No abstract

Abstract. This paper is a starting of a research which points toward constructing the basis for a research agenda integrating Participatory Action Research (PAR) into Information Literacy (IL) research and practice. In order to achieve this goal: a) we enumerate some pros and cons of using such methodology on IL with the pertinent literature and our own practice as IL researchers; b) we have developed a questionnaire to gather some insights from the research community in this matter; and c) we will start to seek an understanding of the possible contributions that a PAR-IL research agenda can bring to the field. The integration of PAR into IL research and practice is discussed from the three possible methodological stances: quantitative, qualitative, and a mixed methods perspective. Furthermore, we enumerate some of the pros, cons, hesitations and eagerness that researchers might have toward the idea of using PAR.

Collaboration between librarians and faculty is a relative new trend in Mexican academic libraries. Therefore, experiences are scarce and not yet documented. University professors and librarians normally have the usual relationship of patron -information provider. Although librarians have assumed the role of user information educators, their work tends to occur in isolation. Teamwork is needed so that library instruction can become part of the learning process. Mexican information professionals probably face more library instruction challenges than their colleagues from the more advanced economies, because new students come to the library with hardly any library experience. In this article, the outstanding user education experience at Juarez University is described and assessed.

Paul Zurkowski coined the term Information Literacy in 1974, since then it has evolved into a dynamic research area within Library and Information Science, with many milestones achieved in Europe and the United States, reflected in English-written literature. This issue of Developing Latin America traces an alternative route, exploring the arrival of information literacy to the region and its main developments.

Nowadays, information is one of the main resources for an individual’s development and wellbeing, therefore distributing and using information must be a top priority for society. This entails establishing strategies so people can learn to use this resource. Furthermore, scientific progress and present-day educational paradigms stress trans-disciplinary learning. Information and communication sciences are complementary by nature –one focusing on the medium and the other on the process– so there must be greater clarity and conceptual consistency in a number of key shared areas. This document is an effort, from the perspective of library science and information science, to identify some possible meeting-points between these disciplines, regarding the study and development of the necessary competencies to handle information adequately.La información se constituye, en la época actual, en uno de los principales recursos para el desarrollo y bienestar de los individuos, por lo que su distribución y aprovechamiento debe constituirse en una prioridad social. Por ello, es necesario establecer estrategias para que las personas aprendan a utilizar estos recursos. Por otra parte, el avance científico y los paradigmas educativos actuales hablan de la importancia de la transdisciplinaridad; las ciencias de la información y las de la comunicación son por naturaleza complementarias, una se enfoca al medio informativo y la otra al proceso comunicativo; es deseable, por ende, que exista una mayor claridad y consistencia conceptual en algunos temas de relevancia común. Este trabajo constituye un esfuerzo, desde la perspectiva de la bibliotecología y las ciencias de la información, para identificar algunos posibles puntos de encuentro entre estas disciplinas, en lo que respecta al estudio y desarrollo de las competencias necesarias para manejar adecuadamente la información.