A new direction for library and information science: the communication aspect of information literacy

Introduction. Information literacy gained an important place in library and information science education. information literacy however often includes (predominantly oral) communication. This is important for library and information science education and has to be studied. Argument. After defining information literacy, we examine why and where it is needed, explain the role of libraries and librarians, discuss the relationship between e-literacy and information literacy and how it could be integrated into library and information science curricula. Different models of literacy as well as curricula point towards the close ties between information literacy and communication. Information seeking, a central issue to information literacy, can be put into the context of writing. Some understandings of literacy involve different types of communication that is not uncommon in library and information science education. Stressing communication relates information literacy to literacy and functional literacy in their traditional sense. Issues of text production, relevance, critical reading and academic literacy offer interesting agendas. Conclusions. information literacy or at least its communicative features should be made a subject of psycholinguistics and cognitive science as information literacy stresses the importance of gaining control over how we interact with information and it consists of processes that are widely unknown thus require cognitive enquiry. It would be however premature to draw consequences of a cognitive enquiry not yet carried out.