critical information literacy
TRANSCRIPT
Critical approaches to information literacyCity, University of LondonLibrary and Information Science Foundation (INM301)
Lauren Smith
Research Associate, School of Education and Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde
@walkyouhome
Today’s Session
Critical approaches to librarianship
Relevance of critical theory
Critical approaches to information literacy
Examples of critical information literacy
Critical approaches to LIS
Social justice: “a normative concept concerning the
ways in which resources and power should be shared across society”.
(Ross and Rosati 2006, p.437)
“The ethos of critical librarianship is inextricably linked to the ethos of intellectual freedom, and by
extension then the concept of human rights.” (Samek 2007)
ValuesFreedom of inquiry
Equality
Freedom of
expressionEquity
PrivacyDemocracy
The public good
Social justice
DiversityPolitical agency
“LIS is…very interested in the betterment of society, from the development of national information policies, to the provision of user-friendly and equitable access to information, the inclusion of diverse and /or marginalized clienteles, the support of citizen lifelong learning, the nurturing of the library in the community, and many other proactive areas of research and practice.” (Leckie et al. 2010, p.xiii)
Why engage with theory?
“Our discourse… tends to favo[u]r technical and managerial language use, which in turn prevents librarians from critically examining and evaluating information resources and systems” (Leckie et al. 2010, p.xi)
“Library and information science has traditionally been exceptionally empirical and not very theoretically oriented in any of its subfields. Critical and emancipatory perspectives have rarely been seen.” (Hansson 2010)
“Simply being a field where most graduate students go into professional contexts, however, is not a justification for inadequately engaging theory.” (Jaeger 2010)
Benefits of critical approaches
Engaging with the ‘rudiments and theory’ behind
values and aims
Frameworks for understanding – e.g. why and how
to not capitulate to/collude with fascist regimes
Frameworks for problem-solving – e.g. how to meaningfully serve marginalised groups
Understanding how the system works to avoid becoming part of the system in attempting to
change the system
Limitations of critical theory
Not always viewed as legitimate ‘theory’
Not always accessible
Doesn’t always offer solutions to problems
Can be difficult to apply in practice
Theories and themes
Critical pedagogy
Feminist theory
Queer theory
Critical race theory
Post-colonialism
Marxist theory
Practice theory
Cultural studies
Semiology
Education systems
Library spaces
Role of libraries and librarians
Library neutrality
Information organisation / taxonomy / bibliographic description and classification
Information
encountering/seeking/sharing/using
Information evaluation
Access to information
Censorship and privacy
Information literacy
A new “information literacy” is
necessary for liberation from the oppressive effects of the
institutionalized public media. (Hamelink 1976)
Critical information literacy
“Critical information literacy asks librarians to
work with their patrons and communities to co-investigate the political, social, and economic
dimensions of information, including its creation, access, and use. This approach to
information literacy seeks to involve learners in
better understanding systems of oppression while also identifying opportunities to take
action upon them.”
(Tewell 2016)
Critical information literacy
Aligns with critical pedagogy
Aligns with values of librarianship – access to information and freedom of expression
Ideology of education that promotes democracy and opposes oppression (Giroux 2007)
Idea of empowered, intentional learner (Doherty and Ketchner
2005)
Banking Theory of Education
The media inform and the audience is being informed.
The media know everything and the audience knows nothing.
The media talk and the audience listens - meekly.
The media choose and enforce their choice and the audience complies.
The media act and the audience has the illusion of acting through the
action of the media.
The media choose content and the audience adapts to it.
The media are the subject of the informational process, while the
audience is merely its object. (Freire)
Praxis
Combining "reflection and action directed at the structures to be
transformed" (Freire 2005, p.126)
Kairos - changing how we think about our work, not always changing
how we do it (Drabinski 2015)
Liberatory Syllabuses
“It is easy for academic subjects to become abstract
and meaningless to students. I resent this practice and
so I strive to share with you a practical and personally
meaningful education. At the same time, I am
responsible for balancing the desires of the University, the influences of economic forces, and the mandates
of the government with my personal teaching style. This
is not easy. Each collective member of the classroom
must advocate for his or her own needs. With your help,
I hope to never lose track of what’s truly important: our mutual learning.”
(Heidebrink-Bruno 2014)
School libraries
Students want to know about political events
Schools are supposed to be ‘neutral’ – in reality are vaguely apolitical but not neutral
Computers apply strong (heavy) filtering
How can librarians support right to information?
