Critical approaches to information literacyCity, University of LondonLibrary and Information Science Foundation (INM301)

Lauren Smith

Research Associate, School of Education and Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde

@walkyouhome

Today’s Session

Critical approaches to librarianship

Relevance of critical theory

Critical approaches to information literacy

Examples of critical information literacy

Critical approaches to LIS

Social justice: “a normative concept concerning the

ways in which resources and power should be shared across society”.

(Ross and Rosati 2006, p.437)

“The ethos of critical librarianship is inextricably linked to the ethos of intellectual freedom, and by

extension then the concept of human rights.” (Samek 2007)

ValuesFreedom of inquiry

Equality

Freedom of

expressionEquity

PrivacyDemocracy

The public good

Social justice

DiversityPolitical agency

“LIS is…very interested in the betterment of society, from the development of national information policies, to the provision of user-friendly and equitable access to information, the inclusion of diverse and /or marginalized clienteles, the support of citizen lifelong learning, the nurturing of the library in the community, and many other proactive areas of research and practice.” (Leckie et al. 2010, p.xiii)

Why engage with theory?

“Our discourse… tends to favo[u]r technical and managerial language use, which in turn prevents librarians from critically examining and evaluating information resources and systems” (Leckie et al. 2010, p.xi)

“Library and information science has traditionally been exceptionally empirical and not very theoretically oriented in any of its subfields. Critical and emancipatory perspectives have rarely been seen.” (Hansson 2010)

“Simply being a field where most graduate students go into professional contexts, however, is not a justification for inadequately engaging theory.” (Jaeger 2010)

Benefits of critical approaches

Engaging with the ‘rudiments and theory’ behind

values and aims

Frameworks for understanding – e.g. why and how

to not capitulate to/collude with fascist regimes

Frameworks for problem-solving – e.g. how to meaningfully serve marginalised groups

Understanding how the system works to avoid becoming part of the system in attempting to

change the system

Limitations of critical theory

Not always viewed as legitimate ‘theory’

Not always accessible

Doesn’t always offer solutions to problems

Can be difficult to apply in practice

Theories and themes

Critical pedagogy

Feminist theory

Queer theory

Critical race theory

Post-colonialism

Marxist theory

Practice theory

Cultural studies

Semiology

Education systems

Library spaces

Role of libraries and librarians

Library neutrality

Information organisation / taxonomy / bibliographic description and classification

Information

encountering/seeking/sharing/using

Information evaluation

Access to information

Censorship and privacy

Information literacy

A new “information literacy” is

necessary for liberation from the oppressive effects of the

institutionalized public media. (Hamelink 1976)

Critical information literacy

“Critical information literacy asks librarians to

work with their patrons and communities to co-investigate the political, social, and economic

dimensions of information, including its creation, access, and use. This approach to

information literacy seeks to involve learners in

better understanding systems of oppression while also identifying opportunities to take

action upon them.”

(Tewell 2016)

Critical information literacy

Aligns with critical pedagogy

Aligns with values of librarianship – access to information and freedom of expression

Ideology of education that promotes democracy and opposes oppression (Giroux 2007)

Idea of empowered, intentional learner (Doherty and Ketchner

2005)

Banking Theory of Education

The media inform and the audience is being informed.

The media know everything and the audience knows nothing.

The media talk and the audience listens - meekly.

The media choose and enforce their choice and the audience complies.

The media act and the audience has the illusion of acting through the

action of the media.

The media choose content and the audience adapts to it.

The media are the subject of the informational process, while the

audience is merely its object. (Freire)

Praxis

Combining "reflection and action directed at the structures to be

transformed" (Freire 2005, p.126)

Kairos - changing how we think about our work, not always changing

how we do it (Drabinski 2015)

Liberatory Syllabuses

“It is easy for academic subjects to become abstract

and meaningless to students. I resent this practice and

so I strive to share with you a practical and personally

meaningful education. At the same time, I am

responsible for balancing the desires of the University, the influences of economic forces, and the mandates

of the government with my personal teaching style. This

is not easy. Each collective member of the classroom

must advocate for his or her own needs. With your help,

I hope to never lose track of what’s truly important: our mutual learning.”

(Heidebrink-Bruno 2014)

School libraries

Students want to know about political events

Schools are supposed to be ‘neutral’ – in reality are vaguely apolitical but not neutral

Computers apply strong (heavy) filtering

How can librarians support right to information?

