The multifaceted nature of information literacy : solving the Rubik cube puzzle

Welcome to the second issue of JIL 2009. The papers in the previous issue (Vol 3, 1, 2009) focused primarily on information literacy education in the context of HE. The collection of papers presented in this issue positions information literacy in diverse contexts, implying that this phenomenon has finally permeated our social, educational and professional consciousness. This is in line with Catts and Lau’s claim that information literacy “needs to be considered not only in relation to education, but also in the broader context of work, civil society, and health and well being” (Catts and Lau 2008, p. 9). The diverse interpretations of information literacy presented in this issue are illustrated by a visual metaphor which has inspired the title of this editorial ‘The multifaceted nature of information literacy: solving the Rubik cube puzzle’. Each facet of information literacy corresponds to one of the colours of the Rubik cube1. At the start these facets are fragmented, and only by investigating the nature of these facets and the dynamics between them will we be able to see information literacy as an integrated, coherent but many sided whole. This editorial takes the first step towards solving the Rubik cube puzzle of information literacy.

elcome to the second issue of JIL 2009.The papers in the previous issue (Vol 3, 1, 2009) focused primarily on information literacy education in the context of HE.The collection of papers presented in this issue positions information literacy in diverse contexts, implying that this phenomenon has finally permeated our social, educational and professional consciousness.This is in line with Catts and Lau's claim that information literacy "needs to be considered not only in relation to education, but also in the broader context of work, civil society, and health and well being" (Catts and Lau 2008, p. 9).The diverse interpretations of information literacy presented in this issue are illustrated by a visual metaphor which has inspired the title of this editorial 'The multifaceted nature of information literacy: solving the Rubik cube puzzle'.Each facet of information literacy corresponds to one of the colours of the Rubik cube1 .At the start these facets are fragmented, and only by investigating the nature of these facets and the dynamics between them will we be able to see information literacy as an integrated, coherent but many sided whole.This editorial takes the first step towards solving the Rubik cube puzzle of information literacy.

