Leveraging information literacy: Mapping the conceptual influence and appropriation of information literacy in other disciplinary landscapes

Abstract

Information literacy forms a key concept within Library and Information Science, where it forms the focus of scholarship, conferences, journals and teaching librarian practice, alike. However, little is known about how other fields and disciplines have employed these outputs within their own research and practice. This paper examines how the concept of information literacy has been leveraged into the discourses of non-Library and Information Science disciplinary landscapes. This is achieved through a qualitative mapping of five different fields and disciplines, including Higher Education, Management and Business, Public Health, Nursing and Psychology, to identify how information literacy terminology, definitions, theories and frameworks have travelled across scholarly and practice boundaries to become appropriated into other disciplinary landscapes. The aim of this collaborative work is to develop an indicative rather than an exhaustive understanding of what travels within information literacy research and practice and to strengthen the Library and Information Science narrative on the impact of information literacy activities.