Recognizing information literacy as a discipline: Reflections on an ACRL 2023 panel discussion

Abstract

There has long been debate, even controversy, around the nature of information literacy. Is it comprised of a set of skills as laid out in the now-rescinded Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, inter-related concepts as laid out in the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, or perhaps can it be conceptualize in yet another way? What if information literacy were an academic discipline, such as education, nursing, or social work? In October 2021, an international group of information literacy educators and researchers came together to explore the idea that information literacy is a discipline and speculate about what that could mean for education and research. We read articles arguing that information literacy is a discipline by Sheila Webber and Bill Johnston, who later joined the group. Examining its decades-long history, Webber and Johnston have suggested that information literacy should be recognized as a “maturing” discipline. We reviewed the literature to determine the characteristics of a discipline identified by scholars, which include (1) a community of scholars, (2) communications networks, (3) a code of ethics, (4) traditions and history, (5) modes of inquiry, and (6) shared ideas about what constitutes knowledge. Information literacy meets these criteria.