Information literacy as professional legitimation: the quest for a new jurisdiction

摘要

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the emergence of information literacy (IL) byrnanalyzing professional discourse and demonstrating that there is much evidence to support Foster'srnclaim that regardless of what else IL might achieve, it was in part a professional response and anrnattempt to rearticulate and legitimate librarians' claim to an educational jurisdiction at a time theirrntraditional access-oriented jurisdiction was threatened.rnDesign/methodology/approach - The paper employs document analysis and critical analysis.rnFindings - The paper finds that IL is, in part, the result of librarians' need to protect theirrnprofessional territory from the systemic disturbances caused by information technology, fiscalrnchallenges and the educational reform movement.rnResearch limitations/implications - The paper should be of interest to researchers involved inrnthe field of IL.rnPractical implications - The paper discusses the place of IL in the field of modern librarianship,rnand as such should be wide interest in various sectors of librarianship.rnOriginality/value - The results of this study offer a critical analysis of the development of IL in thernfield of librarianship, and as such deals with an important issue facing librarians in the twenty-firstrncentury.