Radical Information Literacy: Reclaiming the Political Heart of the IL Movement (Chandos Information Professional Series)

What would a synthetic theory of Digital, Media and Information Literacy (DMIL) look like? Radical Information Literacy presents, for the first time, a theory of DMIL that synthesises the diversity of perspectives and positions on DMIL, both in the classroom and the workplace, and within the informal learning processes of society. This title is based on original analysis of how decisions are made about the relevance of information and the other resources used in learning, showing how society has privileged objective approaches (used in rule-based decision making) to the detriment of subjective and intersubjective perspectives which promote individual and community contexts. The book goes on to analyse the academic and popular DMIL literature, showing how the field may have been, consciously or unwittingly, complicit in the {u2018}objectification{u2019} of learning and the disempowerment of individuals and communities. Alternative ways of conceiving the subject are then presented, towards a reversal of these trends. Synthesises key theorists of digital, media and information literacy and information behaviour Includes the field of {u2018}community informatics{u2019} Conducts a bibliometric analysis of a broad spectrum of writings on digital, media and information literacy, analysing the connections between them and the frames of DMIL within which they are located What would a synthetic theory of Digital, Media and Information Literacy (DMIL) look like? Radical Information Literacy presents, for the first time, a theory of DMIL that synthesises the diversity of perspectives and positions on DMIL, both in the classroom and the workplace, and within the informal learning processes of society. This title is based on original analysis of how decisions are made about the relevance of information and the other resources used in learning, showing how society has privileged objective approaches (used in rule-based decision making) to the detriment of subjective and intersubjective perspectives which promote individual and community contexts. The book goes on to analyse the academic and popular DMIL literature, showing how the field may have been, consciously or unwittingly, complicit in the ‘objectification’ of learning and the disempowerment of individuals and communities. Alternative ways of conceiving the subject are then presented, towards a reversal of these trends.

• Synthesises key theorists of digital, media and information literacy and information behaviour
• Includes the field of ‘community informatics’
• Conducts a bibliometric analysis of a broad spectrum of writings on digital, media and information literacy, analysing the connections between them and the frames of DMIL within which they are located

Content: Front matter, Pages i-iii Copyright, Page iv List of tables, Page vii About the author, Page ix Introduction, Pages 1-7 Part 1: - Deconstructing IL, Page 9 1 - Basic concepts and terminology, Pages 11-26 2 - The early days of IL, Pages 27-45 3 - The diversity of IL, Pages 47-71 4 - The institutionalising of IL, Pages 73-95 Part 2: - Reconstructing IL, Page 97 5 - Colonising IL, Pages 99-117 6 - Mikhail Bakhtin and IL, Pages 119-147 7 - Practising IL, Pages 149-166 8 - Reclaiming IL, Pages 167-204 Bibliography, Pages 205-227 Index, Pages 229-233 This text presents a theory of Digital, Media and Information Literacy (DMIL) that synthesizes key theorists' diverse perspectives and positions on DMIL and information behavior, both in the classroom and the workplace, and within the informal learning processes of society. It includes the field of 'community informatics'