Understanding the Field of Critical Information Literacy: A Descriptive Analysis of Scientific
Articles
Denis Kos and Sonja Špiranec
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social SciencesDepartment of Information and Communication Sciences
Ivana Lučića 3, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia{dkos, sspiran}@ffzg.hr
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The
Wha
t?
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• Research problem– assessment of critical IL perspectives unavailable and the true influence and nature of CIL not thoroughly researched
• Research goals– reveal the established author, publication and research patterns in the CIL subfield by employing a descriptive statistical literature analysis
Understanding Critical Information Literacy - by Denis Kos and Sonja Špiranec
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The
Why
? ?
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• Rationale for a bibliometric approach– sample creation for inductive literature analyses– (ultimately) defining the thematic scope to facilitate curriculum integration
– the size of the subfield– state of the field and further areas of development
Understanding Critical Information Literacy - by Denis Kos and Sonja Špiranec
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The
How
?
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bibliometrics– a descriptive analysis of authorship , research and publication patterns
Methodology
• a comprehensive analysis (three databases)• combination of quantitative and qualitative methods
• project began in March, 2015
deductive content analysis – a descriptive analysis of established literature qualities and categories
Understanding Critical Information Literacy - by Denis Kos and Sonja Špiranec
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“critical information literacy” OR
“critical library instruction”
Understanding Critical Information Literacy - by Denis Kos and Sonja Špiranec
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The project
- focus on critical perspectives in IL related issues (including
insights from CP, CT, psychology, etc.)
Understanding Critical Information Literacy - by Denis Kos and Sonja Špiranec
This preliminary report
- focus on the literature returned by the formulated
query
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Google Scholar
SCOPUS
WoS
4.6%
95.4%
Understanding Critical Information Literacy - by Denis Kos and Sonja Špiranec
805 search results
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805 search results
66.34 %duplicatesnon-article entriesnot mentioning CILmention only in ref.mention in citing art.critical as important
11.55%non-Englishnot accessible
178 articles22.11%
Understanding Critical Information Literacy - by Denis Kos and Sonja Špiranec
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frequency<3
102 core CIL articles12.67%
(including 22 book chapters)
178 articles22.11%
Understanding Critical Information Literacy - by Denis Kos and Sonja Špiranec
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frequency<3
frequency=>3
mention CIL only in references
The research sets
Understanding Critical Information Literacy - by Denis Kos and Sonja Špiranec
102 articles
312 articles
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The
resu
ltsTemporal evolution -> 312 articles
Authorship patterns
Institutions and countries
Journal productivity and contribution sources
Contribution types
Article classification
Deductive content analyses
102 core CIL articles
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Temporal evolution in the sets
N=312 articles
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Authorship patterns in core articlesN = 102
• 109 unique authors• most articles published by:– Heidi Jacobs (6)– Alison Hicks (4)– Troy Swanson (4)
• 17.43% published 2 articles• 79.82% published 1 article
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Institutions and countries• 69 institutions, 7 countries
USA 73,53%Canada 12,75% UK 5,88%Australia 4,9%New ZealandCroatia <1%BIH
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Contribution type N %Journal article 59 57,84%Book chapter 31 30,39%Conference paper 12 11,76%Total 102 100,00%
Understanding Critical Information Literacy - by Denis Kos and Sonja Špiranec
Contribution type
• Accardi, Drabinski and Kumbier: Critical library instruction : Theories and methods
• Gregory, Higgins – Information literacy and social justice : Radical professional praxis
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Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian
8%The Journal of Aca-demic Librarianship
8%Communications in Information Literacy
5%Library Philosophy
and Practice 5%
portal: Libraries and the Academy
5%
Urban Library Journal 5%
Community College Journal of Research
and Practice 3%In the Library with
the Lead Pipe 3%
Library Trends 3%
Others (N = 1) 53%
N Journal productivity - 1
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N %
Original scientific paper 12 11,76%
Scientific review 34 33,33%
Preliminary report 0 0,00%
Professional paper 51 50,00%
Professional review 5 4,90%
Total 102 100,00%
Understanding Critical Information Literacy - by Denis Kos and Sonja Špiranec
Article classification
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Deductive content analyses
Subject area• 84,31% LIS• 15.69% non-LIS (Education, Politics)
Social level• 88.24% organizational• 7.84% societal• 3.92% individual
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Disc
ussio
n• fluctuating publishing patterns• field activity due to high referal to the concept– actual engagement?
• small number of constant contributors– need for a CIL journal?– more CIL focused events?
• the issues of diversity• more research in transformative IL pedagogy
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Conc
lusio
n• not a mature subfield• more research needs to focus on IL’s inherent criticality
• inductive thematic analyses• taking publishing patterns seriously
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Refe
renc
es1. Andrés, A., Measuring Academic Research. Chandos, Oxford (2009)2. Burdenuk, G.: Living and Learning in the Global Village. In: Lighthall, L.,
Haycock, K. (eds.) Information Rich, but Knowledge Poor? Emerging Issues for Schools and Libraries Worldwide. 109--117. IASL, Seattle (1997)
3. Elmborg, J.: Critical Information Literacy: Implications for Instructional Practice. Journal of Academic Librarianship. 32, 2, 192--199 (2006)
4. Harzing, A. W., Wal, R. van der: Google Scholar: A New Data Source for Citation Analysis. Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics. 8, 1, 62--71 (2008)
5. Jacobs, H.: Information Literacy and Reflective Pedagogical Practice. Journal of Academic Librarianship. 34, 3, 256--262 (2008)
6. Reference Services Review Article Classification, http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=rsr
7. Simmons Holschuh, M.: Librarians as Disciplinary Discourse Mediators: Using Genre Theory to Move Toward Critical Information Literacy. portal: Libraries and the Academy. 5, 3, 297--311 (2005)
8. Tuomaala, O., Järvelin, K., Vakkari, P.: Evolution of Library and Information Science, 1965-2005: Content Analysis of Journal Articles. Journal of ASIS&T. 65, 7, 1446--1462 (2014)
9. Whitworth, A.: The Reflective Information Literacy Educator. Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education. 4, 1, 38--55 (2012)
10.Whitworth, A.: Radical Information Literacy: Reclaiming the Political Heart of the IL Movement. Chandos, Oxford (2014)
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Than
k yo
u!