Paterson, S.F. and Gamtso, C.W. (2023) ‘Interrogating representations of transgressive women: Using critical information literacy and comic books in the Shakespeare classroom’, Art Libraries Journal, 48(3), pp. 80-89. doi: 10.1017/alj.2023.14.
This was the first article I read on critical information literacy (CIL) for this project. I was intrigued by both the feminist perspective and use of unusual resources in the classroom.
In the context of my research this text was relevant when the authors shared their experience of engaging the students in analysing the prejudices and power structures regarding women in a specific historical time. CIL perspective was applied by asking questions about the social, political and cultural context of the text and images. I think these techniques can be applied in my library sessions too.
The information on CIL, its aims and purposes that this text provides was a good start for me to deepen my knowledge on the subject. The excerpts that especially ‘talked’ to me:
- Critical IL is grounded in the theory and praxis of critical pedagogy.
- Critical IL invites learners to interrogate the ways in which structural social inequities influence the creation, dissemination and consumption of information.
- It teaches analysis and critiquing skills; to recognise the relationships between texts, language, and power.
- Critical IL calls for a de-centralisation of authority (p.80)
The article presents a detailed planning and running of the session that authors worked on together. Most helpful for me was the part where they talked about using visual materials and discussion to generate questions about resources, and then involving the students in searching their online library for answers – I think it is a brilliant way of familiarising the users with the library search website and making it relevant to them.
This article has also provided me with great references on Critical IL and two of the articles were available through our UAL Libraries. I reflect on reading them in my blog posts: 1 and 2.