ERIC Number: EJ1388739
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Jul
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0748-5786
EISSN: EISSN-2328-2967
Information Literacy Is a Social Practice: A Threshold Concept for Academic Instruction Librarians
Logan Rath
Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, v64 n3 p294-310 Jul 2023
This article proposes that understanding information literacy as a social practice is a threshold concept for academic information literacy librarians. While the social nature of information literacy has been theorized for more than 25 years, the noted theory-to-practice gap in this area suggests a new question to be raised. This study explores how practicing academic librarians come to adopt this understanding, if at all. The article reports on the development of a grounded theory to explain the theory-to-practice gap. Participants were 17 academic instruction librarians who participated in interviews. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data and found that a threshold concept might explain a shift from seeing information literacy as skills-based to practice-based. Implications for LIS education include explicit discussion of this threshold concept as well as including the related concept of information landscapes in the LIS curriculum.
Descriptors: Information Literacy, Fundamental Concepts, Academic Libraries, Library Instruction, Librarians, Grounded Theory, Theory Practice Relationship, Information Science Education, Librarian Attitudes
Association for Library and Information Science Education. Available from: University of Toronto Press. 5201 Dufferin Street, Toronto, ON, M3H 5T8 Canada. Tel: 416-667–7929; Fax: 416-667–7832; e-mail: journals@utpress.utoronto.ca; e-mail: office@alise.org; Web site: https://www.utpjournals.press/loi/jelis
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A