The Information Literacy Handbook: Charting the Discipline

by Karen F. Kaufmann (Editor), Clarence Maybee (Editor)

Overview

This comprehensive and subject-defining handbook draws together the work of an international group of researchers and educators to collectively recognize information literacy (IL) as a maturing soft applied discipline.

Showcasing current and historical scholarly research and including contributions from the world’s leading researchers and practitioners in the field of IL, this handbook provides a rich understanding of the nature of information literacy, including its traditions and significant history, shared approaches to inquiry, base of knowledge, and growing communication networks. Chapters cover:

• Current perspectives on the discipline of information literacy;
• National and international IL advocacy, research and educational development;
• The history of information literacy to present day;
• Theories and methodologies used by IL researchers;
• Ethical concerns and information challenges faced by individuals and societies;
• IL models and approaches that guide IL education and research;
• Information literacy communication networks, conferences and publications.

Authoritative and encyclopaedic in nature, this state-of-the-art handbook presents the substantial impact of recognising IL as a discipline in nurturing new research and education and is an essential read for LIS academics, teachers, administrators, practitioners and students.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783306374
Publisher:	Facet Publishing
Publication date:	10/15/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook

About the Author

Karen F. Kaufmann is Assistant Professor of Instruction in the School of Information, University of South Florida. She co-leads the Information Literacy is a Discipline (ILIAD) group with Clarence Maybee and is a 2017 Beta Phi Mu Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship recipient. She has previously co-authored Supporting Transfer Student Success: The Essential Role of College and University Libraries.

Clarence Maybee is the Associate Dean for Learning, and the W. Wayne Booker Endowed Chair in Information Literacy at Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies. He is the director of the Institute for Information Literacy at Purdue, which supports research that explores the role of information literacy in addressing information challenges. He co-leads the Information Literacy is a Discipline (ILIAD) group with Karen F. Kaufmann. In 2019, he received the Librarian Recognition Award from the American Library Association. He has previously published IMPACT Learning: Librarians at the Forefront of Change in Higher Education.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Handbook

Chapter 1: Information Literacy Handbook: An orientation

Chapter 2: Information Literacy Community

Chapter 3: Tradition and History of Inquiry

Chapter 4: Specific Modes of Inquiry

Chapter 5: Information Literacy and Ethics

Chapter 6: Information Literacy Knowledge and Curricula

Chapter 7: Information Literacy Communications Networks

Conclusion