Introduction: Themes, Patterns and Connections

Summary

What is the work of theory? Theory is a critical element of research and provides the intellectual scaffolding that is necessary for the development, implementation, analysis, interpretation and critical evaluation of research. Theory provides the necessary concepts that can be employed to describe a phenomenon or practice as it is experienced and/or performatively enacted. Knowledge from theory is always a view from somewhere (Barad, 1996) and the knowledge provided by social theory draws attention to certain forms of knowledge and ways of knowing, i.e. different contexts, different concepts and different truths (Lloyd, 2005). Theory makes our standpoint or our assumptions and beliefs visible – our ontological and epistemological positions – and it scaffolds our decisions about methodology (Lloyd, 2021, 18).

Currently there is only one theory of information literacy practice, the Theory of Information Literacy (Lloyd, 2017). However, the employment of social theory, which is drawn from wider disciplinary arenas and applied to understand information literacy as a socially situated practice and lived experience, has been prodigious in the last 20 years. Sociocultural, postmodern and post-structuralist perspectives that underpin these social theories act as counterbalance to the provision and attainment view of information literacy, which continues to advocate an autonomous (Street, 2003), skills-based, measurementfocused approach to practice. The autonomous view fundamentally satisfies the instrumental rationality of education systems and the continued need for librarians who operate within those systems to stake their claims as experts in the field.

The use of social theory allows researchers to dive under the surface of the attainment perspective and turn their attention to understanding and explaining what information literacy is, as well as how it happens and how its operationalisation contributes to the shaping of social life.

This volume

The inspiration for this book arose from the realisation that a significant proportion of information literacy research remains focused on technical, practical or problem-solving topics. In addition, attempts to conceptualise the topic often take place without a comprehensive understanding of the ontological or epistemological foundations of theoretical work. Theoretically focused information literacy research has also been poorly treated within existing theoretical scholarship, with the information literacy focus of recent publications addressing theory development and use within library and information studies (LIS) being limited to Kuhlthau (Sonnenwald, 2016) or loose understandings of Freirean thought (e.g. Leckie, Given and Buschman, 2010).