A shift from bibliographic instruction to information literacy in the United States

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to clarify the shift from bibliographic instruction to information literacy in the United States and to examine its significance. Methods: Based on the literature and practical reports by librarians, the paper considers the discussion about information literacy. Results: The Information Literacy Movement in the United States is an educational reform movement that started during the educational reforms in the 1980s. Its philosophy is not to expand education by librarians but to implement educational reform. Initially, the philosophy of the information literacy movement was misunderstood by librarians and caused conflicts within the library world. However, as librarians’ understanding of the philosophy of the movement gradually spread, their recognition shifted from the emphasis on “education by librarians” to their “contribution to the realization of educational reform.” As a result, librarians' practice expanded from simply educating students to changing the awareness of faculty members, supporting them to revise curriculums, and improving classes through information literacy. The significance of the shift from bibliographic instruction to information literacy is that librarians are turning from providers of education on information use to promoters of educational reform through information literacy. This has allowed librarians to become directly involved in educational reform. Following this shift, the Information Literacy Movement as a form of educational reform has started to have a substantial impact, thus shifting from the theoretical to the practical.