Sundin, Olof

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Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITYPO Box 117221 00 Lund+46 46-222 00 00From the periphery to the centre: some aspects regarding the future of informationliteracy researchSundin, Olof2011Link to publicationCitation for published version (APA):Sundin, O. (2011). From the periphery to the centre: some aspects regarding the future of information literacyresearch. Abstract from Social Media and Information Practices Workshop.Total number of authors:1General rightsUnless other specific re-use rights are stated the following general rights apply:Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authorsand/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by thelegal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private studyor research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portalRead more about Creative commons licenses: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will removeaccess to the work immediately and investigate your claim.Information Literacy Practices-track of the Social Media and Information Practices Workshop, Borås 10-11 November 2011. 	  	   1	  Position	  paper	  	  From	   the	   periphery	   to	   the	   centre:	   some	   aspects	   regarding	   the	   future	   of	   information	  literacy	  research	  	  Olof	  Sundin,	  University	  of	  Borås	  and	  Lund	  University	  	  During	   the	   last	  decade,	   information	   literacy	  research	  has	  developed	   from	  a	  behaviouristic	  and	  constructivist	   tradition	  with	  strong	  professional	  orientation	  to	  a	  growing	  research	   field,	  which	  to	  an	   increasing	  extent	  also	   incorporates	  an	  awareness	  of	   sociocultural	  aspects.	  An	   interest	   in	  sociocultural	   aspects	   of	   information	   literacy	   in	   a	   broad	   and	   including	   sense	   is	   also	   something	  that	   unites	   not	   least	   researchers	   in	   a,	   what	   might	   be	   called,	   Nordic-­‐Australian	   information	  literacy	  research	  community.	  These	  aspects	  have	  been	  explored	  in	  various	  theoretical	  positions.	  Empirically,	   information	   literacy	   research	   has	   never	   been	   so	   in	   line	   with	   contemporary	  questions	   as	   it	   is	   now	   with	   a	   focus	   on	   questions	   deriving	   from	   society’s	   digitisation	   and	  medialisation.	   The	   empirical	   arenas	   for	   research	   have	   been	   broadened	   and	   include	  work	   life,	  everyday	  life	  and	  the	  educational	  sector	  (from	  pre-­‐school	  to	  university	  level).	  The	  field	  has	  taken	  on	   the	   challenges	   posed	   by	   ‘new’	   digital	   media.	   Methodologically,	   there	   has	   been	   a	   growing	  interest	  in	  qualitative	  methods	  in	  what	  might	  be	  called	  an	  ethnographic	  tradition	  among	  many	  information	   literacy	   research	   scholars.	   In	   institutional	   terms,	   there	   are	   well-­‐developed	  collaborations	   between	   different	   academic	   departments.	   Furthermore,	   a	   large	   field	   of	  practitioners	   with	   an	   interest	   in	   the	   area,	   primarily	   from	   the	   library	   sector,	   exists.	   In	   other	  words,	   the	   research	   field	  of	   information	   literacy	  has	  been	  growing	  both	   in	  breadth	   and	  depth	  and	   during	   the	   last	   decade	   its	   research	   has	   gained	   momentum	   in	   its	   presence	   in	   scholarly	  journals	  and	  conferences	  within	  library	  and	  information	  studies.	  	  At	  the	  same	  time,	  this	  narrative	  of	  research	  progress	  must	  be	  supplemented	  with	  some	  of	  the	  weaknesses	  of	  the	  field:	  • Information	   literacy	   has	   different	   meanings	   in	   different	   theoretical	   approaches.	   This	  doesn’t	  have	  to	  be	  a	  problem,	  but	  currently,	  when	  much	  of	  research	  is	  actually	  dedicated	  to	  define	  and	  establish	  one	  meaning,	  the	  field	  tends	  to	  be	  fragmented	  and	  without	  much	  communication	  between	  different	  research	  camps.	  	  • As	  another	  consequence,	  article	  and	  conference	  manuscripts	  on	  information	  literacy	  are	  sometimes	   peer-­‐reviewed	   by	   scholars	   working	   in	   a	   completely	   different	   theoretical	  tradition.	   