Smith, L. 2013. Towards a model of critical information literacy instruction for the development of political agency. Journal of Information Literacy, 7(2), pp.15-32. http://dx.doi.org/10.11645/7.2.1809
This article explains very well what critical information is and what its aims are.
Critical literacy is explained as a key feature of critical pedagogy that “teaches analysis and critiquing skills around the relationships between texts, language and power.” (p.15) This definition has helped me to focus my research topic and question. It placed my research within social justice issues and directed me to from general information literacy towards its critical pedagogy aspect.
The very important part of the text is the set of criteria and questions that can be applied to resources in order to implement critical literacy (in the case of the article it is in the context of political agency, but I feel it can be applied in different contexts too):
“Pragmatic practices: developing resources as a text user: How do the uses of this text shape its composition? What do I do with this text, here and now? What will others do with it? What are my options and alternatives?
Text-meaning practices: developing resources as a text participant. How do the ideas presented in the text string together? What cultural resources can be brought to bear on the text? What are the cultural meanings and possible readings that can be constructed for this text?
Critical practices: What kind of person, with what interests and values, could both read and write this naively and unproblematically? What is this text trying to do to me? In whose interests? Which positions, voices, and interests are at play? Which are silent or absent?” (p. 20)
The following quote from this text is a reminder for me of why I want to engage in information literacy teaching and make it a subject of this research project: “Those working in the library and information science profession have a responsibility to substantively engage with issues such as critical information literacy, especially during a period of mass privatisation (…)” (p.25)