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Ferguson's examination of information literacy within the context of Knowledge Management (KM) and multiple literacies points to a 'corporate' facet.He identifies three types of literacies that are normally associated with KM, these include basic literacy, computer literacy and information literacy which is defined as "the ability to find and use information", a description, Ferguson argues, that is "increasingly questioned within the KM literature".Ferguson makes a clear distinction between information literacy seen from the educational perspective and information literacy seen from the KM context.The former fosters the development of individual learners, and is concerned with "codified forms of knowledge" (i.e.published and explicit).The latter promotes organisational and collective developments and is concerned with tacit knowledge, or "the knowledge locked away in people's head".Ferguson acknowledges the need to develop a knowledge literacy that enables the manipulation of both forms of knowledge in order to "develop and nurture the knowledge sharing practices and information literate workforce that are necessary if organisations are to be adaptive, innovative and robust".
Whitworth also operates within a context of multiple literacies by combining the Relational frame, from 'The Six Frames of Information Literacy' (Bruce et al, 2007), with critical theory in an attempt to "bridge the gap between IL and multiliteracies".He defines multiliteracies as media literacy, information literacy and other literacies related to specific value systems, such as environmentalism and religion.In his paper the Six Frames are classified according to different schemes of valuing information and different ways of portraying literacy, i.e. conventional, emergent and comprehensive.The "three domains of information literacy" that result from this classification are described in terms of conventional literacy and objective measurements (Content and Competencies frames), emergent literacy and subjective measurements (Learning how to Learn and Personal frames), comprehensive literacy and inter-subjective measurements (Social Impact and Relational frames).Whitworth argues that "To be communicatively competent in the information age requires learners to be able to move between frames [..]".Following from this, he proposes to go beyond the "one size fits all" strategy that promotes information literacy solely as a set of objectively measured skills and argues in favour of a critical and relational facet of information literacy.
Marshall et al. present another facet of information literacy that has been described as "functional literacy" (Andretta 2007, p. 1) and one of the "survival literacies of the 21 st Century" (Horton 2007, p. 3) because it reflects the processing of information for everyday concerns.In the context of health, which is the focus of this paper, the functional role of information literacy is expressed in terms of health literacy, encompassing the ability to interact with information and ICT to address a health problem.The Net.Weight study presented by Marshall et al. investigates adults who process information related to weight management and concerns about "being over the healthy weight for their height".In particular, the paper reflects on the findings from a survey, one of the methods employed in this study, to examine the types of sources and the information behaviours that underpin the weight management activities of this group.Walker gives a further example of functional literacy within the context of developing an information literate citizenry in the 21 st century by examining the relationship between information literacy and the information seeking behaviours of parents.His investigation is significant because it addresses the gap in the information literacy literature about this social group.Walker identifies a number of themes that affect the parents' interaction with information.Personally, I find the theme of 'emotions' intriguing, as it shows extreme cases of positive and negative outcomes of information seeking by these parents.Positive emotions, such as the feeling of empowerment, seem to motivate a mother into finding the information about the effects of the MMR (Measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine.On the other hand, feelings of anxiety often escalate into panic, as shown by the experience of a first time mother who did not know what to do when her child came out in a rash and was unable to find the information to address this problem.In both of these papers 'people' are presented as a useful source of information.In the study by Marshall et al. social networks, such as slimming groups, are seen as helpful because they provide collective support, while in Walker's study, family members and friends are seen as trustworthy because of their experience as parents.
Foreman and Thomson discuss the professional facet of information literacy by illustrating its application "in the workplace".Their paper gives an account of the Information Literacy Strategy devised to foster information literacy competences of the staff working within the Scottish Government (SG) in order to "support high quality decision making".Such a strategy was developed as a result of findings from interviews carried out by Crawford and Irving (Crawford and Irving 2009), and a survey, carried out by the authors of this paper, eliciting the view of SG staff around their information processing practices.One issue presented by Foreman and Thomson is the perception of the library services by SG staff.On one hand, staff dispense with the library services and prefer to use Google instead, and on the other, staff describe the library services as good, but "poorly understood.Took me a year of working here before I began to use [it] appropriately due to lack of knowledge about available services".These findings have led the authors to implement proactive information literacy advocacy to raise awareness about the "wealth of knowledge" that the SG library services can offer.
Another facet is the information literacy education in HE delivered by academic librarians.Hegarty et al. give an account of the programme they have devised and implemented at Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) to address the wide ranging needs of first year undergraduates (including traditional, mature and international students), while at the same time ensuring that the students' engagement with information is supported by "active learning".The positive impact of this information literacy programme can be seen in the feedback from students and faculty staff alike.For the students the programme provides an opportunity to become competent information users "I was unsure of how to search for information before attending the classes.After the class was complete, I was reassured".For staff it means improved quality of the students' academic work and an acknowledgement that this programme makes first year students "aware of the resources available in the library, both print and electronic".
In the Conference corner of this issue Godwin gives an account of the second m-Libraries Conference in 2009 held in Vancouver (Canada).2This paper sheds some light on the relationship that exists between information literacy and mobile technologies, thus promoting the 'technological' facet of information literacy.Godwin's overview should interest those readers who are beginning to exploit mobile technologies to enhance their provision of information literacy education.Finally, Frost's review of Whitworth's Information Obesity describes this book and its accompanying website3 as stimulating resources that encourage the reader to reflect on the challenge of having to deal with too much information, a problem that is increasingly pervading every sphere of our lives.
I would like to conclude this editorial with a number of announcements concerning the recent changes to the editorial team of JIL, the agreement between JIL and EBSCO Publishing, and a further (albeit minor) amendment to the structure of the journal.
This summer David Renfree, the copyeditor and the book review editor, resigned from the editorial team owing to other work commitments.We are indebted to David for his invaluable contribution to the journal and his ability to retain a sense of humour even when under pressure to copyedit a large number of papers within an inevitably tight schedule.Following David's departure, three new people have been appointed: Martin Wolf from Liverpool University has taken up the post of book review editor, while Sharon Lawler from Glasgow University Library and Steffi Sams from the Royal College of Surgeons of England share the responsibilities for copyediting.I would like to take the opportunity to welcome all three to the editorial team of JIL.Also during the summer JIL entered into an agreement with EBSCO with the aim of increasing the dissemination of the journal and reach a wider audience.In the first instance, the journal's volume 3 (parts 1 and 2) will be indexed by EBSCO and the content of both issues will be made available in full text to EBSCO's subscribers.We look forward to reaping the benefits of this agreement by enjoying greater exposure of JIL and of the information literacy debates promoted by its authors.
Finally, in my previous editorial I presented the first issue of this year as the issue dedicated entirely to the publishing of papers from the LILAC Conference.As a number of LILAC papers became available at the end of the summer the editorial team decided to include these into the current issue.We have introduced a new section entitled 'Papers from LILAC' and from now on this section will be a permanent feature of JIL.This will enable us to offer flexible submission deadlines to authors who contribute to the journal via the LILAC route, and to those who submit directly to the journal.I must stress that the separation between LILAC and non-LILAC papers does not affect the coherence of the themes that these papers promote collectively.To return to the visual metaphor, we have started to unravel the puzzle of the 'Rubik cube of information literacy' 4 and are beginning to catch a glimpse of its multifaceted nature by acknowledging that information literacy operates in our everyday lives and in the spheres of governance and citizenship, as well as influencing our academic and professional developments.What the papers in this issue have shown is that the diverse facets of information literacy have the common aim of equipping people, learners and workforce with the ability to make 'informed' decisions and generate: a competitive edge for an organisation (Ferguson); a skilled and educated workforce to ensure the establishment of a sustainable national economic growth (Foreman and Thomson); health literate patients who claim full ownership of their healthcare management (Marshall et al); enhanced information seeking by parents to ensure that they discharge their parenting responsibilities using the most reliable and effective sources of information (Walker); a convergence between information literacy and active learning to address the needs of diverse groups of students, while at the same time promoting a learner-friendly library (Hegarty et al); the employment of the Relational frame of information literacy to help learners discern; and if necessary challenge, the value systems that underpin any instance of information literacy practice (Whitworth) and the exploitation of mobile technologies to maximise the delivery of information literacy programmes (Godwin).