TrustInInfo

“From the position of a situated standpoint, there is no such thing as one de-contextualized and generalized information literacy. A practice-oriented view of information literacies, in the plural, has developed since around 2005. … Learning information literacy is…a question of learning norms, doings, and values of information literacy within a particular practice or context… On one hand, the enlightenment ideal that libraries and much information literacy work are built upon encompasses the notion that improved access to information leads to a better society. Yet, it is not any kind of information, but information produced by a cultural and academic elite in society. From a normative perspective on information literacy, this is usually taken for granted. In contrast, researching information literacies by paying attention to how they are situated takes a starting point in the local practices of variously defined groups — such as students, firefighters, immigrants, vault inspectors, or parents — necessarily talks of a plurality of literacies. …

“Where does this leave us? If the notion of literacy — either information or media or both — does not point at something shared, it runs the risk of becoming void of meaning. A slightly polemic point: if literacies are conceptualised as so profoundly entwined into practices and situations that they dissolve into them, why do we need the concept of literacy at all?” (Haider & Sundin, 2022, p. 60)

Haider, J., & Sundin, O. (2022). Paradoxes of Media and Information Literacy. Taylor & Francis.