INTERCULTURAL PROBLEMS FOR INFORMATION LITERACY: A SYSTEMS SCIENCE PERSPECTIVE

摘要

Information literacy is a most important concept today. The information literate person gains power through the efficiency with which he can access and use information. It is therefore urgent that all people are offered the opportunity to develop their information literacy to a sufficient level. To reach the majority of people that development should start at school. At school the process when the students develop information literacy is often performed through the school library. The library constitutes a culture that is different from the teaching situation in the rest of the school. The students have adapted to the general school culture and when meeting the library culture the difference between the two cultures may result in communication difficulties for the students that may affect their possibilities to develop their information literacy. In order to bridge over these intercultural problems it is necessary to establish a close cooperation between the cultures. The key persons in the two cultures are the librarian and the teacher. The student, the librarian and the teacher will be part of a human activity system which has as a common goal to enhance the student's information literacy. It is therefore of interest to investigate, from the student's perspective, how that system may influence the student's information literacy. How information literate the individual student is will have an impact on how the student, the teacher and the librarian will interact during the whole process. From a systems science perspective that process could therefore be seen as cybernetic loops. Earlier experience from information seeking activities will influence the process and new experiences will contribute to the level of information literacy. In this paper different aspects of the interaction between the student, the librarian and the teacher are discussed. We use Checkland's (1999) CATWOE categories as the base for that discussion. A cybernetic loop in the process when the students are creating information literacy is also identified. One important aspect of the interaction to develop information literacy of the students is Internet. That media is a powerful tool for finding information but raises questions about information quality and the necessity to evaluate information. To be able to use the full power of Internet the students must possess a sufficient level of information literacy. In the end of the discussion this paper will present communication models from a systems science perspective that illustrates the influence of the human activity system consisting of the student, the teacher and the librarian when the student is developing information literacy.