to complete. The authors present results from both a rubric-driven and textual analysis study undertaken to assess student responses to the research logs that accompany the module, and discuss how the findings of the study will inform future practice.

Cognitive and motivational qualities of task instruction: Cognitive appraisals and achievement emotions of Swedish primary teacher students

Given the crucial role of primary teachers in shaping pupils' development, equipping primary teacher students with the necessary skills, including information-seeking skills, is fundamentally important. The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of the process of achieving such skills by exploring the interplay between cognitive appraisals and achievement emotions and the way in which these are affected by the quality of instructions experienced. Instruction librarians' support in relation to instructions and how these can be designed to promote achievement are also investigated.Six Swedish primary teacher students were studied through in-depth semi-structured interviews over a period of 10 weeks. The methodological tool Geneva affect label coder was used for the mapping and categorization of appraisals and emotions. The analysis of the qualitative data was theory driven and deductively interpreted through the lens of Pekrun's control–value theory of achievement emotions, Scherer's semantic space of emotions, and Kuhlthau's information search process model.The cognitive appraisals identified were uncertainty, certainty, and negative and positive intrinsic motivation. The achievement emotions found in relation to cognitive quality were anger/frustration, anxiety, and hopelessness, and those linked to motivational quality were enjoyment and boredom. Uncertainty and negative intrinsic motivation/failure elicited emotions related to cognitive quality, and negative/positive intrinsic motivation and certainty determined emotions related to motivational quality. The interplay between appraisals and emotions was complex, involving feedback loops and reciprocal causation. The support from instruction librarians experienced was related to the students' ability to master the instructions and their cognitive qualities.The study has theoretical and methodological implications for information behavior and information literacy research in its application of appraisal theories and methodological tools. It also has practical implications for academic instruction librarians supporting students in the process of achieving information-seeking skills. By understanding how students experience support and the relations to the quality of task instructions, support can be designed in ways that promote positive achievement emotions and by implication achievement.

Theorising Information Literacy: Opportunities and Constraints

ABSTRACTInformation literacy research is growing in importance but has been critiqued for remaining focused on practical topics of interest and attainment approaches to practice. Prior attempts to conceptualise information literacy have also often taken place without a comprehensive understanding of the ontological or epistemological foundations of theoretical work. The aim of this panel is to critically examine theory development and use within information literacy research through discussing the ways in which understandings of information literacy, including how it happens and how it shapes social life, are both enabled and constrained through critical, sociomaterial and discursive theoretical approaches. Providing a space to discuss and reflect on the impact of theory on information literacy scholarship, this panel creates a focal point for researchers, practitioners and students interested in the construction and advancement of conceptually rich information literacy research and practice.

Analisis bibliometrik penelitian literasi informasi bidang ilmu sosial periode 2018-2022

Bibliometric analysis of information literacy research in the social field for the 2018-2022 period was carried out based on Scopus data. The analysis aims to find out the main information on social information literacy, sources of social information literacy research results that have an impact, the most cited documents globally, trending topics, keywords that often appear in social information literacy, the most relevant affiliations with information literacy in the field of social, thematic evaluation, and information literacy network maps in the social field. The analysis was carried out using the bibliometric method using the Scopus database for the 2018-2022 period. The results of the analysis show that during the 2018-2022 period there were 1925 documents resulting from information literacy research from 384 different sources. The Journal of Academic Librarianship is the most influential journal with a total of 557 citations. Information literacy, academic libraries, and higher education are trending topics in the period 2019 - 2021. The affiliate that most publishes the highest social information literacy is University Librares. The social field information literacy network map is divided into 4 clusters with the theme that appears most often is information literacy , information retrieval, information seeking, teaching, literacy, internet, and learning

What role can affect and emotion play in academic and research information literacy practices?