That	   is,	   we	   believe	   we	   talk	   about	   the	   same	   ‘thing’,	   but	   we	   do	   not	   always	  understand	  each	  other.	  • The	   field	   of	   information	   literacy	   was	   originally	   developed	   in	   the	   professional	   field	   of	  librarianship	  and	  accordingly	  the	  understanding	  of	  information	  literacy	  is	  often	  created	  within	  the	  professional	  practice.	  That	  is,	  there	  often	  exist	  strong	  normative	  assumptions.	  • Information	   literacy	   research	   does	   not	   always	   relate	   to	   other	   literacy	   research	   (for	  instance	   within	   the	   field	   of	   New	   Literacy	   Research	   or	   New	   Literacies	   Research).	   For	  example,	  there	  is	  today	  a	  huge	  interest	  in	  digital	   literacy	  research	  that	  is	  of	  importance	  for	   the	   field	  of	   information	   literacy.	  That	   is,	  our	   impact	  on	  policy	  and	  research	  outside	  our	  own	  narrow	  realm	  is	  limited,	  yet	  unnecessarily	  so.	  	  • Prominent	   scholars	   of	   information	   literacy	   research	   experience,	   with	   exceptions,	   still	  difficulties	   in	   attracting	   research	   funding	   from	   prestige	   funders.	   That	   is,	   we	   need	   to	  develop	  research	  ideas	  of	  interest	  also	  for	  other	  disciplines.	  	  Together,	   the	   positive	   development	   of	   information	   literacy	   as	   a	   research	   field	   as	   well	   as	   the	  difficulties	  it	  still	  faces	  makes	  the	  direction	  of	  future	  research	  both	  exciting	  and	  important.	  	  When	  we	   talk	   about	   information	   literacy,	   at	   least	   three	   levels	   of	   understanding	   of	   the	  combination	  of	   the	   two	  words	   can	  be	   found.	  First	  of	   all,	   information	   literacy	   can	  be	  used	  as	  a	  description	   of	   a	   research	   field	   that	   unites	   scholars	   from	   different	   departments	   and	   even	  different	   disciplines	   to	  work	   together.	   Let	   us	   talk	   about	   this	   understanding	   as	   an	   institutional	  Information Literacy Practices-track of the Social Media and Information Practices Workshop, Borås 10-11 November 2011. 	  	   2	  level	  of	  understanding	  of	  information	  literacy.	  Information	  literacy	  understood	  at	  an	  institutional	  level	   makes	   us	   come	   together	   and	   discuss	   important	   issues,	   for	   example	   in	   the	   forum	   of	   an	  information	  literacy	  research	  workshop	  in	  Borås.	  It	  invites	  us	  to	  send	  in	  manuscripts	  to	  special	  issues	   and	   to	   attain	   certain	   conferences.	   Secondly,	   there	   is	   an	   empirical	   level	  of	  understanding	  that	  concerns	  what	  kind	  of	  empirical	  phenomena	  we	  are	  actually	  interested	  in	  and	  investigate	  in	  our	   research.	   That	   could	  be	   anything	   from	  how	   students	   learn	  how	   to	   critically	   assess	   search	  engines	  to	  how	  employees	  learn	  the	  practices	  necessary	  for	  communicating	  and	  interacting	  at	  a	  workplace.	   Finally,	   there	   is	   a	   theoretical	   understanding	   of	   information	   literacy	   that	   strives	   to	  develop	  a	  theoretical	  lens	  for	  the	  field	  of	  research,	  i.e.	  how	  people	  learn	  information	  literacy.	  A	  theoretical	   understanding	   of	   information	   literacy	   often	   guides	   the	   empirical	   understanding	   of	  what	  can	  be	  regarded	  as	   information	   literacies.	  When	   the	   theoretical	   foundation	  of	  a	   research	  perspective	   is	   not	   considered	   or	   seen	   as	   the	   only	   one	   possible,	   the	   theoretical	   understanding	  makes	  discussions	  between	  different	  theoretical	  strands	  problematic.	  	  The	  term	  ‘information’	  in	  information	  literacy	  does	  sometimes	  obscure	  what	  we	  actually	  do	  research	  on.	  On	  the	  one	  hand,	  it	  is	  a	  generalised	  concept	  that	  risks	  hiding	  materiality	  (digital	  as	  well	  as	  physical).	  (As	  a	  consequence,	  it	  is	  sometimes	  possible	  to	  read	  an	  information	  literacy	  article	   without	   really	   understanding	   what	   it	   is	   about).	   