INFORMATION LITERACY AS A RESOURCE FOR CITIZENSHIP

Transkrypt

Seria III: ePublikacje Instytutu INiB UJ. Red. Maria Kocójowa
Nr 7 2010: Biblioteki, informacja, książka: interdyscyplinarne badania i praktyka w XXI wieku
Laurence Favier*
University of Burgundy
Dijon, France
INFORMATION LITERACY AS A RESOURCE FOR CITIZENSHIP:
AN INTERDISCIPLINARY ISSUE FOR INFORMATION STUDIES
[„INFORMATION LITERACY” JAKO PODSTAWA BYCIA OBYWATELEM:
INTERDYSCYPLINARNY PROBLEM W NAUCE O INFORMACJI]
Abstract: Information literacy is presented as a higher form of learning “allowing people to know how to learn
because they know how knowledge is organized, how to find information and how to use information in such
a way that others can learn from them” [ALA 1989]. This ability to learn based on information literacy is supposed
to be necessary for the fully exercise of citizenship in the information society. President Obama recalled it in his
2009 proclamation [Obama 2009]. This paper examines this topic (information literacy as a resource for citizenship) as a characteristic example of interdisciplinary research and practice in the field of information studies.
It shows that information literacy is at the heart of information studies, especially the American theories about
information behavior and information practices. But in spite of interdisciplinarity's progress, as some authors noted
it, democracy transformations are not questioning to contribute to understand relationships between information
and democracy.
DEMOCRACY – INFORMATION LITERACY – INFORMATION STUDIES – MULTIDISCIPLINARITY – SOCIAL
INCLUSION
Abstrakt: Information literacy została przedstawiona jako wyższa forma uczenia się, dzięki której „ludzie dowiadują się, jak się uczyć, gdyż poznają sposób organizacji wiedzy, odnajdywania informacji i wykorzystywania jej
tak, aby od nich samych mogli uczyć się inni” [ALA 1989]. Implikowana przez information literacy umiejętność
uczenia się uważana jest za konieczną do pełnego wykonywania praw i obowiązków obywatela w społeczeństwie
informacyjnym. Przypomniał o tym w swoim przemówieniu inauguracyjnym Prezydent Obama [Obama 2009].
W artykule zawarto analizę tego zagadnienia (information literacy jako podstawa bycia obywatelem), traktując je
jako charakterystyczny przykład tematu interdyscyplinarnych badań i praktyki w dziedzinie nauki o informacji.
Wykazano, że problematyka information literacy znajduje się w samym centrum zainteresowań informatologii,
zwłaszcza amerykańskich teorii zachowań i praktyk informacyjnych. Mimo postępu w dziedzinie badań interdy*
LAURENCE FAVIER, PhD (habilitation); Associate Professor at the Department of Information and Communication
Sciences, University of Burgundy (Dijon, France); Director of the IUP (professional institute) IDERI InformationDocumentation. Two the most important publications: (2008) Langages documentaires: vers une ‘crise de l’autorité’?.
« Sciences de la société » No. 75, p. 11–21 [co-author: M. Ihadjadene]; (2007) Use of OSS [Open Source Software] by Local
e-Administration: the French Situation. [In:] K. St. Amant, B. Still eds. (2007). Handbook of Research on Open Source
Software: Technological, Economic and Social Perspectives. Hershey, PA; London: Texas Tech University, Idea Group Inc.,
Information Science Reference, p. 428–444 [co-authors: J. Mekhantar, M.-N. Terrasse]. E-mail: [email protected]
[Prof. LAURENCE FAVIER, profesor w Département des sciences de l'information et de la communication, Faculté de
Lettres et Philosophie, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon [Instytut Nauk o Informacji i Komunikacji, Wydział HumanistycznoFilologiczny Uniwersytetu Burgundzkiego w Dijon, Francja]; dyrektor IUP IDERI Information-Documentation
[Uniwersytecki Instytut Zawodowy IDERI „Informacja naukowa – Dokumentalistyka”]; habilitacja w dziedzinie nauk
o informacji i komunikacji. Dwie najważniejsze publikacje: (2008) Langages documentaires: vers une ‘crise de l’autorité’?
[Języki informacyjno-wyszukiwawcze: czy zmierzamy w stronę „kryzysu kartotek wzorcowych”?]. « Sciences de la société »
No. 75, p. 11–21 [współaut.: M. Ihadjadene]; (2007) Use of OSS [Open source software] by Local e-Administration: the
French Situation [Wykorzystanie oprogramowania Open Source przez lokalne e-samorządy: doświadczenia francuskie]. [In:]
K. St. Amant, B. Still eds. (2007). Handbook of Research on Open Source Software: Technological, Economic and Social
Perspectives. Hershey, PA; London: Texas Tech University, Idea Group Inc., Information Science Reference, p. 428–444
[współaut.: J. Mekhantar, M.-N. Terrasse]. E-mail: [email protected]].