While significant progress has been made in broadening information literacy’s (IL’s) scope, its conception of the user and their relationship to information remains painfully limited. This is particularly evident when the affective or emotional factors of information seeking behaviour are considered. Thus far, IL’s models and discourses have failed to acknowledge emotion’s fundamentally disruptive nature and have either ignored, repressed, or misrepresented users’ emotions. This has resulted in a deeply limited and inaccurate conception of the user’s information needs, and this has a particularly harmful impact on marginalised users and users engaging with affectively fraught information. This article seeks to address this oversight, initially by outlining the origins of IL’s repression of emotion and then examining the consequences of this repression in the standardised IL models; specifically in Carol C. Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process and the ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Subsequently, this essay will examine several critical models of librarianship and IL—including Holocaust librarianship and Indigenous conceptions of relationality—in order to illuminate models of IL that adopt a relational perspective that enables an engagement with the affective elements of the user’s information needs. Finally, this essay will suggest that these relational perspectives facilitate the adoption of an ethics of care that helps address the insufficiencies inherent to our current conceptions of IL.

Risky (information) business: an informational risk research agenda

PurposeThe purpose of this conceptual paper is to suggest that the growing sociocultural theorisation of risk calls for a more robust research focus on the role that information and in particular, information literacy, plays in mediating hazards and danger.Design/methodology/approachStarting by tracing how information has been conceptualised in relation to risk through technoscientific, cognitive and sociocultural lenses, the paper then focuses on emerging sociocultural understandings of risk to present a research agenda for a renewed sociocultural exploration of how risk is shaped through the enactment of information literacy.FindingsThe paper identifies and examines how information literacy shapes four key aspects of risk, including risk perception, risk management, risk-taking and “at-risk” populations. These four aspects are further connected through broader themes of learning, identity, work and power, which form the basis of the sociocultural risk research agenda.Originality/valueThis paper is the first study bringing together the many understandings related to how risk is informed and establishes risk as a key area of interest within information literacy research.

Information literacy at journalists’ workplace in Pakistan

This research investigated the development of information literacy skills and their self-perceived assessment among journalists in Pakistan. A cross-sectional survey using an online questionnaire was conducted in four Provinces and the Federal Capital of Pakistan with the consent of relevant authorities for data collection. A total of 1089 responses were received. The data were analyzed in SPSS by applying descriptive as well as inferential statistics. A large majority of the surveyed respondents received information literacy instruction of short duration during their careers while being mainly in practice. The most covered topics included research literacy, communication skills, information discovery, critical literacy, tools literacy, and information handling. These participants perceived information literacy as invaluable in their practical work context. The survey participants perceived themselves as information literate not only for basic levels of information literacy but also for advanced levels. In addition, journalists’ gender, age, academic qualification, job experience, information literacy instructions received, nature of work, and region predicted their levels of information literacy. The results generated pragmatic insight for educators and information professionals in designing a need-based information literacy instruction program for existing as well as prospective journalists. This research would make a worthy contribution to the existing information literacy research in the context of the workplace as no such comprehensive study on journalists’ workplace had appeared so far.

A Comparative Study of Information Literacy Study Trends Between Korea and Other Countries Using Keyword Networks

Abstract This study aims to examine and compare the trends of information literacy research in Korea and in some English-speaking other countries in the last two decades from 2001 to 2020 through keyword network analysis. With regard to English-speaking countries, author keywords were collected from articles retrieved from the Scopus database using the search term “information literacy.” For the Korean LIS field, the author keywords were collected from articles retrieved through a Korean academic database called “KCI” using the search term “information literacy.” For other countries, a total of 1163 articles and 2454 author keywords were collected for this study. Among these author keywords, the top 10 that appeared most were “academic libraries,” “library education,” “assessment,” “collaboration,” “higher education,” “undergraduate students,” “e-learning,” “information literacy instruction,” “instruction,” and “instructional design.” By comparison, a total of 120 articles and 352 author keywords were collected for this study in Korea. Among the keywords, eight that appeared most frequently were “information literacy instruction,” “school libraries,” “school librarians,” “library education,” “academic libraries,” “information services,” “user education,” and “public libraries.” Based on the study results, some recommendations for Korea’s IL research can be made as follows: First, particular attention needs to be given to the subjects of “assessment” and “collaboration” related to IL research. Second, the research related to the subject of IL has been carried out by a few researchers majoring in school libraries. Therefore, in addition to researchers in the LIS field, those from various other fields need to have an interest in the subject.

