Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Alternatives to Being Information Literate

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Information Literacy in the Workplace (ECIL 2017)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 810))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

In contrast to the relative abundance of conceptualisations of “information literacy”, the earlier research has placed considerably less attention on its alternatives. The findings show that there are shades of being less and non-literate beyond a mere lack of necessary skills or engagement in inappropriate practices. Information illiteracy can be experienced as a problem but it can also represent a conscious choice for delimiting and organising information practices. From a theoretical and practical perspective, this study suggests that both information literacies and information illiteracies should be taken into account in information literacy research and education, and when developing and deploying information systems and services to compensate for the lack of literacies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 155.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Stordy, P.: Taxonomy of literacies. J. Doc. 71(3), 456–476 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Lloyd, A.: Framing information literacy as information practice: site ontology and practice theory. J. Doc. 66(2), 245–258 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Tuominen, K., Savolainen, R., Talja, S.: Information literacy as a sociotechnical practice. Libr. Q. 75(3), 329–345 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bawden, D.: Information and digital literacies: a review of concepts. J. Doc. 57(2), 218–259 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Crawford, J., Irving, C.: Information literacy in the workplace: a qualitative exploratory study. J. Librariansh. Inf. Sci. 41(1), 29–38 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Huvila, I.: The complete information literacy? Unforgetting creation and organisation of information. J. Librariansh. Inf. Sci. 43(4), 237–245 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Limberg, L., Sundin, O., Talja, S.: Three theoretical perspectives on information literacy. Hum. IT 11(2), 93–130 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Eckerdal, J.R.: To jointly negotiate a personal decision: a qualitative study on information literacy practices in midwifery counselling about contraceptives at youth centres in Southern Sweden. Inf. Res. 16(1) (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Wallis, J.: Information-saturated yet ignorant: information mediation as social empowerment in the knowledge economy. Libr. Rev. 52(8), 369–372 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Hernon, P., Schwartz, C.: Information literacy: time to move beyond more of the same? Libr. Inf. Sci. Res. 36(3/4), 133–134 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Stewart, C.: Measuring information literacy: beyond the case study. J. Acad. Librariansh. 37(3), 270–272 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Lloyd, A.: Information literacy as a socially enacted practice: sensitising themes for an emerging perspective of people-in-practice. J. Doc. 68(6), 772–783 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Walsh, A.: Information literacy assessment: where do we start? J. Librariansh. Inf. Sci. 41(1), 19–28 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Hicks, A., Lloyd, A.: It takes a community to build a framework: information literacy within intercultural settings. J. Inf. Sci. 42(3), 334–343 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Green, R.: Information illiteracy: examining our assumptions. J. Acad. Librariansh. 36(4), 313–319 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Lin, P.: Information literacy barriers: language use and social structure. Libr. Hi Tech 28, 548–568 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Perelman, L.: Information illiteracy and mass market writing assessments. Coll. Compos. Commun. 60(1), 128–141 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Mensching, G.E., Mensching, T.B. (eds.): Coping with Information Illiteracy: bibliographic instruction for the information age. Papers Presented at the Seventeenth National LOEX Library Instruction Conference Held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 4–5 May 1989. Pierian, Ann Arbor (1989)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Hedemark, A., Hedman, J., Sundin, O.: Speaking of users: on user discourses in the field of public libraries. Inf. Res. 10(2) (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Haider, J., Bawden, D.: Conceptions of “information poverty” in LIS: a discourse analysis. J. Doc. 63(4), 534–557 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Olsson, M.R.: Re-thinking our concept of users. Aust. Acad. Res. Libr. 40(1), 22–35 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Huvila, I.: Information Services and Digital Literacy: in Search of the Boundaries of Knowing. Chandos, Oxford (2012)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  23. Sundin, O., Francke, H.: In search of credibility: pupils’ information practices in learning environments. Inf. Res. 14(4) (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  24. DuBois, A.: Close reading: an introduction. In: Lentricchia, F., DuBois, A. (eds.) Close Reading: A Reader, pp. 1–40. Duke University Press, Durham (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Huvila, I.: Awkwardness of becoming a boundary object: mangle and materialities of reports, documentation data and the archaeological work. Inf. Soc. 32(4), 280–297 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Huvila, I.: ‘If we just knew who should do it’, or the social organization of the archiving of archaeology in Sweden. Inf. Res. 21(2) (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Sundin, O., Francke, H., Limberg, L.: Practicing information literacy in the classroom: policies, instructions, and grading. Dan. bibl. 7(2/3), 7–17 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Lundh, A.: Studying information needs as question-negotiations in an educational context: a methodological comment. In: Information Research, vol. 15, no. 4. Special Supplement: Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science – Unity in Diversity – Part 2 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Hill, M.W.: The Impact of Information on Society. Bowker-Saur, London (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Huvila, I.: How a museum knows? Structures, work roles, and infrastructures of information work. JASIST 64(7), 1375–1387 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study has been conducted under the auspices of the Archaeological information in the digital society project, funded by the Swedish Research Council Grant (VR) grant 340-2012-5751. The work is also affiliated with the The Impact of Information Literacy in the Digital Workplace (DiWIL) project at Åbo Akademi University, Finland funded by the Academy of Finland.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of ALM, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Isto Huvila

Authors
  1. Isto Huvila
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Isto Huvila .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hacettepe University, Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey

    Serap Kurbanoğlu

  2. University of Paris-Est, Champs-sur-Marne, France

    Joumana Boustany

  3. University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

    Sonja Špiranec

  4. University of California (UCLA), Los Angeles, California, USA

    Esther Grassian

  5. University of California (UCLA), Los Angeles, California, USA

    Diane Mizrachi

  6. University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA

    Loriene Roy

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Huvila, I. (2018). Alternatives to Being Information Literate. In: Kurbanoğlu, S., Boustany, J., Špiranec, S., Grassian, E., Mizrachi, D., Roy, L. (eds) Information Literacy in the Workplace. ECIL 2017. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 810. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74334-9_82

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74334-9_82

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-74333-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-74334-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation