Advocacy engagement

Abstract

The current research sought to identify what skills, knowledge, and behaviours (SKBs) in advocacy engagement are closely associated with information literacy skills. The paper examines what role information literacy (IL) skills play in making one an effective advocate by drawing on everyday life situations that involve advocacy such as self-advocacy, social advocacy, patient advocacy, parent advocacy, and policy advocacy. A rapid scoping review was completed using articles published within the last ten years (2008–2019). The articles were retrieved from Academic Search Complete, a multidisciplinary database. The aim of our initial review was to identify what skills, knowledge and behaviours are deemed essential for everyday life situations that involve advocacy. Charting of the literature was then used to map the skills, knowledge and behaviours mentioned in relation to advocacy to information literacy skills. Results showed how the knowledge component in advocacy engagement is closely associated with various IL skills such as finding information, evaluation of information and sharing information. Implications of the study point towards the importance of emphasising IL instruction in broader contexts beyond higher education and/ or academic libraries. The study shows that IL skills are important in the public realm and in primary (elementary) and secondary (high) school contexts as well. Therefore, public librarians and school librarians should be just as engaged in equipping their patrons/clientele with IL skills that may be needed for different types of advocacy such as self-advocacy, parent advocacy and patient advocacy. The study also has implications for humanitarian research and research that involves situations of information poverty as these contexts will often involve advocacy work as well.

Key stakeholders' interpretations of scientific information literacy: a survey of Orange and Seminole County K-16 educators

“…2,3 Alongside these organizations, many researchers have found that developing this skillset correlates to improved self-efficacy and can foster effective learning. [5][6][7] These researchers and institutions come to similar conclusions: an information literate society is necessary to create an understanding and collaborative society.…”

The effects of self-disclosure and gender on a climate scientist’s credibility and likability on social media

“…Meanwhile, scientists’ political self-disclosure might make them appear more competent. For someone’s advocacy to be effective, they should be equipped with knowledge and skill (Nzomo and Fehrmann, 2020). Therefore, a scientist’s political self-disclosure may signal the scientist’s competency as an advocate to lay publics.…”

The role of information literacy in secondary education: a transformative element of society

“…Toto omezení tedy zajišťuje aktuálnost zdrojů. Některé studie pracují s delšími časovými obdobími (Nzomo & Fehrmann, 2020;Pashkova-Balkenhol et al, 2019), ale takový postup by pro nás byl irelevantní. Výsledky jsme omezily na ty, ke kterým bylo možné bezplatně přistupovat, tedy byly publikovány pod nějakou formou Open Access licence.…”

“…Rozvinutá informační gramotnost představuje cestu jak k úspěšnému fungování v běžné životě (Aillerie & McNicol, 2018;Yosida, 2018), tak v oblasti pracovní (Nzomo & Fehrmann, 2020). Odráží se ale také na schopnosti reflektovat a vyhodnocovat informace týkající se zdraví (Camiling, 2019;Mendez et al, 2019).…”