Integration & Transformation: Incorporating Critical Information Literacy and Critical Legal Research into Advanced Legal Research Instruction

Integration & Transformation: Incorporating Critical Information Literacy and Critical Legal Research into Advanced Legal Research Instruction

Community College Library: Reference and Instruction. Janet Pinkley and Kaela Casey, eds. Chicago, IL: Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, 2022. 317 p. Softcover, $98.00. ($88.20 ALA members) (ISBN: 978-0-8389-3768-6).

The Community College Library: Reference and Instruction is the next in a series of collected works aimed at increasing research and scholarly writing specific to community college libraries. Along with another recently released collection on assessment, CCL: Reference and Instruction highlights a wide range of teaching strategies, outreach efforts, critical looks at practice in the community college, and partnership opportunities. Each of the twenty-four chapters is relatively short and infused with both informal anecdotes and ties to the greater body of information literacy research. In many ways, this mix of academic insight and informal creativity embodies community college librarianship itself.

Library instruction and information literacy 2021

PurposeThis paper presents recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy. It provides an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications covering various library types, study populations and research contexts. The selected bibliography is useful to efficiently keep up with trends in library instruction for busy practitioners, library science students and those wishing to learn about information literacy in other contexts.Design/methodology/approachThis article annotates 424 English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations, theses and reports on library instruction and information literacy published in 2021. The sources were selected from the EBSCO platform for Library, Information Science, and Technology s (LISTA), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Scopus, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, and WorldCat, published in 2021 that included the terms “information literacy,” “library instruction,” or “information fluency” in the title, abstract or keywords. The sources were organized in Zotero. Annotations summarize the source, focusing on the findings or implications. Each source was categorized into one of seven pre-determined categories: K-12 Education, Children and Adolescents; Academic and Professional Programs; Everyday Life, Community, and the Workplace; Libraries and Health Information Literacy; Multiple Library Types; and Other Information Literacy Research and Theory.FindingsThe paper provides a brief description of 424 sources and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.Originality/valueThe information may be used by librarians, researchers and anyone interested as a quick and comprehensive reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy within 2021.

Embedded Library Support within TAFE and Dual Sector Courses for Improved Learner Support and Visibility: An Emerging Opportunity

ABSTRACT Embedded librarianship is largely unexplored in the Australian TAFE and dual TAFE/University sectors. This paper discusses an embedded library program piloted at Holmesglen Institute and the results of a ‘learner survey’ of learners within participating courses. It argues that an embedded library program presents an emerging opportunity within TAFE and dual sector libraries to introduce an additional learner support service to provide highly targeted information literacy skills building and research support. The pilot program was introduced within the Institute’s fashion and hospitality higher education courses with the aim of breaking down barriers for learners accessing library support. It also aimed to increase the visibility of the library, its services, and resources. Results from the learner survey indicated the embedded program contributed to the cohorts’ strong awareness of their liaison librarian, their expertise, and the support they could provide. Learners additionally noted they felt comfortable to approach their liaison librarian if they needed extra help and overall were happy with the support provided through the program. Lessons learnt including recommendations, challenges, considerations, and modifications are discussed to encourage other librarians to begin the embedded conversation within their institution.

Perspectives: Revisited – 2022-3

A summary of selected articles from Sage publications covering smart cities development and business information literacy research.

