Core descriptors of ‘information literacy’: a subject content analysis of the concept’s literature, 1974-2008

Dr. OB Onyancha

Dept of Information Science

UNISA

Agenda

• Introduction– Historical devts of IL

• Research problem– Purpose of study– Objectives of study

• Methodology• Results and discussions• Conclusions and

recommendations

Introduction

• The history of teaching people about information is tied to historical, social, and economic developments in society (Gilton, undated)– Agricultural, pre-industrial and pre-modern period– Industrial and modern period– Current information-based, post-industrial period

• 1865-1945– Libraries were rare at the beginning of this period– Industrial and modern period brought about accelerated

establishment of schools, universities, and libraries– American Library Association was established– Public libraries created both reference and children’s services

• Library instruction before 1960s– B Lamar Johnson organized an instruction program at Stephens college

in 1931-1950– Prefigured bibliographic instruction of the 1970s and 1980s by offering:

orientations, instruction in the use of basic reference tools, point-of-use instruction, individualized instruction, course-related instruction, and full courses

• The Bibliographic Instruction (BI) Movement in Academic Libraries: 1960-1989– Attempts at integrating BI into college programs– Establishment of the Instruction Section of the Association of

Association of College and Research Libraries, and of the Library Instruction Round Table within ALA

• 1970s: Instructions consisted of tours and orientations– Zurkowski (president of the US Info Industry Association) coined

"information literates" in 1974

• 1980s – Pathfinder approach– Emphasis: conceptual frameworks and research strategies– ALA’s 1989 definition: “a person must be able to recognize when

information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the needed information"

• Traditional BI in academic libraries consisted of:– library tours and orientations, formal instruction in the form of course-

related instruction, course-integrated instruction, and full courses; informal instruction for interested individuals or groups, point of use instructions, the creation of bibliographies, etc

• Beyond 1980s– Internet connectivity resulted in invisible students and colleges; and

distance education– Information is increasingly becoming electronic– Reference and instructional services are moving into the “24/7” world of

the Internet

Research problem

• These developments have resulted in:– New type of users and information which in turn require– New skills and competencies and therefore– New types of IL delivery

The paper seeks to trace the development of the concept over time; to identify the most commonly used compound subject terms that are associated with the subject; to find out the core single terms that are used to describe IL; and to map the various concepts that describe IL.

Methodology

• Databases– Academic Search Premier,

Communication and Mass Media Complete, LISTA, and Master File Premier.

• Search Query– DE “Information Literacy*” – within the

subject field

• Period of study: 1974-2008• Document types: ALL• Data extraction date:

– March 2009

• Data analysis softwares– Bibexcel software

RESULTS

Information literacy timeline (Source: Google, 2009)

Much activity was recorded between 1995 and 2009

Growth of IL publications

300%300% 125%125% 188%188%211%211%

524%524%

219%219%

Number of terms per record

NB: Number of terms include information literacy

Terms in other concepts (e.g. HIV/AIDS have grown over time

Top 15 most commonly used terms: 1979-1983

Number of records INFORMATION SCIENCE 3 INFORMATION SERVICES 2 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 2 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT 2 MEDICAL ETHICS 1 JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS 1 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL 1 CONTENT ANALYSIS (COMMUNICATION) 1 CANCER 1 BIOETHICS 1 INFORMATION RESOURCES 1 ENCYCLOPEDIAS & DICTIONARIES 1 DATABASES 1

A total of 14 terms including information literacy were used

Knowledge management is a relatively recent concept but its appearance here is due to retrospective indexing of the literature

Most terms recorded 1 occurrence each

Top 15 most commonly used terms: 1984-1988

Number of records INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 2 LIBRARY SCIENCE 1 MASS MEDIA 1 LIBRARIES 1 INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION 1 INVENTORS 1 UNITED STATES 1 UNIVERSITIES & COLLEGES 1 WORLD POLITICS 1 TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS 1 PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION 1 READING COMPREHENSION 1 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 1 ARTICULATION (EDUCATION) 1 ASSOCIATIONS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 1

Library science and Libraries emerged in this period

One of the activities that may reflect the IL focus area was Reading comprehensionOne of the activities that may reflect the IL focus area was Reading comprehension

