THE QUEST FOR I-LITERACY: IDENTIFYING AND ADDRESSING GAPS IN INFORMATION LITERACY EDUCATION IN INFORMATION SCIENCE UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

Abstract

Information scholars, educators and librarians have grappled with defining the concept of information literacy for decades – at least as far back as the 1970’s – with the most prominent common thread being as a set of skills. In pedagogy and practice, what higher education currently calls information literacy is delivered more akin to research skills or the ability to effectively conduct and share research in its myriad forms. It is problematic that for so long the emphasis on research and academic skills has wholly devalued those sources deemed non-traditional by academic measures, including popular sources, pop-culture entertainment, and the power of observation. Ironically this emphasis on academic research skills diminishes the extreme societal impact non-traditional sources and stories have had throughout the information age in which we currently find ourselves. In this dissertation, I provide a curriculum map for the required courses in five Undergraduate Information Science Programs, with the dual purpose of aligning instruction practices and gaps with the aforementioned impacts as they determine what information literacy should mean, and encouraging iSchools to adopt and promote a socially constructed model of information literacy, which I am terming i-Literacy. This study demonstrates how iSchool undergraduate programs emphasize understanding that different information mediums are required based on audience, user needs, and the information problem, but may not highlight social and civic responsibility with information use and sharing. The map also shows a strong alignment between the seemingly antiquated ‘Bibliographic Instruction’ practices from the 1980’s and 90’s, and the current pedagogy based on the ACRL Framework.