Page 141 - Journal of Library Science in China 2020 Vol.46

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140 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.12, 2020

From context-independent skills to embedded practice: A review of
information literacy research and practice
〇a*
YU Liangzhi〇 & WANG Junli
This paper aims to provide a comprehensive and reflective review of the development of the
domain of information literacy abroad since the concept of information literacy was coined in
the 1970s. Based on related literature published in major English journals from then until now,
this paper reviews the development of information literacy from three interrelated aspects: the
conceptualization of information literacy, theories for and of information literacy, and approaches
to information literacy education. It shows that, while initially defined as the ability to recognize
when information is needed and the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed
information, the concept of information literacy has undergone a series of redefinition, including
the redefinition of it as contextualized knowledge and skills, as a metaliteracy, and as a practice.
It shows that since the 1980s, research and education of information literacy have been informed
by a wide range of theories, the most notable including the constructivist learning theory,
social constructivist learning theory, phenomenography, critical pedagogy, critical literacy,
sociocultural theory, sociotechnical theory, social constructionism, practice theory, etc. It is
the social constructivist learning theory and sociocultural theory that most notably informed
the redefinition of information literacy as contextualized knowledge and skills; it is the critical
theories and practice theory that most markedly informed the redefinition of information literacy
as a metaliteracy and as a practice. Different theories and definitions of information literacy
have also instigated different approaches to information literacy education. The diversity of
practical approaches is demonstrated most tellingly by the differences between ACRL’s The
Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, the various discipline-
based information literacy standards (e.g., information literacy standards for science and
engineering/technology) and ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.
The interrelated developments of conceptualization, theories and education practice have
produced some sweeping changes across the whole information literacy domain, which in turn,
have given rise to what this study calls three paradigms of information literacy: the paradigm
of context-independent skill, the paradigm of context-dependent skill and the paradigm of
embedded practice. The comparison of the three paradigms further reveals that it is fundamental
epistemological divisions within library and information science that underlie the shift of the
paradigms. As part of the major practical implications from the study, these findings may inform
information literacy educators that it is too simplistic to choose their education approaches
believing that the latest paradigm is the best; the research findings also suggest that, whichever
paradigm information literacy educators choose to guide their program design, they need to take
the cultivation of students’ long-term sustaining tendency for active information access into
* Correspondence should be addressed to YU Liangzhi, Email: lzhyu@nankai.edu.cn, ORCID: 0000-0003-0905-397X.