Except Information Technology, ALL terms recorded 1 occurrence each

Top 15 most commonly used terms: 1989-1993

No of Records LIBRARY ORIENTATION 6 ACADEMIC LIBRARIES 5 INFORMATION SCIENCE 4 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 3 INFORMATION SERVICES 3 LIBRARY SCIENCE 3 LIBRARIANS 3 COMPUTER LITERACY 2 CONGRESSES & CONVENTIONS 2 EDUCATION 2 LIBRARY SCIENCE -- SOCIETIES, ETC. 2 TRAINING 2 LIBRARIES 2 LIBRARY SCHOOLS 1 LIBRARIES & INDIANS 1

NEW TERMS THAT EMERGED DURING 1989-1993

NEW TERMS THAT EMERGED DURING 1989-1993

Information Technology means new methods of IL delivery and focus in terms of needed skillsInformation Technology means new methods of IL delivery and focus in terms of needed skills

Top 15 most commonly used terms: 1989-1993

No. of records LIBRARY ORIENTATION 17 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 12 LIBRARIANS 5 UNIVERSITIES & COLLEGES 5 ACADEMIC LIBRARIES 5 INFORMATION SOCIETY 4 COMPUTER LITERACY 4 LITERACY 4 EVALUATION 3 EDUCATION 3 LIBRARY USERS 3 INTERNET 3 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL 3 BOOKS 2 TRAINING 2 DATABASE SEARCHING 2

New Terms

Top 30 most commonly used terms: 1999-2003

Records Records LIBRARY ORIENTATION 103 EVALUATION 15 INFORMATION SCIENCE 79 GENERAL EDUCATION 13 LIBRARIANS 44 INTERNET 13 LIBRARIES 37 DISTANCE EDUCATION 13 EDUCATION 32 UNIVERSITIES & COLLEGES 13 ACADEMIC LIBRARIES 29 LEARNING 12 LIBRARY SCIENCE 28 INFO RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 11 LITERACY 25 INTERNET IN EDUCATION 11 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 23 COLLEGE STUDENTS 11 EDUCATION -- CURRICULA 23 SCHOOL LIBRARIANS 10 INFORMATION SOCIETY 20 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL 10 STUDENTS 18 CONTINUING EDUCATION 10 SCHOOL LIBRARIES 18 LITERACY PROGRAMS 10 PUBLIC LIBRARIES 15 COMPUTER-ASSISTED INSTRUCTION 10 EDUCATION, HIGHER 15 CONGRESSES & CONVENTIONS 10

Life-long learning

Top 30 most commonly used terms: 2004-2008

Records Records INFORMATION SCIENCE 450 LIBRARY ORIENTATION 100 LIBRARIES 203 EDUCATION, HIGHER 95 LIBRARIANS 198 INFO LITERACY -- STUDY & TEACHING 88 EDUCATION 163 RESEARCH 80 ACADEMIC LIBRARIES 156 INFO RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 79 LIBRARY SCIENCE 146 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL 75 UNIVERSITIES & COLLEGES 138 TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY 73 LITERACY 132 MEDIA LITERACY 73 STUDENTS 123 ELECTRONIC INFO RESOURCE LITERACY 65 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 117 LITERACY PROGRAMS 60 INFORMATION RESOURCES 110 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT 59 EDUCATION -- CURRICULA 109 EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 58 LEARNING 108 GENERAL EDUCATION 55 INFORMATION SERVICES 108 LIBRARY EMPLOYEES 52 INTERNET IN EDUCATION 102 SCHOOL LIBRARIES 52

The focus centers around (about and by) Libraries

Conclusions

• Interest in IL seems to have increased in the second half of the 1990s– Can be attributed to the Internet and WWW technologies which

brought about various challenges in information handling

• IL delivery modes have remarkably changed– 1989-2003 : Library orientation played a great role in the delivery of

IL as shown by its popularity among scholars

• IL programs centered around libraries• The term ‘Librarians’ featured prominently indicating that

the librarians have a big role to play in the delivery of IL programs

• Information technology as enabler of IL programs delivery and tools for handling information (E-information) – focus research area from mid 1980s to date

• Information literacy is tied more to electronic information and computers

• Today, practitioners are concerned with core competencies of information users, learning theories, conceptual frameworks, active learning, and critical thinking

Recommendations

• Collaboration between librarians and LIS schools in the provision of IL programs?

• What will be the role of society for which the programs are intended, i.e. in terms of their input into what is offered?

• What are the core topics of IL, i.e. topics that MUST be included in the curriculum? Can the core/periphery model of the full-text IL literature provide the answer? – Area for further research

THANKS