128
scyplinarnych, zauważonego przez niektórych obserwatorów życia naukowego, przemiany demokratyczne wciąż
nie są rozpatrywane w takiej perspektywie, która pomogłaby zrozumieć relacje między informacją a demokracją.
DEMOKRACJA – „INFORMATION
– MULTIDYSCYPLINARNOŚĆ
LITERACY”
–
INTEGRACJA
SPOŁECZNA
–
NAUKA
O
INFORMACJI
*
*
*
INTRODUCTION
The discourse on information literacy has largely taken place within the education domain and among information professionals working in that sector, including, first of all, librarians. Information literacy has become
a practical and strategic concept guiding the library field's efforts in teaching information seeking and using
skills. The phrase information literacy (IL) appeared first in 1974 by the National Commission in Libraries and
Information Science. Fifteen years after, the report of the American Library Association's Presidential Committee on Information Literacy [ALA 1989] defined it as the ability
to recognize when information is needed and (…) to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information. Producing such a citizenry will require that schools and colleges appreciate and integrate the concept of
information literacy into their learning programs and that they play a leadership role in equipping individuals
and institutions to take advantage of the opportunities inherent within the information society. Ultimately, information literate people are those who have learned how to learn. They know how to learn because they
know how knowledge is organized, how to find information, and how to use information in such a way that
others can learn from them. They are people prepared for lifelong learning, because they can always find the
information needed for any task or decision at hand.
Information literacy is thus understood as a higher form of learning: learn to learn. It is precisely this ability
to learn to learn, which would allow fully exercise of citizenship in the information society. Introduced by the
world of libraries, information literacy did not remain only the issue of professional practice. It has also become
a scientific question and a political challenge. As a scientific question, it refers to everyday information seeking
and use, information behavior and practices. But it also joined the classic study in political science and philosophy about competencies required for citizenship, about equal political rights between citizens as represented by
universal suffrage. Finally, information literacy is also a political challenge as President Obama asserted in his
proclamation of October 2009, "National Information Literacy Awareness Month, 2009":
This month, we dedicate ourselves to increasing information literacy awareness so that all citizens understand
its vital importance. An informed and educated citizenry is essential to the functioning of our modern democratic society, and I encourage educational and community institutions across the country to help Americans
find and evaluate the information they seek, in all forms [Obama 2009, doc. online].
This paper shows how information literacy as a resource for citizenship is a characteristic example of interdisciplinary research and practice in the field of information studies. First the main facets of this concept. Then
the difficulties to build it as a scientific object are emphasized while the prospects it opens are discussed.
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INFORMATION LITERACY: A MULTIDIMENSIONAL CONCEPT
FOCUSED ON HUMAN INTEGRATION IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
The concept of IL appears with the "information society", now called the "information and knowledge society". It focuses on the new requirements needed to integrate into a society that isn't based anymore on mass production and consumption that made the success of the industrial society. The end of the nineteenth century industrial model and the advent of "mass customization" model, at the age of "the individual mass media" [Castells
2006, doc. online] implies the strengthening of information literacy. Indeed, the amount of information available
and the gradual expansion of access to information outside of specialized sites (libraries) are one of these reasons. The growing interaction of electronic media illustrated by the Web 2.0 is another reason. It requires that
users are not only receivers, but also actors. As actors, they become information producers. This new situation
means that they are needed to be more educated. Those who cannot consume information and media become
excluded. Exclusion, i.e. the inability to participate to the information society, appears to be an additional kind of
poverty. IL is supposed to be a response to a new problem: the inclusion of both democratic and economic development in the information and knowledge society.
IL for democratic inclusion
Since the first definitions of IL, its link to citizenship is highlighted. For example, Owens said in 1976:
Information literacy is needed to guarantee the survival of democratic institutions. All men are created equal,
but voters with information resources are in a position to make more intelligent decisions than citizens who
are information illiterates. The application of information resources to the process of decision-making to fulfill civic responsibilities is a vital necessity [Owens 1976, p. 27].
This conception takes into account the need for citizens to build an informed opinion. It includes active involvement in community, polity and global development by freedom of access to, and critical use of, data and
information. The information ethics has become part of this conception of citizenship. This is a reinterpretation
of the old debate concerning the definition of the best government forms. From Plato to Montesquieu, the definition of the best political system has always been thought of in terms of the citizens' competency to participate in
public life through education. The introduction of universal suffrage and secret ballot reviewed this elitist conception of citizenship. The concept of political equality was designed as a formal right while the real equality
(the ability for everyone to participate actually in public life) remained secondary. What Americans call information literacy would be a way to achieve real equality in the information society.
