Abstract

This chapter aims to present an overview of the multifaceted concept of information literacy. It should be seen as an exploration of ways of comprehending information literacy. The main questions are: what are the dominating ways of seeing information literacy and why is there an information-literacy initiative? Many authors rightly claim that the task of educating information-literate students and people is not the responsibility of one single group or profession, and consequently this chapter also looks at collaborative aspects of information-literacy education. In accordance with the scope of this book the chapter also presents information literacy in the light of other literacies.

Introduction

That information literacy is of great interest to many is evident by the amount of publications that relate to the concept (see Rader, 2002). Among its advocates one group dominates, namely librarians, which is apparent by the number of contributions to the literature made by library professionals. Despite the fact that the term ‘information literacy’ is said to have been coined in the early 1970s (Carbo, 1997), it is evident that the pedagogical ambition which goes along with information literacy education was recognized by librarians long before that:

Ways of comprehending information literacy

When reviewing a number of documents with the common aim of defining or presenting an overview of the concept of information literacy (see e.g. Owusu- Ansah, 2003; Kapitzke, 2003) it becomes apparent that it is a concept that is often similarly regarded. Definitions and models, with slight variations, continuously appear, often in the form of lists that easily remind the reader of recipes or panaceas. The most widely spread of them all is formulated by the American Library Association (1989, 1):

Seemingly stemming from the above definition, lists of desired attributes and standardized descriptions of how an information-literate student (or person) should behave or function have been developed.