Information literacy and quality assurance in South African higher education institutions

The first decade of democracy in South Africa has seen intensive policy-making in the higher education sector with a view to transforming the teaching and learning practices to be more consistent with a modern democracy on the African continent. In addition to addressing specific problems and gaps caused by the destructive policies of the past, the government has sought to ensure that the higher education institutions improve the government's performance with respect to global competitiveness. This paper analyses the key policy trends that are likely to impact on academic libraries' efforts to extend their information literacy education programmes. The authors discuss the progress made by librarians in establishing partnerships with academics to deliver quality education and so participate in the transformative agenda. These efforts are viewed against the background of global moves towards definitions of graduateness and the establishment of quality assessment management systems for universities. The paper shows how librarians have developed their conceptions of information literacy education and makes the case that they can accelerate the uptake of information literacy education interventions in the curriculum by more pointed leverage of higher education policy initiatives.