An elephant in the room:information literacy in the

narrative of UK public librariesDiana Hackett

UCL MA LIS dissertation, 2016

Twitter: @BeetleBook

An elephant in the room…• Introduction• Information literacy• Public libraries

• The project• Aims• Methodology• Findings• Recommendations

•References

Information literacy• ‘Information literacy is knowing when and why you need

information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner’ (CILIP, 2004)

• ‘basic human right in a digital world’ UNESCO (Garner 2006:3)

• ‘a survival skill in the Information Age’ (ALA, 1998)

• ‘the defining characteristic of the discerning scholar, the informed and judicious citizen and the autonomous learner’ (Coonan et al. 2012:5)

Information literacy• Problems of definition• Interchangeability with bibliographic instruction

• Interchangeability between information literacy / digital literacy / internet literacy / ICT literacy / media literacy and more…

• Models and frameworks• SCONUL 7 Pillars, ACRL Standards/Frameworks, ANCIL

Public libraries• Lifelong learning:• Legally bound to ‘provide a comprehensive and efficient library

service for all persons desiring to make use thereof’ (PLMA, 1964)

• Must provide resources to meet the ‘general and special requirements’ of community members alongside ‘advice as to its use’ (PLMA, 1964)

• Information literacy:• Rarely used as a term• Rarely discussed in public library research literature

An elephant in the room?

Both information literacy and public libraries are

suffering from an advocacy failure:

the failure to effectively communicate their benefit to society

The project• Aim: determine how information literacy is currently positioned in public library

advocacy narratives in the UK.

• Objectives:• Identify the terms used in advocacy narratives to refer to information literacy• Examine what these terms suggest about the value placed on information

literacy within these narratives• Analyse public sector stakeholder narratives to determine possible intersections

between policy and public library information literacy capabilities• Formulate recommendations for ways in which information literacy could be

better placed in advocacy narratives to align public libraries with wider national policy.

Organisation Documents/materials Year

CILIP What makes a good library service 2009

Information literacy statement 2014

Driving digital inclusion 2014

My Library By Right 2015

SCL Inspiring people, connecting communities 2014

The universal offers for public libraries 2015

Tinder Foundation Doing digital inclusion 2015

Carnegie UK Trust A new chapter 2012

Speaking volumes 2014

IFLA Media and information literacy recommendations 2011

Moscow declaration on media and information literacy 2012

Statement on libraries and development 2013

ACE The library of the future 2013

DCMS Independent library report for England 2014

Libraries deliver – ambition for public libraries in England 2016-2021 2016

Go ON UK Basic digital skills framework 2015

Methodology• Qualitative textual analysis‘a form of analysis in which an understanding and interpretation of the text play a far larger role than in classical content analysis’ (Kuckartz, 2014:33)

• Research questions:• Is information literacy referenced in the material?• What roles are posited for public libraries?• Is a relationship between information literacy provision and public

libraries explicitly or implicitly presented?

The findingsDIGITAL DOMINANCE• Information literacy is barely mentioned in public library advocacy

materials

• Focus placed on libraries delivering digital inclusion and digital literacy

• Provision of technology favoured over provision of transferrable information literacy abilities

Roles for public libraries

Roles for public library staff

The findingsPASSIVE DIRECTORY VS ACTIVE DELIVERY• Libraries provide ‘access’ and ‘support’

• Access mostly refers to physical technology or to ‘signposting’

• Support is undefined - very little mention of skills of professional library and information workers

The findingsINTELLECTUAL ISOLATION• No relationship presented between information literacy and public

libraries in either direction

• Lack of academic focus on information literacy provision in public libraries

• Lack of cohesive support, models or frameworks for information literacy therefore allows digital skills to dominate

The findingsADVANCING ADVOCACY• Gap between advocacy of government and associated bodies (ACE, SCL,

DCMS, Tinder, Go ON UK), and that of professional organisations and library charities (CILIP, IFLA, Carnegie UK)

• Focussing the public library narrative on government digital inclusion goals claims only a narrow role for libraries

• Natural intersections between government policy goals, public library capabilities and the benefits of information literacy unexploited

Recommendations• Greater collaboration between the academic research community,

academic libraries and public libraries

• Linking of digital and information literacy in advocacy narratives

• Greater recognition of the contribution of library professionals in advocacy narratives

Thank you

References

All elephant photos: ©Carrie Wessels and Anton Wessels. Used with kind permission – not to be reproduced without written consent.

• American Library Association. 1998. ‘Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: final report’ [online]. Available from http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/whitepapers/presidential [Accessed 1st June 2016]

• Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association. 2000. ‘Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education’ [online]. Available from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency [Accessed 1st June 2016]

• Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association. 2015. ‘Framework for Information literacy for Higher Education’ [online]. Available from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework [Accessed 1st June 2016]

• Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. 2004. ‘Information Literacy – Definition’ [online]. Available from http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/advocacy-campaigns-awards/advocacy-campaigns/information-literacy/information-literacy [Accessed 4 June 2016]

• Coonan, Emma, Secker, Jane, Wrathall, Katy, and Webster, Helen. 2012. ‘ANCIL in action: progress updates on a new curriculum for information literacy’, in SCONUL Focus, 55, pp. 4-8.