Teaching critical thinking when evaluating information sources

Acknowledging alternative forms of knowledge (i.e. not just sanctioned websites and textbooks)

Political engagement

Critical information literacy aims to “reverse trends of exclusion from

political participation and enable

people to participate in the decisions

and events that affect their lives.”

(Whitworth 2009, p.118)

Experiences of political information

1) A range of sources of information;

2) Something encountered out of context;

3) Something to fill a knowledge gap;

4) Something through which to gain meaning and context;

5) Something relevant to one’s own life;

6) Something that can help to achieve social change.

(Smith 2015)

Relevant critical approaches(Smith 2015)

Information experiences Critical theoryUnderstanding of media bias (omission, selection, placement,

labelling, spin)

Media literacy (Giroux, 2007, pp.229-241)

View of schooling as preparation for work, not learning how

to be a citizen

Marketisation of education, democratic public spheres

(Giroux, 2012, pp.36-37)

View of young people as not knowledgeable or responsible

enough to participate in politics

Manufactured cynicism (Giroux, 2006, p.83)

Trust in media to report all ‘important’ news, faith that

media will tell truth

Media literacy (Giroux, 2007, pp.229-241), critical pedagogy

(Giroux, 2011)

Influence of images in the media on how participants feel

about current events and world conflict

Culture of fear (Giroux, 2006, pp.200-201)

Interpretation of violence and formation of political

attitudes relating to it

Consumerism, masculinity, violence, politics , gender

relations (Giroux, 2006, pp.205-225)

Debating and understanding structure of arguments –

applying this to own lives

Politics of possibility (Giroux, 2006, pp.229-236)

Concerns about welfare, benefits and immigration.

Knowledge or understanding of economic situation

Ideological hegemony (Giroux, 2011, p.22)

View of young people as a group influenced by media

portrayals

Youth panic (Giroux, 2011, p.91)

Applying critical pedagogy

Activity that asks students to explore library databases and present them to the class

Discussing power with students in terms of viewpoints represented within a database

Consider what and who is and is not represented and why

Discussion about who gets to be a scholar and thus who has a voice in the literature

Ways in which information organization (subject headings) are also problematic, particularly when it comes to gender identity and sexuality

Base the class on students’ questions

“do a pre-search in a database on a topic with a bit

of controversy and see if I can get a results list that is eye-opening…I had students look at the results list

and evaluate the first 3-5 results and then we discussed their evaluation process…we talked about how information is created and who does the

creating, including looking at who was funding the research in the peer review journals and who had

ads in the trade journals.” (Tewell 2016)

Critical literature searching

“How does air quality affect women’s health?”

Try to use a search example/keywords/ideas

that will expose students to a set of results that gets them thinking about an important topic

Relevant to the student population in terms of geography, health, and economic disparity, but

also draws attention to the gendered dimensions of environmental racism

(Tewell 2016)

Problem-posing (Freire)

“[We looked into] when a specific law was passed

and who the primary players were in passing the law. This sounds simple, but there was misinformation all

over the place about this law. The Wikipedia entry was wrong and had been cited over and over so the wrong date was starting to appear as the “official

date.” This was wonderful for our purposes because we had conversations about source type,

government documents, how information gets perpetuated, sourcing and evaluation, etc.”

(Tewell 2016)

Academic publishing as legitimacy

“I had walked students through the peer review process,

why it is important yet flawed, who engages in it and why,

etc. Then, because another course outcome dealt with

understanding “the disciplines,” we moved to the history

of Chicano/a studies and its struggle for legitimacy in the

academy. One of the ways in which it contributed to

academic discussions/developed a canon and thus

gained legitimacy in the world of higher education, was

by establishing its own scholarly journals.”

(Tewell 2016)

Risks of critical IL

Furthering ‘post-truth’ crisis, descent into relativism

Feeling ‘underqualified’ to engage

Demanding nature of critical work

De-emphasises library as a resource

Exercise: Elmborg (2006)

In groups, consider:

Do you consider librarians to be educators/teachers?

What do you think might be the implications of the role of librarians as educators?

To what extent do you think the critique of linear models of IL is fair?

What do you think about the Evolving Definitions of Literacy? (p.195)

Exercise: Critical information literacy

How have you provide information literacy instruction before?

In what ways do ‘traditional’ approaches to IL reproduce ideas

about information as a commodity, problematic ways of

establishing the authority of sources etc?

In what ways does the classroom set-up reinforce hierarchical

relationships between learner and librarian?

How might you approach things differently?

#critlib

Twitter chats are an opportunity for synchronous bursts of

conversation on current topics. We started the #critlib

chat to build a conversation about issues of critical

pedagogy in academic libraries, but topics have grown

to include library assessment, gender in RDA, and library responses to social justice actions in our communities.

