Information Literacy in English-Language Higher Education Teaching Journals: A Review

Abstract

Wider visibility of information literacy (IL) outside of the library and information science (LIS) field is important to the success of IL instruction, learning, and research. The development and major updates of several information literacy documents in the past decade evidence the changing landscape of IL research, but how these changes have impacted other disciplines remains to be seen. To aid in this discussion, this article examines a wide range of higher education teaching journals to expand on Badke's (2011) work, “Why Information Literacy is Invisible.” Specifically, this study examines articles published in 30 general higher education and 32 disciplinary higher education journals between 2012 and 2022. Although there is a notable increase in the discussion of IL within higher education and non-LIS disciplines journals, there is a gap in references to the five major information literacy documents, supporting Badke's notion that some LIS work remains underrepresented in the broader academic literature.

Keywords

• information literacy
• instruction
• publishing
• library and information science
• higher education