Teaching critical thinking when evaluating information sources
Acknowledging alternative forms of knowledge (i.e. not just sanctioned websites and textbooks)
Political engagement
Critical information literacy aims to “reverse trends of exclusion from
political participation and enable
people to participate in the decisions
and events that affect their lives.”
(Whitworth 2009, p.118)
Experiences of political information
1) A range of sources of information;
2) Something encountered out of context;
3) Something to fill a knowledge gap;
4) Something through which to gain meaning and context;
5) Something relevant to one’s own life;
6) Something that can help to achieve social change.
(Smith 2015)
Relevant critical approaches(Smith 2015)
Information experiences Critical theoryUnderstanding of media bias (omission, selection, placement,
labelling, spin)
Media literacy (Giroux, 2007, pp.229-241)
View of schooling as preparation for work, not learning how
to be a citizen
Marketisation of education, democratic public spheres
(Giroux, 2012, pp.36-37)
View of young people as not knowledgeable or responsible
enough to participate in politics
Manufactured cynicism (Giroux, 2006, p.83)
Trust in media to report all ‘important’ news, faith that
media will tell truth
Media literacy (Giroux, 2007, pp.229-241), critical pedagogy
(Giroux, 2011)
Influence of images in the media on how participants feel
about current events and world conflict
Culture of fear (Giroux, 2006, pp.200-201)
Interpretation of violence and formation of political
attitudes relating to it
Consumerism, masculinity, violence, politics , gender
relations (Giroux, 2006, pp.205-225)
Debating and understanding structure of arguments –
applying this to own lives
Politics of possibility (Giroux, 2006, pp.229-236)
Concerns about welfare, benefits and immigration.
Knowledge or understanding of economic situation
Ideological hegemony (Giroux, 2011, p.22)
View of young people as a group influenced by media
portrayals
Youth panic (Giroux, 2011, p.91)
Applying critical pedagogy
Activity that asks students to explore library databases and present them to the class
Discussing power with students in terms of viewpoints represented within a database
Consider what and who is and is not represented and why
Discussion about who gets to be a scholar and thus who has a voice in the literature
Ways in which information organization (subject headings) are also problematic, particularly when it comes to gender identity and sexuality
Base the class on students’ questions
“do a pre-search in a database on a topic with a bit
of controversy and see if I can get a results list that is eye-opening…I had students look at the results list
and evaluate the first 3-5 results and then we discussed their evaluation process…we talked about how information is created and who does the
creating, including looking at who was funding the research in the peer review journals and who had
ads in the trade journals.” (Tewell 2016)
Critical literature searching
“How does air quality affect women’s health?”
Try to use a search example/keywords/ideas
that will expose students to a set of results that gets them thinking about an important topic
Relevant to the student population in terms of geography, health, and economic disparity, but
also draws attention to the gendered dimensions of environmental racism
(Tewell 2016)
Problem-posing (Freire)
“[We looked into] when a specific law was passed
and who the primary players were in passing the law. This sounds simple, but there was misinformation all
over the place about this law. The Wikipedia entry was wrong and had been cited over and over so the wrong date was starting to appear as the “official
date.” This was wonderful for our purposes because we had conversations about source type,
government documents, how information gets perpetuated, sourcing and evaluation, etc.”
(Tewell 2016)
Academic publishing as legitimacy
“I had walked students through the peer review process,
why it is important yet flawed, who engages in it and why,
etc. Then, because another course outcome dealt with
understanding “the disciplines,” we moved to the history
of Chicano/a studies and its struggle for legitimacy in the
academy. One of the ways in which it contributed to
academic discussions/developed a canon and thus
gained legitimacy in the world of higher education, was
by establishing its own scholarly journals.”
(Tewell 2016)
Risks of critical IL
Furthering ‘post-truth’ crisis, descent into relativism
Feeling ‘underqualified’ to engage
Demanding nature of critical work
De-emphasises library as a resource
Exercise: Elmborg (2006)
In groups, consider:
Do you consider librarians to be educators/teachers?
What do you think might be the implications of the role of librarians as educators?
To what extent do you think the critique of linear models of IL is fair?
What do you think about the Evolving Definitions of Literacy? (p.195)
Exercise: Critical information literacy
How have you provide information literacy instruction before?
In what ways do ‘traditional’ approaches to IL reproduce ideas
about information as a commodity, problematic ways of
establishing the authority of sources etc?
In what ways does the classroom set-up reinforce hierarchical
relationships between learner and librarian?
How might you approach things differently?