On	   the	   other	   hand,	   by	   labelling	   our	  research	  as	  information	  literacy,	  we	  risk	  to	  fall	  outside	  the	  growing	  area	  of	  literacy	  research	  in	  general,	  and	  maybe	  digital	  literacy	  research	  in	  particular,	  which	  many	  of	  us	  are	  interested	  in	  and	  have	  a	  strong	  potential	  to	  contribute	  to.	  As	  a	  way	  forward,	  and	  this	  is	  a	  tentative	  thought,	  why	  do	  we	  not	  talk	  less	  about	  “information	  literacy”	  and	  focus	  more	  on	  what	  we	  actually	  research;	  the	  research	   questions	  we	   ask?	   In	   this	  way,	   the	   information	   literacy	   concept	   could	   be	   deflated	   in	  favour	  of	  a	  stronger	  focus	  on	  research	  questions	  that	  are	  also	  regarded	  as	  important	  outside	  the	  field	  of	  information	  literacy	  itself.	  On	  an	  institutional	  level,	  information	  literacy	  research	  is	  still	  what	  we	  are	  engaged	  in,	  yet	  we	  could	  more	  easily	  communicate	  this	  research	  to	  others.	  Our	   disciplinary	   background	  makes	   some	   research	   questions	   possible	   and	   others	   less	  obviously	   relevant	   or	   at	   least	   less	   expected.	   One	   important	   empirical	   arena,	   out	   of	  many,	   for	  doing	  research	   is	  doubtless	   the	  ways	  digital	  environments	  become	   important	  part	   in	  our	   lives	  and	  how	  we	  give	  meaning	  to	  information	  in	  different	  practices.	  Our	  research	  tradition	  makes	  us	  very	  suited	  for	  the	  current	  multidisciplinary	  exploration	  of	  peoples’	  interaction	  in	  and	  with	  the	  web.	  At	   the	   same	   time	  as	  we	  avoid	   the	   trap	  of	   technological	  determinism,	  we	  need	   to	   take	  on	  board	   the	  many	   exciting	   research	  questions	  waiting	   to	   be	   asked.	  How	   can	  we	  understand	   the	  development	  of	  the	  Internet	  from	  a	  source	  of	  information	  to	  a	  place	  of	  being,	  from	  a	  information	  literacy	   scholar	   perspective?	  My	  own	   research	   experiences	   in	   the	   field	   of	   information	   literacy	  are	   primarily	   from	   the	   area	   of	   education.	   From	   that	   perspective,	   I	   am	   primarily	   interested	   in	  questions	   concerning	   how	   new	   digital	  media	   interplay	  with	   educational	   practices.	   Interesting	  research	   question	   could	   be,	   but	   are	   of	   course	   not	   limited	   to:	   How	   is	   knowledge	   configured,	  ascribed	   authority	   and	   communicated	   in	   the	   changing	  media	   ecology?	  What	   are	   the	   changing	  requirements	   for	  students	  as	  well	  as	  pedagogues	  of	   today?	  How	  can	  media,	  developed	  outside	  formal	  educational	  practices,	  be	  given	  meaning	  in	  schools	  and	  universities?	  How	  can	  a	  didactic	  for	  an	  increasingly	  digitised	  classroom	  be	  developed?	  I	  will	  end	  this	  position	  paper	  with	  three	  questions,	  that	  I	  think,	  we	  as	  scholars	  should	  ask	  ourselves	   in	   order	   to	   advance	   contribution	   from	   information	   literacy	   scholars	   (with	   the	  institutional	   level	   of	   understanding)	   to	   the	   overall	   field	   of	   literacy	   studies.	   There	   is	   not	   one	  answer	   to	   these	   questions,	   but	  many	   and	   they	   should	   of	   course	   be	   supplemented	  with	   other	  ones:	  • What	  kinds	  of	  research	  questions	  do	  we	  as	   information	  literacy	  scholars	  ask	  compared	  to	  scholars	  from	  other	  disciplines	  interested	  in	  literacy	  issues?	  • How	  do	  we	  as	  information	  literacy	  scholars	  construct	  a	  research	  field	  at	  the	  same	  time	  as	  we	  communicate	  our	  research	  in	  ways	  that	  create	  an	  interest	  outside	  our	  research	  field?	  • What	  are	  the	  interdisciplinary	  connections	  we	  could	  use	  in	  order	  to	  develop	  the	  impact	  of	  our	  research	  outside	  our	  research	  field?	  

From the periphery to the centre: some aspects regarding the future of information literacy research

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From the periphery to the centre: some aspects regarding the future of information literacy research

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