Book review of Lloyd, A. 2021. The qualitative landscape of information literacy research

Book review of Lloyd, A. 2021. The qualitative landscape of information literacy research

Leveraging information literacy: Mapping the conceptual influence and appropriation of information literacy in other disciplinary landscapes

Information literacy forms a key concept within Library and Information Science, where it forms the focus of scholarship, conferences, journals and teaching librarian practice, alike. However, little is known about how other fields and disciplines have employed these outputs within their own research and practice. This paper examines how the concept of information literacy has been leveraged into the discourses of non-Library and Information Science disciplinary landscapes. This is achieved through a qualitative mapping of five different fields and disciplines, including Higher Education, Management and Business, Public Health, Nursing and Psychology, to identify how information literacy terminology, definitions, theories and frameworks have travelled across scholarly and practice boundaries to become appropriated into other disciplinary landscapes. The aim of this collaborative work is to develop an indicative rather than an exhaustive understanding of what travels within information literacy research and practice and to strengthen the Library and Information Science narrative on the impact of information literacy activities.

Correlation between the University Librarians’ Information Literacy Skills and Research Support Services

The purpose of the current research is to determine the correlation between the Pakistani university librarians' information literacy skills (ILSs) and their provided research support services (RSSs) to faculty/researchers. To collect data from the respondents a purposive sampling technique was used. A questionnaire was managed offline as well as online to collect data from 259 librarians of the universities of Pakistan. The tool consisted of eight dimensions of ILSs and four of RSSs. The Pearson correlation coefficient test was applied to gauge the strength of the correlation between ILSs and RSSs. The findings reveal that there is a strong positive significant correlation between all of the factors of ILSs and RSSs except for three sub-factors whose correlation is medium. The value of the overall correlation between ILSs and RSSs is r = .80 which indicates a strong positive significant correlation. The study reveals that ILSs of the university librarians are imperative and a precondition for offering better RSSs.

Collaborative synergy: Building an energy geography resource hub

Library and geography faculty at our institution consistently partner on integrating information literacy and academic research skills into geography courses. Librarians typically create course guides as part of that effort. During the 2021–2022 academic year, we—an academic librarian and a geographer at a liberal arts college—co-created an energy geography LibGuide intended to serve a wider community. In this article, we detail our collaborative process for creating a dynamic, interdisciplinary guide. While recognizing the challenges that can accompany this type of close partnership, we highlight the synergistic benefits to each of us, potential benefits to our audiences, and our plans for continued collaboration. Projects like this deepen interdisciplinary cooperation and may broaden the LibGuides audience.

Moroccan Social Media Platforms and COVID-19 Misinformation

COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by a massive ‘infodemic’ and an over-abundance of disinformation that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it. Young Moroccan internet users resort to social media for their news, and easily fall prey to the misinformation and fake news they encounter online. When it concerns public health, disinformation can turn into a lethal weapon. This is further exacerbated at the time of COVID-19 pandemic. To tackle this, the present research paper answers the research questions using a qualitative method, particularly semi-structured interviews preferable in exploratory research where the purpose is to gain an understanding of spreading online misinformation in the age of COVID-19. Semi-structured Interviews are conducted via “Google Meet” and “Zoom” using video-conferencing among 12 young Moroccan social media activists and professionals. The main research findings have shown that young Moroccan social media users have been consuming fake news about the Coronavirus, which has been especially prevalent on the most popular platforms, Facebook, Whats App and YouTube. Other results have shown that the mainstream media failed to debunk misinformation by subjecting them to rigorous fact checking experiments, lack of Media Information Literacy research in the form of crisis audits and crisis planning, Moroccan social media are ill prepared for crisis manual and conducting crisis training. These ensure that media regulators are not better equipped to handle any misinformation in health crisis situations. Therefore, media literacy is not only about how to use the computer and do an internet search, it also involves helping young Moroccan people to deal with disinformation in crisis situations, and realize that anyone anywhere can put up a very official-looking websites. These websites masquerade as high-credibility sources that have been spreading misinformation about COVID-19. Therefore, the government needs.