Information Literacy Practices and Student Protests: Mapping Community Information Landscapes

Introduction: This paper provides a contribution to understandings of information literacy regarding context and transferability of information practices. Specifically, the paper analyses the subset of information practices in situations of student protests and addresses issues of transfer of information literacy practice from a highly formal landscape to a highly non-formal and unstructured landscape, such as the community information literacy landscape. Method: Data from 340 students was collected through a face-to-face survey consisting of a questionnaire that pertained to modes of obtaining information about student rights and information practices in situations of protests. Analysis: Quantitative analysis was used to explore specific understandings of information literacy and information as an impulse for making decisions about participating in student protests. Qualitative analysis was performed for investigating resource selection and information sharing and use during student protests. Results: Students who are protesting deploy different information practices in comparison with students who do not participate in protests. The results of the study have highlighted significant features that differentiate community information literacy landscapes in situations of civic engagement from common educational contexts. Conclusion: The findings confirm that information practices are context-dependent and not by default transferable. The results allow further characterizations of community information literacy landscapes. [This paper was published as part of: Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science, Copenhagen, Denmark, 19-22 August, 2013.]