The Practice and Promise of Critical Information Literacy: Academic Librarians' Involvement in Critical Library Instruction

Tewell, Eamon

doi:10.5860/crl.79.1.10

Cited by 64 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…For examples, Albitz (Albitz, 2007) and Loertscher and Woolls (Loertscher & Woolls, 1997) claimed that critical thinking is the 'end' for information skills, while the Association of College and Research Libraries (Association of College & Research Libraries, 2000) and Bundy (Bundy, 2004) posited critical thinking as both the means and the end of information skills. Similarly, existing information skills standards for higher education students (e.g., Bundy, 2004;Society of College National & University Libraries, 1999;Association of College & Research Libraries, 2000) and recent information skills literature (e.g., Tewell, 2018;Chen, Sin, Theng, & Lee, 2018;Downey, 2016;Bales, 2015) have outlined that critical thinking and approach should underpinned how information is used in any information-related behaviors and thinking.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enablers to Information Search and Use in Higher Learning

Karim¹,

Khalid²,

Nasir³

et al. 2018

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Information search and use hold a key to knowledge building process in higher learning. A qualitative study was conducted to explore the role of various personal skills that empower students' information search and use in higher learning. The study involved 30 lecturers, librarians and students who participated in student information skills programs run by a public university library in Malaysia. The study used semi-structured interview to collect data which was analyzed using qualitative data analysis approach. The study found personal skills, i.e., computer, higher order thinking, language, and communication skills facilitate students' information search and use in higher learning. The study suggested that universities must help students to develop necessary skills that enable them to strategically search and use information in knowledge building process in higher learning.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enablers to Information Search and Use in Higher Learning

Karim¹,

Khalid²,

Nasir³

et al. 2018

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“…At its core, practicing feminist pedagogy boils down to being an excellent facilitator of dialogue and group discussion (Accardi, 2013;Couture & Ladenson, 2017;Grimm & Meeks, 2017;Hackney et al, 2018;Lai & Lu, 2009;Maher and Tetreault, 2001;Tewell, 2018;Wallis, 2016). The ideal feminist pedagogue steers the conversation with a gentle touch, asking prompting questions when necessary, to move the dialogue along without implicating oneself too much in it.…”

Section: Dialogue Facilitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Undercover Feminist Pedagogy in Information Literacy: A Literature Review

Kingsland¹

2020

EBLIP

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Objective – Feminist pedagogy in library instruction presents a new approach to actively engaging students in the research process. While feminist pedagogy in universities found early adoption in the 1970s, it is a newer phenomenon in library instruction, finding its early roots in works by Ladenson (2010), Accardi (2010), and Accardi and Vukovic (2013). By fostering active engagement and critical thinking skills, feminist library instruction sessions encourage students to question authority, actively participate in the knowledge production process, and become aware of their power and information privilege as they navigate increasingly complex information environments. At its core, this specific pedagogical approach subverts traditional classroom dynamics by focusing on diversity and inclusion. This literature review demonstrates how feminist pedagogy is currently being practiced in academic library information literacy sessions and how students can be assessed in a feminist manner. Methods – Practitioners of feminist pedagogy draw on techniques and methodologies designed to emphasize and value different experiences, such as cooperative learning, collaborative learning, inquiry-based learning, and inquiry-guided learning. These techniques and methodologies are used to develop students’ information literacy skills, to take ownership of the research process, and to stimulate critical inquiry. For the literature review, the following databases were searched: Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) on the ProQuest platform; Library & Information Science Abstracts (LISA); Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA); Scopus; and Web of Science Core Collection. Hand searching in WorldCat, as well as cited reference searching and bibliography mining, were also conducted. The searches were run between November 2018 and April 2019, followed by a second round in July 2019 based on participant feedback from the 2019 EBLIP10 conference. Case studies, books, book chapters, literature reviews, research papers, interviews, surveys, and papers based on statistical and qualitative analysis were consulted. Results – While some librarians may lack familiarity with feminist theory, feminism writ large influences academic librarians’ professional practice (Schroeder & Hollister, 2014). Librarians can incorporate feminist pedagogy into their practice and assessment in many concrete ways. However, librarians who focus on feminist pedagogy may face obstacles in their teaching, which may explain why publications on feminist pedagogical discourse within library and information studies have emerged only within the last decade (Fritch, 2018; Hackney et al., 2018). The most common challenge feminist librarians face is the restrictive nature of the standalone, one-shot information literacy session. Moreover, there is much room for improvement in library and information studies programs to introduce students to the theory and practice of feminist pedagogy. Conclusion – This paper highlights examples of feminist methods librarians can put into practice in their information literacy sessions and ways in which students can be assessed in a feminist manner. The literature demonstrates that feminist pedagogy has been successfully implemented for decades in universities. By comparison, practicing feminist pedagogy at the library instruction level is a relatively new area of focus within the profession. Hopefully, this growing trend will lead to more evidence based literature in the near future.

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“…Several critical teaching methods have been used by library workers, including critical pedagogy, feminist pedagogy, and critical information literacy [16]. At their core, these methods prioritize learner engagement and personal agency and aim to create actors for social change rather than passive learners.…”

Section: How Can Health Sciences Libraries Apply Critical Librarianshmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Feminist pedagogy actively addresses patriarchal power structures by creating interactive, decentered classrooms [17] and critiquing traditional library assessment methods [18]. Additional scholarship in this area has included raising awareness of oppression and social issues via search examples and teaching exercises, and incorporating self-reflection into our teaching [16, 18]. …”

Section: How Can Health Sciences Libraries Apply Critical Librarianshmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical librarianship in health sciences libraries: an introduction

Barr‐Walker

Sharifi

2019

jmla

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The Medical Library Association recently announced its commitment to diversity and inclusion. While this is a positive start, critical librarianship takes the crucial concepts of diversity and inclusion one step further by advocating for social justice action and the dismantling of oppressive institutional structures, including white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism. Critical librarianship takes many forms but, at its root, is focused on interrogating and disrupting inequitable systems, including changing racist cataloging rules, creating student-driven information literacy instruction, supporting inclusive and ethical publishing models, and rejecting the notion of libraries as neutral spaces. This article presents examples of the application of critical practice in libraries as well as ideas for applying critical librarianship to the health sciences. This article has been approved for the Medical Library Association’s Independent Reading Program.

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The Practice and Promise of Critical Information Literacy: Academic Librarians' Involvement in Critical Library Instruction

Cited by 64 publications

References 10 publications

Enablers to Information Search and Use in Higher Learning

Enablers to Information Search and Use in Higher Learning

Undercover Feminist Pedagogy in Information Literacy: A Literature Review

Critical librarianship in health sciences libraries: an introduction

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