• Garner, Sarah Devotion. 2006. High-level colloquium on information literacy and lifelong learning. Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt, November 6 – 9, 2005. Report of a meeting sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), National Forum on Information Literacy (NFIL) and the International federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) [online]. Available from: https://core.ac.uk/display/11876051[Accessed 1st June 2016]

• Great Britain. Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964. Chapter 75. (1964) London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.• Kuckartz, Udo. 2014. Qualitative text analysis: a guide to methods, practice and using software. London: Sage Publications.• SCONUL Working Group on Information Literacy. 2011. ‘The SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Literacy: Core Model for Higher

Education’ [online], SCONUL. Available from http://www.sconul.ac.uk/page/seven-pillars-of-information-literacy [Accessed 4th June 2016]

Materials analysed• Arts Council England. 2013. ‘The library of the future: a response to Envisioning the library of the future by Arts Council England Chief Executive Alan Davey’ [online]. Available

from: www.artscouncil.org.uk/sector-resilience/envisioning-library-future [Accessed 5th July 2016]• Carnegie UK Trust. 2012. ‘A new chapter: public library services in the 21st century’. Discussion paper, written by Liz Macdonald, Senior Policy Officer [online]. Available from:

http://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/project/future-of-public-libraries/?download=view [Accessed 23rd June 2016]• Carnegie UK Trust. 2014. ‘Speaking volumes: the impact of public libraries on wellbeing’. Leaflet [online]. Available from

http://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/project/future-of-public-libraries/?download=view [Accessed 23rd June 2016]• Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. 2009. ‘What makes a good library service? Guidelines on public library provision in England for portfolio holders in

local Councils’ [online]. Available from http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/advocacy-awards-and-projects/advocacy-and-campaigns/public-libraries/briefings-and-resources-2 [Accessed 23rd June 2016]

• Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. 2014a. ‘Information Literacy – Statement’ [online]. Available from http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/advocacy-campaigns-awards/advocacy-campaigns/information-literacy/information-literacy-0 [Accessed 23rd June 2016]

• Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. 2014b. ‘Driving digital inclusion: the role of library and information professionals’ [online]. Available from http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/advocacy-campaigns-awards/advocacy-campaigns/information-literacy/digital-inclusion [Accessed 23rd June 2016]

• Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. 2015b. ‘My Library By Right’ [online]. Available from http://www.cilip.org.uk/advocacy-campaigns-awards/advocacy-campaigns/support-your-library/my-library-right [Accessed 23rd June 2016]

• Go ON UK. 2015. ‘Basic Digital Skills framework’ [online]. Available from https://doteveryone.org.uk/digital-skills/digital-skills-framework/ [Accessed 5th July 2016]• International Federation of Library Associations. 2011. ‘IFLA Media and Information Literacy recommendations’ [online]. Available from

http://www.ifla.org/publications/ifla-media-and-information-literacy-recommendations [Accessed on 23rd June 2016• International Federation of Library Associations. 2012. ‘Moscow Declaration on Media and Information Literacy’ [online]. Available from

http://www.ifla.org/publications/moscow-declaration-on-media-and-information-literacy [Accessed on 23rd June 2016] • International Federation of Library Associations. 2013. ‘IFLA Statement on Libraries and Development’ [online]. Available from

http://www.ifla.org/publications/ifla-statement-on-libraries-and-development [Accessed 23rd June 2016]• Society of Chief Librarians. 2014. ‘Inspiring People, Connecting Communities: a policy briefing’ [online]. Available from http://goscl.com/about/resources/ [Accessed 23rd June

2016]

• Society of Chief Librarians. 2015. ‘The Universal Offers for Public Libraries’, brochure [online]. Available from http://goscl.com/about/resources/ [Accessed 23rd June 2016]• Tinder Foundation, in partnership with the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce and SCL. 2015. ‘Doing digital inclusion: libraries handbook’ [online]. Available from

http://www.tinderfoundation.org/our-thinking/research-publications/doing-digital-inclusion-libraries-handbook [Accessed 23rd June 2016]• United Kingdom. Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 2014. ‘Independent Library Report for England’, presented to Government by William Sieghart and panel [online].

Available from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-library-report-for-england [Accessed 9th February 2016]• United Kingdom. Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 2016. ‘Libraries Deliver: ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016-2021’, presented by the Libraries Taskforce

[online]. Available from https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/libraries-deliver-ambition-for-public-libraries-in-england-2016-2021/libraries-deliver-ambition-for-public-libraries-in-england-2016-2021 [Accessed 23rd June 2016]