As information literacy continues in its centrality to many academic libraries' missions, a line of inquiry has developed in response to ACRL's charge to develop information literate citizens. The literature of critical information literacy questions widely held assumptions about information literacy and considers in what ways librarians may encourage students to engage with and act upon information's complex and inherently political nature. This review explores the research into critical information literacy, including critical pedagogy and critiques of information literacy, in order to provide an entry point for this emerging approach to information literacy. 24[ARTICLE]

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This study details the design of library instruction sessions for undergraduate students that intended to encourage critical source evaluation and the questioning of established authorities, and appraises these instructional aims through a thematic analysis of 148 artifacts containing student responses to group and individual activities. The authors found a widespread reliance on traditional indicators of academic and scholarly authority, though some students expressed more personal or complex understandings of source evaluation, trustworthiness, and authorship. Based on the findings, recommendations are made for academic librarians interested in promoting learners' senses of agency and authority.

This study examines the availability of entry level positions in academic libraries to better illuminate the status of the job market for current students and recent graduates of Library & Information Science programs. Over a twelve month period from 2010-2011, 1385 job advertisements were collected, with content analysis methods used to evaluate each advertisement by level of position, institution type, location, department, and job type. Findings revealed one-fifth of jobs advertised to be entry level, with seventy percent of all positions offered by universities, and public services accounting for more than sixty percent of entry level employment opportunities. Further research was conducted by contacting Human Resources departments at 33 institutions to ascertain the experience backgrounds of successful hires.

This study investigates two questions key to academic library resources and services: Which sources are students most likely to use to begin their academic work? Whom do students tend to consult for research assistance? Indepth interviews conducted with 15 undergraduate and graduate students were thematically analyzed through a three-step process. The findings indicate that students are most likely to consult faculty and peers for assistance and are largely unaware of librarians' roles, while they tend to begin research using library databases and do not necessarily start with Google. In addition, student use of small study groups as learning networks and reliance upon alternate sites to conduct research emerged as unanticipated themes.