#critlib
Twitter chats are an opportunity for synchronous bursts of
conversation on current topics. We started the #critlib
chat to build a conversation about issues of critical
pedagogy in academic libraries, but topics have grown
to include library assessment, gender in RDA, and library responses to social justice actions in our communities.
Publicly exploring our assumptions about our profession is
sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes fiery, and always
an opportunity for growth and action.
(Pho et al. 2015)
Radical Librarians Collective
Under the loose
umbrella of RLC, moves
began to create a
public space in which
people could build a network of support and
solidarity, offering an
alternative to the
dominant discourse.
http://rlc.radicallibrarianship.org/
Twitter: @RadicalLibs
National gatherings
Regional meetings: @RadLibsOx @RLC_SE
Online discussion: #radlibs and #radlibchat
Journal of Radical Librarianship
Collaborative toolkits and resources
Recommended Reading
• Radical Librarians Collective collaborative reading list• #critlis reading list: http://bit.ly/2fwtgOv
References
Alvesson, M., & Spicer, a. (2012). Critical leadership studies: The case for critical performativity. Human Relations, 65(3), 367–390. doi:10.1177/0018726711430555
Cooke, N. A., Sweeney, M. E., and Noble, S. U. (2016). Social justice as topic and tool: An attempt to transform a LIS curriculum and culture. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, 86(1), 107-124.
Doherty, J. J. (2007). No Shhing : Giving Voice to the Silenced: An Essay in Support of Critical Information Literacy. Library Philosophy and Practice , 6(22), 1–8. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/133
Drabinski, E. (2015). ACRL Instruction Section Ilene F. RockmanPublication of the Year Award – Emily Drabinski. http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/librarians/features/ala_awards2015.htm?part=3#sthash.QMZUWDBt.dpuf
Freire, P. (2005). Pedagogy of the Oppressed (3rd ed.). London: Continuum.
Giroux, H. (2007). The University in Chains: Confronting the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex. London: Paradigm.
Hamelink, C. (1976). An Alternative to News. Journal of Communication, 20.
Hansson, J. (2010) Chantal Mouffe’s Theory of Agonistic Pluralism and Its Relevance for Library and Information Science Research. In Leckie, G. J., Given, L. M., & Buschman, J. E. (2010). Critical Theory for Library and Information Science: Exploring the Social from Across the Discipline. Oxford: Libraries Unlimited.
Heidebrink-Bruno, A. (2014). Syllabus as Manifesto: A Critical Approach to Classroom Culture. Hybrid Pedagogy. http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/syllabus-manifesto-critical-approach-classroom-culture/
Jaeger, P. T. (2010). Education, Adoption, and Development: Building a Culture of Social Theory in LIS. The Library Quarterly, 80(3), 203–209. http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1086/652967
Pho, A., Drabinski, E., Ettarh, F., McElroy, K., Pagowsky, N. (2015). "But We're Neutral!" And Other Librarian Fictions Confronted by #critlib, ALA San Francisco. http://alaac15.ala.org/node/28722
Ross, Robert, and Clayton Rosati. 2006. Social justice. In Encyclopedia of human geography, ed. Barney Warf, 437–38. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Schroeder, R., & Hollister, C. V. (2014). Librarians’ Views on Critical Theories and Critical Practices. Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, 33(2), 91–119. http://doi.org/10.1080/01639269.2014.912104
Smith, L. (2015). “I think the only time I care about politics, is if it affects me or my family. If it doesn’t, I have no reason to care about it”: exploring young people’s political agency and the role of information literacy from a critical pedagogical perspective – CAPAL 2015, Ottawa, 1st June 2015.
Samek, T. (2007). Critical Librarianship: an interview with Toni Samek. BCLA Intellectual Freedom Committee blog. https://bclaifc.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/critical-librarianship-an-interview-with-toni-samek/
Schroeder, R., & Hollister, C. V. (2014). Librarians’ Views on Critical Theories and Critical Practices. Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, 33(2), 91–119. doi:10.1080/01639269.2014.912104
Tewell, E. (2016) Putting Critical Information Literacy Into Context: How And Why Librarians Adopt Critical Practices In Their Teaching. In the Lubrary with the Lead Pipe. http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2016/putting-critical-information-literacy-into-context-how-and-why-librarians-adopt-critical-practices-in-their-teaching/
Whitworth, A. (2009). Teaching in the relational frame: the Media and Information Literacy course at Manchester. Journal of Information Literacy, 3 (2), pp.25–38. Available from: http://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/JIL/article/view/PRA-V3-I2-2009-2
Thank You
@walkyouhome
www.laurensmith.wordpress.com