Publicly exploring our assumptions about our profession is

sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes fiery, and always

an opportunity for growth and action.

(Pho et al. 2015)

Radical Librarians Collective

Under the loose

umbrella of RLC, moves

began to create a

public space in which

people could build a network of support and

solidarity, offering an

alternative to the

dominant discourse.

http://rlc.radicallibrarianship.org/

Twitter: @RadicalLibs

National gatherings

Regional meetings: @RadLibsOx @RLC_SE

Online discussion: #radlibs and #radlibchat

Journal of Radical Librarianship

Collaborative toolkits and resources

Recommended Reading

• Radical Librarians Collective collaborative reading list• #critlis reading list: http://bit.ly/2fwtgOv

References

Alvesson, M., & Spicer, a. (2012). Critical leadership studies: The case for critical performativity. Human Relations, 65(3), 367–390. doi:10.1177/0018726711430555

Cooke, N. A., Sweeney, M. E., and Noble, S. U. (2016). Social justice as topic and tool: An attempt to transform a LIS curriculum and culture. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, 86(1), 107-124.

Doherty, J. J. (2007). No Shhing : Giving Voice to the Silenced: An Essay in Support of Critical Information Literacy. Library Philosophy and Practice , 6(22), 1–8. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/133

Drabinski, E. (2015). ACRL Instruction Section Ilene F. RockmanPublication of the Year Award – Emily Drabinski. http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/librarians/features/ala_awards2015.htm?part=3#sthash.QMZUWDBt.dpuf

Freire, P. (2005). Pedagogy of the Oppressed (3rd ed.). London: Continuum.

Giroux, H. (2007). The University in Chains: Confronting the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex. London: Paradigm.

Hamelink, C. (1976). An Alternative to News. Journal of Communication, 20.

Hansson, J. (2010) Chantal Mouffe’s Theory of Agonistic Pluralism and Its Relevance for Library and Information Science Research. In Leckie, G. J., Given, L. M., & Buschman, J. E. (2010). Critical Theory for Library and Information Science: Exploring the Social from Across the Discipline. Oxford: Libraries Unlimited.

Heidebrink-Bruno, A. (2014). Syllabus as Manifesto: A Critical Approach to Classroom Culture. Hybrid Pedagogy. http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/syllabus-manifesto-critical-approach-classroom-culture/

Jaeger, P. T. (2010). Education, Adoption, and Development: Building a Culture of Social Theory in LIS. The Library Quarterly, 80(3), 203–209. http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1086/652967

Pho, A., Drabinski, E., Ettarh, F., McElroy, K., Pagowsky, N. (2015). "But We're Neutral!" And Other Librarian Fictions Confronted by #critlib, ALA San Francisco. http://alaac15.ala.org/node/28722

Ross, Robert, and Clayton Rosati. 2006. Social justice. In Encyclopedia of human geography, ed. Barney Warf, 437–38. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Schroeder, R., & Hollister, C. V. (2014). Librarians’ Views on Critical Theories and Critical Practices. Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, 33(2), 91–119. http://doi.org/10.1080/01639269.2014.912104

Smith, L. (2015). “I think the only time I care about politics, is if it affects me or my family. If it doesn’t, I have no reason to care about it”: exploring young people’s political agency and the role of information literacy from a critical pedagogical perspective – CAPAL 2015, Ottawa, 1st June 2015.

Samek, T. (2007). Critical Librarianship: an interview with Toni Samek. BCLA Intellectual Freedom Committee blog. https://bclaifc.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/critical-librarianship-an-interview-with-toni-samek/

Schroeder, R., & Hollister, C. V. (2014). Librarians’ Views on Critical Theories and Critical Practices. Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, 33(2), 91–119. doi:10.1080/01639269.2014.912104

Tewell, E. (2016) Putting Critical Information Literacy Into Context: How And Why Librarians Adopt Critical Practices In Their Teaching. In the Lubrary with the Lead Pipe. http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2016/putting-critical-information-literacy-into-context-how-and-why-librarians-adopt-critical-practices-in-their-teaching/

Whitworth, A. (2009). Teaching in the relational frame: the Media and Information Literacy course at Manchester. Journal of Information Literacy, 3 (2), pp.25–38. Available from: http://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/JIL/article/view/PRA-V3-I2-2009-2

Thank You

@walkyouhome

lauren.n.smith@strath.ac.uk

www.laurensmith.wordpress.com