More than a means to empower citizenship in democracy (i.e. regime to authorize the plurality of information sources), IL is considered to be a basic human right. So the Alexandria Proclamation of 2005 describes information literacy and lifelong learning as the
beacons of the Information Society, illuminating the courses to development, prosperity and freedom. Information literacy empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively
to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals. It is a basic human right in a digital
world and promotes social inclusion in all nations [Alexandria Proclamation 2005, p. 3].
IL is a way for a person and not only for a citizen, to succeed in life. It gives him the opportunity to clarify
his decision and to know what to do in all areas of everyday life, beyond the management of public affairs. As
130
such, learning the ability to create, seek and evaluate information as well as free access to information are both
a basic human right and the sign of the inclusion or exclusion in society.
Information literacy for economic and social inclusion
The notion of IL shows that understanding technology is not enough to be integrated into the information
society. Information literacy is necessary to stimulate the development of new and existing enterprises by intensive and creative use of knowledge, and by combining information services more efficiently. It's also the whole
idea of the digital divide, especially its economic conception that reinforces the concept of IL.
Digital divide's assessment studies have led to take into account other factors than only information technology diffusion and skills. They highlight the role of information use's ability. Digital divide's international comparisons made by the UN (United Nations) are an interesting example of this evolution. Hitherto focused on the
inequalities between countries related to ICT diffusion and skills, UN measure, since 2004 [UN E-Government
Survey 2004, doc. online] the "real access" to ICT, i.e. access that provides economic development opportunities, in a knowledge-based economy. Real access isn't only a matter of technology: it provides opportunities for
economic development especially opportunities in the evolving global based economy. The access to educational, social and cultural resources is a part of real access because it is required to read, create and use content
with information technology. The link between computer and information is emphasized, between information
and economic opportunity and, finally, between information and knowledge. Information becomes an input in
a dynamic process that generates the need for new information and for lifelong learning. The idea that ICT real
access is access for opportunity gives a role to information literacy that other measure like info-density and infouse [InfoStates 2005] doesn't point out.
The United Nations defines a model (Figure 1) with five levels, describing the conditions necessary for
a State to perform services "electronic government". This same idea of "access for opportunity" is taken up by
the International Telecommunication Union [WSI 07] to be a model of information technology social integration
replacing the model of digital divide.
Figure 1: Access-for-Opportunity Framework (ONU 2004)
Source: UN E-Government Survey. 2004 Global E-Government Readiness Report. Towards Access
for Opportunity, doc. online (2004). http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan019207.pdf,
p. 92 [visited: 20.04.2010].
This model maintains "that physical access to ICT is only the first step towards building real access which
leads to opportunity. Access must be blended with relevant and culturally appropriate content for onward transmuting into knowledge. The blended knowledge is processed and utilized to create for economic and social empowerment".
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The scope of the concept of IL has an interest and a limit. Its interest is to show that information is not just
a resource that we must have free access, but also a process (research, evaluation and use of information) that is
acquired by the education. It should even be the purpose of education because it is a sign of individual autonomy. The educational sciences, political sciences, economy science and information science find a common issue here. The limit of the IL is the impossibility to define it precisely. Some say it cannot be a discipline, but
only
a "state of mind".
IL A SCIENTIFIC ISSUE FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
IN INFORMATION STUDIES
IL and information science
The Americans think that the process of information seeking, the very one that should be learnt according
the IL theory, is the main purpose of information science. In particular, studies of information behavior and information practices are an important focus of this science. Savolainen distinguishes them asserting that: "The
discourse on information behavior primarily draws on the cognitive viewpoint, while information practice is
mainly inspired by the ideas of social constructionism" [Savolainen 2007, p. 109]. These theories aim at modeling all activities that a person deploys to bridge the gap of an information need because such a model is necessary to improve information retrieval systems. Wilson defined information behavior as "those activities a person
may engage in when identifying his or her own needs for information, searching for such information in any way
and using or transferring that information" [Wilson 1999, p. 249]. This approach involves moving beyond a conception of information seeking process as an isolated activity. It supposes to study both the psychological, cognitive and others determinations of information need and information strategies to achieve it. Barely formulated in
the 1990s, information behavior concept knows successive enlargements. Wilson himself extends it to "(…) the
totality of human behavior in relation to sources and channels of information, including both active and passive
information seeking and information use" [Wilson 2000, p. 49].
The modeling of information behavior is focuses on "the person in context". But the identification of relevant features defining the context is a problem noted by many researchers in information science [Courtright
2007]. It gives rise to both a proliferation of models and a willingness to integrate them [Solomon 2007; Sonnenwald, Iivonen 1999; Talja, Keso, Pietiläinen 1999].
