Why Information Literacy Is Invisible

Abstract

Despite the many information literacy programs on higher education campuses, the literature of information literacy and the concept of information literacy as a viable academic subject remain hidden to most professors and academic administrators. Information literacy is invisible to academia because it is misunderstood, academic administrators have not put it on their institutions' agendas, the literature of information literacy remains in the library silo, there is a false belief that information literacy is acquired only by experience, there is a false assumption that technological ability is the same as information literacy, faculty culture makes information literacy less significant than other educational pursuits, faculty have a limited perception of the ability of librarians. and accrediting bodies have not yet advanced information literacy to a viable position in higher education. The new information age demands that these barriers be overcome and information literacy take a prominent place within the academic experience.

A Survey of Instructional Support for Undergraduate Research Programs

“…Complicating matters, William Badke argues that IL is "invisible" to faculty as a viable academic subject, in part because they do not remember how research skills were developed other than through trial and error. 26 Since undergraduate researchers lack the depth of experience and habits of mind of a faculty member (or even a graduate student), it becomes clear why support for fostering IL skills becomes essential for students engaging in research at a level new to them. As Badke argues, "Without significant instruction, students do not learn to do research well simply by doing research."…”

Completion strategy or emphasis manipulation? Task support for teaching information problem solving

“…It may be true that younger generations of students appear to quickly master the skills needed to navigate online information sources, but it is premature to claim that they automatically develop the skills to find correct and reliable online sources and learn from them (Kennedy, Judd, Churchward, Gray, & Krause, 2008;. (Badke, 2010), not just because of a lack of awareness of the importance but also because they are difficult to implement properly. Most schools offer students little more than a short library training.…”

Exploring Local Level Factors Shaping the Implementation of a Blended Learning Module for Information and Geospatial Literacy in Ontario

“…It encompasses a complex set of understanding and skills, which requires a great deal of instruction and practice and to date has been adopted, albeit with some trepidation, in higher education institutions (Badke, 2010). A survey of over 100 colleges and universities in Canada and the United States revealed that fewer than 6% of institutions required a one-or twocredit course in information literacy in order to meet graduation requirements, and only 25% had an information literacy component built into basic writing and composition classes (Badke, 2010).…”

“…Information literacy is taught predominantly as a single, abbreviated (one-or two-hour) session; however, research indicates that it takes time for students to develop capacity for information literacy (Badke, 2010) and that capacity building is heightened through hands-on activities (Duncan & Varcoe, 2012). Research also indicates that some faculty members see limited value in librarians as instructors, and often do not consider them full academic colleagues (Badke, 2010).…”

“…Information literacy is taught predominantly as a single, abbreviated (one-or two-hour) session; however, research indicates that it takes time for students to develop capacity for information literacy (Badke, 2010) and that capacity building is heightened through hands-on activities (Duncan & Varcoe, 2012). Research also indicates that some faculty members see limited value in librarians as instructors, and often do not consider them full academic colleagues (Badke, 2010). Despite this, potential exists for academic librarians to collaborate with faculty instructors to integrate information literacy instruction into faculty members' courses, and thus can play a key role in supporting students to build their capacity for information literacy (Mounce, 2010).…”