However, several approaches use the term "information behavior" in a different perspective, primarily sociological, focusing on a social group rather than the individual. This route was opened by E. Chatman, who regarded "information behavior" as a norm of social behavior characteristic of some populations. From Merton
sociology ([ Merton, 1972]), she developed the concept of "informational poverty" which is an information behavior associated with social exclusion experienced by some social groups. The work initiated by Chatman belongs to a very American economic sociology. In France the social capital theory introduced by Bourdieu has
a similar project, but it's not based on the concept of information.
More recent works attempt to understand the "political information behavior" in a given political context; it
is supposed to enlighten the process by which a community (the American company or group within a society:
Muslims in Canada) constructs and an "informed public opinion" as well as an image of itself [Robbin, Buente
132
2008, p. 2212]. The context is defined by a specific political event: the post 11/09/2001 in North America [Caidi,
Mac Donald 2008] or, as in Robbin & Buente’s study, the war in Iraq in 2003. The concept of "behavior" challenges, in this case, the one of "practices", so that some authors explain: "We use ‘behaviour’, ‘practices’, ‘activities’ and ‘use’ nearly interchangeably in this article (…)" [Robbin, Buente 2008, p. 2211]. The information
practices are those by which a society, a group in society, build an opinion on oneself and others about an event.
Robbin and Buente emphasize that "(the) use of information with political content has been ignored by research in library and information science" and that the study of information practices can be useful to understand
the formation of public opinion. But these subjects are tackled only by communication science and political science. The link between new information practices and social mobilization modes at the internet age is dealt with
only by the sociology of social movements. Yet, information science would be helpful to analyze these subjects.
Thus one can see that some works in information science are questioning new fields situated at the intersection with other disciplines. This question concerns the relevance of the information science main object: the
seeking information process.
Multi-disciplinarity in information science
At the same time it confronts new areas of information science becomes increasingly interdisciplinary. Analyzing the collaboration trends, authorship and keywords of all research articles published in the Journal of The
American Society For Information Science and Technology over the two most-recent decades, Chua and Yang
observed that "Top authors have grown in diversity from those being affiliated predominantly with library/information-related departments to include those from information systems management, information
technology, business and the humanities" [Chua, Yang 2008, p. 2156]. The added that strongly connected crossdisciplinary coauthor pairs have become more prevalent if you compare the two decades: 1988–1997, and 1998–
2007. Correspondingly, the distribution of top keywords' occurrences which represent the core information science has shifted towards other subdisciplines such as information technology and sociobehavioral science.
The information science subdisciplines also evolved. The subdisciplines studied included: core information
science, computing technology, law and government, communication, sociobehavioral science, librarianship,
statistics. In terms of frequency distribution of top keywords' occurrences, the importance of core information
studies has diminished from 63% to 40%, even though it remains the main subdiscipline. Librarianship drops in
distribution from 8.1 to 4.3%. Conversely, computing technology has grown most significantly from 6.4% to
22.1, followed by sociobehavioral science (from 9.2% to 17.1%), communication statistics and law and government.
Top keywords such as "Boolean searching" and "full text searching" that occur in the first decade are replaced by keywords like "information architecture", "information seeking" and "knowledge management". Within sociobehavioral science, examples of persistent top keywords include social aspects, usability, user behavior.
The keywords specific for the second decade are "user models", "user preferences" and "social networking". The
authors of this study notice a growing recognition of the importance of the humanistic and softer aspects of information science.
These findings highlight two aspects. According the first one, the authors reveal that information science is
as opened to external collaborations with other disciplines as what it can be observed in nanotechnology, mo-
133
lecular biology or earth science. Regarding the second one, they show that the main topical evolutions are related
to computing technology and sociobehavioral science.
Information literacy remains a central issue in information science because it follows this evolution of information science. The need to characterize human inclusion in the Information Society through the modeling of
human information behavior and practices is shared by many disciplines.
CONCLUSION
Information literacy is a very American approach of the information role in social inclusion and citizenship.
The advent of interactive media strengthens this conception because new media require active participation of
the user and specific skills both in technology use and in information seeking. This evolution seems to reinforce
American theories of information behavior and information practices, but without questioning, at the same time,
of democracy transformations. Debates on digital democracy [European Union 2009], deliberative or participatory democracy [Rousseau 1992; 1997] are absent from information studies. If interdisciplinarity starts to be
a reality in information science according to some authors, it doesn't focus on important issues like the relationships between information and democracy. However it is a merit of information literacy debate to emphasize
these relationships. Information studies seem to give them up as a scientific challenge.
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INFORMATION LITERACY AS A RESOURCE FOR CITIZENSHIP

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